mechanic takes my car for a joy ride with his mates

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  • debtdebt
    debtdebt Posts: 949 Forumite
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    Noree wrote: »
    Only covering the cost of the work is not sufficient. The tech has taken your car out of work hours and for a 'joy ride'. I'd be much inclined to go further on the matter.

    One thing that really annoys me is when somebody disrespects your hard-earned property.

    Ok, so if the OP decided take the garage to Court and sue under negligence he would be entitled to be put back in the place he was before the incident occurred. So what is his loss which isn't covered by the £3000 refund? A bit of wear and tear on the tyres and brakes? A few litres of petrol? about £50? Is it really worth it?
  • AndyMc.....
    AndyMc..... Posts: 3,248 Forumite
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    debtdebt wrote: »
    Ok, so if the OP decided take the garage to Court and sue under negligence he would be entitled to be put back in the place he was before the incident occurred. So what is his loss which isn't covered by the £3000 refund? A bit of wear and tear on the tyres and brakes? A few litres of petrol? about £50? Is it really worth it?

    I doubt he'd even get that, as it stands he has no provable loss and has actually profited from the experience.
  • Muscle750
    Muscle750 Posts: 1,075 Forumite
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    Its not unheard of i know however for them to sack the person before they are seeing what you imply happened sounds iffy plus Range Rovers in Brixton are usually used by blinged Yardies anyway and £4k of "tools" in the back again sounds iffy would you like to name the dealer..............the car one that is.
  • mikeyranson
    mikeyranson Posts: 86 Forumite
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    I'm hoping to meet up with the garage today and discuss further. I'm happy with the offer and not seeking to attempt to extract more from them. I am satisfied with the offer made. I have thought about this over the weekend and have decided to report it to the police as theft of a motor vehicle, without my permission and maybe no insurance.
    I have worked hard all my life to enjoy what i have today and for someone to take your pride and joy from under your nose and abuse your property, i think needs sorting out through the legal system. No matter if it is lunch from the works fridge or a car, it is theft.
    Again, thankyou all for your advice and comments which i have taken on board and helped me to my decision. i will update after my meeting with the dealer.
  • AndyMc.....
    AndyMc..... Posts: 3,248 Forumite
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    I'm hoping to meet up with the garage today and discuss further. I'm happy with the offer and not seeking to attempt to extract more from them. I am satisfied with the offer made. I have thought about this over the weekend and have decided to report it to the police as theft of a motor vehicle, without my permission and maybe no insurance.
    I have worked hard all my life to enjoy what i have today and for someone to take your pride and joy from under your nose and abuse your property, i think needs sorting out through the legal system. No matter if it is lunch from the works fridge or a car, it is theft.
    Again, thankyou all for your advice and comments which i have taken on board and helped me to my decision. i will update after my meeting with the dealer.

    Just to put you straight on a legal point, it's not theft.
  • ozmusafir
    ozmusafir Posts: 44 Forumite
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    Put my range rover into a local land rover dealership for service and a few other minor issues on tuesday this week and if ready, to pick up thursday. Gave authorisation for the car to be taken on test drive to help the technician diagnose any issues. When i collected the car, i had a look over it and found everything that was on the back seat was in the boot. I thought it was odd a i couldnt think why this would have been done as there is nothing in the back seat area that would hinder any service or anything as there is nothing there to do with the car's performance.
    Driving to work the following morning, my dash cam's memory became full which again i thought was odd as i formatted the disc before i took the car in. Curious, i viewed the dash cam and the mechanic, had taken my car home, picked up his girlfriend, picked up his mates and had an evening out with my car, getting involved with a possible fight in Brixton and caused a fight outside a hospital, both incidents all in front of the car and on camera. What was risky is that both fights could have ended up on the car causing damage. He parked up at 1230 at night in a back street in Brixton with some £4000 worth of tools inside the car. I left the tools in the car as i was assured when asked that the car is locked securely under 24 hour surveillance.
    I have contacted the garage who have already sacked the tech, and have been very apologetic. The senior director has called me to say that it will be investigated and they await my dash cam footage. They have also offered to refund me in full, nearly £3000 that i have paid so far for the work done on the car.
    I'm not greedy so i am fairly satisfied with the outcome but what about the tech who took my car and abused my car and trust. He used all back streets as short cuts and every street was full of speed humps and all were driven over at speed. Should i report him to the police. Should i do anything else or claim for anything else?
    what would you do?

    What else do you want? A medal?
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    Just re-reading the OP, something pops to mind - not £3k compo, as I think we'd all assumed, but they've waived the £3k bill...

    That sounds look some bloody major work. Could there actually be solid justification for an extended test-drive following it?
  • ampersand
    ampersand Posts: 9,565 Forumite
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    Police awareness of the incident is sensible. This will include the miscreant's name and former employer.

    A foolish young man has lost a job with an up-brand dealer and he knows your identity. Any next employer will, or should, learn the circumstances of his departure.

    You are being fairly met and dealt with.

    Perhaps, if you have family, you can think too, of the idiocy that a child has committed at some point in his or her Life, without it being a permanent condemnation.
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  • davidwood123
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    Just re-reading the OP, something pops to mind - not £3k compo, as I think we'd all assumed, but they've waived the £3k bill...

    That sounds look some bloody major work. Could there actually be solid justification for an extended test-drive following it?

    It's a Land Rover. I'm not surprised with that amount
  • BeenThroughItAll
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    ampersand wrote: »
    Police awareness of the incident is sensible. This will include the miscreant's name and former employer.

    A foolish young man has lost a job with an up-brand dealer and he knows your identity. Any next employer will, or should, learn the circumstances of his departure.

    You are being fairly met and dealt with.

    Perhaps, if you have family, you can think too, of the idiocy that a child has committed at some point in his or her Life, without it being a permanent condemnation.

    If by your last point you're comparing a child's bad behaviour to that supposedly encountered by the OP, I must be missing something.

    An employee behaving as suggested by the OP is in no way similar to a child being a little !!!!, and the punishment should fit the crime (if indeed this story is not utterly fanciful). Loss of work and hampering of future employment prospects is absolutely fine by me. Given a choice, I'd make sure there was no benefit entitlement for 12 months too.
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