Toyota Customer (non)Service

[GARHAM]

My Yaris was due for its first service on the Wednesday, On the Monday it wouldn't start so I put the Battery on charge and waited - no joy the smart charger said the Battery was fully charged and it couldn't be charged but the car still wouldn't start! Contacted Toyota and said my Yaris is less than a year old has a faulty Battery and wont start can you help me? The answer came back - 'No - Have you got a service agreement?' No I said its a Toyota less than a year old. OK I said its going in for its first service on Wednesday can you check the battery during the service? 'No - you'll have to book another appointment'!  (takes about 10 minutes to change a battery - obviously Toyota mechanics aren't up to the job!) OK I said when can you service the car and check the battery? 'Friday  - but no courtesy car' OK I said when can you let me have a courtesy car? '2 weeks time' So I'm without a car for 2 weeks? 'Yes' (at last a yes!)

So I took the Friday appointment and used the arduous bus service. I got the AA out and they agreed with me the battery was faulty. They started the car for me and I drove to the garage. After the service I was assured the battery was perfect and they just had to charge it. Without accusing anyone ... Do I detect a reluctance to agree the battery was faulty? I also took my Service Agreement paperwork in and said to one of the staff - It says on the back of the document - 'Includes 2 years roadside Recovery' is the  so? She said she didn't know anything about it and would look into it and call me back'. And I believed her - how could I have been so naive/stupid or what? (Works in a Toyota Service Centre and knows nothing about service agreements and Roadside recovery!) Should have said Well find someone who does! 

Is this typical Toyota after sales service - personally I am reluctant to ever buy another Toyota (I have 2!) And how come the salesmen never mentioned Roadside recovery? This all happened several months ago but I am still angry at being so duped. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

10 minutes ago, GARHAM said:

My Yaris was due for its first service on the Wednesday

So how about changing your profile to show you now have a Yaris.

[forkingabout]

There is an official Toyota document for testing 12 volt batteries - if it passes these tests then it's good to go.

Unless the test procedure shows the Battery is faulty, Toyota won't pay for the replacement.

[Bper]

Hi Grum,Dealerships can be hesitant to replace batteries under warranty without clear fault proof, but the AA confirming it was faulty should have been enough. Not offering to check the Battery during your scheduled service seems rigid, especially for such a simple diagnostic.

A two week wait for a courtesy car is IMO unacceptable. They could have been more flexible or helped arrange alternative options for you.Staff at service counters should understand basic warranty benefits like roadside assistance, and it’s not good that they couldn’t clarify this for you immediately.

You could escalate this to Toyota Customer Service this might get more you more proactive support and could prompt the dealership to address these issues.

Your experience doesn’t reflect the normal service most would expect from Toyota but regrettably it has been highlighted many times on this forum.👍

[Cyker]

24 minutes ago, GARHAM said:

My Yaris was due for its first service on the Wednesday, On the Monday it wouldn't start so I put the battery on charge and waited - no joy the smart charger said the battery was fully charged and it couldn't be charged but the car still wouldn't start! Contacted Toyota and said my Yaris is less than a year old has a faulty battery and wont start can you help me? The answer came back - 'No - Have you got a service agreement?' No I said its a Toyota less than a year old. OK I said its going in for its first service on Wednesday can you check the battery during the service? 'No - you'll have to book another appointment'!  (takes about 10 minutes to change a battery - obviously Toyota mechanics aren't up to the job!) OK I said when can you service the car and check the battery? 'Friday  - but no courtesy car' OK I said when can you let me have a courtesy car? '2 weeks time' So I'm without a car for 2 weeks? 'Yes' (at last a yes!)

So I took the Friday appointment and used the arduous bus service. I got the AA out and they agreed with me the battery was faulty. They started the car for me and I drove to the garage. After the service I was assured the battery was perfect and they just had to charge it. Without accusing anyone ... Do I detect a reluctance to agree the battery was faulty? I also took my Service Agreement paperwork in and said to one of the staff - It says on the back of the document - 'Includes 2 years roadside Recovery' is the  so? She said she didn't know anything about it and would look into it and call me back'. And I believed her - how could I have been so naive/stupid or what? (Works in a Toyota Service Centre and knows nothing about service agreements and Roadside recovery!) Should have said Well find someone who does! 

Is this typical Toyota after sales service - personally I am reluctant to ever buy another Toyota (I have 2!) And how come the salesmen never mentioned Roadside recovery? This all happened several months ago but I am still angry at being so duped. 

The cars are good but a lot of the dealerships leave a lot to be desired in the customer service department.

There are some good dealers, but as far as I can tell not anywhere near London...

 

[Yaris_Cross]

1 hour ago, GARHAM said:

Is this typical Toyota after sales service - personally I am reluctant to ever buy another Toyota

As has been said not all dealers are the same and its the same with all makes of car, my suggestion would be to put a complaint in to Toyota and change dealer, click on the thread below to see  other members   experiences - 

 

[Heidfirst]

You need to differentiate between Toyota (the manufacturer/distributor) & the franchised dealers.

As has been mentioned amongst all franchises you will find a range from good to bad. I would say that in my experience Toyota is amongst the better in terms of having fewer genuinely bad.

Also, & for future info., what you should have done in the first place, given that you had it, is rung up Toyota Roadside Assist (the AA in disguise) & they would have come out & got you going or if necessary transported your car to the dealer ...

[TonyHSD]

Toyota uk like a car manufacturer are ok however some dealers are big let down. 
In the op case simply a joke customer service. Perhaps he should change the dealer and complain to Toyota head office for the poor experience.