[Onassis]

To appease their voyeuristic clientèle, Audi is launching the new Direct Reception initiative in the UK.

Designed to get owners more involved in the repair process, the initiative forces dealership employees to wear a two-way radio and an 'Audi Cam'. When owners take their car in for service, they sit in the waiting room and watch a live feed from the Audi Cam. If a problem arises, the customer can talk to the technician / service advisor over the two-way radio.

According to Audi's UK Director Jeremy Hicks, "Service departments throughout the industry are often accused of baffling customers with science - by offering ours full exposure to the work undertaken on their cars, and the ability to talk through that work with the technician involved, our aim is to demystify the process as fully as possible. We want to ensure that everyone who entrusts their Audi to us for servicing and repairs knows exactly where they stand and exactly what to expect."

Hopefully, technicians are being paid more for the inconvenience.

Source: http://www.worldcarfans.com/110070227161/audi-cam-introduced---real-time-viewing-of-service-work


This is a pretty clever idea from Audi. I wonder if this program will ever extend over here to North America.

[FerrariEnzo]

wow, imagine the headache the tech will get from a customer who likes to complain or just yak over the radio.. haha

[Qmx323]

im sure the tech has a mute button

[donjalapeno]

lol it would suck for the tech people, but its a good idea for paranoid/picky people like my dad

[FerrariEnzo]

im sure the tech has a mute button

haha if they put it on, costumers would complain to the manager about that...

i know i would, just to be a dick! :p

[simsimi1004]

kinda like the wait room at BMW where u can see inside the garage.

[Phil@rise]

If a customer is too "involved" the techs will just work more slowly due to the distraction and the customer will just end up paying more.

[falcon]

That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. Having worked as a service advisor, all this is going to do is cause major headaches and piss off technicians.

[vexor]

As someone who works as a tech, this is going to be such a bad idea if it comes here... I would work so slowly if the customer constantly asks me "am I doing that right?" "should that be like that?" etc.


although on the other side, it may show the customers what we technicians do and how important it is to maintain the vehicle

[Dinan3]

That's not going to go well. lol

[FerrariEnzo]

the radio part sux.. the camera part is good then it really shows if we have done the work or not..

some people i know get so paranoid if the techs really do this or if they skip it...

[fishing666]

it's a good change..i'd want to see this

[JSALES]

pretty cool idea but it would suck for the technicians

[RabidRat]

the only way i see this working is if they charge the customer more for the privilege.

[hk20000]

LOL I'm sure Top Gear will cock about in this just for kicks.

[1990TSI]

Who would want to work in an audi dealership to start with?

I've never understood how VW/audi can keep techs in the shop.


worst cars to work on ever.

[Peturbo]

I HATE working on audi/VWs. This will just make them the most miserable techs ever.
They already had it bad enough.

[optiblue]

This will never fly here since some dealerships don't even change anything to your car but will tell you that it's done!

[maxxxboost]

I don't see this working at all. If a tech is working on a flat rate basis, wouldn't it be best to work quick? In the eye of the customer, they will think that the tech cut corners and prob stur up more shit.
If they get paid more and assuming they are legit, then i don't see why not. Pay more for a more *eyes on* service.

[FerrariEnzo]

Pay more for a more *eyes on* service.
now this is a good option... but knowing how cheap people are these days, they will just complain about that too..

[Phil@rise]

Who would want to work in an audi dealership to start with?

I've never understood how VW/audi can keep techs in the shop.


worst cars to work on ever.

Do explain.
I don't find them difficult to work on in the slightest.
I think some of their engineering is suspect tho. Classic example is plastic coolant bungs on VR6's and 1.8T's

[1990TSI]

a few examples of things wrong with VW, that north american and asian vehicles don't 'usually' have issues with. At least when it comes to working on them.

1: oil filter placement. sure some VWs have cartridge filters up top and are kinda easy, but the most make a huge mess and aren't in a great spot. Yes, older toyota and nissan trucks are shitty too. but not as bad as VW
that can all be argued both ways, but I hate doing an oil change on any VW

2: lug nuts, or the apparent lack there of. seriously. why?
how hard is it to just use studs and nuts? then if a wheel stud breaks it's pretty damn easy to replace. and saftey issues with that, how many techs have had a VW wheel fall on them here? oh i'm not the only one I see.

3: battery placement on V6 and maybe more passat/audis. you know the one, between the windshield and the firewall. it's the most expensive battery i've ever seen and it's in a killer akward place. fuck it.

4: air filter housing. there are others that take longer, but give it to VW to make it frustrating too. I don't know what year/models are the worst, but you know what i mean.

5: wiring issues. not much to be said here that everyone doesnt already know.

6: power steering bottle. oh, you want to check the PS fluid on any other car? easy, just unscrew the lid with your fingers or look through the clear bottle/resevoir.
with VW..... do I need to say it? what were they thinking?!

7: wheel bolt caps. the ones with the hex hole in the centre. 20 to a car! I recently figured out a trick to it, but still, why be so much more difficult than the rest of the world.

8: small detail, but that fucking 90s door chime makes me want to stab a baby in the eye.


so that's 8 off the top of my head, I'm sure I could pick out more, but you're welcome to add more things to the list of why VWs are shit to work on compared to north american or asian vehicles