Car rip off question

PurpleGreen_2

Not sure which board to put this in... sorry

My car developed a fault about 2 weeks ago. The low oil indicator kept flashing. I took it to a garage who changed the oil and filter, but the problem persisted.

I then took it to Volkswagen (my car is a Beetle), and they ran a diagnostic and fixed the problem. Cost: £235

A day later, the light started flashing again.

VW now have the car again, and they've just called me and said that the problem isnt what they originally thought (when I paid the £235), that their diagnostic computer gave them 'wrong advice', and that in fact the problem is with the dashboard itself - a 2 day job, at a cost of £493. The guy at the dealership said "well thats what our computer told us", when I asked why they had charged me for fixing the wrong problem.

However, they wont deduct the £235 from the £493.

I know nothing about cars, but surely if I give VW a VW to fix, and they fix something that wasnt broken, and they charge me for it, should that original cost not be deducted from the cost of the repair that they should have done in the first place?

The £235 was hard enough to cough up...let alone another £500.

Does anyone know what the law says??

Thanks, Allan

luke_ad2000

they are legally bound to deduct the original cost as

1.you paid for  goods/service which did not fix the problem

2. therefore you are entitled to have them refund or fix the problem AT THEIR COST.

put this in writing now to them stating that you brought the car to them and asked specifically for this fault to be fixed and when returned they stated it was fixed.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm


look here for the dti info

PurpleGreen_2

Interesting. Thanks. What they have told me is that they will (as a goodwill gesture...) refund HALF of the original labour cost - but the new job is still costing a fortune. I might print that page out and wave it at them.

leosayer39

Hi all,

PurpleGreen,

'Goodwill gesture' Don't accept yet.

Did you pay by credit card. If you did you may be able to get a better refund than half of the original labour cost. (only applies if the cost was over £100.00, which it evidently was)

I am currently looking at the BBC Watchdog webby for you. If I find anything interesting then I will post the links on this thread.

[move]Leo [/move]

leosayer39

Hi all,

PurpleGreen,

Check this link out

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/cars.htm#q3

It answers all your questions ;D ;D ;D

Credit goes to 'luke_ad2000' for pointing me in the right direction.

[move]Leo [/move]

luke_ad2000

another solution delivered in under 4 hours! good luck with the car - the pessimist in me thinks this will still be dragging on in two weeks, so let us know

PurpleGreen_2

You're right.

I've just been on the phone to the VW showroom and I went into a very severe hissy fit, because having picked the car up last night, spending £750 instead of half that, and having spent a lot of time dealing with this !!!!!!, the problem is still happening.

I've thrown everything in the book at VW, including statutory rights, breach of contract, Lynn Faulds Wood and Martin.

They'll call me back before lunchtime.

AAARRRGGGHHH

TREVORCOLMAN

Pester them every day to you get it sorted!


Trev

leosayer39

Hi all,

Purplegreen,

Any more news regarding your VW?

[move]Leo [/move]

Lewis_Gerolemou

Purplegreen tell the VW garage that you will name them on this site and also tell them how many people use it. Incidently many years ago my rotten Austin Ambassador had a winky light on the dash, it took me ages to sort myself, it was a large flake of loose solder bridging two connectors at the back of the instrument panel.
Lewis Gerolemou

Savvy_Sue

A very good site for all things cars is https://www.honestjohn.co.uk - search around The Back Room to see if anyone's reported a similar problem and its solution, and if not you can register and ask for help.