AFN Guildford. Public Thank You. - Page 1 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

all sounds good yep!

Excellent. its important for people to write these things- as important as people write things when they DONT get customer service. It helps us a great deal to see who are "good" garages and who are "bad" garages.

Hi Don, Glad they sorted the car for you.Have to say that when I took the 996 in there a few weeks ago for a few bits and bobs,I was very impressed with the customer service I received.They even adjusted the alarm to lock the doors a few seconds after closing the door,without charge!! Steve

So what is it that you've done to get the following: a: a recovery man who's been within three miles of a porsche before. b: a free loan car c: any loan car that isn't an audi a2 amazing that there can be such variation in the same dealer at different locations.

I was considering taking out Porsche Assistance Cover, I guess form the above, you would recommend it over any of the 'standard' recovery services?

Don I had pretty much the same experience with AFN Reading a few months ago, except that they had the car for about a week because the part they needed (a sensor) had to be sent from Germany. I had the same warning message as you. Was yours due to a faulty sensor by some chance? John

AFN Service might be good, but their sales are appalling (or were). A few years ago I was thinking of trading the Griff in for a Boxster S. I phoned AFN Guildford and asked to arrange a test drive. "Oh, we don't have a demonstrator, Sir." "Without a test drive, how will I know if I want to buy the car?" "There's an 8 month waiting list in any case, Sir." "Well, I'd still like to try one before I add my name to the list." "(impatiently) Err, I suppose we could arrange for you to try one of our used examples." "Yes, I would like that." "We'll call you back to arrange it." "Thank you." They never called back. I'm never buying a Porsche. Not from AFN Guildford anyway.

Yes it was a sensor related problem. Needn't have been recovered I suppose but I was glad they didn't take any chances. I am surprised by the tale of woe about AFN Guildford sales....I've had very good service from them. I suppose turning up in your Porsche does rather encourage them that you might be serious about obtaining another one....but even when getting the first one they were helpful about a test drive and suchlike... Porsche Assistance - the on-site recovery work is now done by the RAC. Didn't used to be until recently but is now. Apparently they sent a memo out to the RAC guys telling them NOT to say.."ooh. Its the first one of these I've done...." . Seriously though. I called Porsche Assistance and just told them I had been advised by my Official Porsche Centre to have the car recovered to them and there was no argument and no bollocks about sending a man out to take a look. They just turned up with a recovery truck immediately. The actual recovery service isn't usually done by the RAC anyway..THEY contract that out all too often so... The good thing about Porsche Assistance is that although the RAC do the on-site but THEY do the administration and can liase with your OPC. The Assistance package is linked to your warranty which means no shit when it comes to what should be paid for and what shouldn't...handy. Its not cheap though...so far when its been in danger of running out I have just bought another car! (We'll see about this next one....)

Alex You should have spoken to James Finn at AFN Reading. He used to sell TVRs at Hawthorns. I turned up in my Cerbera looking for a test drive and when I got talking to James it turned out that he knew all about my car, as he had sold it to the original owner! After a short Boxster test drive I arranged to have their demonstrator for best part of a weekend. I didn't want to hand it back on the Monday morning and, as they say, the rest is history..

More of you guys should post service reports back.

Would you believe it, driving home tonight the same engine warning message came up as last time. Car being collected tomorrow am. I'll therefore be able to give further feedback on AFN Reading's service later in the week! My old Cerbera was much more reliable

Bad luck, John. Let us know how it goes.... Happens that way sometimes. So far in our fleet its: Low Loader Score: BoxsterS 2 : Chimaera 1 I suspect Peter Wheeler would be somewhat chuffed at that result...

Probably didn't want a dodgy griff as a trade in, fair one AFN.

I hope you accidently missed the smiley from that post! Here's one to make up:

You mean apart from the yellow rotating one at the top? FTR I am of course just jesting. John

Ah! Missed that one. Actually I don't think I mentioned I had a Griff when I phoned them. To be fair, I can understand a Porsche dealer not wanting to take a TVR.

Last Monday whilst visiting the Champ Cars at Brands the emissions warning light came on on my Boxster. The car said - "Drive To Workshop". Somewhat worriedly on Tuesday morning I called AFN Guildford and Craig advised me to have the car recovered to AFN Guildford for diagnostics and repair via Porsche Assistance. Duly I called Porsche Assistance who promptly removed the car...and delivered me a rather fine Mercedes S Class to potter around in for a couple of days. Wednesday evening I am called to say the car is fixed and could AFN exchange cars the following morning. Thursday morning Barry from AFN arrives takes the Merc away and delivers me back a very, very shiny Boxster S. Thursday lunchtime Craig calls to check I'm happy. Porsche Assistance will take the Merc away from their service centre. Given that the car went wrong the level of inconvenience I suffered was *minimal* and I have been left with a warm and happy feeling both about my car and the service offered by Porsche and AFN. Well done, chaps. I'm a Happy Customer. The test of a Company is what it does when things go wrong. On this occasion you passed the test with flying colours. Given the amount of negative publicity bad dealers can get on the Internet generally I think its important to acknowledge those occasions when *good* service is recieved...and so... "Thank You, AFN Guildford. Much appreciated."