DragonAuto.Works 

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Mar 25, 2019

Thank you Mrs Daniels, it's kind of you to make the time to leave this review for us. We are pleased to have you as a customer.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Mar 25, 2019

The engine management light was on and the vehicle was in loss of power mode when it arrived, which was why you requested a diagnostic. To put this in perspective you paid £54 for a full BMW ISTA code scan and a smoke pro test, an estimate was then requested for the turbocharger to be replaced and this was provided.

Claire did not advise you that the car was OK to drive, in fact she advised not to drive it, you stated that you had to take the car home and deal with the warranty from your trader and speak to your husband.

We are quite sure we didn't leave any pipes disconnected, if the AA had advised this I am sure most people would've been straight on the phone to request an explanation or ask for a refund as opposed to waiting a month then leaving a negative review without even getting in touch with us. We stand by our assessment that there were multiple problems with the vehicle one of which included end float in the turbocharger.

We fail to see why it would take two weeks to put the car back together if it was a disconnected pipe and a £60 filter needing replacement. Equally why would a car that's just been sold to you need a filter, was it not serviced by the trader before being sold? We are of course delighted for you that the car trader has put the car right at such a reasonable price.

If a customer chooses not to raise an issue with us, we cannot make any effort to put right a problem.
On average we see 30 to 40 BMW vehicles per week of the year which is in excess of 1500 customers per year and we always try to please customers but obviously you can't be suitable for everyone, least of all someone who doesn't want to communicate in a reasonable manner.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Apr 15, 2019

There was never a quotation or written estimate raised for the car. This started out as a Facebook enquiry where the customer stated he had a BMW 530D and wanted a price for servicing. The response he received from Claire was “as a rough price guide the Oil & Microfilter service is £160” and that we could “provide a comprehensive written estimate but needed more information and the vehicle registration”. From our perspective this hardly indicates a fixed price or quotation.

When the vehicle was brought in (without ever having the written estimate offered) it was discovered from the key data that the car was due the CBS Oil & Microfilter Service, the CBS Air & Fuel filter service and the CBS Vehicle Check Inspection service. As such there were an additional two schedules to the original discussion which the customer was advised of then and there and given his copy of the key data from his vehicle.

He requested not to have the fuel filter as he had done this recently. He also requested that we fix a fault on the car with the steering wheel adjustment which wasn't moving and allowing the steering wheel to move up and down or in and out at all.

This is all additional work above and beyond an Oil & Microfilter service.

We carried out the servicing using our BMW technical subscription to provide the genuine schedules and fitting MANN OE quality filters.

We also fixed the steering wheel adjustment with a software reset. We didn’t bill anything for the software reset despite it taking time from our software technician and requiring our subscription-based tooling which obviously costs us money.

Unfortunately when the bill was raised there was a genuine mistake in that the labour for the CBS Air & Fuel filter schedule wasn't adjusted for the fact that the fuel filter wasn't done as per customer’s request so there was an over-billing of half an hour labour (£27.50 + VAT = £33).

The following morning we received an email full of accusations of all sorts mainly centred around the labour mistake and also that he felt that the original Facebook discussion was a fixed price and that he shouldn't have to pay for the actual amount of oil his car required or the filters at the price they worked out at. Despite us disagreeing entirely that there was ever a quotation provided we agreed to a gesture of goodwill refund as compensation for the small genuine billing labour error we had made. We felt this was an end to the matter.

His erroneous claim that the filters fitted to his vehicle are not OE quality is completely incorrect and could be construed as slander of their manufacturer.

MANN filters are manufactured by the German company MANN+HUMMEL Group who have OE quality status for majority of BMW models, including this one. We claim on our website to only fit OE standard parts which is correct.

Generally, on vehicles outside of manufacturer warranty (over 5yrs old and more than 50000 mileage) customers prefer the perfectly suitable OE quality filters from the motor factors as there is of course a price difference between these and BMW AG parts.

The vehicle in question is 9yrs old with high mileage and during the email exchange with us Mr Bailey even stated “Regarding the brand of the air filter, it doesn't actually bother me. I know that it will be fine” which is somewhat two-faced compared to his review.

It is sad that Mr Bailey wasn’t satisfied with his refund and that in reality has felt its necessary to leave a review that doesn’t take into account the workmanship or the small repair he received for free.

You could say that the small repair was only a simple software reset, we would say if it’s so simple consider the amount of money required to buy the tool (not a clone knock off we might add), pay the subscription to BMW AG and of course the training to know how to work the programming without messing up your car.

We really enjoy the interaction with majority of our customers and look forward to trading with them whenever they need something, and we have many people we have been dealing with for years. Our aim is to add to this base and build new relationships with BMW owners. However sometimes there is the odd person who proves to be an exception to the rule and unfortunately Mr Bailey is one of these. Another garage is more than welcome to his custom.

We don't really make any effort to garner feedback from our customers but we will make a drive to obtain reviews over the next couple of weeks as we are confident it will provide a more accurate insight into our customer service.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Feb 13, 2019

Thank you for making time to leave us a review Rhodri, we are delighted to have you as a customer
It is a shame that it is so difficult to find decent yard space in the town industrial estates, as you know from your visits, with the number of vehicles we deal with and work on we need space to store them which is why we had to relocate to a bigger premises with a large yard. We're very glad you decided to travel to us in our new location.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Feb 4, 2019

Thank you for your review Mr Burroughs, we are delighted that you were pleased with us.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Feb 4, 2019

Thank you for making time to leave this review, we are very pleased to have you as a customer.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Jan 31, 2019

Thanks Mr Davies, we appreciate your feedback

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Dec 21, 2018

Thank you Mr Marshall, much appreciated

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Dec 19, 2018

Thank you very much for this Mr Pearce, we appreciate your review

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Dec 19, 2018

We are sorry to hear that your boyfriend is upset.

However we can't trace a complaint received and would recommend that he gets in touch if he's having any issues as all our workmanship is guaranteed for 12 months so we would be happy to help.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Oct 22, 2018

Thanks Mr Porter, we are glad you were happy with our service and delighted to receive your review!

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Oct 22, 2018

We are sorry to hear that you have had a customer service issue and have been trying to contact you but cannot get an answer when we call.

If our receptionist was rude or unhelpful then naturally this is unacceptable and you should have requested to speak to her manager. We are always willing to resolve any problems promptly and I'm sure this could have been dealt with without the necessity for badmouthing us publicly without speaking to someone of more seniority than the receptionist.

Having spoken to the technician who carried out the work on your BMW, your rear wheel alignment was particularly bad and the adjustment badly seized which had to be freed off for the alignment to be brought into correct settings. This is not exactly a process you can stop part way through, the whole point of wheel alignment is that it is a precise and accurate setup.

Our focus is always on the job being done properly and the car being right rather than rushing.

We do not encourage waiting for a job to be done on a vehicle as there is always a risk of an unforeseen delay. We haven't seen your vehicle before so we have no idea prior to starting the process whether it is seized or not. A trouble free wheel alignments takes on average no more than an hour.

We do have customer toilets in the reception so I'm not sure how these were missed but they were (and are there). We have also been advised that reception may have been colder than usual when you were there due to the front door being left open rather than shut.

As you stated you are not reviewing our workmanship, you are reviewing an incident you have had with a member of staff which we can't even clarify the details of with you as we cannot get through on the number provided. Perhaps you could contact us at your convenience so we can get to the bottom of what happened.


**EDIT**

Ten days later and despite multiple attempts by management to get in touch with Mr Roberts and establish exactly what happened, he has not responded to any of our calls or offers to discuss the situation.

We have tried to provide the courtesy of a reply but Mr Roberts seems to have changed his mind about communicating. As such we feel that this can only be viewed in the manner it was intended which was not a fair review of workmanship or even a fair feedback discussed with an opportunity to put right any dissatisfaction.

We can confirm that we have taken on board that the toilet in reception should have a sign to make it clearer where it is and this is being implemented. We have also had a training refresher with our receptionist and customer service agents to ensure that they ask about customer comfort and whether there is anything we can do to improve the experience.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Oct 22, 2018

Thank you for taking the time to give us feedback, it is much appreciated

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Oct 22, 2018

Thank you for your time in completing this review, it is much appreciated, we would be delighted to help you anytime

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Oct 22, 2018

That's excellent news, thank you for the feedback

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Oct 23, 2017

You bought us a non standard car which you claimed needing coding to fix an issue with lights you claimed the dealer created. LCI headlights had been installed in the car by the previous owner and following a visit to the dealer you claimed the lights had stopped working. You asked us to code the headlights so that they worked again.

We coded the lights correctly ( we know this because the technician that coded the lights had actually coded the same vehicle some time ago for the previous customer)

The problem was not the coding, but with the light units and leds within them you DID NOT authorise a repair.


You didn't bring us the car and ask us to diagnose the fault but asked us to simply code the lights. We did this and then went on to diagnose the vehicle for FREE.
The technician spent 3 hours on the car, and we billed you 1 hour.
A full report was included with the invoice.


You didn't speak to a technician on Friday because you arrived after we closed. You arrived gone 6PM when we close at 5PM.

You mention that you had to pay your bill before you could "see" you car. Your car was outside so it was quite visible. When you arrived Friday there was a female member of staff on site that handed you your invoice. the invoices contained the technicians report detailing the fault with the car. It is normal practice to pay your bill before you get to get your keys.


You telephoned today asking to speak to the technician that worked on your car. He is not in! However he would not be able to tell you much more than is on his report.


I don't know how we could have helped you further other than you authorising us to repair the car, which you didn't. At the end of the day you as the customer get to choose what work you authorise, if you don't authorise a repair then our hands are tied.

I am sorry you believe we have been unhelpful, but considering we even allowed you to use a courtesy car for free for a very small job having arrived at 4PM the day before I don't think we could have done more to accommodate you.


I understand that you now want us to tell you how to fix your car. With the greatest of respect we have told you what is wrong with it, if you want to fix it with a DIY approach good luck to you, but its not our responsibility to train you in auto diagnostics for a self repair.

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Oct 22, 2018

Thank you for the feedback, we're always glad to help

Reply from DragonAuto.Works

Sep 27, 2017

Whilst we appreciate your views and respect your right to express them we do not consider your feedback to be a genuine one as it conveniently omits half the story.

For clarity, the vehicle in question is a 10 year old 2007 E92 335I.

We performed work on this vehicle directly for the dealer that Mr Waghorn bought the vehicle from in Scotland. They contacted us and requested we look at a vehicle they had sold on their behalf due to the distance for their customer to reattend their workshops.

Mr Waghorn was never our customer. We investigated, replaced & repaired only what was authorised by the dealer, nothing more.

When the vehicle came in to us, it was reported that the purchaser (Mr Waghorn) was having two problems with the vehicle, one being that he was adding up to 5 litres of oil per week and the other being an inoperative air conditioning system.

We found nothing wrong that could be using up to to 5 litres of oil in the manner implied by Mr Waghorn. After steam cleaning, there was no indication of any severe oil leaks, certainly not to the extent suggested. We tested the vehicle for over 10 days to make sure that there wasn’t any oil loss from a leak. We tentatively suggested that if the oil was being topped up to that extent the only other cause would be if the engine was burning it. The dealership stated that they would not be authorising any turbocharger works. However, there were several other issues authorised for repair by the dealership including; a gearbox oil leak, a faulty battery, a faulty telematics control unit that was causing an annoying massage on the dash and a leaking air conditioning radiator. In total, they spent just over £1000. The vehicle underwent several test drives where it performed quite satisfactorily.

After the invoice was settled directly by the dealer, Mr Waghorn came and collected the vehicle from us.

The following day Mr Waghorn visited us screaming & shouting because the car had gone in to limp mode “whilst driving at over 100mph on the motorway which was quite dangerous you know”. Driving at over 100mph is quite dangerous and in fact illegal so of course we wouldn’t have tested the vehicle at this speed.

Mr Waghorn & his father became quite irate when the receptionist was explaining as it was a different fault we would need to speak to the dealership to obtain further authorisation. The two men were aggressive and shouting and they trapped the receptionist in reception. She had to press the alarm to call for assistance.

The manager attended and after a further torrent of abusive behaviour and accusations that we must have in some way damaged the car and broken the turbocharger it was agreed that Mr Waghorn would leave the premises and we would arrange an independent inspection of the vehicle.

The independent assessor examined the vehicle, checked the invoices relating to the work done, saw a code scan being performed on it and test drove it. He found no faults with the car and confirmed the repairs we had billed for had been carried out. The car never burnt oil in the manner implied nor did we see any evidence of a turbo fault. We paid for an independent examination of the vehicle that vindicated us of wrong doing.

The review suggests our customer service was unsatisfactory. Mr Waghorn was not our customer.
It is our opinion that Mr Waghorn was exaggerating a fault on the vehicle in an attempt to get further parts changed on the vehicle during his warranty period and became abusive when he realised we didn't want to play ball.

Naturally after his disgusting behaviour towards our receptionist we declined to work on this vehicle any further and explained the situation to our customer, the dealership in Scotland, who quite understood our reasons.

We have a zero-tolerance attitude for abusive behaviour towards any of our staff and whilst this may cause offence to some, we would point out that those are the type of individuals one does not want as a customer. Similarly, to put this review into perspective, we are a busy workshop working on fifty to sixty vehicles per week, and this is the only complaint we have received for poor customer service. Our actual customers seem to be quite satisfied with our professional setup.