I don't blame you for having doubts about the Alfa 4C. Were the people you spoke to at Fiat/Abarth aware of your 4C order? If they were this seems a bizarre way to reward your loyalty.

Perhaps phone Alfa UK (00800 2532 0000, Option 4) to discuss matters as you've a 4C on order.

I've always had good treatment from Fiat UK with my car and my Parents car, but I must admit Alfa seemed to be even better at following things up when I enquired with them about my sisters new MiTo. You might get further with them.

Are you sure that number isn't Fiat Customer Relations Italy?

I dealt with them yesterday and today, and they are giving me £100 towards the £250 I had to pay to get my failing front strut bearings replaced. The car was second hand but only a few months out of warranty.

Not happy they failed - the original parts have been superceded - but at least I have new front bearings, and new rear dampers - they were rattling when I tested it and they were replaced with new parts too before I signed on the dotted line.

In your case I would have hoped for a bigger contribution.

As for the 4c, well, it looks fabulous, and I'm sure things will go wrong, but I'm equally sure they will treat customers very well. This Alfa needs to be a success

Ulpian said:

As for the 4c, well, it looks fabulous, and I'm sure things will go wrong, but I'm equally sure they will treat customers very well. This Alfa needs to be a success

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Let's hope so. In my experience only spending 16.5K and being a repeat customer does not really impress them very much.

Ulpian said:

Are you sure that number isn't Fiat Customer Relations Italy?

I dealt with them yesterday and today, and they are giving me £100 towards the £250 I had to pay to get my failing front strut bearings replaced. The car was second hand but only a few months out of warranty.

Not happy they failed - the original parts have been superceded - but at least I have new front bearings, and new rear dampers - they were rattling when I tested it and they were replaced with new parts too before I signed on the dotted line.

In your case I would have hoped for a bigger contribution.

As for the 4c, well, it looks fabulous, and I'm sure things will go wrong, but I'm equally sure they will treat customers very well. This Alfa needs to be a success

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It's just the numbers I've got off of the respective UK websites for Fiat/Alfa/Abarth:

Fiat - 00800 3428 0000
Alfa - 00800 2532 0000
Abarth - 00800 222 78400

The Fiat one is printed on a sticker on our 500s sun visor too. They all spell out FIAT (3428), ALFA (2532) or ABARTH (222784) on a phone keypad, not sure how common knowledge it is. However, they are also International Freephone numbers and it does have an international dialling tone, so whether it goes through to Italy or to Italy & then re-routes to the UK depending on the option you select, I'm not sure. They seem fairly decent though. Certainly better than the customer surveys would have you believe in my experience.

Your response from them was similar to mine - pretty decent. I just can't fathom how you and me (both used buyers) get decent treatment but someone with a new car purchase and a second on order gets a bit of a bum deal. This might be where they fall down in the customer satisfaction scores - why they can't get the hang of something so simple just baffles me.

No, we definitely get through to Italy, that's why they have those accents.

It's very odd that we speak to Italians, but as you say, they were prompt and very correct, and to tell the truth I was very impressed. All round in fact, my dealer was excellent in helping me too.

Perhaps they think we are testing the Fiat water, even thought this is my third Fiat. But more probably they just accept that a low mileage car only slightly over three years old shouldn't need a part that should last the lifetime of the car. That was my argument, put politely of course. All very civilised in fact.

They had a bit of an accent, sometimes a stronger accent but it was like they were well trained to speak with a good tone & so they didn't sound definitely Italian, if that makes sence. It was hard to make out where the people were from, but it wasn't Penine Lancashire, if that makes sence Also, because I knew Fiat UK is in Slough I wasn't sure if it was just someone from abroad living in Slough, as it's pretty diverse there.

All my dealings have been perfectly civilised. I phoned them about the snapped springs on the Stilo, they advised me to send an email to the UK customer care team. I sent that with photos & got a response with offer of full reimbursement after about 2 days from the UK Customer Relations Manager (who was definitely British). Spoke to them about the Parents 500 that turned up without the TomTom port, they said they'd pass it onto the product team, and someone phoned back about 48 hours later to explain. Granted they told me what I already knew but when I said this would mean the Parents would have to get a different satnav unit to that intended & asked if they'd offer anything to make amends, they offered a £50 voucher which we put towards an interim service.

Only when I enquired with Alfa about current offers when my Sister was buying her MiTo did they come unstuck a bit, and quoted the deals on offer for the Giulietta. FGA Capital were pretty rubbish too, but they sounded like they were in Yorkshire (think the paperwork confirms that) and I dunno if they're just employed under contract for Fiat. However, we did get a call a few days later from a guy at Alfa asking if everything was ok and then a while later got a customer survey call from an Italian guy at Alfa, so there was opportunity for us to give feedback, which I didn't expect.

They're not perfect with everyone as this thread shows, but I do think there's some sort of willingness to them in many respects, which because of their other quirks/faults, I find slightly endearing.

Ulpian said:

No, we definitely get through to Italy, that's why they have those accents.

It's very odd that we speak to Italians, but as you say, they were prompt and very correct, and to tell the truth I was very impressed. All round in fact, my dealer was excellent in helping me too.

Perhaps they think we are testing the Fiat water, even thought this is my third Fiat. But more probably they just accept that a low mileage car only slightly over three years old shouldn't need a part that should last the lifetime of the car. That was my argument, put politely of course. All very civilised in fact.

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I was very polite initially with Abarth & it didn't seem to help

My problem is that I am inclined to get cross too quickly sometimes, I just expect things to work efficiently at all times and be fair - idiot me!

But I've been a bit ill recently and so I haven't had the energy to be upset, so I've just been quiet. I am usually polite as I hate rudeness, but cars can bring out the worst in everyone, including me. I was particularly irritated because my car came with an extended warranty which didn't cover the strut bearings: wishbones etc., fine, but not the bearings... I have no idea why other than that the insurers are very careful not to cover bits they know are likely to fail. Even though they are parts that should last the lifetime of the car :bang:

Anyway, Fiat has coughed up some money so I'll now just rest and take it easy over the weekend.

If they had paid the full cost I'd have loved them a lot more though.

Having heard this a few days ago it makes me feel worse

From a chap I know, his work colleagues 2007 Audi S6, approx. 60K on the clock, approved Audi s/hand car covered by the Audi used car warranty. Decides to eat its engine, completely destroys it, one piston not found yet no holes in the block, massive melt down, parts of the engine found in the cats, done properly & apparently somewhat impressive when it went.

Audi s/hand warranty have agreed to pay but the warranty only covers up to the value of the car, the repair bill is somewhat over the cars value ( V10's aren't cheap) so the warranty will pay out in full & the owner gets paid out to the value of the car.



A fair result you would think BUT Audi UK have stepped in & have offered to pay the balance of the repair bill which is a decent chunk if he wants the car back. Agreed its a top of the range car but its a 2007 car & the owner wasn't going to be out of pocket anyway.



Now that's what I call customer service.

Stuart J said:

Now that's what I call customer service.

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Fiat are still living in the dark ages when it comes to customer service.

I'd only recommend a Fiat in two circumstances; the owner mechanic who can pretty much fix cheaply whatever the car throws at them, or someone buying new and chopping it in at the end of the warranty period.

I've said it before, but I think those buying 3/4 yr old 500's at current prices and depending on garage servicing & repair will have a much higher total cost of ownership than their first owners ever did.

To Update

Discussions with Abarth ongoing & they seem more human than the dealer ( our ex dealer) Car will now be moving to Meridian Milano in Portsmouth. Been in with it once already with a on / off engine light & it was such a refreshing experience, I actually felt as though I mattered & wasnt just someone getting in the way

Ive heard so many horror stories about Westover aftercare, not only Fiat but Renault & Nissan as well, aftercare isn't it appears something they consider necessary, it costs money & takes effort which obviously is not cost effective, when the showrooms are empty they will wonder why

Stuart J said:

To Update

Discussions with Abarth ongoing & they seem more human than the dealer ( our ex dealer) Car will now be moving to Meridian Milano in Portsmouth. Been in with it once already with a on / off engine light & it was such a refreshing experience, I actually felt as though I mattered & wasnt just someone getting in the way

Ive heard so many horror stories about Westover aftercare, not only Fiat but Renault & Nissan as well, aftercare isn't it appears something they consider necessary, it costs money & takes effort which obviously is not cost effective, when the showrooms are empty they will wonder why

Click to expand...

I have lost trust in Thames Fiat Slough as they took too long to fix my errant horn on the Bravo

Warranty expires in November so Bravo will be going in to Bishops Fiat Guildford for check over, i'll report back on the experience