Lipscomb Reviews

Problem finally resolved After a lot of wasted time effort and persistence

It s a shame there isn t an option for zero - as my experience over the last 10 days isn t worthy of anything higher I ordered an 18 month old VolvoV90CC from Lipscomb Canterbury with a towbar and having checked a couple of times the week prior to collection that all was ok for the scheduled collection date and being assured there was no problem I sold my previous car privately I then find out late afternoon on the day before collection that there is an issue with the towbar the trailer module is on backorder-with no eta for delivery As I was then without a car moving the date back was not an option so we made the 280 mile found trip to Canterbury to collect the car On the day of collection the salesman Sam suggested that sending the module to a local dealer to finish the job would be an option to avoid us having to make another round trip of 280 miles The good news is that they do now have a trailer module available from another customers order but the ONLY way to finish the job That they started without having all of the required parts available and which they have only half completed is for the car to go all the way back to them again The module cannot be sent to another Volvo dealer closer to home after all as they have started the job If this is indeed true why on earth start a job that you don t have all of the parts for when you know the customer lives so far away It cannot be finished at my home address either apparently Whether this is all true or is just an excuse so that Lipscomb are not inconvenienced whilst finishing the job I don t know But - I can only go by what I ve been told so will have to assume this is correct Over the last week or more a few emails have been ignored and phone calls not returned So - the saga continues I m sure this is not typical Volvo customer service but right now I m really wishing I d stayed with Mercedes as my recent dealings have been far from positive I will of course provide a further review if there is any positive news on the outcome of completing this half-finished job which has of course already been paid for in full as I m nothing if not fair Before I forget I m also waiting for a refund of the 2 year service plan that I bought with the car only to find that it is already covered by a service plan from the previous owner that still has a further 18 months to run Maybe that can only be refunded via a drive back to Canterbury too To be continued UPDATE I m pleased to report that the nonsense about not being able to fit the towbar module anywhere other than at their workshop in Canterbury was indeed totally untrue - as I suspected Lipscom have very kindly sent out a technician to my home address and it has been fitted on my driveway today and the software updated too The refund for the service plan has also now been made after the 4th request A big thanks to Sales Controller Michael Gillmore for finally getting involved and acting swiftly to rectify an issue that should never have happened in the first instance Not the new car experience I was looking forward to but we got there eventually

Do not use for service

So a year ago I took out a service plan for two Fiat cars mine and my wife s First service we encounter issues my car a week after the service gets the engine light on I check the stick guess what it s low I call them up they tell me this service was a visual only ironic as they tick the box to say oil change So I ask what was done and I was advised it s only a visual and all levels are correct so nothing Expensive trip Second trip my wife s car this time I m vigilant and check everything But this time we get a knocking sound we call 5 times asking for the service log so we know what s done nothing Then they say bring the car back in well they say the knocking is a mount and they noted it on the service report Ok please provide the report sorry sir we lost is Something smells funny Anyway engine mount c 300 So I call Fiat direct they say just to let you know sir your car has extended warranty until the end of 2023 so should be covered So why is the garage telling me I don t Prior to sending it back in I decide to carry out a once over on the car engine fluid low spark plugs not been changed oil dirty certainly not new - so I advise them This time they advise again similar story we noted this down on the service you have a leak and requires further investigation I then get a service log with this all on it but not before I had 1 spark plug changed under the service that was it - What cowboys Now it s my time for my service second on the plan - last time was a visual inspection I advised the car is struggling to start probably needs new plugs defiantly needs an oil change as the lights have been on for a year and I had to top the oil up - when I got given the car I got told no this service was just an inspection to tighten everything up My engine fluid is below the minimum line but not recorded - in a nut shell your paying a premium for a stamp because they don t do anything done to the car the final topping they tell my wife she needs to use the third service before the years up by a considerable amount otherwise she loses it Have you ever checked what you had done Put a dot on the spark plugs check the fluid before it goes in As I promise these guys are robbing you and not doing anything All round I feel robbed and though my car is not getting the treatment it deserves to get the best out of it Worse car experience I think I ve ever had

My car had been in for repairs for 5

My car had been in for repairs for 5 weeks parts coming from Italy with no knowledge of when they will arrive How can a business survive like that not knowing when essential parts will arrive Communication very poor My first and last car from this dealer

Shocking communication Bad franchise

Shocking communication My brand new car stopped working 2 months in 2 starter motors apparently then a new engine Alfa Aylesford Maidstone absolutely useless How does this business survive Seeking compensation currently

Absolutely disgusting service

Absolutely disgusting service from this dealership After purchasing my vehicle in October 2022 its been back into this garage 4 times and yet they still cant solve the issue The service iv received from them is awful They cant do their job correctly and continually lie to their customers The manager doesn t seem to care about anything whenever I call and request to speak to him he is always busy meanwhile the receptions seem to think they know it all They take your money promise you a years warranty but yet they don t deliver

Appalling customer care

Appalling customer care After the rear window of my fiat 500 becoming loose I returned to Fiat expecting them to fix the problem as a rear window shouldn t just become unfixed for no reason So clearly a manufacturing fault Their response was to tell me I had to pay for the repair and that I would need to contact their customer care team if I wanted to take it further regards a refund What Fiat don t tell you when you buy a car from them Or two in our case that you have to contact Fiat in Italy for any customer care problems Yes Italy I don t know where to being Their automated phone system is awful you struggle to hear the options When I got to speak to someone they were hard to understand They said they would raise an enquiry and I had to call back on the morning of taking my car in Which I did I had to explain everything once again to be told someone would get back to me in 48 hrs But what do I do about payment today They couldn t answer this When I collected my car I way informed I would have to pay and Fiat would reimburse me But I m stood in a Fist dealership Ridiculous is an understatement When I am contacted by Fiat Italy I am told they do NOT refund customers They give a goodwill gesture to the amount in stead which can go against a service or extras What the service that is 150 more than other reputable garages I can go to So I m still out of pocket The battle continued until two weeks later Fiat Italy agree they will reimburse But they have to refund Lipscomb who then refund me Is it me or is this complete madness So a month later and I am still having to chase Lipscomb have not returned my calls on two occasions So I go into the dealership in person We are dealing with it I would disagree Nine days later still no contact from them The only contact I ve had from Lispsomb has been when they have called to try and get me to book both mine and my sons Fiat in for services Today after a frank discussion with their service manager and threatening to take both cars back I have been told I have been refunded but yet to confirm the transaction on my credit card I can t believe this ridiculous customer care situation When do you have to go to the country of the manufacture as opposed to the company you have purchased from Potential Fiat buyers be aware it is making me rethink the make of my next car after this appalling and frankly ridiculous service

Shocking after sales service

Shocking after sales service bought a new Abarth 7 weeks ago that needed work still waiting after multiple phone calls to be told we can t find the paperwork Promised call backs NEVER happen This used to be a good dealership Not so much these days they literally do not care once they have your money Shame

This is the second time I have visited definitely the last

This is the second time I have visited for a service the first time was okay However this time the service took a lot longer than I was told which was no big deal but just left me hanging around for an extra hour or two But a repair was required under warranty which overall took six weeks I don t blame Lipscomb for the length of time the repair took however the wrong part arrived and they had to hold onto my car over the weekend which was a bank holiday weekend while the correct part was sourced The service department told me they do not check the parts when they come in because they might damage them when they open them This was a water pump Because The warranty on the car ran out during the time the pump was being changed i was told by the service desk that the pump and the work has no warranty whatsoever and if the car broke down on the way home I was told there was nothing they would do about it this filled me with no confidence whatsoever When I got my car home I noticed a scuff on the drivers seat as if somebody had sat in there with keys in their back pocket and even worse a nasty chunk of paint out of the drivers door where the door had clearly been opened into something like a wall I was going to contact Lipscomb and send them photos but I just can t be bothered to deal with them I ve had the car three years and never so much as scratched it I get the feeling there is no care given to the customers cars and also the whole experience was a big let down I would definitely not go back to this dealership under any circumstances even if they were giving out free servicing As such it s put me off getting a new Alfa even after owning about nine of them The only positive thing is they gave the car a good clean both times it was in Things will probably change regarding my desire to drive alfa Romeo s but at the moment no chance I will probably carry out my own services from now on

Unscrupulous dealership bad customer service

Fiat at Maidstone are greedy and unscrupulous Avoid this dealership at all costs Was let down by this dealership for a second time and been left with a nasty taste in my mouth They failed my car on its MOT due to an insecure exhaust at the front pipe Turns out all they had to do was tighten the screws on the clamp holding the front pipe a small action that would have taken no time at all at the time of the MOT However they did not do this and chose to fail my car instead Had I not sought a second opinion I could have faced large bills for unnecessary diagnostics fees and unnecessary work Avoid this garage at all costs it puts profit over good quality customer service at a time when the cost of living crisis means every penny counts The staff fronting the customer service desk are bullies and don t like to be challenged or are not ready to talk in a reasonable way they just peddle their lies and expect you to swallow them I would recommend taking yr car elsewhere There are a number of one star reviews on this website in respect of this garage and I would take notice of them they are there for a reason My 2 experiences have put me off owning fiats and alfas for life now as I don t want to give them anymore of my hard earned money