Car Damaged When In For A Service

jammie

Hopefully I'm posting this in the right section if not sorry!!

Left my car in for it's first service today, just collected it and theres quite a large scrap (about 5 inches long) at the rear bumper, the paint has come off and there is bits of red paint left, I brought it straight back into them and said that it DEFINITELY wasn't there before I brought it in, the manager said he will asks the mechanics that serviced & drove it but if they say no he can't do anything, I said to him I was 100% positive that wasn't there before, I KNOW it wasn't ....What's the situation? Do I fight it out with them? Thanks

Seth Brundle

get pics of it either way before they get a chance to do anything. If the service manager does nothing then take it higher and if its a main dealer then consider contacting the company if you get no satisfaction.
Failing that get a good solicitor!

Mr.Diagnostic

I would suggest you think very carefully if there is any possibility that the damage could have happened elsewhere. If you are 100% sure it happened in the garage then nail them.

If they tell you the staff deny it I would get very hard. Who is to say a staff member would tell the truth anyway.

jammie

I am 110% POSITIVE that it happened there, I'd know if I backed into a red car or wall, whatever they backed it into....My last words to the manager were that I was sure it was done there I KNEW it was...Its booked in for another fault which they failed to find today next thurs it's too long to wait so I think I'll give him a ring tomorrow, it's a main toyota dealership....I can't prove it though so am I fighting a losing battle.

maidhc

Easiest thing to do is fill out a small claims application (www.courts.ie). It won't cost any more than the price of a sandwich, and argue the toss in front of a judge.

JHMEG

Any CCTV cameras at the garage that would have recorded you going in?

DonJose

Whenever I leave my car in for a service they do a quick damage inspection to see if there are any scratches/dents, the same way they do when you leave a rental car back. Did they check your car before taking it in?

Also go back and check all the red cars in the lot to see if there has been any paint transfer.

crosstownk

You may be 110% positive that it was scratched while it was with the garage. But you will have to prove 100% that it was not like that when you dropped the car off. If you cannot prove this, and the garage dig their heels in, then you will have an uphill struggle.

Gary ITR

maidhc wrote:

Easiest thing to do is fill out a small claims application (www.courts.ie). It won't cost any more than the price of a sandwich, and argue the toss in front of a judge.

There are many other avenues to go down before going to small claims court

maidhc

Onkle wrote:

There are many other avenues to go down before going to small claims court

Argue with the garage!

Seriously though, it only costs €10, and you don't need a solicitor. You can even file the claim online.

I would think you have a reasonable chance of success. I really depends on whether the judge will believe you, you don't have to "prove" anything in a CSI style way.

jammie

There are cameras everywhere but I dont know if they could see the damage or not without zooming in on the car...They didnt check the car before it went it...

MercMad

I always check before I leave my cars in anywhere, and i get someone out to inspect it also !

May seem OTT, but once bitten twice shy !

If you do end up having to get it done from your own pocket check out www.carcraft.ie

Good luck !

slipss

Most main dealers (i'm not sure about Toyota specifically) do a pre work damage check on the cars before they service them (or are supposed to), contact Toyota Ireland and ask them if its their policy to have there dealers do a pre damage check on the cars they service (i'd be surprised if its not). If they were meant to do the check and didn't then you have them bang to rights and Toyota will direct them to pay up.

A couple of years ago a woman came into a garage I was working in saying we had scratched her car and that she was 110% positive it was not there when she left the car in to us. She stood in the show room bitching and moaning and demanding her money back, giving the service manager loads. I was the only one that had driven or worked on the car and I did a pre service check on it and had the paperwork to prove it, but she insisted I must have wrote up the check sheet after I damaged the car, I didn't of course.

Anyway she stood there refusing to leave untill she got paid for the damage and she caused a big sceen anytime a cutstomer came in to look at a car. Eventually the owner came out and told her we would have the scratch repaired but wouldn't charge her because her two sons and husband were also regular customers but made sure she understood that it was a favour to her family and that we weren't excepting liability, so she finally pissed off.

We called in a sprayer and had the job done and just as the job was finished her husband rang telling us his wife told him what happened and that he wanted to apoligise on her behalf because he had seen a kid on a bike cause the scratch two months previously but hadn't mentioned it to his wife because he didn't want to upset her and figured she probably wouldn't notice it in anyway.

The points to take from that story, 1. unless you actually made a point of going around and examining the cars body before bringing it in then you can claim to be positive that the damage happened in the garage but you can't be, scratches don't always leap out at you, especially if your cars dirty. 2. If you cause a scean in the show room infront of other customers and basically be a massive asshole they might pay up regardless just to get you to fukc off.

Tabnabs

MercMad wrote:

If you do end up having to get it done from your own pocket check out www.carcraft.ie

Sorry for thread drift, but would you recommend these guys?

Seth Brundle

My father got some respray work done to a rear quarter panel on his focus and I can't tell where the original scratch was!

stratos

A friend of mine used to work at a big name main dealer. They regularly borrowed customers cars at the weekend.
A staff member borrowed a customers sports car that had been left in over the weekend while he was away. It had to be recovered out of a lake.
The bodywork was fixed up on the Sunday and the car hung nose down out of the roof to drain out all the water. They had to keep the customer out of the workshop for 3 days, as they dried it out, he got more highly annoyed, telling him tall tales about parts availability.
Eventually he barged his way into the edge of the workshops demanding to see his car he, never noticed it above his head.
Car was returned to him and he was non the wiser.
Now admittedly this was many years ago and Im sure it doesn't happen anymore.

stratos

just to add I saw a crack in the front bumper of my car which had been parked in a hotel carpark overnight. I was 1000 percent sure it had happened in the car park. I clean my car religiously ( I know its a disease) and swear I know every spot, ding ,rust mark.
It was so obvious no way could I have missed it. However I had taken some pictures of the car about 6 months ago so I knew I had my proof. Yes I knew i............ Damn. There it was photographic evidence It had the crack 6 month earlier. I would have bet my house.