Yes, agreed to participate and had call with someone to answer some quite generic questions but plenty of opportunity to comment on any specific issues I wanted to raise.
So back on topic...
I did a phone survey with IA Customer Service today. A very interested and engaged CSO by the name of Harry. It was 2am in London (11am my time) so Harry pulled the graveyard shift to talk to Australian owners.
A few canned questions and an opportunity to talk about the ownership experience. It's always tempting to cleanse your spleen in these moments but that's a waste of an opportunity. I mentioned that I am active in this forum and we talked about the letter from
@Tom D to Lynn Calder. Be under no doubt that the timing of this engagement with customers is influenced by Tom's letter and the follow up with
@Stu_Barnes and
@Krabby on our collective behalf. Thank you gents. Harry said IA CS are very aware of the forum and they monitor that particular thread, in all it's colourful glory.
So what's the lesson here? If you seek real change, instead of jumping online and bleating about what annoys you that "someone else" should fix, try some old fashioned polite and proactive engagement through your agent/dealer. If you don't get any joy from them then try someone else or go directly to IA CS. If you still don't get the satisfaction you demand then maybe try asking instead. I learned a very long time ago that an Englishman will bend over backwards to help you if you apologise first. "I'm terribly sorry but..." It never fails
You can choose to be an observer or contribute to a solution. Tom D chose to be part of the solution and look at where we are today.
Harry brought up the manuals. I didn't need to ask. It's coming. They're currently creating logins in batches in VIN sequential order. The login details will be sent to the owner's email address. If you have changed your email then update your records now.
The survey letter includes a QR code that puts IA onto your WhatsApp contacts. It's not evident what happens next. I waited a day then sent a message that I had a survey invite. CS responded immediately and asked for some ownership details and setup today's phone call. If you get the invite letter and don't do WhatsApp then contact the Customer Care centre in your country and tell them you have a survey invite and want to participate. Good, bad or indifferent IA want to hear your thoughts. Don't waste this opportunity.
My closing comments to Harry were about maturing the vehicle to a point where I can get in it anytime and not have that lingering worry: 'is today a day where it gives me problems?' That's mostly software glitches but it does nothing for owner confidence and makes it a hard sell when others ask for a recommendation. Until that maturity is achieved we're very reliant on access to competent agents and dealers but for many owners the agents and dealers are inexperienced, too few or too far away. I asked again about using something like the Bosch Service Centre network as an adjunct to the existing agent/dealer technical support network. Something that was in the upsell to early adopters but not implemented.
