recently i contacted audi regarding a problem with an audi a3 cabriolet i purchased off my friend. having owned an audi tt in the past i looked forward to being in posession of an audi (owner of volvo and audi in between).

the car i purchased was a fairly recent audi (summer 2008 model) with only 9k on the clock.

the previous owner was a colleague and close friend who was replacing the audi a3 with an s5 convertible. his wife was the only user of the car and only used it during the summer - hence the car only did 3k miles per year; she used her audi q7 the rest of the time.

when he sold me the car i found out the rear heating element wasnt working. i told my colleague about this fact and he told me he wasnt aware of the fact since his wife never needed to use it. he also added that the canvas roof was recently replaced due to a design fault and suggested that the audi mechanics had forgotten to connect the element correctly. the roof replacement was done 2years ago.

i called audi slough about the problem (connector not connected with roof was replaced) and initially they were unhelpful saying they cant help me (with the costs of repair) at all since the roof replacement was done two years ago. this came as a suprise to me because i was used to exemplary customer service from volvo and bmw. however, after much persuasion m??ck (name withheld, slough audi) told me he will get his chief mechanic to look at it for free for 20minutes.

i also informed audi uk and audi uk said just bring the car into an audi garage but i will have to pay for everything and then 'claim' it back later and then audi will see what they can do to compensate. i said how do i know i wont get ripped off? audi said you just have to take our word for it. now i know how large companies work (once they already have your money you will never see it again) but had no choice but do what audi said - especially since m??ck said he would do the 20 minute diagnosis for free.

so today i took the car to audi slough and at 3pm merrick called me to say they spent one and a half hour on the car and now i owe slough audi £150?! how can this be possible when he said he would do the 20 minute diagnostic for free? in never authorised more than the free period.

furthermore merrick told me that they found:

the o/s connector adrift for rear window heater oe the heating element connector wasnt connected.

so audi slough are now charging me £150 to diagnose a fault that they said they wouldnt charge me and furthermore the diagnosis is exactly what i have been telling audi uk and audi slough about!!!! i get charged for diagnosing a problrm i already diagnosed?!

and furthermore to add insult to injury this connector not being connected was due to audi never connecting the rear heating element correctly in the first place when they replaced the roof in the first instance. audi southend had fitted a roof incorrectly and left it with a safety deficit (limited rear visibility). and now i am expected to pay.

and another factor that aggrieves me is audi slough saw the connectors unconnected but refused to connect it together (a one second job) so that they can charge me twice (once for the diagnosis and once for the repair).

so my initial fears about being ripped off by audi is pretty much accurate and true to reality.

frankly i am pretty disgusted , stressed out and dissappointed by both audi slough and audi uk attitude towards its customer. regards