Majority of motorists not happy with autos after sales service

RIYADH: More than 50 percent of vehicle users in the Kingdom are not satisfied with the after-sales service of auto agencies in the Kingdom.
In a survey conducted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) to evaluate the performance of automobile companies, results revealed that 56.9 percent of the 20,000 motorists involved in the study are not happy with the services rendered by these agencies.
In a similar survey last year, the dissatisfaction rate was 67 percent. This year, the report said the rate dropped by 12 percent which is a sign of improvement over the previous year.
The percentage of “Satisfied to Some Extent” rose to 25.5 percent , with an increase of 6 percent, while the percentage of “Full Satisfaction” for the services provided to consumers fell to 5.7 percent.
The ministry considers that this improvement in the questionnaire results reflects more commitment to rules and regulations, as well as improvement of after-sale services and services rendered by the call centers of auto agencies.
This was the third questionnaire MCI has launched to obtain periodic statistics and indicators on the extent of consumers’ satisfaction with the services provided in the auto sector, and to know the areas that need further improvement.
MCI aims to inform car agencies in the Kingdom of the study results to highlight their positive and negative points so that they can develop and improve their services in line with consumer satisfaction.
As far as the principle of improving customer services is concerned, the ministry launched the Initiative of Agencies Interaction with Consumers Complaints to improve the performance in case of any dispute, to directly solve such disputes without any interference of the ministry; in case of failure to solve the dispute, the complaint shall be referred to the ministry’s inspectors.
The ministry recently conducted a study for comparing prices of auto parts in the Gulf states by taking samples of spare parts, including parts for routine maintenance, spare parts replaced during accidents and electrical parts. The results have been separately discussed with each agency.
The ministry also shared these results with manufacturers. The ministry will conduct the study again after six months and the results will be published to promote competitiveness.
It is worth mentioning that the reports regarding the agent’s commitment to the terms of the contract and the delay in receiving the car from maintenance have recently decreased, while the complaints on the agent’s commitment to the terms of warranty and the lack of spare parts or the required maintenance have increased.