Some of you have seen my rant to Mazda, (its below, complete with spelling and grammer errors). The next post, which will take a few minutes is the "initial" reply;

Dear Mr Thomson,

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your letter (dated 9th Oct 2003) giving an apology for another delivery delay of my RX8.
I would also like to take this opportunity to say that your apologies mean nothing anymore. Here to summarise are a few reasons why;

· Deposit placed on 24th January 2003 with Brooklyn (Redditch). Conversation with the dealer (one to one) assured me that it was more than likely that the car will be ready for 1st September 2003, so much so that we even discussed delivery dates, two days prior as I was working on the 1st. This date was excellent as my existing car was due an MOT, road tax and Insurance renewal (again I’ll get stung for the cancellation of one policy to start another) in the second week of September. All of which has now been funded by me at extra cost.

· Constant calls to the dealer throughout spring, pushing for a delivery date, but no joy. This has not been surprising as on most occasions, I knew more than the dealer did! This is no reflection on my dealer, who throughout has maintained a level of professionalism that is rare in the motor industry today. If you want to treat your dealers like mushrooms, you have done an excellent job by keeping them in the dark and feeding them accordingly.

· July arrives and I am informed that delivery will be late September. Obviously I’m ecstatic at missing out on what has been a glorious summer, in my new car.

· August arrives and I am notified that delivery is now late October. My dealer at this point is becoming increasingly afraid to speak to me, knowing of my displeasure at the dates getting later and later and later ………………….

· September arrives and I am told that you now have a “delivery month” for me – November ! I am also told that in late September I will be receiving another letter confirming the precise delivery date.

· October – wheres my letter ? Oh yes, I did receive a letter, not the one I expected in late September regarding delivery but the one you sent me most recently. Please tell me so far that I am wrong and I will produce all supporting paperwork confirming this, sent by yourselves and all email communication I have had with Deby Gutteridge. Complied as one, it makes compelling reading of how NOT to do business.

So far, its been an appalling endaitment of a blue chip company believing their own hype. Shame on you for breaking every one of your promises, shame on me for believing you could keep them.

The handling of the RX8 launch, THE aspirational model in you entire range, has been dealt with utter contempt from the moment loyal customers, like myself and many others, placed (Ł1000) deposits from the start of 2003.



You (and I also include your colleagues in the upper ecshoens of Mazda’s heirachy) have done absolutely nothing, from where I stand, to appease your customers, some of which are considering late cancellations. Yes, you can sit there and bask in the halo of a new car launch, for you are in a privileged position where cancellations will be snapped up by those waiting in a long queue, behind pre-orderers. However I have had enough. Its too late for me to cancel for the sole reason that this car has become a running joke at work. To show face, I have to now “prove” that this car exists. As you can imagine this has taken the sheen off, what should have been an enjoyable experience.

Now, if I may, predict the outcome of this letter;

· Firstly, you may not even read it because it may get filtered prior.
· Secondly, if you do, you may dismiss it. That would be a mistake.
· Thirdly, place corrective action(s) on my dealer to resolve the issue. How, who knows ?

What I ask for, before any talk of recompence is a PERSONAL reply, not a generic letter with your photocopied signature at the bottom. Another “fob off” would simply push me into a direction that YOU do not want me to go.

AnilS.

 

Dear Mr Sehdev,

Thank you for your letter to Jeremy Thomson, dated 11 October 2003 that you also e-mailed to Chris Twine in our Customer Assistance department.

Unfortunately Jeremy is out of the office at present but please rest assured that your letter will be passed to him immediately upon his return. I apologise for this delay however I will ensure that this is dealt with as a matter of priority.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Bell
Marketing Assistant

 

Although we all share in your disapointment of the continued delays, and understand how much you want to get it off your chest, but I really cant see complaining to Mazda UK doing any good. They aren't going to conjour a car out of thin air, and its unlikely they will offer you any sweeteners at this point.

Cheers
---Dave

 

As a fellow "ranter" I can tell you, that whilst it makes you feel slightly better, it is pointless. They have no control over anything - and your best bet is to keep your dealer sweet so that they get your car out of the door fastest.

With regard to sweetners - no chance. They know how quickly news travels, and if they give in to one of us, the rest will be banging on the door.

I believe I do have a case if my car doesnt arrive in November, as I have a letter quite clearly stating my delivery date as November. If it comes in December they will be compensating me. (I've checked this with my solicitor).

 

I'm with Druck, best to sit tight and see what transpires.

Flame me

Cheers
Oilman

 

I received an e mail from Deby G this morning, basically telling me to hold tight till the end of Oct, then they will review my delivery then. I don't know why I bother, at the end of the day you will get the car when mazda is ready - put up or cancell. And I am very close to cancelling, got a test drive booked on sat for a z4

 

How much are they though? Don't look that good too really! Crap angular styling.

Well you've waited this long why not wait one more month?

 

a top of the range 3.0 is about Ł33k fully loaded, I will decide on sat after the test drive, even I am sure it will not drive like the 8, but I DO like the Z4 - BUT EQUALLY I AM IN LOVE WITH THE 8. I am just pi**ed off that the car will not be with me until early DECEMBER, I don't know if I can handle seeing any other 8's on the road until I get mine. Contigo - You will have to take me cruising in your 8 as you will be getting before me!!!!!!!

 

Rexy,

Drove the Z4 the weekend of the launch back in the summer and posted some pics then.

Enjoyed the Z4 (3.0) and its smoooooth engine but have to say that for "smiles per mile" the 8 was a whole different ball game!

Besides it's a BMW

Would wait if I was you and you'll save 10k as well!

Cheers
Oilman

 

What other '8s? They're all being delayed!


-andy-

 

Sixspeed - people will be getting delivers as of November - unless you know something different?

 

All, Gemma Bell (the lady who replied to my rant, initially) called me today.

Jeremy Thomson came into the office today (after having been in Berlin for the Mazda 3 launch) and read my letter.

Gemma assures me that he has personally replied today, but as there is a postal strike in London today, I will not recieve it until Saturday.

I'll keep you guys/gals informed.

She also stated that Mazda have been reading the forum.

AnilS.

 

They probably monitor the forum so that they can have a good laugh at us and decide on the next bit of lies / disinformation they can release to us.

 

Dear Mr Mazda,

I have been good and not never said nuffin bad about Mazda ever!

Please can I have my brum brum now?


fank you,


Paul.

 

PMSL:D

Cheers
Oilman

 

Nice one Paul. PMSL too:D

 

No need to panic. As previously informed, we will ALL receive a letter on Friday, telling us a specific delivery date to the dealer. It will confirm that all Pre-ordered HP's will be delivered in November. I know ts true, because thats what the Helpline said.

I am also told that on Friday there will be an end to the troubles in Palestine, Osama bin Laden will be found playing cards with Saddam Hussein, and they will find a cure for Aids.

 

Come on guys,

We know the score, Mazda UK isn't completely to blame, and if they had told us the information blow by blow it would have looked equally bad...

The car will be here soon, and we can forget the delays... Remember, much of the delay was due to the car being a runaway success... and you all know how much we need that success to encourage future rotary models.

 

Just for the record ... We now know that all pre-ordered HPs WILL NOT be delivered in November. Mine is likely to be mid December (5th Dec current date to the dealer)

 

Guys, for those of you who get there cars till the 5th December (which at this time isnt confirmed) It isnt all that later than the rest of us. My dealer says he gets car on the 16th November ( there is debate whether than means the car hits uk shores after a wee trip over the channel - and we all know how dodgy a trip that is). If that is the case then i dont expect to get my excited we paws on my car until roughly the 26th November which is only a week before some of the others. Hell im sure there are people who will get it before me in November but to be honest i want my car on the 1st November but reality bites.

Yes if you have a letter which states November and you dont get car in that time frame then you have a case but until it actually transpires there is no point trying to run before you can walk.

Not trying to sound pompous or arrogant hell i feel the same way. Ive been waiting since the beginning of February and i to feel like a mushroom but what can you do. In essence its put up or get out.

You have put up with the hassle, misinfomation, right hand not knowing what the left is doing for nie on 8 months why give up now when its just round the corner. As we have all pretty much agreed and said THIS CAR IS A TRULLY WONDERFUL PIECE OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING - do you not want to be part of it at the beginning, i for one do.

 

As promised, Jeremy Thomson's reply;


Dear Mr Sehdev

Thank you for your letter dated 11th October 2003 regarding the delivery of your Mazda RX-8.

I was disappointed to hear your views regarding my recent communication with you and your incorrect assumption that I would neither read your letter or reply to you. I can assure you that I take very seriously any customer concern regarding any of our products or services and value every customer’s comments, good or bad.

With regard to the Mazda RX-8 launch we have released an unprecedented amount information to customers prior to the launch of a new car, however we obviously haven’t managed your expectations for this I apologise.

Regrettably we have experienced delays in the delivery of the Mazda RX-8 model, however we have communicated these delays to all pre-order customers when accurate information became available. I also know that Debbie Gutteridge has provided you with as much information as possible regarding the delivery of your vehicle, with this information being accurate at the time it was provided to you.

When we initially launched the pre-order programme at the end of February, the initial indication we were given from Mazda Headquarters in Japan was that European “Job One” would take place around the end of April. On this basis, given enough time to build up a bank of stock and ship the cars from Japan, our expectation was that the UK launch would take place in late July.

However, two issues delayed this. Firstly, engineering issues to ensure that the rotary engine was fully complaint with the Euro 4 level of emissions (currently the most rigorous in the world) meant that the engineers in Japan wanted more time for engine testing. This slowed down the ramp up of the rotary engine build. I can confirm that the Mazda RX-8 will meet Euro 4 emissions ahead of this becoming a European legislative requirement. Secondly, and this is the key issue, unfortunately, we are victims of our own success. It was anticipated that the advertising pre-launch in Japan would generate around 1,000 customer orders. In fact it has generated over 5,000 orders and in order to protect this supply and not to build up unrealistic expectations in other markets around the world it was decided to delay the first production of European vehicles by two and a half months.

In hindsight if we had known of this delay at the time we would not have launched our own pre-order facility as early as we did. I realise that this will be of little comfort to customers like yourselves who are desperate to get their hands on the Mazda RX-8, but I wanted you to have the full picture. I can only apologise for this delay and the frustration it is undoubtedly causing.

Your Mazda RX-8 does “exist” and your dealer should now be able see details of the vehicle on their vehicle delivery system. The chassis number (VIN) of your vehicle is JMZSE17360010**** (edited by AnilS) and the delivery date is currently estimated as 16th November 2003. As the delivery date becomes nearer the delivery date will be able to be confirmed by your dealer.

Hopefully this information will go someway to assuring you that we are in the final stages of the delivery of your vehicle and that we are focused on getting these cars to dealerships as soon as possible.

Thank you again for bringing your concerns to my attention.

Yours sincerely


Jeremy Thomson
Marketing Director

 

Thats a good letter from Mr Thompson.

 

Well,

Firstly, I'm sure that Mazda has learned a lot from the events of the last few months, and things will be handled differently in future... however I'm not sure that all, or even any of those changes will REALLY be to our advantage.

The letter posted by AnilS above is an EXTREMELY reasonable response... detailing much, if not all the reasons for the delays... However, I have one comment about the situation which I hope Mazda will take as constructive (If they are still reading).... Bear in mind that I am still a (Relatively) happy camper, perhaps due to the fact that I have had some delays in my own plans, perhaps due to the fact that I always viewed this as a "Whenever it's available" purchase.

My comment is simply this... If Mazda UK is (As we have heard) a little upset about the abuse and romour mongering on this forum, then why was the information above not clearly and openly released as soon as the problems were identified.... Understand that "Internet Time" runs at a much faster pace than you are used to! When dealing with a group of people on a forum like this it is inevitable that unrest will lead to romours and mis-information if there is no "Real" information, and this will happen in a VERY short time... The ONLY solution to this is to meet deadlines OR inform people that your are not going to meet them and why, BEFORE the deadline has passed....

In any case, I hope we can put all this behind us soon... with the cars well on their way, I'm sure that you will see some much happier people on the forum soon.

 

This does seem an honest and frank reply from Jeremy Thompson.

The delays due to demand were obviously out of their control, and the fact they spent time testing the engine for Euro IV should mean that our cars actually do deliver 231ps.

Look what happened in the US, they rushed the cars out there, found a problem with emissions, had to tweak them in port, reduced the power, and then had to come clean and go through the embarrassment of the buyback programme. I would think that globally Mazda have learnt from their mistakes, and wouldnt want the same issues in Europe.

The cars are so close now we can almost smell the leather, and I for one cant wait.

 

Back again.

Although I believe theres some spin (excuse the pun) in the response, issues mentioned are nothing new to most of us. Although its prompted a response, its going to make no difference.

The cars so close I can almost taste it, my only headache now is finding a nice home for my Focus. The dealer is already warning me a low trade price. No more rants from me, I've had my share. Lets hope the date is honoured.

AnilS.