Usually people tend to post when they are disgruntled, so I thought I would relay some positive experience for a change.
I just took my Golf to a main dealer (Gilbert Lawsons in Macclesfield) to do some work. They changed the front brake pads, brake fluid, performed a full 20k mile service (using semi-synthetic oil at my request), replaced the cambelt and rollers. The bill came to approx £500. I checked my local non VW dealer and they couldn't beat the price. The car came back running slicker than I expected, was hoovered out immaculately, washed, and various other things were tweaked - without prompting and without charge. Now that's service!!
My only quibble would be the one thing that was highlighted on the service report - "clutch belt starting to feel stiff". They say this could be the clutch belt, or possibly even the clutch itself. In the first instance they would change the belt, but the charge for this is well in excess of £100. This seems a bit high for threading a cable through and hooking it up at either end, but I guess this is a book price covering any eventuality.
All in all, it's been a very positive experience, despite all the complaints I've heard about main dealerships.
-- S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t