In his lengthy diatribe on what he terms Toyota’s lack of customer courtesy, Mr Ntshiamisang lambastes our Botswana dealers for their “silence” on the recall service campaign announced by Toyota South Africa Motors on 10 February 2010.
From his commentary it is clear that, even when our dealer in Botswana requested him to do so, he made no effort to contact the public relations department of Toyota South Africa.
When the recall was announced all our dealers (including those in Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland) were asked to channel media requests through Toyota South Africa’s head office. This is exactly what our Botswana dealer did.
Media releases were sent out by Toyota South Africa (not the dealer) explaining the campaign in detail, an advertisement was placed in a Botswana newspaper, and interviews were conducted with Botswana radio stations as well as Botswana TV.
All enquiries from Botswana media were attended to and BTV also visited our dealership in Gaborone.
The mere fact that your columnist named the affected models in detail indicates that he must have received this information, yet he still ignored our dealer’s request ÔÇô choosing rather to portray them as non-caring and discourteous.
By all journalistic standards this is unacceptable and not good manners. Your columnist could have been supplied with everything he needed ÔÇô if he made the effort to contact us.
For the record, in Botswana a total of 1 538 vehicles (1 468 Corollas, 49 Auris and 21 Verso’s) are affected. Our dealers have already contacted these owners, but any customer with a concern can visit our website www.toyota.co.za for the latest information on the recall campaign, or contact their nearest dealer.
Once again we would like to apologise to owners for any inconvenience caused by this campaign. Toyota values its loyal customers and we will do everything possible to re-establish their trust in our brand.
Ferdi de Vos
General Manager: Corporate PR
Toyota South Africa Motors
