Yes, it probably is a waste of time, paper, and a stamp. If I had his email, I would've done this that way. Anyway, it was a good way to vent, and who knows, maybe it will see his eyes and he can find out how pissed off some VW customers really are.
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Dear Mr. Di Si,
One week ago, I wrote to you as a long time Volkswagen customer asking that there more communication about the order status of ID.4 reservations. My own ID.4 AWD Pro S Plus order has been hung up for weeks on end- going from scheduled for production back to order generated and the delivery window moving all over the place.
Today, I received the email, like other people with this model on order, pretty much telling us that the Pro S Plus no longer exists. Sure, it’s still there with it heated rear seats and different wheels to make it seem a bit different than the Pro S trimline, but anyone with half a mind can see the Pro S Plus is dead. For our trouble we were told here’s $300 and wait another nine months for the car trim with none of the features you actually wanted.
There really aren’t words that can aptly describe how angry and disappointed I am in Volkswagen. It is as if someone made a list of all the things that should be done to destroy trust of the customers willing to spend the most money on this car.
Yes Mr. Di Si, after 14 years you just may have lost a customer. It took the incompetent handling of this situation to do it.
So first, I have questions:
Beyond the anger I feel at VW corporate, I have real sympathy for my dealer. I’ve been their customer for 14 years. They’ve always done the right thing by me. They may be the one thing that keeps me a VW customer. You have failed them as well.
This afternoon, as I drove to take care of some errands, whenever I saw Tiguan or Atlas, or other VW on the road, for the first time ever, I felt anger and shame. You owe customers (and your dealers) an apology and a much better deal than the slap in the face we all got from that email this afternoon.
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Dear Mr. Di Si,
One week ago, I wrote to you as a long time Volkswagen customer asking that there more communication about the order status of ID.4 reservations. My own ID.4 AWD Pro S Plus order has been hung up for weeks on end- going from scheduled for production back to order generated and the delivery window moving all over the place.
Today, I received the email, like other people with this model on order, pretty much telling us that the Pro S Plus no longer exists. Sure, it’s still there with it heated rear seats and different wheels to make it seem a bit different than the Pro S trimline, but anyone with half a mind can see the Pro S Plus is dead. For our trouble we were told here’s $300 and wait another nine months for the car trim with none of the features you actually wanted.
There really aren’t words that can aptly describe how angry and disappointed I am in Volkswagen. It is as if someone made a list of all the things that should be done to destroy trust of the customers willing to spend the most money on this car.
Yes Mr. Di Si, after 14 years you just may have lost a customer. It took the incompetent handling of this situation to do it.
So first, I have questions:
- Why were the power folding mirrors and 360 view camera taken off the Pro S Plus? Was it a hardware issue? Was it a software issue? Was it just to save money? Why are these feature readily available on a multitude of models of dozens of manufacturers, including the handful of Pro S Plus models that were built this year? Why was this such a problem for the ID.4? These were the two biggest reasons I went for the Pro S Plus.
- Why would anyone at Volkswagen think that reducing the price of the car by $300 would keep up waiting for another four to nine months? Seriously, that was a slap in the face with a telephone pole.
- What do I do now? I have a 2020 Tiguan whose lease ends on May 20. Do I just buy that car and hope that in the future you figure out how to make an EV with all the features we see on Tesla, Volvo, Polestar, Hyundai, Ford, and so on? Do I go to the dark side and get a Tesla Model Y- the car closest to the ID.4 in design and price- despite seriously hating that company’s owner?
- What about the loss I’ll take with either choice? If I buy my Tiguan, when it comes time to trade in for a new car, it will have decidedly less value. If I order a Tesla, it will not be ready until June- will VW let me extend my lease? And if I do extend the lease a couple months, that’s over a $1000 more out of my pocket that I didn’t think I would be spending.
- First, give us an actual answer to that first question above. Don’t just take away features without explanation.
- Second, VW should have said there will be a longer wait for the car, but we will get those features in it. In short, we will fix whatever the mystery issue is.
- Third, for the trouble of waiting months more for the car, we will roll back the $1500 price increase from January. We will also cover the costs of any leased Volkswagens for those in that situation. For those who were trading in a car towards their purchase, a promise to give the current trade in value of that car later this year when fully equipped ID.4s are available.
Beyond the anger I feel at VW corporate, I have real sympathy for my dealer. I’ve been their customer for 14 years. They’ve always done the right thing by me. They may be the one thing that keeps me a VW customer. You have failed them as well.
This afternoon, as I drove to take care of some errands, whenever I saw Tiguan or Atlas, or other VW on the road, for the first time ever, I felt anger and shame. You owe customers (and your dealers) an apology and a much better deal than the slap in the face we all got from that email this afternoon.
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