Gaston the Grenadier
Grenadier Owner
Well,
Being the more than half glass full type, my experience with Ineos Automotive’s legendary Customer Support Dept and Contracts Dept will be aired with as much of a positive spin I’m able to muster.
Spoiler Alert! It ends well, but in an unexpected way.
I put my deposit down in March this year, and was very quickly welcomed by Customer Support representatives, as well as some interesting junk mail offering me the opportunity to purchase some over priced and tacky merchandise. Naturally I declined…..apart from a 1:18 scale model and a tee shirt……. Damn!!
Opting for a very high spec Grenadier in 2 seater Utility guise (for my business), it was important for me to at least have an idea of when my “to be Works Van” was going to be built, so I emphasised this to Ineos Automotive. They quickly responded by saying my truck was scheduled for production in July (this year). I thanked them for the info, and politely reminded them, that like Ineos, (but on a smaller scale) I have a business to run, so schedules are important to me.
Fast forward to mid July this year, and my Ineos Grenadier inbox was gathering dust, with the exception of great offers on limited edition merchandise. This time I resisted. I did. Really.
Come the last week of July, I’m starting to grow anxious, as I don’t know whether I should put the current Works van up for sale, or tax, insure and MOT it for another year.
A polite but slightly snotty email slipped from my outbox asking for a proper update, as opposed to a scripted reply.
Unfortunately I received the scripted reply,” If you haven’t been sent your contract, then we can’t give you a build date. Check your inbox over the next month or so…….” Harrumph. That’s not what I wanted to hear.
I replied by asking to speak to someone further up the food chain, as scripted answers were of no help to anyone.
I also mentioned that I would have to cancel my order by August 1st, unless I received some concrete information that I could tweak my business activities and work around the evident delay.
By unbelievable coincidence, the following day my contract popped into my inbox, as well as an alert on my Grenadier account page. Hallelujah! I contacted Customer Support and let them know my relief, and their representative informed me that he hadn’t submitted my request to cancel my order (although, somewhat impulsively I had pressed the “request a refund” icon the day before, which would prove to be my undoing). All was well. I thought.
Upon trying to open the links from the Contracts Dept, I discovered I was unable to open nor sign my contract.
Another day taken up contacting Customer Support who stated they had a number of contracts that needed to be retriggered and that mine would be re sent over the next few days. No worries I thought.
We’re in to August now, and my contract arrives, this time with the DocuSign link up and running, so contract read and duly signed.
The following morning I opened up my Ineos account to check that my status had been updated, and whether a date had been notified for production.
Clicking on to “My Vehicle Orders” revealed “You have no orders”.
A quick message to Customer Support querying my account brought the reply,” We’re sorry to hear you’ve cancelled your order. Your deposit will be refunded sometime in the next 14 days” etc.
Checking my online bank account revealed that Ineos Automotive had in fact refunded my deposit two days previously, after I had signed my contract. Apologies if timeline appears a bit mixed, but you get the gist of what’s going on.
After firing some choice expletives (albeit politely) at Customer Support, I finally had a phone call from a representative, probably working from home. He promised me he would address the misunderstanding (I used a stronger term that began with “cluster” and ended in **ck).
Too late, I told him. Even though I’d signed my contract (legally binding), my order had already been cancelled and if I wanted to re order, then he’d try and put my order back in my original slot, but I’d be paying the newer price (over £10k more than my original order). I declined, and politely asked him if he was on the 6th floor or higher at his place of work, and whether the window was open.
The moral of this saga is to never assume that the Contracts Department and Customer Support Department are in the same building, let alone the same country (or planet).
I tried to explain to Customer Support that communication is vital when running a business. Simply picking up a phone and calling me to ask me what I wanted would have earned Ineos Automotive over £75,000 (my original order price).
Picking up the phone and communicating with the Contracts Department would have also been a prudent move. Neither happened, that’s for sure.
The end of this embarrassing situation has resulted in my wife and I heading off to Cumbria next week to collect a three month old Grenadier, Utility, in Magic Mushroom (our original choice), with a few essential add ons that my business requires.
It’s cheaper than my original order (no winch, but Red Winch have the new Nomad winch with Grenadier fitting kit nearly ready for release), so I’ll have nearly £10 put aside to add essential accessories as and when needed. Result. I’ve contacted my original supplier (Compass Automotive of Bridgewater) who will happily register my Grenadier on their system for maintenance and the inevitable software gremlins and teething problems. Good chaps.
I’ve never doubted the product, hence persevering with my desire/needs, but with Ineos Automotive being such an untried and untested company, they really need to take a leaf out of some of the more established companies and get their communication skills sorted.
Speaking to a couple of Grenadier suppliers, my case unfortunately, is not an isolated one, by a long stretch.
Buyer beware, but not for the product!
Being the more than half glass full type, my experience with Ineos Automotive’s legendary Customer Support Dept and Contracts Dept will be aired with as much of a positive spin I’m able to muster.
Spoiler Alert! It ends well, but in an unexpected way.
I put my deposit down in March this year, and was very quickly welcomed by Customer Support representatives, as well as some interesting junk mail offering me the opportunity to purchase some over priced and tacky merchandise. Naturally I declined…..apart from a 1:18 scale model and a tee shirt……. Damn!!
Opting for a very high spec Grenadier in 2 seater Utility guise (for my business), it was important for me to at least have an idea of when my “to be Works Van” was going to be built, so I emphasised this to Ineos Automotive. They quickly responded by saying my truck was scheduled for production in July (this year). I thanked them for the info, and politely reminded them, that like Ineos, (but on a smaller scale) I have a business to run, so schedules are important to me.
Fast forward to mid July this year, and my Ineos Grenadier inbox was gathering dust, with the exception of great offers on limited edition merchandise. This time I resisted. I did. Really.
Come the last week of July, I’m starting to grow anxious, as I don’t know whether I should put the current Works van up for sale, or tax, insure and MOT it for another year.
A polite but slightly snotty email slipped from my outbox asking for a proper update, as opposed to a scripted reply.
Unfortunately I received the scripted reply,” If you haven’t been sent your contract, then we can’t give you a build date. Check your inbox over the next month or so…….” Harrumph. That’s not what I wanted to hear.
I replied by asking to speak to someone further up the food chain, as scripted answers were of no help to anyone.
I also mentioned that I would have to cancel my order by August 1st, unless I received some concrete information that I could tweak my business activities and work around the evident delay.
By unbelievable coincidence, the following day my contract popped into my inbox, as well as an alert on my Grenadier account page. Hallelujah! I contacted Customer Support and let them know my relief, and their representative informed me that he hadn’t submitted my request to cancel my order (although, somewhat impulsively I had pressed the “request a refund” icon the day before, which would prove to be my undoing). All was well. I thought.
Upon trying to open the links from the Contracts Dept, I discovered I was unable to open nor sign my contract.
Another day taken up contacting Customer Support who stated they had a number of contracts that needed to be retriggered and that mine would be re sent over the next few days. No worries I thought.
We’re in to August now, and my contract arrives, this time with the DocuSign link up and running, so contract read and duly signed.
The following morning I opened up my Ineos account to check that my status had been updated, and whether a date had been notified for production.
Clicking on to “My Vehicle Orders” revealed “You have no orders”.
A quick message to Customer Support querying my account brought the reply,” We’re sorry to hear you’ve cancelled your order. Your deposit will be refunded sometime in the next 14 days” etc.
Checking my online bank account revealed that Ineos Automotive had in fact refunded my deposit two days previously, after I had signed my contract. Apologies if timeline appears a bit mixed, but you get the gist of what’s going on.
After firing some choice expletives (albeit politely) at Customer Support, I finally had a phone call from a representative, probably working from home. He promised me he would address the misunderstanding (I used a stronger term that began with “cluster” and ended in **ck).
Too late, I told him. Even though I’d signed my contract (legally binding), my order had already been cancelled and if I wanted to re order, then he’d try and put my order back in my original slot, but I’d be paying the newer price (over £10k more than my original order). I declined, and politely asked him if he was on the 6th floor or higher at his place of work, and whether the window was open.
The moral of this saga is to never assume that the Contracts Department and Customer Support Department are in the same building, let alone the same country (or planet).
I tried to explain to Customer Support that communication is vital when running a business. Simply picking up a phone and calling me to ask me what I wanted would have earned Ineos Automotive over £75,000 (my original order price).
Picking up the phone and communicating with the Contracts Department would have also been a prudent move. Neither happened, that’s for sure.
The end of this embarrassing situation has resulted in my wife and I heading off to Cumbria next week to collect a three month old Grenadier, Utility, in Magic Mushroom (our original choice), with a few essential add ons that my business requires.
It’s cheaper than my original order (no winch, but Red Winch have the new Nomad winch with Grenadier fitting kit nearly ready for release), so I’ll have nearly £10 put aside to add essential accessories as and when needed. Result. I’ve contacted my original supplier (Compass Automotive of Bridgewater) who will happily register my Grenadier on their system for maintenance and the inevitable software gremlins and teething problems. Good chaps.
I’ve never doubted the product, hence persevering with my desire/needs, but with Ineos Automotive being such an untried and untested company, they really need to take a leaf out of some of the more established companies and get their communication skills sorted.
Speaking to a couple of Grenadier suppliers, my case unfortunately, is not an isolated one, by a long stretch.
Buyer beware, but not for the product!
