Reply With QuoteSadly, the woman doesn't have the confidence to confront.
I'd be "suggesting" that there was no invoice for the work and a free service..... to the Manager.
Judge for yourselves:-
https://www.kiaownersclub.co.uk/thre...esy-car.67775/
Naughty!
Sadly, the woman doesn't have the confidence to confront.
I'd be "suggesting" that there was no invoice for the work and a free service..... to the Manager.
I would have had the police involved when I found it wasn’t at the garage. There’s no excuse to use a customers car no matter what anyone believes. As that hasn’t happened I’d be outside the dealer principals office wanting an explanation of why it wasn’t at the garage and why it was speeding.
If you do a search it will still be around, years ago someone took a big engined Q7 I think v10 or v12 Diesel into the Audi garage in teeside and the mechanics took that for a play well over the speed limits and ware caught on the tracker by the owner.
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A friend of mine had his Jaguar at a paintshop. On a Saturday, a few minors/underaged ‘employees’ took the car for a spin and crashed it.
Lots of hassle, lots of difficulties getting his money back. The paintshop wouldn’t pay, the parents of the boy wouldn’t pay. But he took his time. Point is, he’s a lawyer… a tough one with some tough clients so he’s used to ‘interesting cases’. And he had a court order for a bailiff on his desk.
He ordered a private investigator to keep an eye on things. Until the young lad had enough money. It took a few years; the boy got married. After the ceremony the bailiff crashed the wedding. Under Dutch law (then - now changed) man and husband share everything money-wise, including debts… His new wife didn’t know about the crash but had to pay half of the sum.
It shouldn’t but it does happen more often then you think.
My wife’s car went in for some work, we arrived at the garage just before 8am to collect when they opened at 8, and it wasn’t there, someone had taken it home for the night, and was running late to bring it back, the guys in service told me it had been on a test run, but had covered over 100 miles since we dropped it off, we ended up with a minor and a major service and a valet for free, I wanted a tank of fuel as well but they wouldn’t go that far.
We had the valet and free services and haven’t used since.
Caught the service engineer doing 74mph in a 40 a few months ago.. to say I was not happy is an understatement and I’ll not be using them again.
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Also heard of someone on a Nissan site who dropped his car off only to be told a couple of hours later that it has been written off on a test drive , later found pictures of it on its roof on a dual carriageway where it had clearly been driven at speed , dealer gave him trade book price for it as well !
Worst of all was a mate of mine who bought a R33 Skyline , a lovely example that he only drove a few very gentle miles in the week he owned it as the timing belt was due and he didnt want to risk it, again the garage owners son took it for a joyride and wrapped it around a lamppost , they did reimburse him for what he had paid for it though
I do believe our illustrious forum owner might have a story to share on this topic.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
On the rare occasion i use a garage i photo the mileage and show it to the desk, no test drive is written on the work order and no wash.
this may seem over the top but i have had a van hit by falling masonary outside a sandwich vendor, and the accident that writes off you pride and joy may not be the technicians fault, but costs you for years to come.
I can remember leaving a Mazda at the main dealers in the early 90s to have a misfire fixed it came back with half a tank of petrol missing and the misfire started again the day after so not a new thing
This must be the worst example https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-17443608
Part of the issue is that very often the garage need to drive the car to see if it works as it should. After tracking/geo for instance or where suspension knocks and the like are being investigated. I've had a number of issues that have supposedly been fixed only the reappear a matter of minutes later so back it goes. Had the car been driven they would have realised.
As always it's down to trust, the garage owners and staff.
My little circle of garagistes are quite able to drive a car without doing anything untoward and I'm very happy for them to do so and often frequently ask them to. An unknown dealer maybe less so.
My TR6 goes to a trusted garage where the main mechanic test drives before and after he as serviced and checked it front to back to make sure it’s fit for the road (MOT not required) It’s all about trust I suppose. Mind you he does say it’s the highlight of the day when he road tests it as it takes him back a few years.
We had a whip round at our monthly mustang meet earlier this year for the fire brigade, guy had left his at the garage, young mechanic took it for a test drive, sadly he lost control and sadly lost his life.
Friend of mine took his Range Rover Sport in to the local main dealer asking them to look into a suspension knocking sound. A couple of days later they rang to say they couldn't identify it so he asked them to keep it, drive it and they will definatly hear it. He chased up a couple of days later to be told that they had driven it and couldn't find or hear the noise. So he asked them again to drive it some more and let him know. They called back again to say they couldn't identify any noise despite driving it. He then remembered he had a tracker, looked up the map or logs and found the car hadn't been moved or started since he dropped it off with them. Stern words exchanged and on advising them he had checked the tracker they took it out, found the issue and fixed it (plus if I remember rightly apologised with a free service)....
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All these stories are no surprise at all.
The surprise is people accepting a full and/or minor service being offered as compensation.
This is where, behind the closed doors away from the rightfully disgruntled customer, an oil filter will be wiped, turned a quarter turn, spark plug caps will be pulled of and put back on to appear changed, likewise the airbox and maybe the aircon box.
Don’t be fooled: a free service will seldom if ever, actually be done I’d suggest. Meanwhile the dealer gets away with shockingly bad behaviour and customer service.
My advice: seek financial in the hand compensation, engage the manufacturer and ask that they have such incidents part of their manufacturer/dealer audit process. Big levers there!
Jim
Last edited by Jimmcb; 13th August 2022 at 19:03.
I’ve had the free offer of service. I mark parts with UV pen, then have some fun when the same items remain.Originally Posted by Jimmcb
BMW tried to claim an oil and brake fluid change on my Z4M, dash cam suggested otherwise. They knew how recently it was changed and how few miles it covered. I wanted it changed, they just wanted to make profit.
Reading Hexagon, cowboys in all departments.
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My dash cam is always on the seat when I have collected my cars.
This was the days before they started removing / switching them off.
They always miss the second one I plug in just for dealer visits. Once the main one is spotted & unplugged they don’t really look beyond that.
It isn’t very good at looking at the road, but keeps an eye on the car, it’s movement, usage and speed.
Last edited by Mj2k; 14th August 2022 at 07:34.
Very true - They will resent the cost and will do their utmost to reduce it. Take the compensation, and then take your business elsewhere.
Yeah, I only use my mechanics that I've used since 1993. Don't go anywhere else, wouldn't ever use a main dealer, ever.
Even if I bought brand new, I'd use my mechanics only. I trust them implicitly.
My Porsche gets the service stamps by the dealer. Anything that needs doing, is done by my trusted mechanic also. He has saved me a fortune vs the hourly rate Porsche want.
£105 to investigate a blown headlamp bulb in why wife’s car. Never taken a Boxster headlight out before, but was done & dusted in 5-10mins.
And the language ‘investigate’, just change the bloody thing lol
Not all dealers are bad, and some customers aren't great, I had a tech come to me with a spark plug that had been marked, so I marked the replacement and told the tech to fit it, customer returned the day after collecting his car raging about how we had not done the work as required and charged for, at this point I produced his marked plug and and the service manager suggested* that since he didn't trust us he takes his business elsewhere in future.
* he was polite and calm when talking to the customer, unlike the manner the gentleman was when speaking to me at my desk, and it wasn't really a suggestion.
A company is only as good as its worst employee!
I think you might be part of the problem vs the smug, self indulgent cure that you think you are.
What level were you in the dealership?
I am glad you are as far away from me crossing paths with you as geographically possible.
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Bloody customer should have changed his own spark plugs whilst he was in there marking them up.
No you didn't. He is a mechanic.
When the dealership is quoting £130/hr - I bet they are saying he is a Service "Engineer" at the very least.
Happened with me - they crashed my BMW while out playing with it. It was in getting aircon fixed and zero need for a road test. When I turned up early my car wasn’t there and the mechanic came haring round the corner in it much to the garage owners embarrassment. I quickly decided a mumbled apology wasn’t enough and asked for the repair free of charge, they refused so I just called the local newspaper there and then in front of them - they immediately agreed to do the work for free.
If you send a Daytona in for a service - you wouldn’t expect the chap working on it to take it out to the shops just because he has it in his hands. Car is no different. Besides they are using your fuel.
Last edited by RustyBin5; 16th August 2022 at 16:26.
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