Govt survey of car dealer services is ‘misleading’

The former chairman of the national committee for car dealers at the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) has strongly criticized a recent survey conducted by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on dwindling automobile customer satisfaction, saying the misleading survey is an attack on investors in the sector.
According to the survey published by the ministry, 67 percent of customers have expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of car dealers in the Kingdom.
The survey, conducted by a team of researchers from King Saud University for the ministry, showed that 7.5 percent of the 26,000 respondents were “fully satisfied,” while 19.84 percent of respondents were satisfied “to some extent.”
The survey was primarily meant to measure consumer assessment over certain services provided by car dealers in the Kingdom, such as car sales, maintenance services, spare parts, and customer services, in addition to car prices, availability of service centers, service charges and availability and prices of spare parts.
“This is a war of arbitrary surveys,” said Faisal Abushausha, the former CSC official, in comments published by sabq.org. “This survey has lost its credibility as it goes against the Kingdom’s regulations and lacks scientific and practical methodology,” he said.
Abushausha said the committee has been working with car dealers to protect consumers and improve services.
“Consumers invest a lot of money purchasing cars, so providing them with the best possible services is our strategic objective,” he said.
Based on the findings of the latest survey, the level of consumer satisfaction has improved compared with an earlier survey, while dissatisfaction over car prices has increased.
The ministry launched its second survey on Jan. 27 on its website aimed to collect and analyze data given by respondents on their satisfaction over services provided by the auto service sector.
There are 18 automobile dealers in the Kingdom offering 31 car brands. During the second half of 2013, the ministry received more than 4,270 complaints from consumers against car dealers.