Problem with VW Customer Service (long)

[Bob Davis <bob@segNET.COM>]

Hello again -- been a while, I know, but work got very busy for a while,
and I just didn't have time to participate much.
Well, now I'm crawling back because (no surprise here) I have a
problem.
A few months ago I noticed a blemish _in_ the paint of my VW GTi (humor
me pease, you'll see why this is a good question for the forum) and I
took it to the dealer to be fixed (car is under warrantee).

They informed me 1st that there was no blemish, so I took the service
manager out into the dark and brought out my trusty MagLight - sure
enough, big nasty fogging - kind of milky - on the right rear
quarter.  "Oh, yeah, I see that".  He apparently
couldn't see it in broad daylight, but at night, under the glow of a
flashlight in need of fresh batteries, he could.  I'm very impressed
thus far.

"We have to call the Factory Rep", he stated.

Fine.

So the Rep comes and sees it.  Tells me that it's a not uncommon
problem (!) and tells the dealership to fix it.  I get a rental car
and all, so I'm not too upset.

Well, they call me to tell me it's done, and I go down to look at it. I
have never seen runs in paint like I saw then.  Friends of mine who
painted cars in their own garages have done better work.

I made them do it again.

Well, they call me to tell me it's done, and I go down to look at
it.  Same thing, only now the runs are in different places.

Do it again.  

They call and tell me it's done.  I'm a little pissed by now, and
the Factory rep happens to be audible in the background, so I ask to
speak with him again.  He tells me that he has personally checked
the car out, and that it meets "Industry Standards" and that he
is satisfied.  I inform him that if it doesn't meet my standards
(i.e. match the car, be flat, and have no runs), and that if I am not
satisfied with it, I would like to take the car to a good shop and have
it done properly at their expense.  
He informs me that "Volkswagen will NOT give you a CUSTOM paint
job" (caps added for emph).

Now I'm a little mad.

I go to look at the car, and it's been outside in the cold.  I tell
the service manager that I want to check the car out inside, under the
lights, so they pull it in and wipe it down.  It was very damp, and
there was a lot of condensation on the now very cold car (It's February
in NH), so I couldn't see a lot, but other than a little overspray (which
they took care of) it looked fine.  I took the service slip and went
home.

A couple months pass and the weather gets nice enough to actually spend a
little time cleaning the car up and going over it.

There are ripples in the paint and drips just below the beltline. 

I am furious.

It gets worse.  The Factory Rep (one John L. Scott, allegedly of
Danbury CT) gave me a VW/Audi business card with the _wrong_ phone number
on it.

So, my question is, what recourse do I have?  How do I go up the
chain at VW/Audi and have this resolved?  

I think I am well within my rights to invoke lemon law on this.
  (anyone in NH know for sure?)

The car is now out of warrantee 
  (though the disputed work was done under warrantee).
The paint work is so bad that the car looks like it was wrecked 
  (never was).
The paint should impact resale to the tune of a grand or two

(or even three - any guesses here?)

The dealer (though a client of mine) has never performed any work
correctly

(I found a bunch of screws in the footwell after one visit, and a screw driver - I put the screws back in the door where they belong and kept the screw driver)

Though the dealer is a client, I am now eager to throw him to the
wolves.

Who is the dealer?  Well, I probably shouldn't say, but if you look
at the VW site and do a dealer search (
http://www.vw.com:8080/html/vwdlrloctable.htm ) for zip code 03755, he's
the one that comes up.  Not that I'm telling you to find out and
spread the word (yet).

I called VW's customer service number and spoke with a very pleasant rep
who wrote it all down and gave me an address in MI, but didn't have a
name.

Any help would be much appreciated.

For those of you who made it to Mount Washington - great seeing you all
again, and I look forward to seeing you next time.

thanks

Bob Davis

bob@segNET.COM

http://www.segNET.COM