Shame, Holden Shame!

[RKZ234]

Just curious, have u ever considered 'shaming' them into fixing it? By this I mean placing signs over you car stating the faults and holdens reluctance to fix them. Maybe even parking it in holdens car park or out the front of their car yard. I've seen this done a few times before and always been curious as to whether its worked or not.

Julie, after 3 yrs of battling with Holden to fix it, being fobbed off, continual broken promises and finally Holden instructing a dealer they were not to conduct warranty repair work, I returned the car to Holden Head Office in Pt Melbourne as a faulty product and walked away from it.

I haven't seen the car since and couldn't care less about it.

Holden made a very basic and really stupid assumption, that one of their customers couldn't possibly cope without their product even if it was faulty. Not only can I, but I have done so and I have done it VERY EASILLY. Having a car is convenient at times, but certainly not a necessity for me. I don't need one to feel good about myself. I'm just not that insecure.

Since returning the car, Holden have allegedly had it towed away to some storage yard (out of sight out of mind for them) and have failed to respond to all correspondence from me.

Eventually they are going to get sick of paying to have it stored. That might take months or even years, but the longer they take to get their head out of the sand, the more newsworthy this case becomes. Eventually ACA or Today Tonight will pick up the story and really embarass them. Until then Holden will continue with their apalling behaviour and I'll keep catching the bus and train everywhere.

But one thing is for certain, I no longer loose any sleep whatsoever over the car and am soooooooooo relieved to not have to deal with their hopeless Customer Service Department!

 

[nathans1987]

from what i'v read holden arnt going to care, who listens to today tonight stories anyway. did i read it right you gave holden back your (assuming you bought it new) $30,000 car holden havent actually lost this battle in my eyes but thats just my opinion.

 

[RKZ234]

UPDATE

Still no change in Holden's attitude.

My situation should be an enormous warning to everyone out there.

Holden still chooses to ignore my letters. (Sent my 8th yesterday)

Their warranty still appears to be a sham. Forget about whatever the owners manual says you are entitled to people, cause those entitlements as printed are not worth the glossy paper they are printed on. Looks flash and gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside when you read them, but when it comes to the crunch, all those flash words mean diddly squat.

I still have no car by the way. But, my fittness is improving by the day.

Not a single letter from Holden in response to my concerns.

Till next time, this is the Public Transport catching RKZ234 signing off.

 

[spacattack]

i just have one question what holden dealerships/places are you goin to?

 

[Jonnys_VN]

tyre wear = Wear and tare. Tyres do not come under warrantty sorry.

Suspension including struts and gass cylinders also have a limited warrantty. Read the full terms and conditions available at any Holden/HSV Dealer.

If the camber is included in your warrantty then it should have been fixed. Maybe its not Holden But the dealer in question???

 

[Julie]

Nah johnny, whats happened here is clearly a design fault, which probably should even had to have gotten to warranty stage, they shoulda just recalled them. Vt's are notorious for chewing out the inside of tyres, nearly everyone I know that owns a vt suffers this prob as do we unfortunately. Holden recognises this problem, and have washed their hands of it.

RKZ234, Unfortunately I think you are fighting a losing battle. I think holden will stick to their guns, and I wonder if today tonight/ ACA would even touch a story like that, I mean they prob wouldn't wanna get on the bad side of a company that pays their respective networks millions of dollars each year in advertising. But hey I respect what you are doing and think its very commendable, good luck with it, I think you will need it.

 

[RKZ234]

tyre wear = Wear and tare. Tyres do not come under warrantty sorry.

Suspension including struts and gass cylinders also have a limited warrantty. Read the full terms and conditions available at any Holden/HSV Dealer.

If the camber is included in your warrantty then it should have been fixed. Maybe its not Holden But the dealer in question???

I respect your right to an opinion, but unfortunately you are incorrect in your belief.

Holden's warranty is not the only coverage on a new car purchase. There is a thing called the Trade Practices Act which covers all goods and service purchases consumers make. I urge EVERYBODY to read it. Yes it is lot to read, but it will allow you to identify retailers and manufacturers who try to screw you over and deny you your rights.

Tyres generally are wear and tear. In my case and in the case of thousands of others, excessive tyre wear on our VT and VX Series I sedans is caused by a vehicle design fault, which Holden knew about, but failed to fix at the factory and has failed to adequately fix since.

Had Holden been responsible, fair and reasonable, they would have recalled the entire range and fitted Camber Kits. Sadly Holden chose not to do so and also chose to dismiss consumer complaints and fob them off.

What makes this matter a matter of grave concern for all consumers is that the ACCC has let Holden get away with it for so long!!

Due to the excessive tyre wear issue being a result of a design fault, fixing the fault is a warranty item as is reimbursement for tyres a warranty claim on the basis of the tyres being classified as incidental damage.

Our tyres are prematurely wearing bald on the inner 7cm or 8cm of tread after 7000km to 12000km of normal driving, whilst the remainder of the tyre progressively increases in tread depth all the way to the outside of the tyre where tread depth is virtually same as when brand new.

That is not normal wear and tear, that is a significant design fault and a safety issue.

Holden's response to the probelm and the fact the ACCC has failed to protect consumers and allowed this to go on since the VT was released in 1998 is a NATIONAL DISGRACE!

 

[RKZ234]

i just have one question what holden dealerships/places are you goin to?

The car has done a lot of Hwy k's and has been to dealerships in Vic, NT and Qld.

The dealerships are not the issue, because they have all advised me of the same thing.

• Holden knows about the problem
• Holden tries to fob people off
• The dealers hands are tied - they can't be performing work unless somebody pays them
• It is a waste of time going through the dealer if Holden refuses to pay for warranty work
• The customer then must call Customer Service on 1800 033 349 to generate a case and initiate an "investigation"

Once you do that, you will become a prisoner to a slow moving process of varied and deliberately calcualted attempts by Holden, to make customers so frustrated with Holden's lies, "closing off" case numbers when the case is unresolved, "loosing" or "never receiving" correspondence you mail and fax to them and generally providing deliberalty incompotent service, that you give up, thus accepting far less than you are entitled to.

Many years ago I was involved with the Call Centre Industry. Based on the performance I have expereinced, Holden fails to meet the most basic of service level standards expected back in 1990! Furthermore, they are so far behind the standards of Excellence in Customer Service it's a laughable!

Therefore, their under-performance is no mistake whatsoever. It is without doubt a deliberate strategy.

 

[Beaves]

Hey RKZ234 I understand ya frustration mate as my girl an i own a vt executive sedan we bought from new that wears out rear tyres rather fast (not quit as bad as yours from the sounds!)- driving home 3 months ago or so we actually had a blow out on the rear passenger side, was definetly not a pleasant experience!!! This was due to excessive wear on the inside edges of the rear tyres, the middle and outside still were well off the tread indicators - talk about being a safety issue!

I just purchased a VY one tonner s pack ute for a work vehicle, it's under new car warranty and i have a few probs with it i really hope holden doesn't pull the same crap on me.... best of luck mate let me no if we can be of any help - Beaves.

 

[mitch01]

mate - I'm just wondering when you are going to recieve the storage bill? Highly doubt they'd be paying for it but I'm guessing you wouldn't pay it anyway right?
Talk about a headache! But I respect your resolve on this issue. While most people would have just got rid of the thing months ago at market value and cut their losses.
For those who doubt the power of one individual and feel futile in situations this - we can only lay one brick at a time.