STARTIN GROUP LIMITED Reviews 110

Wow, I am just absolutely delighted with the amazing service I am receiving. My car was graciously confiscated on May 28, 2024, and has mysteriously vanished into thin air since then. The constant game of phone tag with the clueless manager is just the cherry on top of this fantastic customer service experience. And who needs a courtesy car anyway? It's so much more fun to shell out money for a vehicle I haven't laid eyes on in nearly two months. Just living the dream over here!

I've never experienced service like this from a reputable garage.

My vehicle went in to this garage on the 5th June 2024 for an unknown problem that STILL as of today is still occurring.

With this in mind, I would be right to assume that a test drive was done of my vehicle after the repairs just to ensure that it was in working order, however no sooner than 10 minutes after I left the garage on the afternoon of the 6th June, after paying nearly £500.00 for work to be completed on my vehicle, I was assured that my issue was fixed. It was to my surprise that the issue was still apparent. As soon as I found this out, I pulled over & telephoned them straight back, and was reassured that I could bring it in the following day and be provided with a courtesy car whilst it was being looked at again.

I then received a phone call on the 7th June, stating that after someone had spoken to one their Master Techs at Peugeot, that the problem could only be with the timing of the engine and that there was not much else you could do for me. As you can imagine, I wasn't very happy with this outcome as I feel like they had just taken my money and didn't want to be of any more help.

I have spoken to a number of mechanics myself, who have assured me that the issue could not be with the timing of the vehicle, because if this was the case, my car would be misfiring 24/7, and not sporadically as it is.

I have asked on multiple occasions for any sort of detailed diagnostic that was done to see if there were any error codes that come up & also a detailed report of the work that was carried out. However, none was provided to me, and I have just been ignored by the service team.

When you go straight to the manufacturer dealership with an issue you expect them to have some sort of idea of what is going on. I will NEVER be using this garage again in future!

My s.class car wouldn't work after trying to use both key fobs phoned suzuki service all they could say was bring the car to us asked if they pick it up they don't have pick up truck was the reply. So at my cost of 300 pounds.i got it there then i asked if they have a courtesy car .the was no they only have one and thats being used so now i have had borrow a car and pay £238 pounds for insurance on it. 3 weeks later its still not sorted and still being fobbed off excuses after excuses i as pensioner have never been treated so badly i am really disgusted with them

I was going to leave a very negative review in response to problems with getting my daughter’s car fixed with a simple fault that I ended up spending weeks trying to sort out and ended up with me telling them what the problem was and providing all the diagnostic information.
However, after complaining to the new service manager - Sarah - I was very impressed with how she handled the situation, took over, and provided a courtesy car for my daughter to use for the week. The required part was ordered from Germany, and she managed to get the problem solved.
I was very impressed with her management skills, attitude, and the way she listened to what I was saying and stepped up to get the problem resolved quickly and turn the negative situation around to a positive. I have been using Startin Skoda Powick for over a dozen years or so and have bought cars from them in the past and had servicing done there for all of them. So was very concerned this situation had occurred but thankfully I didn’t have to make a formal complaint, and can still recommend them instead.

Where to start...in summary after careful consideration, a really disappointing experience with Peugeot Worcester.

Long story short, back in January 2024 I visited the showroom and met one of the sales team. While critical I want this review to be dignified (and will of course evidence my criticism) so won't name the names of he who delivered a dishonest, tardy and shoddy customer service and they know who they are. Despite my own diligence - albeit rain tainted viewing the car properly, the salesman assured me the cars wheels, mileage etc and integrity were all excellent. Ashamedly, even as a 50 odd year old experienced buyer, I placed my perhaps with benefit of hindsight, blind faith and trust in this salesman and bought the car in good faith. This was a £22k car top spec Peugeot 3008.

However, the car was delivered with higher mileage than when test drive , scuffed wheels and a dent. Plus, with it being hybrid it wasn't even charged!

After making my representations, the sales manager took over, and I will name him - Josh Jones who to be fair was exemplary. Outstanding customer service and exceptional as a manager. He even took me out for a test drive to demonstrate driving a hybrid vehicle for the first time, with Peugeot alleged positivities of their marques.

He resolved the issues and apologised for the obvious inaccuracies and now what had become a dreadful sales experience. The salesman had let me down badly.

That said, both he and the original member of staff evidently had fed me the usual steroetypical car dealer guff about fuel economy etc etc.

Ultimately, the car was a raging disappointment that within 2 / 3 months I decided to sell. Despite having run little miles since purchase and enhancing the car by having windows and chrome tastefully tinted and no damage, the dealer offered me an embarrassing paltry sum that even webuyanycar would beat! I expected some loyalty for keeping my business with them. It didn't happen.

I actually sold the car to a local dealer, Motorspark, who I bought my replacement car from, and who without doubt is the very best example in over 35 years of buying cars, of how sell expensive assets like cars and treat customers. I also received, get this nearly £2,000 more than Peugeot Worcester!

A valuable lesson I learned a long time ago is this...if your behaviour and actions are truly conducted in the best, honest and credible way you and your organisation can be genuinely proud of, then of course you can do no more. If, however there is ever any doubt about how you conducted yourself then now is the time to change.

Treat customers with total honesty and respect Mike (oopsie did I just name him) and stop smudging the bad bits. Frankly, you need to be ashamed of how you have dealt with my original purchase and the torrent of evident lies and inaccuracies about the car. Disgraceful, unacceptable and simply not good enough.

I will never buy from Peugeot Worcester again and would not recommend anyone else to buy from there with the current sales team.

Such a shame as the finance and reception staff are lovely.

Bought a used Suzuki Across 29th February,noted paintwork and trim damage plus missing charger which they said would be rectified/supplied,then rang and said would not supply charger,not standard equipment!! Told me cost of Suzuki charger would be £1300,or cheaper on eBay!
Sold me a 2 year extended warranty, for £699.00,did not tell me Suzuki offers a 4 year or 100k service based warranty free!! Car delivered with charger after Suzuki Gb intervened,but most of the bodywork/trim defects not repaired,plus one of the key fobs supplied did not work.Taken back to Redditch by Startin, (100 mile round trip),where the cosmetic defects fixed,but were unable to programme new key fob,said it was faulty, replacement ordered.After another 100 mile trip to visit workshop,keyfob was programmed and a refund given for the extended warranty insurance. Should have got all this "right first time". Very poor service.

I bought a car via trader app. I was quite disappointed when it turned up. It was dirty. It was driven by someone along the motorway from Worcester to Bristol so they added an extra couple of hundred miles to the car was worried it could’ve been an accident. Thought it would be on a low loader and impressed with the after-care service, as the guy stopped replying to my emails and phone calls even my parents tried to ring up they ignored them too. Stay away from the Worcester department. I had to buy extra cover for my PCP which wasn’t explained to me by Worcester at all so it’s cost me an extra £600 that I didn’t really need to spend, the app on My Dacia is still not updated so I have no way of seeing what my two year warranty consisted sadly the manager already has my personal number and he avoids calling me like the plague so I don’t think he will be calling me any time soon because when I rang up with other things he avoided speaking to me then I got my dad to ring him and he avoided speaking to him too, so I can’t see him ringing me off his own accord

I put down a £100 deposit to reserve a vehicle i then did not purchase. The company has not refunded the deposit while insisting that they have.

Rang to get information about mobility car and a guy called josh started to put this car order through over the phone. I thought this was strange but didn't want to be rude, he then told me all done after about 5 mins he hadn't offered me any extras or even asked what colour car I wanted!!! He sounded like he wanted to get off the phone and wanst interested in helping me. I asked about the colour and told him I want a black one he seemed put out anf said that's fine and told me next communication be when car comes!
I rang back a few hours later as I had to have a look at the car myself on the Internet as josh hasn't told me anything about the car and asked about isso fix seats throughout as I have to have all rear seats with isso fix, josh didn't know if it was allowed and said he would ring me back I then asked about assessories as I hadn't been offered any and was told I'm allowed them but he will call me back. He seemed again to try anf get of the phone he wasn't interested in talking to me like I was wasting his time.
I ended up calling bromsgrove dealership and was told the answer to my question about isso fix straight away and the guy was very polite and didn't try to rush me of the phone so I asked if I could transfer my order here as I felt better about their customer care and it was nearer, they told me I had to cancel my order and start again. I hadn't received any help from worcester and I hadn't even had my deposit amount sent to me yet (so i didnt know if i could afford rhe down payment as i had applied to the charity monikity to get it paid for) which I had told worcester about this so I decided to cancel and go with bromsgrove but josh seemed annoyed by this and huffed and said fine and hung uo the phone on me!!!!! Very very rude!!! Worse customer service I have received in years.
Finally today I went into bromsgrove to order the extra long peugeott traveller with added vip seats and safety pack and found josh didn't cancel my order so they had to ring up mobikity to get it cancelled, I was told by mobikity josh was not allowed to do my order over the phone as it needs to be done in the dealership so I can sign the forms!! I wonder how the forms had been signed in worcester without me signing it?? Josh had told me about an advance of 750 pounds i asked what this wad for and wad told its just from mobikity and will be taken off the car price so I said that was fine.... when setting up the car through bromsgrove they asked me my bank details for the 750 pounds to gi into and explained it will be sent to my bank after I pick the car up so again I wonder why my bank details weren't asked for by josh? and where would this payment of gone to if I hadn't of cancelled my order? I had nearly £7000 deposit to go towards a car so didn't need to add this £750 on it and it would of been sent out after the car had been paid so something don't seem right here.
I found my experience with josh confusing and alot of information was missing and found it a lazy way to sell a car over the phone and I was really worried by him not cancelling my order I had given him enough time to cancel this. I won't ever use this dealership in the future if this is the type of staff you hire I would be very worried especially as selling cars on mobility should be done face to face (he hadn't even got a copy of my driving licence I could of been anyone putting through this order!!)

Awful experience that has now left me out of pocket!!

Traded in a perfectly good 11 plate suzuki swift and bought a 22 plate (was 1 year old) hybrid swift sport. Nothing but problems literally from driving away. Snapped parcel shelf string was the least of the problems (should have been spotted if the car was even checked before being sold). I've had a knocking noise ever since buying in 2023. The dealership fobbed me off after having the car for 10 days. Rushed inspection, needed to be properly test driven by a technician with experience. Rude aftersales assistant manager, who wouldn't listen to me, just kept saying the car was ready to be collected (when it wasn't). Noise was there straight away when I reluctantly collected the car & I had no fuel left after they had someone with no experience driving it around. They wouldn't take the car back when I wanted to give it back.

Don't buy Suzuki, the brand has gone down hill! Check out forums of people all over the country experiencing the same knocking noises. I've given up chasing to get it repaired & refuse to spend money on a car that is not even 2 years old yet.

If I could give no stars I would!!

**UPDATE**
Startin refused to do anything positive about the situation. I have since had to get rid of the car and lose £2800 + extra fuel costs (probably lost more). I now have a Ford. Much better quality, better car, no faults at all and overall better experience.

Do not believe a word Startin say, they offer no solutions & generally do not care about the customer once they have the money. Ignore their responses to all reviews, that is just the mirage to keep trick future customers!!

**ANOTHER UPDATE**

Startin have all my contact details since I've already been contacted by their representative. To which they refused to take the car back or give me compensation since they sold me a faulty car. Too little, too late comes to mind.

Navigating the service department of certain main dealerships can be quite challenging. It's common knowledge that some dealerships incentivize their technicians based on the volume of work they perform. This can lead to situations where minor issues are exaggerated or fabricated to generate additional revenue. Consequently, there's a lack of trust in their assessments, especially when returning the following year to find previously identified issues and no longer worthy of a mention despite not being rectified.

While I'm unsure about STARTIN's technician payment structure, my experience at the Worcester SKODA dealership suggests a more ethical approach. During my service appointment for my SKODA, the only concern raised was regarding the tread depth of one tyre, which I was already aware of beforehand. This indicates a more honest and transparent approach to servicing customers' vehicles.

Sadly appalling. I don't own a car supplied by Startin and have nothing to do with them. I have asked for my data to be removed / respected and nothing has happened despite numerous requests both verbally and in writing

I recently bought a used car from Startin of Redditch Worcestershire. I had a very poor follow up service from the sales team, however Aman the Service Manager from the service department went out of his way to put things right, much of which was not his fault. My review is for him and him alone. Thank you Aman for great service.

The main thing that annoyed me was poor customer service - this is so important and so easy to get right that I was surprised that this franchise got it so wrong. Having bought my Kia from another franchise whose business transferred to Startin I rang them thinking that they might be able to help me with what turned out to be a simple issue - a missing locking wheel nut key (missing as it hadn't been put in the car when I bought it). Their default position in two calls to them was 'not our responsibility, we can't help'. When pressed I was told that someone would ring me back. They didn't. In desperation I rang Bells Kia and got wonderful customer service - the person I spoke to simply asked for a photo of a wheel nut and I picked a new one up two days later. It only cost £23 which also makes me wonder why Startin couldn't have been more helpful as the cost wouldn't have broken the bank!
To add insult to injury Startin responded to my review (posted on the 28 February) on the 28 May, apologising for my experience and saying they would like to discuss it with me. Surely if they were concerned about customer service they would have responded to me more promptly?! Thank you for contacting me Startin but sorry, I won't be giving you my contact details and if I need a Kia garage in future I will go to Bell's in Northampton.

There is so much I need to write but I can't be bothered, I feel so apathetic towards my ordeal now.

I have a complaint that was being investigated and I was in regular contact with the dealership until Christmas. Since then I have heard nothing. The dealer principle has told the Brand Director he has been in contact with me, which is a lie. Peugeot HQ have made a derisory offer which I am insulted by. And to top.it off, the Subject Access Request I did in December hasn't been responded to.

I am p***ed off.

Don't buy a Peugeot.

Edit 28/05/2024

I have been dealing with Richard Newbold and I am frankly shocked by his lack of professional care. I have made a SAR and what I got back was a joke. I've asked for a full SAR but received nothing. I've already completed half of the paperwork to take you to court and I will complete it soon. The GDPR breach will be added on. I honestly don't think Startin Group are competent. This isn't the first car I've bought and had issues with, I ordered an e2008 in September 2020 and I'm 99% sure you never ordered it. The SAR will confirm this. There's a long saga with that experience too. Mr Newbold was involved in that too.

And the issues I have with the purchase of the car I have now aren't the whole story. We actually ordered two 308 GT Premium Hybrids and had to cancel the other one because you couldn't supply what we ordered.

I wish I'd never set foot in that showroom.

I'm taking you to court. If you want to get in touch to resolve the issues it needs to be a very senior manager and I'll only deal with you in writing.

2nd edit:

You supplied the wrong car initially then a car that was almost right. I'm missing a 3D dash, wireless charging plate and a 7kw charger that were part of the car I ordered. The car I test drove at the launch event had the 3d dash and charging plate and it was still listed on the spec sheets. Richard Newbold claimed I was aware the spec had changed when I ordered the car. This isn't true, I found out I probably would get the dash and charging plate on 13th January 2023 when I joined a MK3 308 forum, I did expect the cost to be taken off but it wasn't. Peugeot UK have told me these were worth £660 and we're prepared to reimburse that in lieu of full and final settlement. That didn't take into account the fact the car was missold by the dealership leaving me unable to accept the offer. Mr Newbold has admitted in writing that the staff at the dealership (including himself) didn't know how VED was calculated and applied to new car sales. I find this unbelievable from a man who has spent his whole career in the car sales industry. I was very clear with the salesman I wanted to avoid the enhanced VED and kept the list price of both cars ordered below £40k. Unfortunately I have discovered, to my cost, that the VED is based on the list price of the car at the point of registration. The staff at the dealership, including Mr Newbold, we're still under the impression that it was based on the value at the point of sale. It has been this way since at least April 2017 and as a layman I wasn't aware, I expected the supplier to provide me with the correct information. You have a duty of care and you failed to deliver it. This lack of care will cost me £1950 more than I expected over the course of my ownership. His offer, despite his admission of guilt, was worth £560 total. I can't accept that. The missing features and effects of misselling will leave me out of pocket to the tune of £2510. That doesn't give any compensation or goodwill, it simply puts me in the financial position I should have been in. Mr Newbold has made it clear he was not prepared to increase his offer and no longer shows me the courtesy of replying to emails.

All I have asked for is to be put into the position I expected to be in when I placed the order. All of the issues have been due to poor product and legislative knowledge on the part of Startin. I have a complete SAR from Peugeot and I can see how little effort the dealership made to resolve the issue beyond asking Peugeot to pay for their mistakes. I have a copy of a communication from Peugeot to all dealerships regarding the spec changes dated April 2022 - I ordered my car in June 2022 so they were aware and should have made me aware before sale.

Resolving this is easy. You just need to reimburse me for the financial impact of your mistakes. As a multi-mullion GBP business you could do it but sadly, you've chosen not to. I am the wrong person to take a hard line with. I will make sure you pay for your mistakes.

Went to Startin Vauxall Redditch got a fair price for my trade in and Paul the salesman was really helpful as I am profoundly deaf, would definitely recommend.

I own a Skoda Octavia I bought new from Startins Worcester 5 months ago. Last Monday the car failed to start with numerous errors displayed. We had to book a taxi rapidly as we were going to a hospital appointment. The AA turned up and the car started first time, but when he connected his computer, it showed up errors. I contacted Startins Service Dept. They stated thy would want our car for 2 days, so I arranged for a hire car and pay the excess charge. only to receive a call 4 hours later confirming the car was ready. They did not charge the excess fee after I complained. I was told a controller was replaced and the software was upgraded. When I got in the car, I had to reconnect my mobile and the saved places on the satnav had disappeared. On the following Saturday I drove to Wolverhampton, a trip I do regularly. it’s about 50/50 that the satnav traffic will suggest we leave the motorway as the traffic on the M5/M6 is at a standstill. On the Saturday we got no warnings therefore carried on the motorway only to land into a traffic jam. This is when we realised the traffic info was not working. We called Startins and initially spoke to Emma who I have since found out is not technical and started talking about forums. I eventually spoke to Tom, we then found out we were not logged onto the Skoda connect. When we logged on, everything sprung into life, but at this point too late for the traffic jam. Tom then proceeded to tell us it was probably a Skoda connect outage. To date we have not experienced a Skoda outage I asked the question on Facebook and the answers I received confirmed no one else had experienced an outage that week. I am really disappointed with the service received from Startins.

Time wasters and liars due to their own oversight/incompetence/greed.

I sold a vehicle via Motorway for them to cancel last minute on collection day under the following false pretences:

1) Outstanding vehicle recall – the Honda website as well as my dealership (main Honda dealer) where I had my vehicle serviced both confirmed that there was no outstanding recall so I have no idea where they are getting their information from.

2) Timing belt not changed - I never claimed this had been done anywhere in the advert so I cannot fathom why they would presume that it had been. Surely, any normal individual would presume that if something is not listed then it is not available? I would not buy a Honda from your dealership thinking that it must have any other feature which is not listed in the advert. In any case, I did enquire about this with my dealership as well and was told that the interval for this was 5-8 years depending on mileage. My vehicle was over 5 years old, however, this was never even suggested to me when I last had it serviced by my main Honda dealership due to the low mileage.

It is evident that the dealership eventually realised that item 2) needed replacing (which was never mentioned to me previously for the relevant reasons as stated above) which would impact their margin on the vehicle so made the claim that the vehicle was not as described so that they would have a means of “legally” pulling out of the purchase under false presences by making me feel like I have done them wrong when it was due to incompetence/oversight from their own procurement function.

Obviously, it was only me that lost out financially despite no fault of my own so it is fine as far as they are concerned.

Motorway confirmed all of the above in their internal investigations i.e. I hadn't misrepresented my vehicle in any way as there was no outstanding recall nor any issues with the cambelt which implies the profit motive as well as Startin Group's utter incompetence.

Edit: I've been requested to provide more personal information to this company to ensure everything is factual even though the ship has sailed months ago and they have no intention in making it right despite me losing a few thousand pounds in the process as well as wasting my time.

Go and see Motorway's reply to my negative review of them and be the judge.

Accept that the review is just and it's a complete failing on your end. Just please leave me alone if you think a no cost apology on your end is going to make it right.

I felt completely mislead following the sale of my 2008e last summer, I purchased the car after checking with the sales person that I would be able to complete my commute of 80 miles round trip with the range on the car I was advised its a 220 mile range and I should be able to go twice off one charge - well that’s absolute rubbish. I drive too and from work and have 19 miles left regularly. This is with me driving in eco mode, no heating in winter no air con in summer, cruise control on no excessive accelerating. I was advised on how to get the most out of my car economy wise but this is rubbish. I have called about the range with no help I know it’s my own stupid fault and I can’t get out of this pcp. I am counting down the days until I get this car gone and I’m so disappointed in this sale. Then following this calling recently to get advice I felt like they just wanted me to have a new car from them which is impossible due to the pcp rather than helping me with my current car

Had a quote to repair my van of £2k agreed the work to be done and was then told they had made a mistake and there was another £855 on top.
Went in to collect the van and take it to another garage who was half their price and they wouldn't even offer me the cost of the diagnosis as compensation for their shocking mistake. I had to pay half. Paid my £60 and have now moved my 3 vehicles to another garage. Bought a new electric car from them which will be replaced in June. Wont use them. VERY DISAPPOINTED