URGENT Question re RIP-OFF Garage ....

HAVEFAITH

Hi,

I have an urgent query. My sister put her Merc into the garage for a light sensor & one other prob. She was quoted 230 so said fine go fit. Prior to putting the car in a Rolls Royce mechanic checked the car over and said there were no major probs.

Anyway the dealership/garage now want 3k for what they say are many problems. This has been queried and then suddenly the price drops 25% .. i smell a rat. My sis was given a courtesy car also. She has complained over the weekend in writing and today they have come back saying if she does not pay up by close of business today the courtesy car will be reported to the police as stolen. We are talking a main dealer here.

What should we do? Urgent help please ????

LandyAndy

They can only charge you for work that was authorised by you.

Tell them that you will happily pay for all work they can show you authorised.

TBH I think there's more to this as it doesn't sound like the attitude of a Merc main dealer.

ArsenalFC

Ditto the above, there is most likely more to the story. Has the £3k work been completed? If so then they only do the work if they are authorised to. At a guess your sister has authorised the work without asking for the the price figure. Now the garage has repair work done and come back with the £3k figure.

Unstoppable_2

Again, in agreement. My local Ford dealer once did a job on my Mondeo when it was in for servicing without prior authorisation. When the missus went to pick it up, she was told that it had been picked up during service that it needed the track control arm changing due to worn bushes and the mechanic had just got on and done it. Because there was no prior authorisation, it was free. OK, the arm was only about £30 but it was nice for them to volunteer it and it ensured further business.

Quinny_2

ArsenalFC wrote: »

Ditto the above, there is most likely more to the story. Has the £3k work been completed? If so then they only do the work if they are authorised to. At a guess your sister has authorised the work without asking for the the price figure. Now the garage has repair work done and come back with the £3k figure.

I'd agree.

A reputable garage would not do any work it hasn't been authorised to do,and if any further work other than the original was to be done,they would contact the owner asap.

I think there's only half a story coming out here.

Ken.

skintbuthappy81

I had the same thing with VW. 2 weeks after buying my car (privately) The clutch went, I took the car to VW and they quoted me £300, I told them to carry out the work only to recieve a phonecall a few hours later stating that they had found an oil leak in my gear box resulting in me paying out £980. I was not happy- although they did phone me to ask me if I wanted them to continue with repairs, I didn't have much choice as it was in bits!!!!

jeannieblue

skintbuthappy81 wrote: »

I had the same thing with VW. 2 weeks after buying my car (privately) The clutch went, I took the car to VW and they quoted me £300, I told them to carry out the work only to recieve a phonecall a few hours later stating that they had found an oil leak in my gear box resulting in me paying out £980. I was not happy- although they did phone me to ask me if I wanted them to continue with repairs, I didn't have much choice as it was in bits!!!!

Of course you had a choice, you could've said no.

OP - come back to us when you have all the details right. £230 to 3k is ridiculous. There is more to this than meets they eye, I am not a fan of main stealers, but they do not carry on quite as outrageously as that, or do they?? No they don't...

skintbuthappy81

jeannieblue wrote: »

Of course you had a choice, you could've said no.

...

Hence me saying 'Not MUCH choice' I never said I had NO choice. It was either leave it there and get the work done or get them to repair the clutch, tow it to another garage (as the oil leak was the problem so couldn't drive it) which would be an added cost, then get my local garage to carry out the work again still costing me. Like I said NOT MUCH CHOICE!

Inactive

skintbuthappy81 wrote: »

Hence me saying 'Not MUCH choice' I never said I had NO choice. It was either leave it there and get the work done or get them to repair the clutch, tow it to another garage (as the oil leak was the problem so couldn't drive it) which would be an added cost, then get my local garage to carry out the work again still costing me. Like I said NOT MUCH CHOICE!

So, who are you blaming? the garage for notifying you.

It wasn't the fault of the garage that you had an oil leak that they could not have known about prior to dismantling your car.

I think that the garage did the only thing that they could do, under the circumstances.

Lemonade_Pockets

Has some of the others have mentioned i think it is unlikely the garage would do £3k's worth of work without some sort of authorisation from your sister however it is possible.

If you are confident that you or your sister has not authorised this. Return to the garage and pay the £230. Then if they agree to give your keys back let them have the courtesy car. Alternatively if they refuse to hand over your car, i'd keep the courtesy car.........it would be just as (un)reasonable for you to report your car stolen as it is for them to report the courtesy car stolen.

Either way it sounds like one of the parties involved has made a bit of a !!!! up. Good luck sorting it out. Have you tried speaking to the dealer head office or Merc customer services.

skintbuthappy81

Inactive wrote: »

So, who are you blaming? the garage for notifying you.

It wasn't the fault of the garage that you had an oil leak that they could not have known about prior to dismantling your car.

I think that the garage did the only thing that they could do, under the circumstances.

I'm not blaming anybody for this, I am simply stating to the OP that further faults can be found when looking for the original problem, as my example proves!!!