2010 and VAG cant fit a reliable compressor? Oh I forgot, vag quality is now just marketing hype. Cheap suppliers, and lack of QA/QC, just keeping banging them out and forget about them once the warranty expires.

A/C servicing should not be necessary, if the gas is leaking, then unless its due to physical damage e.g. holed condensor, then its a manufacturing defect. Even if the gas all leaked out, the compressor should shut down and not be damaged. 2 year servicing recommendation is largely a scam, like brake fluid changes. A regas is now cheap £35 at many outlets.

Repair costs of VAG cars at dealers is now getting plain stupid.

Over the years dealers have told me I have a faulty compressor, faulty power steering pump etc etc, they were not, the a/c needed a regas and the ps pump was just a lie to generate work and 15 years later, that car is still driving around with original parts still working.

It's a very common failure. Somewhere on Car by Car reviews under either VW or Skoda there's mention of this and a cheaper alternative, costing only 2 or 3 hundred if I recall. You don't need Vw to fix this kind of thing, a good independent air con specialist will be much more cost effective.

A common failure on the Mk 5 golf and equivalent Octavia but I didn't realise that it extended to the Mk 6 although I wouldn't be surprised. I think the cheaper alternative was either a Bosch or Sanden compressor.