BYD U.K. Needs To Remember Customer Is King 

BYD Dolphin

BYD U.K. Needs To Remember Customer Is King.

 Modern New Cars Require Serious Initial Customer Briefing.
Make Sure Leased Vehicles Are Sourced At Nearest Dealer.

There are two memos I’d like to see BYD send to its U.K. dealers. Even more than with ICE cars, EV computer power is awesome, but needs to be carefully explained, especially to older customers. 

• Allocate 1 hour to each new customer to brief them on the car’s basic capabilities and some of the more exotic ones. Make sure they leave the dealership with their vehicle set up for personal use, like linking the phone and music. Provide a physical User’s Manual. 

It’s astonishing to me that dealers need reminding of this.  

• When providing leased cars to customers, BYD insists the designated dealership is the nearest one. 

I took delivery of my leased BYD Dolphin Comfort in late December. A dealer based in Exeter (160 miles away) drove the car to me near  Worthing. I was handed the keys and left to fend for myself. I quickly ran into difficulties and called my nearest dealer, in Crawley (30 miles). I wasted a morning with a flimsy briefing from a charming a 20-something who had no idea about my needs. I received a rundown about the SatNav which had malfunctioned on the journey there, and not much else. No summing up of, say, 10 major points with advice and troubleshooting. No phone or music linking. No owner’s manual either.  Maybe BYD should open a dealership serving the Brighton area (15 miles).

Thoughtful Offer Solving The Problem Withdrawn
Since then the big computer screen went so dark it became useless. The small screen in the centre of the steering wheel is difficult to read too. I was sent videos on how to fix this. One showed me how to swipe the screen but didn’t say you needed two fingers. As it turned out, two fingers made no difference either. The screen starts out dim, then goes blank. The dealer offered to send someone to do a proper briefing. I was told that this employee, who lived locally, could handle this on his way home, and would phone me “next week” and visit on Wednesday or Thursday. It sounded like a perfect arrangement to me. After all, I believe the fault simply requires some instruction, not any engineering expertise. But there was no phone call. No apology. Silence. 

Phone calls to the dealer weren’t returned because there was no way to leave a message. The only message was to phone again later. I complained and received a call from a more senior BYD official. This is not the way we do business, this official said (sending someone over on their way home) and withdrew the home visit offer. I was told to contact the dealer again. Since then I’ve been trying to persuade BYD that this isn’t good enough. It remains silent.

Calls To UK HQ Diverted To Holland
I called BYD U.K. corporate headquarters on May Day morning, hoping to talk to the newly appointed customer relations honcho. Someone in Holland answered saying no one was available because it was a holiday. It might have been in Holland, but not here.

If this can’t be sorted quickly and amicably, I shall seek an early end to my lease. 

BYD Dolphin