Citroen Main Dealer Woes BPGA Unit..

[Uncle Tom Cobley]

Well..
It was indeed the BPGA unit on my car that had gone uptown and I had to indulge the services of the main dealer and was quoted the obscene price of eleven hundred pounds of the Kings finest.
So here’s my story sad but true as the song goes.

Going back around six weeks I would say ,my car suddenly started bogging and missing if I moved up to third gear.
Initially I thought this was a dirty injector or something despite the car being meticulously maintained ,so I poured a bottle of diesel injector cleaner in the tank and took it for a blast up the dual carriageway and voila! All seemed good.

But then a few weeks later other weird things started happening and to cut a long story short you guys on here diagnosed the likely cause as the BPGA unit.

Forearmed with this knowledge I took it for diagnostics at a local repair shop and they confirmed it was the BPGA unit but could not undertake the work as it needed to be done by a MD or specialist.

Now we live near Torquay and we were visiting my elderly in laws near Kings Lyn for five days going on Wed 13th may.
My wife had not seen her parents in the flesh for around four years and as her dad had not been well she was desperate to see them as was they to see her.

I called my local MD and told them the problem and they concurred that it was most likely the BPGA but they would like it to go on their diagnostics to be sure.
As I said I was quoted £1100 and this included their diagnostics at £162.

I said ok book me in and was told the work could be done on Tues 12th May and was offered 09:00 ,12:00 or 14:00 I chose 09:00 and was told it should be completed in two to three hours.

I promptly arrived and was asked “ can you leave the car with us for the day sir ?”
Me “Err.. No you gave me a choice of three times and I chose 09:00 because this would fit In collecting my wife from work”
MD “ unfortunately we are rather busy today”
Me “So what is the point in you giving me the choice of three times over two weeks ago ? “
MD “ Things don’t always workout smoothly “
Me “ But I need my car by 13:00 and I am driving to Kings Lyn tomorrow early afternoon ”
MD “ I will make a note for the technician but will get your car in straight away for the diagnostics and will it be ok if it is the BPGA unit to go ahead and fit it ? “
Me “ Yes thats fine “
MD “ The total is £1100 if you are OK with this please print ,sign and date the form”

Its now 11:45 and I am thinking that the car should be ready for 13:00 so they must be fitting the unit.
My phone rings and it’s them.

MD “ Ok sir we have just completed the diagnostics and it is the BPGA and just want to confirm that it is OK to go ahead and fit the new unit ? “
ME “ I thought you were doing the diagnostics first thing ? But yes I have already signed and told you verbally its ok”
MD “ Yes I am sorry we have been busy but I will tell the technician to go ahead”
Me “ this will be completed by 13:00 right ? “
MD “ yes sir all being well “

I am thinking that thats only an hours labour and they have quoted me two to two and a half hours labour so I am waiting to catch them out .
Just five minutes later my phone rings again and it’s them.

MD “ Ahh Mr TC I am really sorry to tell you but the wrong unit has been ordered and we can’t repair your car today “
Me “ You are joking right ? A Citroen main dealer can’t order the right part , who the hell ordered it ?
MD “ I guess it must of been someone in the parts department but to be honest I am looking at the photos and they are rather blurry. The good news is our Bristol warehouse has one in stock and there is a slim possibility that it may be on this afternoon’s delivery if not definitely here first thing in the morning “
Me “ So you will be fitting it first thing then ? “
MD “ Unfortunately no has we have MOTs first thing and only have two technicians in”
Me “ But I booked this two weeks ago and it’s your incompetence that the work hasn’t been done ?
MD “ I can understand what you are saying but things don’t always run smoothly “
Me “But as I have told you I am going to Kings Lyn tomorrow and its nearly a six hour drive you simply don’t realise the inconvenience you have caused “
MD “ We will endeavour to get your car repaired by the afternoon thats all I can promise “
Me “ Ok do you have a courtesy car I could use ? “
MD “ Just a moment I will check…Err sorry we have none available but we are due and EV back in this afternoon “
Me “ No thank you.”

As expected the part didn’t arrive on the afternoon delivery so now it was on a wing and a prayer that it would be here first thing.

09:30 my phone goes..
MD “ Good morning Mr TC You are not going to believe this ? “
Me “ Go on “
MD “ They have sent down a Citroën wheel instead of your BPGA “
Me “ What ! ! “
MD “ I know … It has the correct part number on it too I can’t believe it myself but I have ordered the BPGA unit to be on this afternoon’s delivery from Bristol but it doesn’t usually get here until between 15:30 and 16:30 we close at 17:30 so I doubt we will be able to have it ready for you but it will definitely be available to collect at 08:30 on Thursday morning “
Me “ But I am going away this afternoon “
MD “ Yes I know and I am sorry as soon as it is here I will call you “

So it’s 15:45 and no phone call so I call them.

Me “ Hello its Mr TC “
MD “ Ah yes sir I was just about to call you ,your part has arrived and the technician is going to try and get it fitted but it needs to be programmed to your vehicle and then road tested but as we close at 17:30 it won’t be available to the morning “

I am now in a state of depression and have conceded that my car won’t be ready until the morning.
My elderly in laws are really upset as they have made lots of arrangements and my wife had booked the time off work.

17:10 my phone goes..

MD “ Ahhh Mr TC , Good news ! All done , re programmed and road tested.”

Now I live about seven miles from the MD and its rush hour but I am thinking that there is a slim chance of getting down there and collecting my car ( my neighbour was going to take me ) perhaps with all the inconvenience they have caused me I thought they could stay open for just ten minutes more but no of course they couldn’t .

MD “ I’m sorry but we close at 17:30 but your car is ready to go and you can pay and be on your way at 08:30 .”

Then my Stepson called me to see what was going on and I told him the score and he said “why don’t you call them and pay over the phone ?”
It was a eureka moment and as they only had the spare key I could use the main set ,collect the car and drive off.
So I called them it is now 17:20.

Me “ hello its Mr TC I was thinking would it be ok for me to pay you over the phone and come and collect my car ?”

I was expecting some feeble excuse but the MD said yes it would be fine and they called me back on a secure line .
I asked if there was going to be a good will gesture and reminded them that it only took and hour and they agreed to knock £50 off the bill ( ironically there was a £50 surcharge on the BPGA unit which was then removed I don’t know what that was about ? ) the total came to around £780 and although that’s a lot better than the £1100 originally quoted I still thought it was extortionate considering the sheer incompetence shown by a Citroën main dealer.
The MD reiterated that I was giving them permission to leave the car out the front on the grass and would collect my key from them at a later date and took full responsibility.
My Stepson dropped us down there with our cases.

I hope and I really mean it ,that I never have to cross eyes with them again.

We left Torquay at 18:00 and arrived at my In laws at 23:40.
We had a lovely time.

[myglaren]

I'm staggered at the sheer incompetence. Pleased you got it back and were able to get to your inlaws and hopefully it will be OK now.

[Stickyfinger]

I'm staggered at the sheer incompetence. Pleased you got it back and were able to get to your inlaws and hopefully it will be OK now.

Why ? = dealers = simples

[PaulC5]

Good to see it was fixed although not as quickly as you had hoped. I would not expect any garage to order a part until they had completed the diagnostic as they could have been left with something at their cost on a shelf. In some ways you were lucky they managed to get one since if not available next/same day delivery could have been a few weeks.

[Richard_C]

Don't forget to go back and collect your spare key!

Good that its fixed and the final bill not too bad. If its any comfort I had the bpga replaced on my Picasso about 18 months before I sold it and the fix stayed fixed - no issues at all after that.

Now that the dealer network has been eviscerated we end up with fewer bigger dealerships, many of them in multi brand organisations with pressure on managers to deliver on key figures: customer satisfaction isn't one of them, its all about invoiceable hours per technician. From your tale I wonder if the wrong wheel is real or they say that to everyone when they have messed up. I suspect they may be measured on customer feedback via Citroen - you may (should) get an email from Citroen UK asking you to rate them. Don't be shy - a 'middling' score attracts no attention so give it 1 star and explain why.

Elliot's in Bideford were pretty good back in the day. So to find out where I might get a Citroen serviced were I still there I used the find a dealer on the Citroen UK website. Exeter, Plymouth and Taunton made sense, but high on the list came Swansea and Llanelli..... then I realised their mapping does straight lines as if the Bristol Channel doesn't exist.

To cheer us up I thought I would relate my very worst dealer experience back in the days of running company provided cars. I worked away a lot, often 2 or 3 days a week on our Cambridge site when I lived in Cheshire. I was doing 50k+ miles a year so needed a service every few weeks - 6k intervals back then. I had a V6 Granada and there was a small Ford dealership about 10 minutes walk from our Cambridge site so I booked my car in there for a service. Got back the end of the day and sensed some panic on the reception desk. Yours was the red manual one, yes? Nope, the blue grey one ..... They were supposed to transfer a car to another dealer that day, driver had turned up for "the Granada" about midday and was given the keys to mine. Took them 2 days to get it back.

Did I say don't forget to go back and collect your spare key?

[Uncle Tom Cobley]

It really is laughable sometimes that or you’ll bawl your eyes out .
Actually it wasn’t the wrong wheel sent, it was sent instead of a new BPGA unit after they initially ordered the WRONG BPGA unit .
This dealer is actually a huge dealership across the South and South West of England.
Decided to complete the customer satisfaction emailed to me and gave them the lowest score and decided to send them a transcript of my post on here when asked why I had given a low score …Doubt they will read it but hey ho!

Yes just adding..Went and got my spare key back.