[Restyle]

Always liked the Customer service at Godfrey Hall, lets hope it remains that way after the takeover by the Rydale group

Welcome to Rybrook authorised MINI dealership

<EDIT 23rd Sept 2006> - Now changed name to Rybrook Shrewsbury !!
Sytner acquires 9 Ryland businesses | News | Sytner Group

[trucker]

I have to say that my experience of Rydale Shrewsbury is equally good and bad.

GOOD : the way they dealt with the recall last summer, collecting car from my work etc

BAD : last sat ( easter w/e) my MINI went in for its last TLC oil change. When I picked the car up I drove it less than a mile away and parked on Harlescott cattle market. There it sat for 4 hours, and when I drove home at 5 pm having driven a further couple of miles the orange ABS and red handbrake warning lights came on together.

I pulled over, stopped the engine, waited 30 seconds and started her up again. After a mile or so the lights came back on. By this time I was on the M54 and continued home.

Now, as soon as the ignition is turned on, both lights stay on at all times. So I rang Rydale, on the tuesday morning after Easter, and told the above to the service receptionist. No sooner had I finished, than she was telling me ( and telling is not too strong a word ) that the service my MINI had just had was in no way connected to this problem, and was purely coincidental that it started within 3 miles of leaving their premises. Oh and by the way, any work to correct it would be chargable.

Nice eh ?

So now I wait until this sat to go back to Rydale for a diagnostic check.

[trucker]

UPDATE:

returned my MINI last sat and am pleased to say that the difference in attitude displayed by those members of staff working on this day were vastly more caring and 'positive' than those of their colleague.


It made the prospect of spending £700 to rectify the problem slightly less galling !

[Restyle]

What was found to be the eventual cause of the problem, & did you have to pay anything ??

[zyo]

I found the service brilliant when i had my previous black 03 MO, they couldn't do enough for me. Unfortunately my current PW ONE has had quite a few issues since i've had it and as such has spent quite a lot of time at the dealers.Its had a new heated windscreen, its on its third gearbox, had to have a new BC1 module?and i've had about three or four dash board tops cos they kept ripping/scuffing them.The faults on the car have been annoying but occasionally i've been let down by the dealers aswell.I was understanding when they originally ripped the dash after trying to find a rattle, i said no problem i'm in no rush .That was just before Christmas 04 but the dash wasn't sorted until March, and its still not fitted correctly but i got to the point when i felt that i wanted to drive the car rather than it spending all its time at the dealers. I asked for my viper stripes to be done again cos they were very wonky, they were altered rather than changed and when i mentioned that they still weren't straight, it was suggested that if i passed Joe Bolggs down the road ,he wouldn't notice.Joe Bloggs wasn't being charged £245 to have them fitted.I'm unsure whether to go back to Rydale(Godfrey Hall) or whether to try Benhams in Wolverhampton next time.Its a shame because i have had good dealings with them and met some pleasant staff in the past but unfortunately when your phone calls aren't returned even after being reassured that they definately will be and you have to keep going back for the same things it starts to get to you, and colours your thinking.Just my opinion.

[liznewman]

What recall was that. I never had a recall? I brought my S from Godfrey Hall, Rydale are a waste of space. I will not be taking my car there for servicing etc, niether will my husband be taking is Z3 or 3 Series Convertible. What was the recall for exactly?

[Joogle]

Will not be using Rydale until it goes through some major changes.

When it was Godfrey Hall it was brilliant to begin with but then went rapidly downhill as they could not retain the good staff. The last few times I have been in about swapping my car they have been useless - bad trade in value - bad finance. (And I shop around - so I know what the other dealers are offering)

The local feedback has not been too good - no one in the local mini club bought their car from Shrewsbury and for similar reasons. They need to get back the old staff and build up a good reputation for customer service again. Until then I will be using Benhams and Knights.

[zyo]

I know what you mean, neither the sales staff or the finance staff are the same as when i bought my first MINI. Dec 03 was my first purchase, late June 04 the next and all the staff seemed to have changed. Every time i pop in at the moment they seem to be huddled in the office having a meeting and quite often the showroom is void of staff. I have been up recently for warranty work(yet again) and thought i'd pop in and ask about the R56 and the possibility of putting my name on the list but like i said before they were in some sort of meeting and didn't seem in a rush to come out of it so i left. The trouble is the staff i have dealt with i did like but if you can't keep your staff then something must be wrong, people like continuity and that feeling of going in to the dealers and being recognised because you are making yet another purchase because of the good service that you have had over the years and not just because your there yet again with another warranty claim.

[Joogle]

When I used to buy Peugeot's I had the same sales person for over six years, and I got to know most of the service and parts staff. We were on first name terms and that meant a lot - you were made to feel welcome and were not taken for granted. They were upfront and honest and you always knew where you stood with them - Shrewsbury Mini had that four years ago, now they dont and I have taken my business elswhere.

Like you say Zyo staff retention says a lot about a business and from where I stand it dont look good.

[el_corpo]

Dont like the sound of this! My MINI was supplied by H R Owen down in Chiswick originally, but my local dealer is Rydale of Shrewsbury, what other dealers are local to the North Wales/Marches border area? I dont fancy goin all the way to Wolverhampton or even Birmingham to get my car looked at!

[Restyle]

You can take it to any BMW dealer you choose to.
Have you any reason Not to want to go to Rydale Shrewsbury ?

[el_corpo]

Well, just gettin a bit worried by all the feedback above RE Rydale, other than Rydale there arnt any MINI dealers within 50miles that I can think of unless anyone else knows better.

[Restyle]

I wouldnt be too bothered about a couple of negative comments.
While it may be true that they dont give a top PX deal , their servicing seems to be on par with just about any other BMW dealer.
Personally, Ive never had any trouble with them in 5 years of MINI ownership

[zyo]

Just to add to my comments, about 3 weeks ago i took it in for the squeaky windows to be sorted and the toggle switch panel was loose, despite asking ' do you know the part i mean', and refering to the toggle switch panel with the electric window switches in, (i had noticed it when i couldn't get the window to go down because the toggle switches had shifted in their housing and therefore wouldn't physically go down) they spent an hour or so checking out the electric mirror switch!! not the toggle switch panel for the windows, not the fault of the mechanic but the person making the booking. When the service rep said it wasn't loose and thats how they are i took the service rep to the car to demonstrate the problem.When i moved the switch panel to demonstrate, she said that wasn't what they were looking at and pointed to the electric mirror switch."You said the toggle switch" she said...i said what i actually had said was the toggle switch panel and desribed the panel with the window switches in , and asked " do you know the panel i mean"...." yes but you said the toggle switch and this(pointing to the mirror switch) is what BMW call a toggle switch".Anyhoo she booked me in for two weeks later. I went along because apparently there was some motor that needed replacing in the door and that was what was causing the squeak( it isn't). When i got there , there was a little confusion as to whether i was booked in, after about 20 mins of sitting in the waiting area i was told that because i hadn't confirmed my booking ,they had sent the part back."we have been trying to contact you , we have left txt messages" .To be fair i hadn't had my phone on me for a couple of days so i thought this could be true.I couldn't understand why they needed to confirm that i was going in. " This is the proceedure" i was told. Well i have been to the dealers on numerous occasions i have had three dash tops, three gearboxes, two sunroofs, two speedos, two heated front screens, a BC1 module? and as yet i haven't been called by the dealer to confirm that i was going in on the day i had booked it in for.Oh.. and i checked my phone for messages and there were non!
I was told i could be booked in again but as i pointed out ,how could i guarantee that the part wouldn't be sent back again if they couldn't get in touch with me to confirm that i was going in for my next appointment.As luck would have it , the truck that takes the parts back had apparently not been so the part was eventually found and fitted( i still don't know what the part does cos the window didn't have an issue apart from both of them squeaking). Also if they were telling the truth why did it take someone 20 minutes to tell me that i wasn't booked in. If they have forgotten to book me in for whatever i would much rather someone explain, apologise and offer to get me in on another day with a courtesy car.They way they went about it had me thinking they had forgotten about me anyway and annoyed me.
Restyle, i understand you have no problems which is fine, we can only speak as we find.Personally i always go there because it the closest to me but i've realised that Benhams isn't that much further from me, so i may try them next time.I'm sure there will be someone along soon to tell me not to bother with them either though.

[el_corpo]

Fair enough, Ill give them a try when my car comes up to its first service, just got a bit freaked out by the comments! Obviously if they mess me about ill have to find somewhere else. Its just a shame there dealer network isnt as big as the more mainstream manufacturers such as Vauxhall. There are at least 5 Vauxhall dealers within half an hours drive from here versus 1 for BMW/MINI.

[Joogle]

The next ones closest to Shrewsbury would be Wolverhampton Benhams, Knights Newcastle under Lyme or Stafford.

Knights do a collection service but you would have to speak to them about that.

[Wobert]

Quote: Originally Posted by el_corpo (original)

Well, just gettin a bit worried by all the feedback above RE Rydale, other than Rydale there arnt any MINI dealers within 50miles that I can think of unless anyone else knows better.

I'm up the road from you near Mold.

There are some dealers locally.....

Premier Cars - Llandudno

Rydale - Shrewsbury

Halliwell Jones - Chester & Warrington

Bluebell - Crewe.

I bought my first MCS from HJ Chester, wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

I them replaced it with a MCSC from Godfrey Hall, which switched to being Rydale before I took delivery, nothing changed for me, but I now use Rydale Central in Brum as it's more local for servicing, when I'm in work.

Within the past month, I chopped the MCSC in for a 120d Sport, bought from Rydale Central, and can honestly say they are a pleasure to deal with, nothing is too much hassle for them.

[Joogle]

Whats happening at Mini Shrewsbury then? Just looked in the local paper and Rydale has now become Rybrook? Thats the second change in 18 months!!!

[Restyle]

Quote: Originally Posted by Joogle

Whats happening at Mini Shrewsbury then?...

First I heard about the change was when I received a letter about a promo they`re doing this weekend.
Seems like they are a division of the Ryland Group... {not sure if they`re a further division of Rydale}
Rybrook - massive discounts on UK Jaguar and Volvo cars
..... who seem to normally just deal with Volvo & Jaguar ??

Oh well, Off to edit the title of this thread

[Scrogg]

Rydale Cars, Cardiff, Central, Newport & Sutton were recently acquired by Sytner Group.

As Shrewsbury were not it follows that they would have to change the name as they are no longer part of the same group.

But hey, what's in a name?