hi , garage i took my van to broke it , i was there watching

jamesey

i took my wifes van in for the tracking and when the owner put the van on the ramp he ripped the handbrake up so hard it broke the handbrake cable
i said what are you going to do about it and he told me to go away in polite terms , so now im left with a van with no handbrake the tracking is fine , i got the van home and my wife saw red and rung the garage up , he said the cable was probley ready to go anyway and hes not replacing it.
my wife irons for a living and said to him if i iron somones shirt and burn a hole in it , she cant say it was an old shirt anyway can she , she would offer to buy a new one.
the owner was really arrogant and said do your worst.
i can get a new cable for £17 then theres the fitting £40 per hour these days

4743hudsonj

jamesey wrote: »

i took my wifes van in for the tracking and when the owner put the van on the ramp he ripped the handbrake up so hard it broke the handbrake cable
i said what are you going to do about it and he told me to go away in polite terms , so now im left with a van with no handbrake the tracking is fine , i got the van home and my wife saw red and rung the garage up , he said the cable was probley ready to go anyway and hes not replacing it.
my wife irons for a living and said to him if i iron somones shirt and burn a hole in it , she cant say it was an old shirt anyway can she , she would offer to buy a new one.
the owner was really arrogant and said do your worst.
i can get a new cable for £17 then theres the fitting £40 per hour these days

Right well your wife comments were a little unhelpful but so were his. Either party could be correct, thought about the possibility that the cable was about to go?

When carrying out a service, the contracted party must carry out such service with reasonable skill and care. If you beleive that he has not done so, then you are able to seek suitable redress under the supply of goods and services act 1982.

If you were to do this i believe that he will have to prove that he carried out his work with reasonable care and attention similar to SOGA but somebody else may need to clear this up. If this is the case and he proved he took due care and attention then your stumped and will have to pay up.

Anihilator

I agree with the garage here.
Its unlikely the handbrake just broke. It must have been damaged or extremely worn and had the misfortune to go at that time.

Unless the garage acted negliently you have no case. Putting a handbrake on even if robustly isnt neglient.

Your wifes example is completely different as no matter how worn a shirt is it doesnt just decide to burn a hole in itself. There would have to be an act of neglience to cause that.

biscit

I'm finding the original post hard to follow.

Did the cable break when the mechanic put the hand-brake on? The hand brake is supposed to hold a big van, if it snapped when a mechanic pulled the lever sharply then it was defective.

Personally I think he should have replaced the cable- and charged you for it. I have had a garrage refuse to let me drive away with defective tyres in the past, and this one should not have let you go with no hand brake.

4743hudsonj

biscit wrote: »

I'm finding the original post hard to follow.

Did the cable break when the mechanic put the hand-brake on? The hand brake is supposed to hold a big van, if it snapped when a mechanic pulled the lever sharply then it was defective.

Personally I think he should have replaced the cable- and charged you for it. I have had a garrage refuse to let me drive away with defective tyres in the past, and this one should not have let you go with no hand brake.

theyre not actually permitted to do this to prevent scams that take this course. You would just be risking having your car crushed if it wasnt roadworthy and you were caught.......

biscit

4743hudsonj wrote: »

theyre not actually permitted to do this to prevent scams that take this course. You would just be risking having your car crushed if it wasnt roadworthy and you were caught.......

Hmm... The garrage that wouldn't let me go without a new tyre closed a few years back. It did teach me to keep a closer eye on the state of my tyres though. Far less embarassing than being pulled by the police and getting a spot fine, although some may disagree.

4743hudsonj

biscit wrote: »

Hmm... The garrage that wouldn't let me go without a new tyre closed a few years back. It did teach me to keep a closer eye on the state of my tyres though. Far less embarassing than being pulled by the police and getting a spot fine, although some may disagree.

yeh its probably good tbh and i agree with it providing the car is unroadworthy. I believe that all they have to do though is make a note of it and notify you its unroadworthy, then its up to you what to do with the information.

jamesey

the garage owner yanked the handbrake on hard not just put it on , i was there i thought he was pulling the earth up

Mankysteve

You need to speak to independent qualified 3rd party who could tell you whether it possible to break and handbrake cable by pulling hard on it.

I would suspect he will tell you that its must have already been weakened. But if you want to get any where legally this is what you need to do.

pendulum

Mechanics will generally pull a handbrake up more than you or I would because its important its fully secured when up on the ramp. This will expose a weak handbrake. He's done you a favour. It could have snapped on a hill a week later.

pendulum

Think of all these boy racers who do handbrake turns. Their handbrakes don't usually snap and yet most pull them up as high as they'll go, whilst the car is moving. Be realistic. Yours must have been weak to begin with.