Took the Car in for service arrived 0810AM for 0830 Booking, met by dis-interested service receptionist
whom proceeded to take notes (but not listen) then was presented with a sheet to sign with a cost of £516.35
I challenged this as I was quoted £427 he explained there were reasons for the extra as there was a litre oil top up bottle and batteries for remote and screen top up I said I did not want these, so he changed price to £439.
we were told it would take 2.5-3hrs, we chose to wait...

and wait
and wait
at 1210 I decided to go and ask what the delay was.
met an alternate receptionist (thank goodness)

we waited until 12:34 and went to the desk again to wait and not move till the car was back with us.
the car was then brought to us.
I went to pay to be presented with bill for £427

the explanation of the 2nd receptionist was that number one was leaving on Friday hence his dissatisfaction.

feeling better about my day I head off, Friday I wash the car open the bonnet to see the Air filter box lid left off and a hose to the Rad floating around as the Clip left hanging.

I call service manager he takes detail and expresses his apologies for the poor treatment and workmanship
and promises a letter outlining what they plan to make amends.

This along with Disconnecting the Dash cam and re connecting after the service all without telling me.

So main dealer experience is not the best at the moment
time will tell if this improves....

They really didn't want you seeing what went off in the workshop.

Fortunately my LR dealer has aways gone out of their way for me and even brought the coffee to me instead of, the machines over there kind of thing, cars always ready on time with no bits missing, and i always go around it and look under the bonnet anyway before i drive away to make sure everything is as it should be and theres no scratches etc, once youve left it only makes it harder if you did find a scratch say it wasnt done after you left.
Not all are uninterested and uncaring, just the odd few, ok its expensive but if they do as they are expected to do im not complaining.

My dealer emails me a little film of my car up on the ramps and talks through what they are checking

a bloody disgrace!! I wouldn't go back to these cowboys.

check your oil level and mileage

Iain

What dealer was this? I got a free bottle of 1 litre top up oil which they left sealed in the car for my first service. My second service will be due in March. MY14 Kahn Converted Dynamic - Fuji White Ebony/Pimento Interior
MY15 Xenon Headlight Conversion

MY17 RRS SVR - Estoril Blue Cirrus/Ebony 🪣💺’s

Letter arrived
No apology
and the recompense=
20% discount of next service

What are the opinions on here of this gracious offer ?

go elsewhere for your next service if you want it done right.

your car will thank you for it

Iain

I always take my freelander to independent, 1 in Sussex and alymers in herts never a problem ,can always ask them anything.
On my old freelander i did on one occasion take to main dealer Harwoods crawley and was not impressed by the service manager who was, in my opinion not clued up on freelander 2 at all. 57 reg GS leather seats panoramic sun roof
Nazca sand side step rails chrome grille and mirrors

My story isn't a freelander one but similar that years ago I took my then prized position a cavalier 4x4 turbo to the main dealer for a service.
I knew the guys in the parts and service quite well due to previous cars and buying a lot of spare parts, anyway the evening after the service I happened to be visiting a friend who had a garage but wasn't a main dealer.
Someone asked to see the engine on the car and when I opened the bonnet there was red fluid just about everywhere .....
we quickly stuck the car on the ramps and could see the rear diff level, transferbox and gearbox level screws had not been touched.
The red fluid was from the 4x4 system on that car and to check the level you had to press the brake pedal 25 times as per the big sticker on it.
Next day at the main dealer they apologised explained the "boy" had done the service and filled the 4x4 bottle to the brim without doing the 25 pedal presses hence the fluid everywhere.

The result was they told me to buy the service spares from them and they would stamp my book as I clearly knew how to service the car better than they did ! I kit you not and that's what I did for a few years.

In my opinion the main dealers just don't take the same care as the independent he needs the business to survive the main dealer lives on you needing him for the warrantee period.

again not a LR dealer but not all main dealers are bad.

I swapped my 2008 FL2 in July for a 2014 Insignia with admittedly a very high mileage but immaculate. The VX dealer was selling at almost 5k under average book because of the mileage but as I do 20k a year I end up changing cars frequently so mileage not an issue

Since purchase, they have changed the sun visor, interior boot trim, pulleys, tensioners, aux belt, cam belt, water pump and turbo all under warranty, without even quibbling about it or trying to delay it until the 60k warranty period is up. And they even threw a years extended warranty in for free when I purchased (genuinely free as well, not added to the invoice)

I know not all Vx dealers are this good, but you get good main dealers and bad ones, the same as you do with independants.

in both cases if you find a good one then stick with them.

Hope that wasn't a Network Q vehicle - don't think much of their vehicle preparation if all that lot has needed replacement since you got the car !

We had a Cavalier SRI from the VX management leasing scheme years ago - it had intermittent starting problems from new and after breaking down completely at about 2000 miles it was sent to the local VX garage - who managed to completely seize the engine requiring replacement - the Technical guys at Luton never did manage to work out what the garage had done. Needless to say we didn't take the cars back there ever again whilst we had them  FL No 1 - 2012 (MY2011) XS manual Firenze Red - Gone
FL No 2 - 2012 (MY2012) XS manual Barolo Black - SWMBO wanted one too!
FL No 3 -2013 XS SD4 Auto Santorini Black
Series III SWB Hardtop - long gone
110 CSW V8 - long gone
Discovery 1 200Tdi - long gone

it was from a Vx main dealer but wasn't network Q due to the mileage, however was its still under manufacturer warranty and the dealership gave me a years extension to that as well.

I wasn't impressed with their pre delivery inspections either, but the car was professionally polished before I got it (not just a quick hand wash), paperwork was all handled well and they haven't batted an eyelid at sorting things out. To be honest im really impressed with it for a 'rep mobile)