Wash and go VW Service Centre in Centurion

I have a 2020 VW Polo Gti which went in for its 4th annual service at 46348km to VW Autohaus Centurion. 4th service as I'm not doing the required mileage. It would have been its 60000km service which is a major service. The vehicle is under the EasyDrive maintenance plan which I have been purchasing every year since the 3 year warranty expired. Vehicle is stock.

There were 2 additional items added to the major service to be sorted out when I scheduled the service, a few days in advance. New wiper blades and fixing a stuck steering paddle shift.

Booked in the vehicle on 29 August 2024 at 07:45 and waited till 15:00 to hear from the service advisor on completion. Sent a WhatsApp asking for feedback only to be told they are still busy with the car and that it is a major service implying I should be patient.

I go to pick up the vehicle at around 5pm and the service advisor says the major service is done - oil change, spark plugs, oil filter, air filter, pollen filter etc. but they don't have wipers in stock and I need to come back when it is in stock, further the stuck paddle shift requires more time to fix so they just "greased" it.

I was really disappointed and asked how they don't have wiper blades for one of the most common cars on the road and having requested this in advance and expecting me to drive back to have them fitted, really? Seeing she was not technical, I did not bother asking how they grease a steering paddle shift.

I left with those issues still playing on my mind and decided to open my bonnet when I got home. Car felt like it did before the service, great, so did not have any specific reason to poke around other than my interaction with the service advisor and the disappointment of work not completed. To my surprise, there was a thick layer of dust over all components in the engine bay. The surprise was not due to the dust itself, I did not expect my engine bay to be cleaned but the wonder of how you change spark plugs and the air filter without getting fingerprints on any of these items?

Suspicions raised, I decided to check my air filter, taking pictures as evidence. The air filter was not changed, and the compartment was still with bugs and sand. Oil spilt around the oil cap.

Back at the service center the very next morning, 30 August 2024, to ask what exactly they did for the major service and got the same reply as the previous day. So I asked how they changed my air filter without opening anything and showed them the pictures. Workshop manager agreed that the filter had not been changed and needed time to investigate to get back to me.

Workshop manager got back to me about 45 mins later saying that the air filter was not changed as they did not have stock and this was a communication gap between technician and service advisor. They were using new stock management system and there was issue between what they had on back order and what VW system showed. If that was the case, why did they falsify the job card and say these were replaced?

He then assured me everything else that needed to be done for the major service was done and the paddle shift required stripping to do warranty claim before ordering parts for replacement and can take 3-6 weeks.

I said I don't have peace of mind, so I want to inspect the plugs fitted. Went back on 2 September 2024, 3 days after the plugs were fitted to inspect them and have the other items not done fixed/stripped, added some other issues which happen intermittently to check as well. I stood with the technician when he pulled out the plugs and clear to me that they were not changed, even asked for a brand new plug to compare. Workshop manager says remember that the plugs are under extreme heat so will not look like the new ones to which I rep**** yes sure it's not going to look brand new but these don't look 3 days old. I took photos for evidence again and kept one of the plugs removed.

Workshop manager says he'll put in new plugs so I have peace of mind that they were changed. I told him to change them and I'll be back in a week to show him condition of plugs so we can settle whether plugs were changed. Plugs changed, air filter changed, wipers changed, paddle shift stripped and warranty claim put in. ECU update was done without informing me prior, hoping to fix the intermittent issue I told them about.

I picked up the car and it feels different, can't really put my finger on what the issue is, but it sounds quieter than normal, maybe it's new plugs and air filter?

Go back after a week, 10 September 2024 and again standing with the workshop manager and technician, pulling out plug No.1 to compare to the plug they pulled out a week ago which was supposedly 3 days old. Clear as day the new plug electrode is cleaner and the ones pulled out a week ago was not changed but the original ones from before my major service. Took photos again as evidence. Workshop manager says he definitely has an issue in his workshop that needs to be addressed as he can't inspect each car.

I don't get to drive my car hard or for long as it's just city driving in traffic. A week of driving and finally an open road and I finally figure out the car feeling detuned. No more growls or subtle pops and down changes are less dramatic. Car feels like it's in eco mode or holding back even in sports mode. I check a few VW forums about the issue and some say it's possibly an ECU update. Ask workshop manager to revert the changes and he says it can't be done.

So after going through all of this unnecessary effort to get my VW maintained by VW, where I paid to get the best service and warranty plan from, where you say I get peace of mind, I get back a detuned polo gti with higher fuel consumption, new plugs and air filter that I had to prove was not changed.