Mechanic did work without permission/v expensive

scn

Hiya
Just hoping someone might be able to give some advice on our dilemma; when travelling from Dublin-Galway 6 wks ago our car (99 BMW) starting overheating really badly and we had to pull into a nearby petrol station. Putting water in did not make any difference and we could see it dripping out of the tube that leads to the engine.
The mechanic who worked at the garage behind the petrol station said he could replace tube, lend us a car for free and would drive our car to Dublin in 4 days in his truck as he was coming up anyway – tube would cost around €50. The day he was due up we didn’t hear anything so called 3 times; no answer, just left voicemails.
The next day called 3 more times, eventually he answered and said that there was a bigger problem & the gasket needed to be fixed would cost €500. Agreed he could go ahead but said to call if any more work needed to be done.
5 weeks later, his landline is now disconnected and he will return around 1 phone call in 5/10. Call him to stress that we absolutely need car back, he agrees it will be ready in 1 week. This week he calls and says that he considered calling Gardai to get his car back as we weren’t returning his calls (we hadn’t missed 1 call). Said car was ready but wouldn’t give quote over phone. Two days later he texts on “Price 1300”. Since this more than twice original quote we are totally shocked; he broke it down to 770e parts & 530e labour. He is not willing to come down in price even though he agreed that he should have called prior to doing the extra work that wasn’t asked for. He said at one point that we “looked like we weren’t short of a few bob so didn’t think it would be a problem”.
Has anyone else had an issue like this? We just want our car back but cant really afford to pay that much at the moment & the car is only worth around 3/4k anyway.
Thanks!

mickdw

HE is a chancer. First of all he was offering to repair the car for small money. For this small amount he was also offering a free hire car & free delivery to Dublin? Sounds odd. He then takes 5 weeks to fix the car?

I woud get a detailed invoice in writing from him stating exactly what he has done & also confirming that the hire car was complimentary.
I would then do everything in my power to find out that he was scamming.
The last thing you want is a 5 or 6 week bill for car hire!

colm_mcm

complicated as there was probably no job card or any indicaiton that you didn't authorise the extra work.

MidlandsM

colm_mcm wrote: »

complicated as there was probably no job card or any indicaiton that you didn't authorise the extra work.

nor is there one authorising the work.:P

pcardin

A baseball bat will help you to solve the issue with this scammer :mad:

BlackWizard

Tricky situation.

I would agree to pay him. Just meet up and take your car off him. Bring a friend maybe? I don't think he has a leg to stand on legally here and the Gardai won't entertain anything like this.

Pay him for the agreed amount of 500 though.

Something like this happened to be too. I dropped my car in to get the problem diagnosed. They ended up replacing all sorts of stuff and didn't phone me before hand. Basically I ended up behind the counter and grabbing the keys. I paid cash for the diagnostics done on the car and went on my merry way. It looked like the manager was gonna give a good bollocking to the two mechanics that were looking after my car, so it probably was a genuine mistake. But in your case it seems like he is a cowboy.

langdang

What was the loan car he gave you? Does it give you any leverage?
Be careful dealing with this guy - he sounds like slime...

If you want a bit of a laugh out of a bad situation - watch the movie U-turn, where Sean Penn's car is held to ransom by the greasiest, creepiest mechanic* in the back arse of no-where. (It's also got jennifer lopez in it, how bad)

*If your guy mentions anything about a game of Twister while wearing PVC rain gear I'd run very quickly...

giant_midget

what i would do here is bring his car back in the middle of the night, leave a cheque for 500euro taped to the dash, use your spare key to start your car and just drive it home..

giant_midget

also if it was your head gasket, phone up joe duffys bmw and get a price on a head gasket kit that suits your car, this will give you a rough price of the price of the parts, allow an extra 200euro for the skimming of the head on top of this and you have the part price. anything else is his "labour" charge

BlackWizard

I didnt know he gave you a spare car to use.. That was nice of him. Maybe he just done an honest job but didn't tell you about all the work to be carried out. If that's the case then I dunno what I would do...

Christ0pher

BlackWizard wrote: »

I didnt know he gave you a spare car to use.. That was nice of him. Maybe he just done an honest job but didn't tell you about all the work to be carried out. If that's the case then I dunno what I would do...

Well I'd consider the hard facts: If you'd had to hire a car at €40 a day, that would easily come to well over a grand. I'd be just as pee'd off as you about the non-return of calls etc. I'd probably file this experience under "never again" and in future, buy a good AA / RAC membership. If it can't be fixed at the side of the road, your cover includes towing to a repair center, and possibly even accomodation overnight. [Am I wrong?]
Your car is repaired now, albeit by a goon who can't communicate, and seems to price jobs based on how wealthy a person 'looks'. You have had the use of a replacement car for 5 - 6 weeks, all for 1300 quid. It's actually not a bad deal IMO. But "never again" mate. Get some roadside cover!

x in the city

scn wrote: »

Hiya
Just hoping someone might be able to give some advice on our dilemma; when travelling from Dublin-Galway 6 wks ago our car (99 BMW) starting overheating really badly and we had to pull into a nearby petrol station. Putting water in did not make any difference and we could see it dripping out of the tube that leads to the engine.
The mechanic who worked at the garage behind the petrol station said he could replace tube, lend us a car for free and would drive our car to Dublin in 4 days in his truck as he was coming up anyway – tube would cost around €50. The day he was due up we didn’t hear anything so called 3 times; no answer, just left voicemails.
The next day called 3 more times, eventually he answered and said that there was a bigger problem & the gasket needed to be fixed would cost €500. Agreed he could go ahead but said to call if any more work needed to be done.
5 weeks later, his landline is now disconnected and he will return around 1 phone call in 5/10. Call him to stress that we absolutely need car back, he agrees it will be ready in 1 week. This week he calls and says that he considered calling Gardai to get his car back as we weren’t returning his calls (we hadn’t missed 1 call). Said car was ready but wouldn’t give quote over phone. Two days later he texts on “Price 1300”. Since this more than twice original quote we are totally shocked; he broke it down to 770e parts & 530e labour. He is not willing to come down in price even though he agreed that he should have called prior to doing the extra work that wasn’t asked for. He said at one point that we “looked like we weren’t short of a few bob so didn’t think it would be a problem”.
Has anyone else had an issue like this? We just want our car back but cant really afford to pay that much at the moment & the car is only worth around 3/4k anyway.
Thanks!

the chances of anyone doing this in the current clime would be a gadzillion to 1.

should have wised up... seems an awful cowboy, name and shame

dirtydiesel

No easy answer on this one, someone mentioned getting a quote from a bmw dealer for the work his done, if its a huge difference confront him when you go to collect your car and be firm about what you are willing to pay him.
He said the hire car was free but nothing is free these days and he must be charging something for it even if he said different.
Ask for proof of parts fitted etc and chalk it down to experience.
Just wondering how the mods feel about you naming the garage so others know to keep away from him.

mondeo

It's terrible to be taken advantage of like that... Priority here as others have already pointed out is to get your car back. Honestly I would try bringing a garda with me upon collection of your car. I'm sure one would tag along with you if you explain the situation and just get your bloody car back and give him the "agreed" price of 500 odd euro and demand the keys back with the garda present. I can't see the dealer playing games with you then.

kasper

tell him the loan car gave trouble and cost 2 grand to repair and you got it fixed and he owes you the balance

JHMEG

Tell him to undo the work and give you your car back in the condition in which you gave it to him.

mullingar

Tell him to remove ALL work done that was not approved. You must pay for the work that was agreed

Stress that you only approved to do 'X' work. If he refuses, tell him that you are going the legal/Gardai route. Also tell him that Guards can trace all phone records if it does go to court, it will completely disprove his story and prove yours.

Teddy Daniels

If it was me i'd go down nice as pie ask to see the car and take it with a spare key.
Then offer him a fair amount in settlement and if he goes to his solicitor to see where he stands trying to recover monies on non sanctioned work he will come to the right conclusion.
I don't believe he has any right to hold your car against payment if he is a big/intimidating guy bring a friend with a camera.

leon_r

unfortunately he maybe able to hold your car against payment have a look at a mechanic lien but if i remeber he would have had to give you a estimate before the job which you have signed

x in the city

Teddy Daniels wrote: »

If it was me i'd go down nice as pie ask to see the car and take it with a spare key.
Then offer him a fair amount in settlement and if he goes to his solicitor to see where he stands trying to recover monies on non sanctioned work he will come to the right conclusion.
I don't believe hehas any right to hold your car against payment if he is a big/intimidating guy bring a friend with a camera.

paulie walnuts and tony soprano are the guys you need

Teddy Daniels

leon_r wrote: »

unfortunately he maybe able to hold your car against payment have a look at a mechanic lien but if i remeber he would have had to give you a estimate before the job which you have signed

i've never signed an estimate in my life but when I give in my car they put it up tell me on the phone how much it'll be and then do it.
?

I found this

Vehicular definition of a lien sale
If a person has repaired, furnished supplies or materials, towed or stored a vehicle and has not been paid for the services rendered, that person has a lien against the vehicle. The lien arises at the time the registered owner is presented with a written statement of charges for completed work or services. Although if services were performed that were not agreed upon and no written and signed estimate was issued beforehand, a mechanic has no right to keep the title owner from reclaiming the vehicle. If a mechanic asserts a fee that is not reasonably related to the work performed, and refuses to return the vehicle until that price is paid, the owner of the vehicle will be able to recoup a storage fee from the mechanic, as the mechanic is in the wrong for refusing to return the vehicle. In doing so the mechanic would commit the crime of conversion, or Embezzlement

so you're right; without proof of notice of the works to be performed the mechanic has no lien and so cannot keep the car.
he must surrender it and sue if he feels unfairly treated.

Teddy Daniels

x in the city wrote: »

paulie walnuts and tony soprano are the guys you need

If it was my car I'd be grand thank you very much.

bk1991

ye shoulnt have just left car for him fix and take his car on hire esp with the range distance . it all seamed to good to be true .free car hire ,cheep job,and free delivery , i dont know where the law would come on this .
could go ether way . who has the most proof .


bk1991

LITTLE MICK

Hi there anyone had this car broke down garage towed me and said car beyond reasonable repair from start to finish the mechanic dealt with me. I was advised there was a car that's just gone through its mot. I was also told they would scrap my car give my road tax back and money from scrap value minus tow fee that I never got. Anyway I took this garage to court car I bought was not fit for purpose submitted all paper work statements of people been ripped off by this garage video evidence where the owner threatened me with in the 14 day period before the hearing. In court the garage claim the mechanic sold me this car and in court the owner said all his staff could buy and sell cars for their own gain on his property and were insured to do so. The mechanic produced not with in the 14 day period of the hearing a print out not the original not a copy of the original but a print out signed and dated the date of sale not from previous owner but a good friend next door to this garage and that is very suspicious considering I have noticed the wrong registration details on this print out. Should this garage have some sort of sign advising that his staff can buy and sell cars as I said I dealt with this mechanic from start to finish how was I to know it was a private sale. Forgot to say also have video evidence of previous owners son saying his dad sold or part exchange this car to a garage in the same location as this garage. I also contacted the previous owner by letter that came back not this address. Court ruled in favor of the garage and the mechanic sold me this car. They also charged me for the tow and parts and labour why would anyone let alone a mechanic buy the part and then fit it and scrap the car with new parts. I have submitted this evidence to the court of appeal because I was not allowed to submit some of my evidence where do I stand. Also been in touch with a couple of insurance companies who informed me there in no such insurance there is lots of insurance for staff but none that lets staff but none that allow staff to make gains from there employers by buying and selling. Anyone any ideas’ where I stand with an appeal regarding these issues.

Doom

Any chance of naming the town/village where this happened, might help others not get caught out too, also maybe some one may know of this chancer and give advice......

LITTLE MICK

Mr Hepple owner
Mr Pybus Mechanic
Grange town auto centre
grangetown
Sunderland
tyne & wear
sr2 0sp
0191 5239666

Doom

LITTLE MICK wrote: »

Mr Hepple owner
Mr Pybus Mechanic
Grange town auto centre
grangetown
Sunderland
tyne & wear
sr2 0sp
0191 5239666

Are you OK....? You're coming across as been a bit thick!!

LITTLE MICK

come again

SV

Doom wrote: »

Are you OK....? You're coming across as been a bit thick!!

Very harsh!!
He posted a story and it would appear you asked him to name and shame which he did.

Unless you're responding the to the OP which is over 3 years old..and I'm not gonna say who comes across as a bit thick in that instance.

Doom

LITTLE MICK wrote: »

come again

This thread was started by SCN, my advice was directed at him/her.
I think you need to start your own thread for your own issue, its called hijacking a thread...not cool.

LITTLE MICK

Sorry thought I did How do I remove this post

Zaph

Hi LITTLE MICK. Boards is actually an Irish website, so it's unlikely that anyone here is going to have an issue with a garage in Sunderland. However do feel free to stick around, we have many forums and you might find something that interests you.

As for everyone else, please play nicely.

I'm going to lock this thread as it's pretty old and no longer relevant.