Hello:
I bought a Jaguar XJR new. This vehicle is Jaguar's top-of-the-line XJ sedan--at least from a performance (rather than luxury) perspective. New, these vehicles are about $75,000.
However, I am increasingly disgusted with Jaguar as a company. Here are some recent examples:
- Call their 1-800-4-JAGUAR number and you will usually be connected with one of apparently several girls who sound as if they're about 20 years old. This wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that these girls know virtually nothing about Jaguar cars--yet Jaguar directs all of its car owners to this number for any questions related to their vehicle. Ask something about your Jaguar vehicle and if it's not the most basic question (such as its model number), she likely won't be able to help you. There is no escalation route from this number, so if you have any issues beyond model number, then she will tell you that you must take it up with a dealer. So the 4-Jaguar number is really only for directions or a tow, but it doesn't, as Jaguar purports, provide you with the kind of customer support you'd expect to receive when you call the manufacturer of your ,000 car.
- Jaguar doesn't know about their own product. I recently had to have my alloy wheels repainted. I called 1-800-4-JAGUAR and the woman there argued with me that wheels aren't painted, they're "coated". She went as far to tell me that if I do paint them, then I will void their warranty. After, I called seven dealerships and not one of them could provide me with the paint code for my wheels because Jaguar apparently keeps that top-secret. Apparently, Jaguar doesn't want its customers to repaint their wheels when they can buy brand-new ones instead! (Repainting is required when a wheel has rim damage and is repaired; this process is usually 5 per wheel whereas Jaguar charges 5 per wheel). Instead, a wheel shoppe had to draw from its own palettes and mixtures and experience to determine the color of my wheel. Jaguar claims that they order the wheels pre-painted so they have "no way of knowing" its actual paint code. My wheels came with the car--they are Jaguar wheels, not a third party product.
- A woman at the 4-Jaguar number told me that she could not tell me whether a vibrating piece of dashboard trim was covered under my warranty. She told me I would have to bring the car to a dealership and let them make that determination. I had the actual part and part number, but she still could not tell me whether or not it would be covered under warranty. When I explained that I'm about an hour's drive from the nearest dealership, she did not make any offer to do any research. She kept repeating to me in her Brittney-Spears accent, that I would need to visit the dealership. When I explained exactly which part it is (it's the single piece of trim that goes over the speedometer and tachometer assembly) she told me that she doesn't have any information on that part. When I asked "Are you customer service" she said "No. We're 'customer assistance'." When I asked her what the difference between "customer service" and "customer assistance" is, she said "Is there anything else I can help you with, sir?"
- Dealerships don't know the product very well. The dealership I work with keeps laying off its service reps and hiring new ones. The guy I last spoke to at the dealership told me that he came from a local Honda dealership; his female co-worker was a waitress in a casino in Vegas before coming to Jaguar as a service rep. The service reps are your liaison to the service technicians, so if they don't know anything about your vehicle, chances are that things are not going to be fixed in the most efficient way. And certainly technical information cannot be conveyed in an accurate, professional way when the service reps don't even understand the terminology being used. I'd expect this from a Geo dealership--not Jaguar.
Ford lost 500 million dollars in their Jaguar unit in 2002, yet they staff their phone lines with neophytes and provide no escalation path for their supposedly valued customers. I suppose they have no money with which to hire better employees. However, they've apparently got quite deep pockets to continue to tell the world how great their cars are. The ads I see are in Forbes, The New Yorker, and now on prime-time television.
Cars of yesteryear, especially Jaguars, had a cache that they simply don't have anymore. I remember the older Jaguars and the people in the business of selling and servicing them. A pride exuded from all personnel with whom you interacted, and owning the product felt like a privilege. Today, Jaguar is just like any other car manufacturer. In fact, I received better treatment and encountered more qualified, knowledgeable personnel when I owned a Honda than with my current Jaguar. People understand the Honda product (the number of owners is certainly in Honda's favor), and they are pleasant and knowledgeable on top of that. Jaguar, in contrast, has an "attitude" that is not for the sophisticated or learned; it's not for the classy or discerning; it's for rich people who don't give a damn about customer care and who don't know anything about engines or technology. Most people (like me) are being duped by Jaguar's legacy, not realizing that the company is living in the shadow of its enviable past.
I bought my Jaguar thinking that I would begin a long-term journey with a respectable company and cherish the vehicle on which I had spent my hard-earned money... Instead, I am frustrated and insulted by Jaguar's attitude, their employees, dealerships, and former-waitress service reps. Jaguar should be EMBARRASSED by all of this.
Sadly, if they continue to bleed money at the seams, then I suppose the quality of their personnel will only continue to degrade. While my car is in warranty I have little worry because Jaguar need to absorb the cost of its own ineptitudes; I shudder to think about my future out-of-warranty repair bills and the inability of their service technicians to effectively diagnose and fix my vehicle. This makes me uncertain whether I want to keep the vehicle or swap it for another brand.
I thought I would be a lifetime customer of Jaguar, but, sadly, my continued negative experiences each time I interact with the company has led me to consider another brand--and to no longer recommend the product as I once so enthusiastically did...
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