Ripped Off By AmD!!

[Oz7]

I feel ripped off by AmD!!

When I purchased my Audi I was told it was totally standard, so I decided that I wanted that little bit more! So I booked the car in with AmD, (Its around a 7 hours round trip, they are not cheap £850, but as they claim to be the best I thought it was a trip worth while) I paid my £100 deposit over the phone and travelled to them.
When AmD did an initial power run they noticed that the car was pushing out more than standard so they told me that it must have already been tuned this was news to me, and the previous owner, a surprise & a bit of a bonus. So not wanting to waste AmD's time I spend £1200 on a set of 18" alloy wheels and would have spend a further £900 on a brake upgrade if they had, had them in stock. I then waited 4 hours for AmD to fit a set of wheels, but I was patient, and then departed.
I have now discovered that for the single power run they have charged me £100!! I received no power print out, no power figures , no reports and they did no tuning to the car! All they did was drive it once on the rolling road!! - What makes it worse is that I have read other posts on various forums that some AmD customers have recieved a free power run & print out when purchasing items!!

I feel quite hard done by as they project the image of customer care and fairness yet £100 for the 20 minutes work involved strapping the car down seems excessive to me!! I appreciate that I may have to pay something but £100!!

[Nige_RS4]

Most tuners charge at least £50 for a rolling road session. You should've at least of got a RR printout - if you call them, they might still have it on their RR system. Did you ask them to find out who had tuned it i.e. look in the ECU to see if there was any tell-tale signs?(logo, piggy-back board type).

[Oz7]

NigeS4

I agree, for the work carried out £50 would have been fair.
If I had been given a printout, told my power output etc, It wouldnt have been so bad, but I got nothing. I only found out that they had taken the money by checking my monthly statement!

[Andiroo]

Have you spoke to them about this Oz? I think that without qualifying your post with their response is unfair to AmD and we will stop this thread going any further until that information is to hand. You never know, could be a simple mistake or could be that this is the charge and a)they didn't tell you or b)you didn't listen.....

By all means let's post when we are not happy, but only when all evidence is to hand, OK? [img]images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Andiroo

[Oz7]

I have contact AmD and they have told me that I will not be having my money back. I have disputed this but to no-avil. I have now asked for the power printout/rolling road report as this is what I have paid for, and am awaiting a responce!

[DJG]

I think £120 + VAT is AMD's standard rate for a power run. Not cheap, but if you want the best...

In fact I think I paid £120 for a power run there earlier this year with £100 asked for in advance (they charge the deposit to avoid problems with no-shows).

AMD's logic is they would prefer to be using the RR facilities etc for chipping or major tuning work as this is more profitable than a simple power run. Your turning up, but not having the chip done means they may well have lost out on selling a chip etc to someone else.

£100 seems pretty cheap to find you car was chipped and save £850 (or £750 [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] anyway). At least you are no longer at risk of having unknowingly had invalid insurance due to not knowing your car was chipped. You should have been given the print out though. Did you ask for one when you were there?

David

[kiwi_mtm]

I dont think your've ben "ripped off". Maybe the service slipped a little.

[Bushy]

I think the title was a little harsh here and feel you have posted on several forums just to diss AmD, this site is not about dissing companies and feel a less strong title would have been more apt

In addition you have posted this on other sites

I assume you have taken this up with AmD and after other Crew members looking on other sites I notice Wando - AKA John Robbins who works at AmD has made the following reply

I've ping ponged a few emails today to Simon explaining the situation, I'll explain the situation as I see it-
AmD take a deposit on a booking which is refundable up to a week before the booking is due. We have had to do this as we were experiencing problems with customers cancelling at short notice leaving us with worktime that we couldn't book-in in time, also I fear we were suffering from some spoof bookings. So we decided to start taking deposits on bookings.
This deposit like I've said before is non refundable after a certain time to protect ourselves as would be expected.
So, Simon booked his car in for Cruise Control and a Remap, he received the car and found out he had cruise control but hadn't noticed on first seeing it, also the previous owner was unaware it was remapped, we receive the car which was due to have cruise(which was cancelled at short notice) and for a remap. The technician does his pre remap diagnostics making sure everything is ok before looking at even running it on the rolling road, then the initial power run is done revealing that the car is already producing 265bhp.
Simon did buy some wheels but I did do you a deal on them if I'm correct? and it wasn't £1200, also we did fit them free of charge with your rear wheels being totally seized on and the engineer did take the time to clean up your hubs properly so you wouldn't have any problem in case you've had a puncture.
It was my fault I forgot to get you the graphs but I was trying to do everything I could for you if I'm correct, I apologise for my lapse in that part, they will be in the post to you tomorrow.
As previously stated in an email today we normally charge £120+VAT for a power run and we've seen this before where people have come in wanting a chip where there car already is, we've always told customers where this is so and not tried to them any other, as I understand it you had booked AmD to do some work on your car, it cannot be AmD's fault that you did not know your car had been already chipped.

I'll probably get in trouble replying to this but I feel there were a few things needed clarifying.

Thanks Simon

Best Regards All
John

I think it is a shame that you need to diss them, but at least other people are now aware that a non returnable deposit is required at AmD for future bookings, thank you

[Thorney]

Blimey a post from Wando which was polite and clear [img]images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Mo_S3]

Not something u see very often !! Or should i say at all ! [img]images/graemlins/9mm.gif[/img]

[Oz7]

I deliberatly post on AS-net to get a reply from John. He has now help resolve the problem, (more details on AS-net). To summarise I will shortly recieve a copy of bhp, and rolling road print out. And my wheels cost £1125.20.

Also as I stated on AS-net John (Wando) wasvery helpful on the day and offered superb service. This thread is by no way directed at him. I worded the title strongly to invoke a reaction. I posted for advise and for the subject to be discussed as that is what this board is for, information sharing.

As the situation is all but solved, I would suggest that we stop the thread here.

Thanks

[PhilT]

I would suggest that we stop the thread here.

Why? Other people may want to add comments at a later date. Don't see why we should close it because the toys are due to be back in the pram. This thread will remain open, unless it breaks the RS246 Board Rules.

[Dippy]

I'd just like to add that yes, £120+VAT is the charge, and that's what I happily paid last week. If you think about what they actually have to do for a RR run, and the fact that you are paying for skilled technician rates (and not some trainee that you might get from an Audi dealer for whatever rate they charge), then for confidence in the health of your pride and joy, that's not really much to pay.

I'll also add that I have always had discounts or jobs done for free every time I've been to AmD so IMO they are quite the opposite of a rip-off.

However I won't be all nice to AmD. One thing that AmD are consistent about is forgetting simple things such as RR plots or simply signing a service book. It's a shame that this seems to happen rather a lot, and it's not difficult to get right.

My advice to anyone who goes to AmD is to talk through the pricing and the work done when you're there. That way any mistakes, ommissions or assumptions will be cleared up and you'll always leave happy.

[Scotty]

I wonder how much it cost AMD to have an empty car bay after they couldn't fit the cruise control (you already had one!!) and they couldn't chip it (it was already done!!)

It's a shame people have to spout off before getting the suppliers response. [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Jon]

I can honestly say they have never been anything but proffessional and courtesous when I've been. I trust them more than my dealers!