Steve Byatt > wrote:

> Regular readers may remember me ranting about a cambelt failure on a 156GTA.
> To cut a long story short, I had suggested that I had had a bad deal, having
> been charged over £2000 to be told that there was "no damage". Having
> written in October and failed to make contact with anyone until December, I
> was then promised a letter. Nothing. On January 31st I eventually managed to
> speak to a "customer service executive" who offered me a sum of money as a
> goodwill gesture. He apologised profusely about the lack of communication
> and promised me a formal offer by recorded delivery within 48 Hours. Guess
> what? Nothing. 4 weeks later I made contact again and received an e-mail
> asking me to accept the offer. I replied immediately. Nothing. I rang last
> week. "What e-mail?" I received a phone call on Thursday promising me
> another call from someone who would sort it out immediately. Nothing.
> In the meantime, I have had 3 phonecalls and 5 letters inviting me to drive
> a 159. So- a cambelt failure on September 1st, well within the recommended
> limit, on a car exclusively serviced by an Alfa Dealer. £2000 out of pocket,
> £300 car hire (it took them over3 weeks to find out there was nothing wrong)
> and treated with absolute contempt. I've had 7 Alfas (and a few Fiats and a
> Lancia) and I deluded myself that having a GTA, being quite rare, made me -
> at the very least- a customer worth keeping. God help 'em.

OK, admittedly Alfa UK customer service is terrible, but, honestly,
didn't you do *any* research on the car before you bought it? - I
thought almost everyone knew that the cambelt change interval in the
handbook was a work of fiction?

In fact, anyone who follows the change interval specified by any
manufacturer is a fool, IMHO. I always change my belts somewhere between
50% and 75% of the quoted mileage - a £300 belt change is a lot cheaper
than a new engine.
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Fiat Marea 20v HLX - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #