Absolute nightmare Volvo assistance experience

[Ulrikas PA]

Originally Posted by tspdavish

OP here - update for those interested.

I complained to the garage, Volvo Assistance, Enterprise and I DEFINITELY was a victim of crap communication and being fobbed off between 3 different organisations telling me 3 different things.

Sorry you had the runaround.

It seems like not much has changed in the industry since my 5 years managing the Roadside Assistance programme for Mercedes Benz...

Before I left that job, do you remember the 'Twister' game from the 70s with the bright coloured circles to place your hands and feet?

I did a PowerPoint version called 'The customer journey' with each circle representing a company, team or dept and lots of lines and arrows representing the poor customer being passed from pillar to post.

At least I did my best to put Premier League footballers in decent hire cars. One complained that we could 'only' offer an S Class, which he said his team mates would take the Michael out of for him looking like a chauffeur. And there were the people who leased Mercs that then 'broke down' and they hired out their hire cars...

[Jaddak]

Originally Posted by Lexman8

I've used Volvo Assistance once in the UK without any problems and that included getting a hire car from Enterprise.

In Europe I'd contact Volvo in the first place but if the response wasn't satisfactory I'd fall back on the cover provided through my Nationwide current account. I've never had to use it so I've no idea how good or bad that might be.

Having two options, especially when in Europe, just makes me feel more relaxed about solving any problems should it come to the worst.

Hi Lexman8 - Bit late to the party

Had to call Nationwide in Germany back in 2012 when had an AUDI a year out of warranty - Waited 2 hours on the Autobahn for a cheap local agent who just recovered to their garage... & everyone then denied responsibility about sorting stuff - I had to sort myself.

It's why I went Volvo after then & not looked back.

It's very clear in Volvo's literature... you'll be rescued to either the point of your destination or repatriated, with car taken to a repairer & a 3 day loaner.

[Past Master]

Some of the comments above caused me to look into this more carefully. It appears that if you have Volvo Selekt warranty (not the dealer's warranty) it is a bit better than the 3-year manufacturer's warranty - specifically it provides 10 day car hire. This confirms what one poster wrote above. Both warranties warn that a hire car may not be available if the driver is over 65, which would make the whole thing academic anyway for this 72 year-old. I recall that we also have (because of my wife's car) "deluxe" cover via CSMA. I'll have to dust off the T&Cs.

[ergonomist]

A couple of observations. When my XC90 suffered turbo failure on the outskirts of Calais last summer, I spoke first to Volvo Assistance. Very friendly and supportive, but warned me that all they could do on a Sunday afternoon was recover to a garage (and couldn't get someone to me for about 4hrs), and if it needed recovery back to the UK we were looking at about 2 weeks. No idea what that would mean in terms of hire car cover. I also have Britannia Rescue (covers our second car but little extra cost to extend also to cover the Volvo) and they were able to respond much more quickly on that occasion.

Another advantage of Britannia Rescue is that they offer a hire car for the duration of your holiday if your car breaks down within a week of planned departure on holiday (and can't be repaired). Their European cover is slightly more oriented towards protecting a holiday.

As always - it's all about the small print and being clear what you need.

[Past Master]

CSMA use Britannia, which is owned by LV=. Policy including European cover through CSMA is £80. To join CSMA you need to work in, or be retired from, public service/civil service.

[sandys]

Just had the pleasure of using Volvo assistance, once I realised the sos button wasn't for Volvo

ripped through a tyre in a pothole 3 inch gash, the tyre cream was doing nothing to that.

All seemed good to me, arrived with a low loader in 30 mins, decent guy who sorted us out, I was fortunate to not be far from home and have a spare 22" complete wheel in the garage, so got that and he fitted it, though initially want to go straight to dealer.

No tyre shops had a tyre, the Volvo dealer did, though +£100 over normal price, still useful to know in an emergency.



Expensive day all the same

[Past Master]

Looks like you have damaged the rim as well.

[sandys]

yup, the 22s have taken a little beating, nothing a refurb can't sort, I'm downsizing to 20s though, a set is already on route, roads have really gone down hill the past year and these 22s offer scant protection, love 'em but just not ideal.

[Discoman]

Originally Posted by sandys

yup, the 22s have taken a little beating, nothing a refurb can't sort, I'm downsizing to 20s though, a set is already on route, roads have really gone down hill the past year and these 22s offer scant protection, love 'em but just not ideal.

I do wonder if Volvo will go back to selling cars that work for those living outside of cities. I could not run a car through the winter on a profile as low as that offered by the 21” or 22” wheels and have much chance of not buying quite a few single tyres each year. At least when I ordered my car I could get the options I wanted with tall tyres. Now everything is geared to pushing you towards Ultimate spec which even with over £10k off still makes the cars overpriced. All IMHO of course but they can’t be doing too well with this strategy as my dealer keeps ringing me up asking me to buy another one and always gets the same answer - let me put options on a Core and I will.

[Tony Harrison]

Couldn't agree more. I'm getting 17s and Hankook All Seasons when the current tyres get down to 4mm.