Edit – 09-Apr-24 – Back in January this year, I posted a trilogy of blog posts (here) detailing our experience with Trade Centre UK – Coventry. At the time of the third post, we hoped that the issues were resolved. Unfortunately the problems never finished and we still have to deal with a company that fails to deliver after sales care and cause customers great stress. I would strongly advise at this time not purchasing from them and will be updating a further part to this story very soon. A replacement reconditioned engine fitted back in January is now causing nothing but issues with the clutch that was also replaced at the same time (and is supposedly under warranty). I will update further soon… A tale of unanswered questions, back tracking on promises and failure to prioritise a customer with genuine issues. A car that has now been off the road for more than 4 months since purchase awaiting repair.
Over the past six months, I have documented by experience with Trade Centre UK – Coventry branch. As I now have a trilogy of popular posts, it seemed sensible to post the complete history of blogs in the one post. While the issue is near enough resolved, it was a difficult journey dealing with this company. Here is my experience.
TRADE CENTRE UK – COVENTRY BRANCH (REVIEW) PART 1 – 07-Aug-2023
My family and I were recently looking at swapping our car for a different model.
Trade centre UK have 5 branches that are located strategically throughout the UK. The branch we visited was Coventry. Sites are also also in Rochdale, Rotherham, Wednesbury and Birmingham.
If you have not visited one of their locations, their sites are large with hundreds of cars on site to view. Hence our visit as we would likely find a car of interest. A warehouse of cars with plenty of space inside and out. They of course also have an online presence.
So, what did we think?
On arrival, we did not have an appointment but we were greeted and our needs identified. The sales person then shows us cars that met our requirements, while using an iPad to identify possibly vehicles.
The team members who helped assist with identifying a car were very helpful. The focus on sales is almost too intense though with the sales team. They will stick by you like glue unless you ask for some space. While very friendly and process driven, they are slightly too scripted with the sales patter. Some more natural and genuine interest would be appreciated.
When purchasing a car, the team do push their after sales lifetime warranty. Of course you would expect this from any company wishing to gain ancillary sales. Quite a hard sell though so you must stand by your guns if you are not interested. To be fair, it is probably a decent warranty but everyone has to make up their own mind on whether it is a good offer for you.
Our purchase was in June and you gain a standard 28 day warranty and you are also assured that a 99 point check list has been carried out on the car to check reliability and quality. If any issues, you can then get in touch to resolve.
When collecting the car, a nice touch was a cleaning kit with contents including cleaning solutions and cloths.
But what are they like when you need after sale assistance?
While you will get all the help and support which includes phone calls prior to the pick up of your car, getting hold of the staff afterwards is more of a challenge.
We faced a difficulty which also has caused great inconvenience. While I wont get into all that detail about the issue, the point is that contacting the team to get an issue resolved is stressful. No one is ever available to talk to when you phone the customer service team. Over 9 days we had to leave messages 6 times. Eventually we had to speak to reception and leave a message after advising we would have no choice but to visit the branch if no one was going to speak to us.
Trade Centre UK need to address this balance of available staff between sales and support. It is not good and we have an ongoing issue that is still not resolved. When complaining, they do not address the need or resolve. No initiative or attempt to make you feel valued, and a total lack of urgency.
If you provide after sales, even when something goes wrong, it can result in future follow up sales. Get it wrong and you lose the customer for life. Trade Centre still have an opportunity to effectively resolve the issue. Let’s hope that do.
Would I use Trade Centre UK again at present? Doubtful but like I say, they have the opportunity at present to put things right. The staff are pleasant enough but the company has some serious issues.
Rating due to after sales service is at best below average. Certainly a good option to buy a car but be mindful that gaining after sales support is difficult. This view appears reflected in their TrustPilot reviews.
Proceed with caution when purchasing. Like many companies these days, no interest in retaining the customer after the initial sale and they have your money.
TRADE CENTRE UK – COVENTRY BRANCH (REVIEW) PART 2 (04-Dec-23)
Since writing the original article here, it feels appropriate to update on further issues using Trade Centre UK.
After a purchase of a car in the Summer, we had a nightmare with failing air con and electronics. Trade Centre UK being slow to respond resolve the issue.
At the time, I gave them the benefit of the doubt but I would now advise to strongly avoid any purchases from this dealer. Since my initial review, we have had more difficulties and have been without a car since mid October.
As a fault with the car that will have been present at time of purchase, we are now having to wait until late January for their mechanics and no sign of any courtesy car – they don’t seem to have any available. We will be without a car for three months.
While we could go elsewhere to get the car fixed, it will cost a lot more than Trade Centre UK will contribute. Their offer to contribute is a fixed amount and if other issues arise, we will then be stuck with the costs. They argue that it would cost them less to fix but they do not have any mechanic availability.
We did gain advice from the Citizens advice bureau and Which.
It has been a complete nightmare really. The result being that we are occasionally booking car hire at our expense currently. We also traded a rather good and reliable car with Trade Centre UK, as we wanted to have a larger car. The 120 point check at time of purchase is worthless and obvious that it means nothing.
Like I said in the previous review, Trade Centre UK invest all their efforts in sales and neglect after sales service. Please do not buy from them, you will have nothing but difficulties. Avoid trading with this dealership.
TRADE CENTRE UK – COVENTRY BRANCH (REVIEW) PART 3
Since writing the original article here, and then part 2 here, it feels appropriate to update on using Trade Centre UK. This relates to their Coventry branch.
Maybe our nightmare with the current issues for our car is over! If that is the case, I would like to think this would be the last post on this subject.
Without our car since late October 2023, Trade Centre UK finally provided a courtesy car unexpectedly in late December (28th). This was handy as it was a day before when we were planning to get car hire again at our expense. If only we had been given such a car sooner, it would have made such a difference to how we felt about the service provided by Trade Centre UK. Up to that point, you just get advised that they do not have any courtesy cars available.
On receipt of the courtesy car, our expectation was that our car would finally be looked at late January.
Thankfully this issue has been resolved sooner. A call received early January confirmed that our car had finally been looked at and needed a new engine. Work has now completed, just over a week later and our car is finally back in our hands some 11 weeks later. The new engine being reconditioned.
While the after sales manager did eventually come good, it has still been a difficult journey which took way too long. We now need to update the DVLA and we have Trade Centre’s agreement that they will provide a full service after 500 miles. Despite the issues, the staff we dealt with were nice, handling a difficult situation. But I would still not recommend that you trade with this dealership as capacity to deal with after sales support is poor.
Hopefully this will be the last update on this saga. As previously advised, Trade Centre UK invest all their efforts in sales and neglect after sales service. I hope that they rethink this policy.
You may also find my post about Enterprise car hire of interest as well here.
