Henry Catchpole - Carfection review

[eriegz]

we have maybe a dozen or so people in here who are vocal

All this tells me is that I need to start being more vocal...

HEY LOTUS, I LOVE YOU, BUT GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!​

 

[Leonard]

All this tells me is that I need to start being more vocal...

HEY LOTUS, I LOVE YOU, BUT GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!​

Happy to help put together a crack team of trainee Grumpy Shorts with aspirations to move on to a longer leg length at some point

 

[Eagle7]

I think it's fair to say that 90% members not just on this but all forums, could draw up a list of the same top 5 complaints.
I dont really expect Lotus tondo anything about them at this stage, but it doesn't make them any the less important to prospective purchasers

Yeah the top 5 complaints affect everybody, not just the people on this forum. At the moment I don't expect anything to change either because I'm sure they've got all their focus on getting cars produced and delivered to customers. I would be focused on that too right now if I were in Matt's shoes. However once that's begun, he needs to immediately shift his priorities to the customer service side of things because cars are now shipping.

Getting cars produced isn't really the biggest challenge; the biggest one will be customer service once cars are being delivered.

 

[Leonard]

Yeah the top 5 complaints affect everybody, not just the people on this forum. At the moment I don't expect anything to change either because I'm sure they've got all their focus on getting cars produced and delivered to customers. I would be focused on that too right now if I were in Matt's shoes. However once that's begun, he needs to immediately shift his priorities to the customer service side of things because cars are now shipping.

Getting cars produced isn't really the biggest challenge; the biggest one will be customer service once cars are being delivered.

And as said before they shoukd have sorted the customer service element BEFORE moving to a D2C business model. Waaaay too late at this point yet alone thinking about doing it when customers start taking delivery. I honestly fear for them

 

[Eagle7]

Happy to help put together a crack team of trainee Grumpy Shorts with aspirations to move on to a longer leg length at some point

Man walks through the door with a sign on it that says Arguments. "Is this the arguments department? No it isn't. Yes it is. No it isn't."

 

[Lotustoronto]

Lol what a guy. They probably noticed that a customer who comes in and buys breakfast every Saturday for 32 weeks would be somebody to pay attention to. Buy 32 Emiras and I guarantee you'll be able to speak face-to-face with Matt Windle and tell him the changes you'd like to see, and he'd take you seriously.

What's really going to change things is what happens once cars are delivered. Yes they look at the forums, but we have maybe a dozen or so people in here who are vocal. Lotus however, has thousands of deposits. There's going to be customer satisfaction surveys once we get our cars, and that's where the numbers will tell the story. If they start getting hundreds of the same type of complaints/criticisms/observations in those surveys, that can change things.

I HOPE they're already planning/working on making the changes they need to make, and aren't caught flat-footed when the customer satisfaction surveys start coming in. We'll see.

Well, I bet if you look at the website traffic statistics will show a different story to how many people come on here and read our little posts... But yes, a larger pool of delivery customer satisfaction survey's will certainly tell a better story on how everyone feels the service is.

Time's are changing rapidly, and the companies that survive are the ones that are proactive against these types of situations, not reactive. They need to get ahead of it before it snowballs into something they can't win after the fact.

 

[Leonard]

Man walks through the door with a sign on it that says Arguments. "Is this the arguments department? No it isn't. Yes it is. No it isn't."

Some days the only way I get passed all this absurdity is through a silly walk

 

[TomE]

You know what REALLY worries me is, what are we all going to fight about on here, after all of our cars are delivered??

I’m sure the Touring vs Sports debate will re-ignite

 

[Leonard]

I’m sure the Touring vs Sports debate will re-ignite

Then we have the i4 vs V6 and manual vs auto
Not forgetting is DV actually green

 

[TomE]

Lol what a guy. They probably noticed that a customer who comes in and buys breakfast every Saturday for 32 weeks would be somebody to pay attention to. Buy 32 Emiras and I guarantee you'll be able to speak face-to-face with Matt Windle and tell him the changes you'd like to see, and he'd take you seriously.

What's really going to change things is what happens once cars are delivered. Yes they look at the forums, but we have maybe a dozen or so people in here who are vocal. Lotus however, has thousands of deposits. There's going to be customer satisfaction surveys once we get our cars, and that's where the numbers will tell the story. If they start getting hundreds of the same type of complaints/criticisms/observations in those surveys, that can change things.

I HOPE they're already planning/working on making the changes they need to make, and aren't caught flat-footed when the customer satisfaction surveys start coming in. We'll see.

I’ve had several discussions with Matt about concerns from me and forum members. Apart from the “everyone is delayed” video, what actual improvements has anyone noticed?

Customer service starts right at the beginning of the buying process. Hoping it’ll get sorted once cars start getting delivered is leaving it way too late. People are cancelling and deferring now, because they’re fed up with being treated so badly and are worried the aftersales service will be equally bad.

Lotus don’t need a customer satisfaction survey to tell them this. They can read it on every forum and have been told face to face at the dealer roadshows and at events like Goodwood.

 

[TomE]

Yeah the top 5 complaints affect everybody, not just the people on this forum. At the moment I don't expect anything to change either because I'm sure they've got all their focus on getting cars produced and delivered to customers. I would be focused on that too right now if I were in Matt's shoes. However once that's begun, he needs to immediately shift his priorities to the customer service side of things because cars are now shipping.

Getting cars produced isn't really the biggest challenge; the biggest one will be customer service once cars are being delivered.

It’s exactly because cars are being delayed that they need to up their game on comms. The people who need to get the cars out aren’t the team who need to tackle customer comms, so it’s not either/or.

Customer service before cars are being delivered are even more important.

 

[EspritGuy]

Again, I agree.... I have a story about this - Had a friend once that did not eat any pork. We would go for breakfast every Saturday morning to the same place and he would ask for turkey bacon with his eggs. The server replied the same every time " sorry we don't carry that". After a month I asked him why he kept asking the same server the same question if he already knew the answer... His response was "you'll see". After 8 months and asking the same question for 32 weeks, they finally added turkey bacon to the menu. He was happy and order two servings, and ordered it every time he went again. He said "they needed to know that they were losing money, it's the only way they will change menu". It's been 3 years and turkey bacon is still on the menu.

I get that it is exhausting hearing the same complaints over and over and over again. But I would rather the people on the forum kept complaining and voicing their issue. Maybe Lotus will understand that changing some things will result in better sales and retention. They are a business and ultimately making money is what matters. These forums are EXTREMELY important to future buyers of any Lotus. People do a huge amount of research these days and the forums like us, Ferrari chat, rennlist and others hold weight and can sway people's opinions.

Nice story.
So is this Turkey bacon Turkey or Bacon?
Because I still haven't decided on the Canadian bacon thing.
At least with TurDucHen they give you clues.

 

[Elisesquared]

Let's put things into perspective. How many FE deposits are there? 3000 worldwide (forgive me if that number is wrong)?

How many ppl on here are complaining about delays, etc.? Like the same 10-15 people? I think the vast majority are fine with delays as 1) the FE is probably most people's 3rd or 4th car, 2) delays are kind of the world we live in right now, 3) they're all probably busy with 100 other things going on in their lives to worry about the delivery of their sports car getting delayed, 4) they probably understand and have the correct expectations regarding what Lotus is as a company, both current and past.

So for those complaining, it might be a good reminder to know that you probably don't speak for the majority of Emira deposit holders.

 

[Porter]

Let's put things into perspective. How many FE deposits are there? 3000 worldwide (forgive me if that number is wrong)?

How many ppl on here are complaining about delays, etc.? Like the same 10-15 people? I think the vast majority are fine with delays as 1) the FE is probably most people's 3rd or 4th car, 2) delays are kind of the world we live in right now, 3) they're all probably busy with 100 other things going on in their lives to worry about the delivery of their sports car getting delayed, 4) they probably understand and have the correct expectations regarding what Lotus is as a company, both current and past.

So for those complaining, it might be a good reminder to know that you probably don't speak for the majority of Emira deposit holders.

I believe there are now somewhere north of 10k deposits worldwide, based on some math we ran earlier this year.

Also, it's not just this group on this forum. Some of us participate in a bunch of different Lotus communities both online and offline, and there is frustration being vocalized in all of them.

Please don't flippantly minimize people's frustration about corporate behavior when they've placed thousands of their own money at risk with a company that is refusing to communicate meaningfully with their customer community. Lotus desperately needs good public sentiment about their brand, and for some reason they've chosen to ignore/disregard people instead. These are the folks who want to see them succeed, and would be their natural brand ambassadors if they felt respected and welcomed. Nothing about this scenario makes strategic sense. You could use it as a business school case study in how not to run MarCom.

 

[Porter]

Can we get back to the topic of this thread? It was supposed to be about Catchpole's upcoming Carfection review.

 

[Leonard]

Let's put things into perspective. How many FE deposits are there? 3000 worldwide (forgive me if that number is wrong)?

How many ppl on here are complaining about delays, etc.? Like the same 10-15 people? I think the vast majority are fine with delays as 1) the FE is probably most people's 3rd or 4th car, 2) delays are kind of the world we live in right now, 3) they're all probably busy with 100 other things going on in their lives to worry about the delivery of their sports car getting delayed, 4) they probably understand and have the correct expectations regarding what Lotus is as a company, both current and past.

So for those complaining, it might be a good reminder to know that you probably don't speak for the majority of Emira deposit holders.

I'm not sure that many folk are actually complaining about delays specifically.

 

[Leonard]

Can we get back to the topic of this thread? It was supposed to be about Catchpole's upcoming Carfection review.

It's not coming for at least another 2 weeks now, so may as well fill the time 'productively"

 

[GetawayDriving]

I’m personally fine with delays. I just keep clicking this link like, “maybe Catchpole’s review is actually posted now!”

 

[Mctaff]

You know what REALLY worries me is, what are we all going to fight about on here, after all of our cars are delivered??

... how poor the rest of your colour choices are, bar those tasteful enough to order DV

 

[Lotustoronto]

Nice story.
So is this Turkey bacon Turkey or Bacon?
Because I still haven't decided on the Canadian bacon thing.
At least with TurDucHen they give you clues.

hahaha, So Turkey Bacon is basically turkey made to look and taste like regular Canadian bacon, it's not bad. I prefer the real Bacon tho.