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[HI2DVY]

Following my post last week about the air-con not working on my 2.6, I happened to be in Edinburgh and passed a garage which had been recommended to me by a mate. It also happened to be round the corner from a pub that another mate owns so I thought it was to happy a coincidence to miss.
Dropped the car off around 5 pm on the Wednesday evening asking them to investigate the air-con issue and report back. Having a spare car, I didnt worry too much about how long they might take to fix it. On the way out of the garage I happened to mention that if they had they time, could they replace the plugs and air filter as it was one of these jobs I hadnt got round to for a while but knew needed done.

Next morning I was in Newcastle and got a call from the garage telling me the list was getting longer... Er, what do you mean I asked? Well the tyres are worn below limit, wheel alignment is out, both front to rear brake pipes are corroded, slight play in steering box, front brake discs are worn to indicators and new pads are required.

Great, I said, but what about the aircon?
Haven't looked at that he said.
So why have you looked at all this other stuff?
All part of the service he replied.

After reassuring the mechanic that I was grateful for the info, I suggested that he sort the aircon and leave the rest for me to sort at my leisure.

Late on Thursday I get a call from the garage telling me that they were waiting for a part from Vauxhall. For the aircon? I asked. No, we broke the pipe leading from the fuel tank to the fuel filter when replacing the fuel filter was the reply.

What's that got to do with the aircon?

Nothing, mate but you asked us to do a full service on your car, I was informed.

Hang on a minute, I asked you to look at the aircon and change the plugs. How does that equate to being a full service?

The upshot is that I finally got the car back today and have been charged £360 for the "service". I noted that I had been charged twice for two different Oil filters, one at £6 and the other at £14. Last time I looked at my V6 it only had one so they took off the expensive one - big deal!

and the aircon..... they couldnt fix it so they degassed the whole system so that it didnt make a noise.  :-?

Fekkers!!!!!  

Anybody any good at fixing aircon?


Dave

[waspy]

That's just crap mate. Why don't folk listen :-/ Now i know why i do most things myself

[Andy B]

I think I'd have dug my heels in and f***ed them off for the work done that had NOT been requested.  

[HI2DVY]

I think I'd have dug my heels in and f***ed them off for the work done that had NOT been requested.  

Had a major bust up with service manager in front of several other customer - left the guy without a name. But, when it comes down to it, they had my motor and I wasnt getting it back till I coughed up.

[miggcddave]

i wouldnt take my wheelbarrow to a garage( tossers) they only rip you off

[Andy B]

I think I'd have dug my heels in and f***ed them off for the work done that had NOT been requested.  

Had a major bust up with service manager in front of several other customer - left the guy without a name. But, when it comes down to it, they had my motor and I wasnt getting it back till I coughed up.

I think I'd be inclined to take it further, I'm sure that Trading Standards would be able to advise.

[Lazydocker]

I think I'd have dug my heels in and f***ed them off for the work done that had NOT been requested.  

Had a major bust up with service manager in front of several other customer - left the guy without a name. But, when it comes down to it, they had my motor and I wasnt getting it back till I coughed up.

I think I'd be inclined to take it further, I'm sure that Trading Standards would be able to advise.

Trading Standards, Local Press... They have effectively stolen from you by performing work which wasn't requested.  hope you paid by Credit Card? If so, call them and have the payment put into dispute whilst it gets looked into

[largecol]

Garages have, and always will rely on the fact that the public generally dont know, and dont want to know what goes on in the `noisey-oiley place` under the bonnet.(me being one till i joined here   )A lot of folk will simply drive a car till it breaks then happily pay someone whatever they ask to make it go again. Unfortunately garages dont have the monopoly on rip-offs. Ask anyone thats called a plumber out recently, or in my case TV repair. The latter even said it was a £20 call-out fee whether he could fix my telly or not!!!! At those prices you wouldnt even need proper tools - 3-4 calls a day to `not be able` to fix something at £20 a shot is a decent income for doing nowt!!  

[Ken T]

I guess the answer is to give the garage a typed list of things to be done, and if they do something else, its not part of the contract so get stuffed. Trouble is there are a couple of good garages around, my wife's car needed its MOT, and I was away to couldn't do anything. The garage told her what it needed, and did it all for a very reasonable price.

However a lot have discovered what they can get off with and screw the customer. When my Mig broke down, the main Dewsbury dealer "read the codes" and said it was the main ECU that needed replacement. Well I had "read the codes" previously and the code they mentioned didn't show up. Also, I haven't had a chance to prove this but, it looks like it is the keyreader thats faulty, cost £65, not the main ECU at £650.

This happens all over. A certain place where I used to work got in a faulty netbook, with the complaint that it wouldn't turn on. There is a small catch that prevents the power button being inadvertantly turned on, and this had got pushed into position. The customer got charged full wack for that

Ken

[HI2DVY]

I think I'd have dug my heels in and f***ed them off for the work done that had NOT been requested.  

Had a major bust up with service manager in front of several other customer - left the guy without a name. But, when it comes down to it, they had my motor and I wasnt getting it back till I coughed up.

I think I'd be inclined to take it further, I'm sure that Trading Standards would be able to advise.

Trading Standards, Local Press... They have effectively stolen from you by performing work which wasn't requested.  hope you paid by Credit Card? If so, call them and have the payment put into dispute whilst it gets looked into

Absolutely, trading standards, local press and stop the payment on my credit card.....

Or, alternatively put it all down to experience and get it all of my chest by having a good old rant on here.

Thanks guys. Feeling better already  

[Turk]

Stop the payment for defo. Let them chase you and when they do, remind them the car was there for an Air Con issue...and nothing else.

They may have "previous" for this sort of thing and don't fancy a day in court...again.