Charged double!

[Androidziby]

Hi guys. After 2 changed accessory belts, I went to the garage to check if its something else that is causing it, I've left the car there for a day, they said they had to take the belt off to check what is causing it, they checked, and they told me over the phone that the Part + labour + VAT would cost me a little over £200. Agreed to go ahead with the repair.
2 days later, they rang me and told me that the repair was done, but it took waaay more, and now the price is over £500 and I'm lucky that they didn't had to take the engine off! ( no extra parts changed, just more hours )
Is there something I can do?

[QJumper]

One of the things that really pisses me off is seemingly open ended repair bills from garages. I get that sometimes it's not possible to say how long a job will take, and that unexpected things crop up, but surelly the garage should call to advise of significantly increassed cost. I now always ask the garage to call if it's going to be more than quoted.

Not sure what you can do now, after the fact, but I'd be kicking up a fuss and saying I hadn't authorised any additional charges, and see if they'll reduce it.

[PaulKemp]

For insurance repairs there is a book of how long a repair should take, it’s similar for garage repairs, I always ask for a price to repair and won’t pay more unless there is proof of the extra work. I have found a couple of garages I trust and I go to them if I can’t fix it myself or can’t be asked to do it myself

[InitialDave]

Androidziby said:

Hi guys. After 2 changed accessory belts, I went to the garage to check if its something else that is causing it, I've left the car there for a day, they said they had to take the belt off to check what is causing it, they checked, and they told me over the phone that the Part + labour + VAT would cost me a little over £200. Agreed to go ahead with the repair.
2 days later, they rang me and told me that the repair was done, but it took waaay more, and now the price is over £500 and I'm lucky that they didn't had to take the engine off! ( no extra parts changed, just more hours )
Is there something I can do?

Sorry OP, could you expand on what the original issue you were trying to resolve with belt changes actually was?

And what car it is?

Was the garage charge they initially described to you just a belt change again, or replacing a component?

[Androidziby]

InitialDave said:

Androidziby said:

Hi guys. After 2 changed accessory belts, I went to the garage to check if its something else that is causing it, I've left the car there for a day, they said they had to take the belt off to check what is causing it, they checked, and they told me over the phone that the Part + labour + VAT would cost me a little over £200. Agreed to go ahead with the repair.
2 days later, they rang me and told me that the repair was done, but it took waaay more, and now the price is over £500 and I'm lucky that they didn't had to take the engine off! ( no extra parts changed, just more hours )
Is there something I can do?

Sorry OP, could you expand on what the original issue you were trying to resolve with belt changes actually was?

And what car it is?

Was the garage charge they initially described to you just a belt change again, or replacing a component?

Of course, the car is a old Range Rover Freelander from 2004 HSE.

Six months ago my accessory belt slipped/broke while driving, called AA, they changed the belt. A week ago, again, the belt had a part shredded, I even heard it slip, and from my guess it just hit different parts and ripped appart. Called AA again, changed the belt with a new one, and I was being advised that on their check there seem to be a tilt on the roller and that should cause the issue and it s an abnormal thing to have it changed so soon.
Took it to the said garage, explained the situation and I asked to check what could cause this. They said that I should let the car there because they are busy and they will take the belt off to check. At the end of the day I receive a phone call saying that a roller needs replacement and the part + labour + vat is a little over 200£, agreed to repair it.
Now, they called that it is repaired, and it was way more hours of work they initially tought, and had to take off the alternator to change the roller, and I'm lucky that they didnt had to take the engine off. They only said that it added 5 or 6 hours of labour extra, even in reality it was way more than that. He did not say that any other parts were replaced or ordered. Only a roller and hours of labour extra, ending on over 500£ final bill.

Edited by Androidziby on Friday 19th August 20:57

[Androidziby]

PaulKemp said:

For insurance repairs there is a book of how long a repair should take, it’s similar for garage repairs, I always ask for a price to repair and won’t pay more unless there is proof of the extra work. I have found a couple of garages I trust and I go to them if I can’t fix it myself or can’t be asked to do it myself

Interesting, I guess the majority of cars have similar system and I can find a aproximate time for this kind of repair, should be pretty common.

[InitialDave]

Androidziby said:

Of course, the car is a old Range Rover Freelander from 2004 HSE.

Six months ago my accessory belt slipped/broke while driving, called AA, they changed the belt. A week ago, again, the belt had a part shredded, I even heard it slip, and from my guess it just hit different parts and ripped appart. Called AA again, changed the belt with a new one, and I was being advised that on their check there seem to be a tilt on the roller and that should cause the issue and it s an abnormal thing to have it changed so soon.
Took it to the said garage, explained the situation and I asked to check what could cause this. They said that I should let the car there because they are busy and they will take the belt off to check. At the end of the day I receive a phone call saying that a roller needs replacement and the part + labour + vat is a little over 200£, agreed to repair it.
Now, they called that it is repaired, and it was way more hours of work they initially tought, and had to take off the alternator to change the roller, and I'm lucky that they didnt had to take the engine off. They only said that it added 5 or 6 hours of labour extra, even in reality it was way more than that. He did not say that any other parts were replaced or ordered. Only a roller and hours of labour extra, ending on over 500£ final bill.

OK, the diagnosis makes sense for a duff accessory/serpentine belt tensioner, and I can see it possibly being a worse job than you'd expect if access is a sod, but if they called you with the price to do the job after having had the car for a day to investigate properly, they really should honour the price stated. They weren't flying blind, they had plenty of time to work out what they were letting themselves in for, if they ballsed that up, that's on them.

At the very least, they should've contacted you about it when it became clear it was going to be substantially more expensive.