4 September (Part 3) - Computers on wheels - Phase 2
There
was a phone call before I took my bus ride to Chislehurst
to see if my car had been
shipped off to Tilbury as I had been told it needed to be two days earlier. It had not been. The
call was to offer a petrol engined courtesy car - I forget which model - but I refused
it. I am not going to return to the inconvenience of finding petrol stations and
paying for the pleasure of smelling exhaust fumes when my EV runs on Solar for
free. I had been promised in writing that if the out-of-spec battery failed (LG
had made a manufacturing error and it could catch fire) I would be loaned another identical EV.
Whoever it is who dishes out courtesy cars came back to me with the offer of a
2024 model EV but I would have to get myself to Watford to pick it up. They
agreed to pay any travelling expenses incurred but there was no way to get it
back to Belvedere without incurring one of Sadiq Khan’s travel taxes so I declined that offer too.
I took the SL3 and 269 to Perry Street to ask Ancaster (the dealer) what was
going on. The answer was a mixture of bad news and better news. My car had not
been picked up and that was not expected to happen for around 14 days. Meanwhile
it sits out in the open instead of its normal protected life in my garage.
Once returned to Tilbury it was likely to wait there for a minimum of four
months awaiting the availability of a replacement battery which is hopefully
clear of LG’s mistakes. Hyundai’s dealers are almost powerless when up against
Hyundai UK’s intransigence, incompetence and total disdain for customer care. I and
other Hyundai owners have seen how poor they can be over seven years. See photo below.
However my receptionist seemed to realise that being given five years of the
runaround by Hyundai UK should not go on longer than necessary. She said that the whole operation was going to cost
Hyundai something in the region of £18,000 and that it was ridiculous that they
were happy to add to the inconvenience by not delivering a courtesy car to my home.
She made a phone call and put some pressure on someone or other to do something
helpful. Along the way she extracted an assurance that if no EV was forthcoming
all my petrol bills would be reimbursed but the real answer was to provide the EV promised in the first place.
This morning someone phoned to tell me that an EV will be delivered to my door, probably tomorrow. Well done Ancaster lady.
So Ancaster, despite in my opinion, a shaky start, have done all they can given
the uselessness of Hyundai UK. A manager called me today with name and phone number in case of further problems.
However there has been total silence from Hyundai UK. No reaction to yesterday’s
X post. No response to Monday’s email. If you are in the market for a new car, Hyundai is
the name to avoid.
Thanks to my industry contact I now have the name and email address of the top
man at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency who issued the urgent instruction
to change some Hyundai (LG) batteries and who has been sitting on his backside wasting
taxpayers’ money ever since. Also their
Code of Practice. (Actually there has been a change of personnel since 2020
but you will get the point.)
Do you think a Civil Servant might do his job if I complain? I have my doubts.
So Hyundai are having to spend £18,000 on a seven year old car. The most
expensive one on Auto-Trader at the moment is available for £12k. but it has
47,000 miles on the clock while mine is at 38,000. It would cost Hyundai less to buy me out.
By the way, My Superloop SL3s did not go anywhere near Bexley station and
provided a quick and easy route to Chislehurst. Why do
Bexley Councillors want
to take the facility away?
Note: The photo above is the one that got me a threat of
police action. Taken through a glass screen where customers were encouraged to watch.
Four owners meet to compare notes when EVs were a novelty.