Garage have done work on car before I received quote...
Discussion
Where do I stand on this?
Car went in for service last week (thursday), needed lots of work to make it roadworthy so asked for a quote to be sent to me via email as I was going on holiday over the weekend.
Didn't receive a quote until I rang up on Monday to ask why I hadn't received a quote yet, email came through not long after, although into my junk box which I didn't see so rang again yesterday. And got the quote through mid afternoon. I stated that I would rather get the work done myself.
Then get a reply later yesterday to say the work has already been done as they'd had a cancellation yesterday, as I'd asked them to get the car roadworthy. I had said the work will have to be done as obviously I need a roadworthy car but asked for a quote for the work so I could decide if their deal was best given the ball park figure they had given me was 4 figures.
Where do I stand on saying Undo the work they have done and il pick up the car. What garage sees that a customer has asked for a quote for work to be done and then doesn't it before they confirm they are happy with that quote?
Car went in for service last week (thursday), needed lots of work to make it roadworthy so asked for a quote to be sent to me via email as I was going on holiday over the weekend.
Didn't receive a quote until I rang up on Monday to ask why I hadn't received a quote yet, email came through not long after, although into my junk box which I didn't see so rang again yesterday. And got the quote through mid afternoon. I stated that I would rather get the work done myself.
Then get a reply later yesterday to say the work has already been done as they'd had a cancellation yesterday, as I'd asked them to get the car roadworthy. I had said the work will have to be done as obviously I need a roadworthy car but asked for a quote for the work so I could decide if their deal was best given the ball park figure they had given me was 4 figures.
Where do I stand on saying Undo the work they have done and il pick up the car. What garage sees that a customer has asked for a quote for work to be done and then doesn't it before they confirm they are happy with that quote?
briangriffin said:
Where do I stand on this?
I'd say stand firm. They knew you'd asked for a quote, they carried on regardless. You obviously owe them for the service and inspection work done but the ongoing repairs were not authorised. Ultimately a compromise would be the ideal result for both you and the workshop as they don't want to have to return the car to how it was and if they do you would still need to get it repaired but I'd be looking for a very good reduction - my starting point would be what it would cost to buy the parts and do the job DIY and then move a bit from there.
It still amazes me that garages do this kind of thing, how hard would it have been to pick up the phone and say "we've had a cancelation today, can we get cracking on your car?" ?
Steve H said:
I'd say stand firm. They knew you'd asked for a quote, they carried on regardless. You obviously owe them for the service and inspection work done but the ongoing repairs were not authorised.
But the garage will argue that the quote was sent and not queried therefore the earlier make it roadworthy statement applies. The OP did not read the email does not mean it was not sent and received.briangriffin said:
Where do I stand on this?
Car went in for service last week (thursday), needed lots of work to make it roadworthy so asked for a quote to be sent to me via email as I was going on holiday over the weekend.
I had said the work will have to be done as obviously I need a roadworthy car..but get me quote..........
as others have said I think a discount is the best outcome. Did you have all this in emails?Car went in for service last week (thursday), needed lots of work to make it roadworthy so asked for a quote to be sent to me via email as I was going on holiday over the weekend.
I had said the work will have to be done as obviously I need a roadworthy car..but get me quote..........
KevinCamaroSS said:
But the garage will argue that the quote was sent and not queried
But no statement was made by the OP agreeing to the costs set out in the quote. Regardless of whether he said he wanted a new paint job and the gearbox stripped and rebuilt - he still asked for a quote and didn't give approval.From my time in dealership aftersales my understanding is that the OP "could" pay for the authorised work, refuse to pay for the disputed work and take the car. The garage cannot hold the car in these circumstances, they can only do that if no payment is forthcoming.
Service advisors were under strict instructions not to allow this sort of situation arise. Ambiguous instructions as described here were not allowed, only clear written and signed for work instructions on the job cards with any monetary limits on pre~authorised additional jobs.
Customers phoned for authorisation would be asked to confirm any verbal agreement by text or email.
Situations like this are a nightmare and often impossible to unwind, especially where parts have been replaced and you can't get the labour time back. Costly for the business in both monetary and customer relationship terms.
OP, my advice would be to enter into negotiations with the garage, ask them what they consider to be the proof that you authorised the work.
If you can't agree, pay under duress to get the car back.
You want to avoid giving them the chance to start charging storage fees whilst you`re arguing about the bill.
Service advisors were under strict instructions not to allow this sort of situation arise. Ambiguous instructions as described here were not allowed, only clear written and signed for work instructions on the job cards with any monetary limits on pre~authorised additional jobs.
Customers phoned for authorisation would be asked to confirm any verbal agreement by text or email.
Situations like this are a nightmare and often impossible to unwind, especially where parts have been replaced and you can't get the labour time back. Costly for the business in both monetary and customer relationship terms.
OP, my advice would be to enter into negotiations with the garage, ask them what they consider to be the proof that you authorised the work.
If you can't agree, pay under duress to get the car back.
You want to avoid giving them the chance to start charging storage fees whilst you`re arguing about the bill.
Hammer67 said:
From my time in dealership aftersales my understanding is that the OP "could" pay for the authorised work, refuse to pay for the disputed work and take the car. The garage cannot hold the car in these circumstances, they can only do that if no payment is forthcoming.
Service advisors were under strict instructions not to allow this sort of situation arise. Ambiguous instructions as described here were not allowed, only clear written and signed for work instructions on the job cards with any monetary limits on pre~authorised additional jobs.
Customers phoned for authorisation would be asked to confirm any verbal agreement by text or email.
Situations like this are a nightmare and often impossible to unwind, especially where parts have been replaced and you can't get the labour time back. Costly for the business in both monetary and customer relationship terms.
OP, my advice would be to enter into negotiations with the garage, ask them what they consider to be the proof that you authorised the work.
If you can't agree, pay under duress to get the car back.
You want to avoid giving them the chance to start charging storage fees whilst you`re arguing about the bill.
^^^ this.Service advisors were under strict instructions not to allow this sort of situation arise. Ambiguous instructions as described here were not allowed, only clear written and signed for work instructions on the job cards with any monetary limits on pre~authorised additional jobs.
Customers phoned for authorisation would be asked to confirm any verbal agreement by text or email.
Situations like this are a nightmare and often impossible to unwind, especially where parts have been replaced and you can't get the labour time back. Costly for the business in both monetary and customer relationship terms.
OP, my advice would be to enter into negotiations with the garage, ask them what they consider to be the proof that you authorised the work.
If you can't agree, pay under duress to get the car back.
You want to avoid giving them the chance to start charging storage fees whilst you`re arguing about the bill.
thecremeegg said:
The motor industry really does get away with so much crap that no other industry can. They're all out to con you unfortunately and it seems they've done it to you too!
All? I'm not sure that is very fair! I've never ever been charged for work done without authorisation etc.
You know why? Every time I take a vehicle anywhere for anything I agree initial costs up front (for service etc) I then drum into them that anything else must BE VERBALLY AUTHORISED BY ME AND ME ALONE or I aren't paying for it. Answerphone messages /texts/emails/calls to the wife etc are not good enough. I insist they speak to me before they spend a penny of my money!
OP, your instructions were ambiguous at best. You should've been much clearer about the way forward. Hopefully you can agree a solution with them.....
In the garage in person they give me a rough price which was 4 figures. I asked for a full quote of the work to be emailed to me.
I then received an email stating 'we have attached a full estimate for the work' that was received on Monday, funnily enough shortly after I had rang them to ask what the situation was as I hadn't received the quote, when on the phone I said I hadnt received the email and they said the person I needed to speak to wasn't there and they'd get back to me. I did get a feeling there and then that they'd done the work already and were panicked as I'd repeat;y said I'd been expecting a quote.
I then received an email stating 'we have attached a full estimate for the work' that was received on Monday, funnily enough shortly after I had rang them to ask what the situation was as I hadn't received the quote, when on the phone I said I hadnt received the email and they said the person I needed to speak to wasn't there and they'd get back to me. I did get a feeling there and then that they'd done the work already and were panicked as I'd repeat;y said I'd been expecting a quote.
Do you want to use the garage again?
What's the difference in cost they charged compared to what you could have had it done for elsewhere?
They're the questions I'd be basing my decision on if it was me.
(When I had ours in for its gearbox rebuild, they helpfully changed a sidelight bulb which I knew had gone but hadn't bothered changing, no labour but £2 for the bulb. I hadn't authorised this but paid without a word as I wanted to use them again, even though I had half a 10 pack of bulbs in the boot I paid £2 for).
What's the difference in cost they charged compared to what you could have had it done for elsewhere?
They're the questions I'd be basing my decision on if it was me.
(When I had ours in for its gearbox rebuild, they helpfully changed a sidelight bulb which I knew had gone but hadn't bothered changing, no labour but £2 for the bulb. I hadn't authorised this but paid without a word as I wanted to use them again, even though I had half a 10 pack of bulbs in the boot I paid £2 for).
Pica-Pica said:
Now if you were female, you could just give that leg-wilting smile and say 'oh you shouldn't have, that is so kind, and I didn't even ask'. They would go all silly and knock it off the bill, and think you had made their day.
That may have been how things were in 1966, but not any moreSantaBarbara said:
That may have been how things were in 1966, but not any more
It still does. Mrs took her Yaris in for service/MOT (2015)and they tried to charge her for work that was being done under Toyota recall. Tried to claim it was different bla bla bla. I asked them to list the part they were charging for and rang Toyota who confirmed it was indeed paid for by Toyota and not the customer.Apparently it was a computer error!!
SantaBarbara said:
Pica-Pica said:
Now if you were female, you could just give that leg-wilting smile and say 'oh you shouldn't have, that is so kind, and I didn't even ask'. They would go all silly and knock it off the bill, and think you had made their day.
That may have been how things were in 1966, but not any moreThis has happened to me and I only paid for the work I requested, I had the cash on me so slightly easier to hand them the cash for the work I requested, take my keys and walk out.
Im not paying £50 per wiper blade and £20 per indicator bulb, and for a service that didn't need doing, that had been done the month before.
Im not paying £50 per wiper blade and £20 per indicator bulb, and for a service that didn't need doing, that had been done the month before.
KevinCamaroSS said:
Steve H said:
I'd say stand firm. They knew you'd asked for a quote, they carried on regardless. You obviously owe them for the service and inspection work done but the ongoing repairs were not authorised.
But the garage will argue that the quote was sent and not queried therefore the earlier make it roadworthy statement applies. The OP did not read the email does not mean it was not sent and received.I should say that I work in the motor trade myself and in most cases when I see this kind of thing happen it's incompetence and bad practice to blame and not the trade trying to rip anyone off but that's still no excuse and they aren't going to get any better until they have a financial reminder that making a phone call is a lot easier than doing a days work and not getting paid for it.
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