EighTT

I think I've had more problems than he has.

Still, I wonder why he doesn't just do the Lemon Law thing and walk away. Seems like it would be a slam dunk, if what he says is true. I also wonder why Audi doesn't just buy him out to get him to go away? The negative publicity couldn't be helping them any, not to mention the costs of continual repairs and the expense of legal counsel, which will appear to be needed in the future.

If a class action lawsuit ever does make its way to court, it could be damaging both monetarily and with respect to Audi's reputation. I'd pay the guy and hopefully he'd go away, or at least tone things down.

YosemyTT

the bad press. You're right though, Brad. Why would they not see the long term picture?

SparTTan

he loses all credibility with me due to his lack of attention to detail on his site; I'm referring to the myriad of grammatical errors. He needs to learn to proofread and use a spell-checker if he wants to convey a level of seriousness and professionalism.

On another note, I've have had many of the problems he has had as well. Most of them have been fixed, all but the window rolling down unexpectedly.

EighTT

Who is unfortunately now deceased. He called very annoyed one day, and claimed that I said something that I know damn well I didn't say.

However, even though he was positively wrong, he was still a good guy and a good client. So I could tell him to pound sand and probably lose him as a client, or I could meet him halfway (even though I knew I was right) and keep him as a customer.

I met him more than half way, and the fellow did enough future business to compensate me for that. I would note that if I thought the guy was trying to pull a fast one, I would have definitely told him to pound sand, but I felt that he sincerely believed he was right.

Audi seems to approach customers experiencing problems in an adversarial manner. When I had tranny problems, they told me that I didn't know how to drive a manual transmission, even though I learned on a manual and have driven a stick for over 20 years.

I know of at least one individual here with tranny problems who was recently told the exact same thing. They also apparently told the "myaudittsucks guy" that he didn't know how to drive, and that was the apparent cause (according to Audi) of the problems. They wanted him to come in so they could examine his driving and instruct him. How insulting and demeaning!

Don't they understand that this is just going to annoy customers and potentially keep them (and others) from becoming repeat customers?

Audi makes money by selling cars. The demographics of many Audi customers is young, educated, affluent, and internet savvy. Compare those demographics to Cadillac's for example (not net savvy with one foot in the grave). Audi has a customer base that others would kill for.

Treat customers right, and a lot of these young, affluent customers will remain loyal (i.e. buy a lot of Audis) for many years to come. Approach them with a confrontational and hostile attitude, and they'll go elsewhere.

At times, I've seen Audi representatives exhibit a "who needs them?" attitude, and I think they are looking at the situation incorrectly. Plus, since Audi customers are often internet savvy, word spreads very quickly when the customer isn't given a fair shake.

Audi does a lot of things right. However, they need to work on improving the reliability of their cars, and also need to look closely at the current climate of blame, confrontation and denial with respect to the handling of dissatisfied customers.

BillK

Seriously... several times on his site he claims he feels the car is too unsafe to drive, yet people see him driving it around all the time.

If it's really that bad, lemon law it and be done with it. Brad could have set up "myNMTTRsucks.com," but he would have still been whining today instead of driving a 225R he can complain about instead. ;-)

Seriously, something smells (I'm not saying he hasn't had problems, but why hasn't he lemoned it yet?)

BillK

Deal with any of the big 3, seriously.

When I ordered my Jeep Wrangler, the factory's computer (you could call a Chrysler 800 number to get status) showed it had left the factory but my dealer didn't show it as "in transit" yet.

I called the local Chrysler zone office and got attitude, when all I was trying to do was find out where the vehicle <b>I was about to buy</b> was...

Then there was the 1988 Cavalier Z24 I successfully lemoned that GM claimed I was trying to lemon due to "buyer's remorse," but they would even provide me with a rental (which they had previously <b>refused</b> to do, several times), provided I just cancel the BBB arbitration request I had filed; when I told the GM rep I wouldn't, he literally hung up on me.

So, Audi may be adversarial at times, but IMHO they're still better than the US auto makers are (which may not be saying <i>much</i>, but it's <i>something</i>...)

bldn10

modifications, being his LEMON decals. That is one BS interpretation of the warranty.

YosemyTT

And that is not something I say very often ;-)

Any company that does not respect its clients should suffer the consequences.

N_H_D

i think he just needs to learn how to drive manual .