Toyota In Letchworth

[camdave]

In the past five years I have purchased a new Auris and a
three year old Verso from North Herts Toyota at Letchworth. Both the sales and
service departments have been brilliant in all that time and I am satisfied
that I negotiated two good deals.

The franchise has recently been acquired by Steven Eagell
who have a number of dealerships in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Has anyone had experience of Steven Eagell and can I look
forward to continuing the excellent relationship I have built up with the staff
at the Letchworth site?

[Raistlin]

The group Steven Eagell Toyota was established in Milton Keynes in 2002 and has subsequently grown to be the largest independently owned Toyota dealer group in the UK.

Ever since day one, their foremost objective has been to offer complete customer satisfaction to all their customers.

This has enabled them to build a large and loyal database of valued customers, supporting the rapid expansion to 8 dealerships covering an extensive area in the South East and East Midlands.

At Steven Eagell Toyota, as well as offering the full range of new Toyota cars and over 700 quality used vehicles in group stock, they also offer an extended range of facilities.

As an official approved Toyota Centre, they are authorised to carry out Toyota servicing and repairs.

Their manufacturer-trained technicians use the latest diagnostic equipment, tools and only genuine Toyota parts.

You only get this successful by putting people first...

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think it depends whether there has been much, if any, staff movement since the Letchworth franchise was taken over. Usually the larger the group, the higher the staff turnover or movement between branches.

[camdave]

Not sure about "You only get this successful by putting people first... " - think Tesco and TalkTalk!

Frostyballs; That's exactly my concern, they are advertising for sales executives. Being of a cynical mind I can't help feeling that they may have lost/let go? the existing team for whatever reason.

[ic2]

We have bought both a new Yaris (62) & Hybrid Auris (13) from their Watford dealership. We have nothing but praise for the way they treat their customers, they always go out of their way to provide excellent customer service and make you feel welcome when you turn up.

[Raistlin]

Change can be good, remember some of the team might have followed other members of staff that moved on.

No business can afford to destroy a team just for the sake of it and as Ian has said the customer service element at Watford is excellent and I see no reason that the Letchworth franchise won't be the same.

[camdave]

Thanks for all the comments. Before starting this thread I was reading a thread on the GT86 Owners Forum specifically about Steven Eagell. Many of the contributors were happy with the deals and the service (especially those that have used the Watford dealership). Those that were not seemed to be the sort of customer that have an attitude problem, using expressions such as "they lied to me" or "tried selling extras I did not want".

Perhaps I am being overly cautious, we shall see when my next service comes up!

[FROSTYBALLS]

With any dealership, you get happy and not so happy customers. Some people do expect too much, are unrealistic as regards part exchange values, etc.

For example my local Toyota dealer in Birmingham gave me two poor test drive/sales experiences (the later one of which involved them taking me out for a test drive in a customer's new Auris that was due to be collected in a couple of days). On the other hand the one experience I had of their service department (replacement of tailgate struts on my Corolla under warranty) was absolutely fine.

Given the two poor experiences, I've bought my last three new Toyotas from Inchcape at Burton - a 40 mile round trip for me - and the cars get serviced there as well. Each of the three sales experiences, and all of the servicing experiences at Inchcape have been absolutely fine. I've got the level of service I'm happy with, and the dealer have got what they wanted.

[Miseryguts]

I had reason to visit Steven Eagell in Letchworth a few weeks ago.

I accidentally clipped my mirror repeater light on the edge of the garage door frame while reversing out.

I cracked the lens, so I called Steven Eagell and happened to speak to the service manager (still same guy that was there previously under the old management).

He ordered the new lamp and called me a couple of days later to tell me it was in stock.

Shall I book the car in?

Don't bother he said just pop in when you feel like it and we will fit it.

I did just that,and reported to reception (same girl working there as before).

They took the car for the work to be done and I had a delicious cup of coffee.

About an hour later the car was done.

It had been valeted and the new lamp fitted,all I had to pay was the cost of the lamp,no labour charge !!!

If things continue like that then they will get my business,thats for sure.

Dealers would do well to remember an old saying "A good reputation takes years to get and seconds to lose".

In fact it should be stuck up on the wall.

[Parts-King]

they are advertising for sales executives. Being of a cynical mind I can't help feeling that they may have lost/let go? the existing team for whatever reason

Good salesmen like any other good member of staff are very difficult to find, and in sales in particularly. For salesmen (and women) who are good at their job, will often be poached by other dealers. You might find that the new owners have a completely different pay structure, one that is more biased towards customer satisfaction rather than numbers. This very often makes the weaker salesperson move on as they can see the writing on the wall. I would not be worried about a new sales team, they might bring in people from their own network who are fully trained the Steven Eagle way. They do have a very good reputation