How to deal with mechanics???

Battlejuice

Not sure if anyone else is as ignorant as i am about cars but I brought my car into the garage for the first time ever yesterday and I realised just how tight those guys can squeeze you when you haven't a clue, as in my case.
Asked for hazard lights to be fixed and a diagnostics check but after leaving it in for the day (cycled to work from the garage), it was clear my car hadn't been touched. Mechanic gave me a spiel about hazard lights needing an auto-electrician or something and diagnostics could not be checked cos of this hazard light problem.
Fair enough, wasted my time but no wallet being hit until he started to tell me of the 'boot light' having to be fixed at which point I hopped into my car and drove off before the conversation turned to how much I would owe the guy for not looking at my car.
Has anyone else had this sort of experience? What sort of comeback does a customer have in this case (ie: nothing being done but attempt to charge for a fictitious problem).
Just for the record, it's the Baldoyle Peugeot garage and I strongly advise against going there.

dessied

Heres one for you. Wife has a mini cooper and we got a note in saying they needed to go back to the garage to have a slight fault corrected. So...left it with the bmw garage where we got it and asked them to look at the brake pads too coz we suspected they may need to be done. Specifically told them to LOOK but not do anything without tellin us.

3 hours later they rang the wife to tell her the car was ready and that yes, the brake pads had been very worn so they changed them and we owed them 300 quid. The wife threw a wobbly down the phone, told them she was on her way over to collect the car and if they didnt have the brake pads changed back on the car by the time she got there she was keeping them.

The tossers just tried it on - any dealer garage will cost u through the nose for parts. Anyways went to another garage a week later (i.e. a non BMW garage) and got 4 brake pads fitted etc for less than 200.

Tossers.

Kersh

200 quid for brake pads.... holy sh1t, thank god its such a simple job, and i do it all myself on my cars.
As for the OP, this is common enough with garages, esp when the custome doesnt know any better.

fightin irish

dessied wrote:

The tossers just tried it on - any dealer garage will cost u through the nose for parts. Tossers.

It's usually labour that they climb into ppl with. The parts are 'usually' an ok price on thier own (obviously spurious are a hell of a lot cheaper). I work for a ''main stealer'' as thier affectionitly known here and thats my biggest gripe with our service manager...Funny thing is they always want discount on the parts(service dept that is) and i reply show me the discount on the labour and you'll get ur discount...which at that point the walk away mumbling.

@ O P. If they are a main dealer...saying you need an auto elec to fix the problem is pretty poor form from them. And don't expect to pay for something you didn't even mention. You did the right thing driving away. Next time tell another main dealer that such and such dealer said they couldn't fix because of the auto elec bull****...They'll should be able to tell there and then that they can do it(or not if thay are a bad workshop)

Hope this helps.

KELTICKNIGHTT

ONLY if under warrenty will l take to dealers,other wise non-dealer ,even if l ahve to get parts from dealer,wil still not give to dealer,sometimes ends up there twice to fix something
try to get someone with good rep in the area to fix your car,always couple good garages around you

Battlejuice

Thanks for the tips.
I'll put the incident down to experience of finally owning a car and stay the hell away from main dealers.

kluivert

Battlejuice

I think you had a bad experience.

Have you heard of the sale of goods and supply of services act 1980.

If he fixed the tail light without you asking him, then its free (questionable though) - I would consider this as unsolicited goods or services.

You didnt ask for it to be fixed therefore why should you pay for it.

Its like me coming down to your house changing all the tires on the car and then knock on your door and ask for the money, you would tell me where to go.

Same applies here in principle, contact the SIMI.

I have the opposite problem I take my car to the local Opel dealer, and give them a list of things to do, half the things are never done. And ill tell them, they say well they looked at it and it didnt need to be done.