A ten-year-long customer at a Jaguar Land Rover dealership left his broken Range Rover in front of dealership after a long running feud over repairs and customer service.
Steven Hamilton, 33, from Aldrige, Birmingham, ‘wrapped’ the vehicle in complaints to warn people of what he described as poor customer service.
Steven Hamilton, 33, from Aldrige, Birmingham, was unhappy with the customer service at Lancaster Range Rover
Steven, who owns an events company, decided to host a protest outside the dealership
He had bought three cars from the dealership 18 months ago, costing around £237,000, one for himself and one for his father-in-law and fiance, after previous buying ten cars from the showroom over ten years.
But Steven, who has spent over £700,000 at the dealership, now says he has no other choice but to make a stand against the customer service from staff at the Lancaster Land Rover, in Birmingham.
Steven claims that after seven weeks of the dealership keeping his car in to fix its broken gearbox and suspension, they have refused to give him a deadline for the work to be complete.
In response, he covered one of his other Range Rovers with messages about the store’s customer service before parking it outside.
He left the Range Rover Vogue outside the forecourt covered in complaints such as ‘DO NOT USE THIS DEALERSHIP’ and ‘TOTALLY INCOMPETENT’ after claiming he had no other choice but to make a stand.
Steven, who owns an events company, said: ‘I have been a customer there for the past ten years, all the staff from the managers to the service staff know me by name.
Steven experience multiple issues with the cars he bought from the dealership
He claims he was forced to take a stand after having his calls ignored by staff
‘I bought the three vehicles 18-months ago, two Range Rover Vogues and Range Rover Evoque, costing about £273,000, all with three years warranty.
‘I was having trouble with my own car and it’s been there for the last seven weeks.
‘They have every technician possible look at the car, I call three times a day to find out what is happening and they refuse to get back to me. I now have to take time out of work to go to the dealership so they will actually talk to me.
‘I was waiting on a call from the general manager, which I never received, and when I went down to speak to him in person he told me he didn’t have to call me as he had other staff to do that for him, even though I was told by the Land Rover head office he would get in touch.
‘I remember sitting in his office and overhearing staff tell someone that they would provide them with excellent customer service and I thought you know what, people need to know how badly we have been treated.
‘I left the car on the verge outside the showroom and I called up my friend and arranged to have the car wrapped in complaints to really make my point.’
After Steven’s father-in-law, Chris, experienced problems with his 2017 Range Rover Vogue three months ago, the dealership fitted two new engines and two new engines.
But the car could not be fixed and he and was forced to swap the car like for like.
Just seven weeks ago Steven also began to experience problems with his own 2017 Range Rover Vogue’s gearbox and suspension.
Steven said: ‘When they eventually told me it was fixed, I went down to test drive it and it was still broken. They said they had no idea why and refused to give me a date of when they could get the problem resolved.
‘I needed the car for work and instead I have been left with a tiny courtesy car that’s just not practical. It’s affecting my job because I have spent so much time going back and forth to them.
‘It’s completely out of character for me to do something like this and it’s not a decision that I took lightly. They spoke to me like dirt and I wanted people to know they shouldn’t use the dealership.
‘They are quick enough to take your money but not provide the follow service that is promised.’