A furious Range Rover customer has expressed his extreme dissatisfaction in a very dramatic way, hoping he can warn other potential customers.
33-year-old Steven Hamilton, from Birmingham, had purchased not one but three cars from a Range Rover dealership some 18 months ago, dishing out approximately £237,000.
One vehicle was for himself, with one for his father-in-law and one as a gift for his pregnant wife.
The events company manager had been a loyal customer to Range Rover for some time, splashing out on 10 cars in as many years. However, the relationship soured following a bitter feud over customer service standards.
The car Mr Hamilton had bought for his expectant wife reportedly began to show problems within days of purchase, with the engine oil, air bags, gearbox and suspension all experiencing issues.
Although Mr Hamilton had taken out a three-year warranty, he has alleged that when he was put on hold for five-and-a-half hours when he rang up to complain. He has also claimed nothing has been done to fix the car in question.
Mr Hamilton has alleged how after seven weeks of Land Rover keeping his car in to repair the broken gearbox and suspension, they have failed to give a deadline for when the work will be finished.
And so the decidedly unhappy customer decided to take matters into his own hands, dumping his Range Rover Vogue right outside Lancaster Land Rover on Tyburn Road, Erdington.
The irate father-to-be plonked the black 2016 model right in the middle of a central reservation so passing motorists couldn’t help but notice it.
The £63,000 car is completely covered with written warnings to potential customers, such as: ‘Do not use this dealership’ and ‘Range Rover do not care.’
Both sides of the vehicle bear the following angry message: ‘Bad customer service. Totally incompetent, Lack of communication. Cannot fix the car.’
Mr Hamilton explained how he had felt he had no choice but to take a stand, saying:
Nothing was being done.
So I went to a specialist graphic designer to mark the car with the words I wanted.
Then I decided to park it outside the dealership as I thought ‘I’m not going to let this happen to anyone else.’
He added:
I’ve since been contacted several times by the dealership.
They’ve even offered me free champagne, but I don’t drink. All I want is for them to fix the car.
We’re in disputes at the moment. But I have given them the spare key and said ‘bring it into the garage, fix it and drop it back off outside my house.’
A Land Rover spokesperson has stated:
We do not discuss individual customer cases.
A general manager and a representative from Land Rover are meeting with the customer on site to agree a way forward.
One Facebook user wrote:
Well that’s one way to get things sorted, I would have done the same thing.
Another said:
I went past this car yesterday and I had to do a double take at the signage.
Do you think this was a justified course of action?
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.