Some advice - dealer row brewing
Discussion
I put my chim in for a service and asked them to replace a dicky starter motor and respray the boot hood. They quoted me over the phone for the work and I agreed.
Yesterday I discover that they've repainted the whole car and want to charge me £2,700. The chap on the desk claims that he quoted me for this (by phone) and I agreed which is absolutely not true. The car did not need a complete respray and if even it had I would have got it done locally for less.
I'm not out to make a fast buck and I don't really want to fall out with the dealer. I have two TVRs and it's the only TVR place locally to me. But on the other hand they really have a made an expensive mistake.
Any advice on where I stand?
steve
Yesterday I discover that they've repainted the whole car and want to charge me £2,700. The chap on the desk claims that he quoted me for this (by phone) and I agreed which is absolutely not true. The car did not need a complete respray and if even it had I would have got it done locally for less.
I'm not out to make a fast buck and I don't really want to fall out with the dealer. I have two TVRs and it's the only TVR place locally to me. But on the other hand they really have a made an expensive mistake.
Any advice on where I stand?
steve
Garages normally deal with this by asking customers to sign a job card. Did you? That would settle the issue. If not then it's a Civil issue of verbal contract and would be settled by establishing 'beyond reasonable doubt' either way. I would take a free consultation with a local solicitor to find out which way this is likely to go. Most solicitors will give you 30 mins free to establish if it's worth taking things further.
tvrbob said:
Garages normally deal with this by asking customers to sign a job card. Did you? That would settle the issue.
No, there has been no paperwork at all. They didn't even do the normal walk round the car marking blemishes on a bit of paper I have to sign thing when I handed it over.steve
This may be just an honest mistake.
However, you should check for another possibility.
What if some damage happened to your car while it was in their care?
Some years ago, my uncle Bill received a summons for a fail to stop accident in his company's car.
It turned out that he had left the car for service with the Essex dealer while he went on 3 weeks holiday.
A mechanic at the dealer had taken it for a weekend away in Wales and reversed into someone.
When they checked, Bills car had been resprayed to hide the damage.
Go over that car, get an independent expert opinion if necessary. If they damaged it they may be trying to avoid responsiblity
Fester
However, you should check for another possibility.
What if some damage happened to your car while it was in their care?
Some years ago, my uncle Bill received a summons for a fail to stop accident in his company's car.
It turned out that he had left the car for service with the Essex dealer while he went on 3 weeks holiday.
A mechanic at the dealer had taken it for a weekend away in Wales and reversed into someone.
When they checked, Bills car had been resprayed to hide the damage.
Go over that car, get an independent expert opinion if necessary. If they damaged it they may be trying to avoid responsiblity
Fester
Nuggs said:
tvrbob said:
If not then it's a Civil issue of verbal contract and would be settled by establishing 'beyond reasonable doubt' either way.
[penant]
"Beyond reasonable doubt" is the criminal standard of proof.It's "balance of probabilities" for civil matters.
[/pedant]
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff