Car damaged by garage during MOT
Discussion
mko9 said:
They damaged it, doing something unnecessary that you didn't ask for. They own it, and they need to make it right. You owe them absolutely nothing.
If you have some kind of long term relationship with them that you wish to preserve, then that would be something to be considered.
Sorry but this is a dicky attitude, people come on here and complain about not getting a better service and when a company does do it they get slatted. You cannot have it both ways. If you have some kind of long term relationship with them that you wish to preserve, then that would be something to be considered.
As others have mentioned a 50 50 split is fine or let them pay for a patch up as best as reasonably possibly considering the rest of the bonnet has age related marks on it.
From your replies i can see your being quite reasonable about this so if the car means something to you then even accept a 70% cost to you and 30% to them, only you can judge this.
mko9 said:
They damaged it, doing something unnecessary that you didn't ask for. They own it, and they need to make it right. You owe them absolutely nothing.
If you have some kind of long term relationship with them that you wish to preserve, then that would be something to be considered.
I'm with you on this. I'd perhaps make a small contribution, but no-one that knows about pressure washers uses them on anything other than perfect paintwork.If you have some kind of long term relationship with them that you wish to preserve, then that would be something to be considered.
Being all demanding and argumentative, or shouty usually gets nothing! Being reasonable can often get you further than you expected in the first place! When you speak to them try something like "Look, I've been thinking, there was a bit of slight damage there which I intended to get repaired, just not just yet, (money's a bit tight, not really convenient, whichever is most relevant), I didn't expect you to pressure wash it at an MOT! If you'd mentioned it I'd have told you about the slight damage and not to bother. It is what it is, how about we meet in the middle, or x% contribution?" Whichever you think they'd be more open to.
I was in business for years and found most people, and companies, are willing to discuss a problem, and possible solutions, but will dig heels in at a shouty or demanding opener! My favourite opener to a customer who had a complaint, real or imagined, was "Would you like to shout at me now?". Always took the wind out of their sales and when they'd got over the surprise, they just discussed the problem reasonably! Was told to do this by an old guy I worked with who'd been in B2B sales all his life and it worked 99.9% of the time! Good Luck!
I was in business for years and found most people, and companies, are willing to discuss a problem, and possible solutions, but will dig heels in at a shouty or demanding opener! My favourite opener to a customer who had a complaint, real or imagined, was "Would you like to shout at me now?". Always took the wind out of their sales and when they'd got over the surprise, they just discussed the problem reasonably! Was told to do this by an old guy I worked with who'd been in B2B sales all his life and it worked 99.9% of the time! Good Luck!
OutInTheShed said:
If they're not competent to spray your car with a bit of water without doing damage, I wouldn't trust them with paint.
The body shop actually has a pretty good reputation locally. The damaged paint was really just bad luck. Annoying and potentially expensive, but just one of those things really. Unreal said:
What's the make and value of the car?
What's the condition of the rest of it?
Not really sure how relevant this is to what a reasonable resolution would be, but it’s a RenaultSport Megane RS250. It’s in pretty nice condition, not new, has a few small marks here and there, but regularly cleaned, clayed and polished so nice and shiny. Value of these seems to range from £5k to £15k. I’d put mine somewhere in the middle of that. What's the condition of the rest of it?
Edited by Unreal on Wednesday 11th October 16:13
Plan to keep it as I don’t think we’ll see cars like this anymore, and I’d like to keep it original as much as possible.
v9 said:
BertBert said:
any update OP?
No. Not a peep from the garage, which is a little disappointing. They’ve had a week so will pop in to see them on Friday. Ignore mode when they don't want to deal with something.
OP before Friday get a quote to paint the bonnet, email it to them for their attention.
At least then they'll start to think that you're serious about wanting it repainted.
Then on Friday ask if they're going to make a contribution.
If they say no, tell them you'll have to take some legal advice as the car came back to me in worse condition than when you left it with them.
Trevor555 said:
Typical car dealer.
Ignore mode when they don't want to deal with something.
OP before Friday get a quote to paint the bonnet, email it to them for their attention.
At least then they'll start to think that you're serious about wanting it repainted.
Then on Friday ask if they're going to make a contribution.
If they say no, tell them you'll have to take some legal advice as the car came back to me in worse condition than when you left it with them.
I’d rather keep it cordial if possible, and that feels a little aggressive to me, I’m highly unlikely to go legal on this for a whole bunch of reasons. Mainly it’s a very small town where everyone knows everyone, I personally know several employees and would like to continue to use them as they are very convenient, if a little expensive. Also, the legal route will be very hard to provide any proof whatsoever that it wasn’t already showing the damage. No ‘walk around’ was done and the car wasn’t even dropped off to them by me. Don’t feel like burning my bridges just yet! Ignore mode when they don't want to deal with something.
OP before Friday get a quote to paint the bonnet, email it to them for their attention.
At least then they'll start to think that you're serious about wanting it repainted.
Then on Friday ask if they're going to make a contribution.
If they say no, tell them you'll have to take some legal advice as the car came back to me in worse condition than when you left it with them.
v9 said:
Trevor555 said:
Typical car dealer.
Ignore mode when they don't want to deal with something.
OP before Friday get a quote to paint the bonnet, email it to them for their attention.
At least then they'll start to think that you're serious about wanting it repainted.
Then on Friday ask if they're going to make a contribution.
If they say no, tell them you'll have to take some legal advice as the car came back to me in worse condition than when you left it with them.
I’d rather keep it cordial if possible, and that feels a little aggressive to me, I’m highly unlikely to go legal on this for a whole bunch of reasons. Mainly it’s a very small town where everyone knows everyone, I personally know several employees and would like to continue to use them as they are very convenient, if a little expensive. Also, the legal route will be very hard to provide any proof whatsoever that it wasn’t already showing the damage. No ‘walk around’ was done and the car wasn’t even dropped off to them by me. Don’t feel like burning my bridges just yet! Ignore mode when they don't want to deal with something.
OP before Friday get a quote to paint the bonnet, email it to them for their attention.
At least then they'll start to think that you're serious about wanting it repainted.
Then on Friday ask if they're going to make a contribution.
If they say no, tell them you'll have to take some legal advice as the car came back to me in worse condition than when you left it with them.
But it annoys me that they did it in the first place, using inexperienced car cleaners.
And it annoys me more that they've just ignored you.
In my view
You did nothing wrong - didn’t ask them to wash it, had no reason to tell them the paint had cracked.
But they did nothing wrong either - there’s no reason for them to assume that a car can’t withstand a wash, which is not uncommon to do as part of a visit to a workshop.
Some kind of mutual deal seems appropriate. 50/50 or you pay for materials and they pay for labour.
You did nothing wrong - didn’t ask them to wash it, had no reason to tell them the paint had cracked.
But they did nothing wrong either - there’s no reason for them to assume that a car can’t withstand a wash, which is not uncommon to do as part of a visit to a workshop.
Some kind of mutual deal seems appropriate. 50/50 or you pay for materials and they pay for labour.
Local Toyota dealer does. Made a point of asking for it not to be washed and also had a do not wash this vehicle sign hanging from the mirror. MOT finishes, were just completing the paperwork sir. 20 mins later, ' is my car ready yet? Oh it's gone round to the wash bay. FFS I'd just detailed it that morning!
Trevor555 said:
Fair enough if you want to keep using them.
But it annoys me that they did it in the first place, using inexperienced car cleaners.
And it annoys me more that they've just ignored you.
I am a little annoyed to be honest, but I try to be a bit more Zen about such things these days. My life is too full of stressful stuff so I do actively seek to minimise stress, as it has in the past overwhelmed me. In my younger days I’d have probably gone in all guns blazing, but it’s worth a grand to have a peaceful life to me. If it costs that to sort I’ll suck through my teeth and grumble about it but will probably pay if there’s no other alternative. (I hope they don’t read that!) But it annoys me that they did it in the first place, using inexperienced car cleaners.
And it annoys me more that they've just ignored you.
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