Mechanic broke my car - Now refuses to pay

dan_uk_1984

Thanks.

So what should my next step be? Again to try and avoid court first I'd like to settle amicably. Should I phone him (I'm not keen on that option) or send him another text, in which case other than "give me my money back you little scroat" what should I say that would best further my case in the future?

Or should I send him a letter, recorded, so he knows I mean business.

Dan

MX5huggy

Well you should certainly stop communicating by text, and start using recorded letters.

NickWarren_2

If I were you I would send a clear letter via recorded delivery outlining the scenario that bought about the faults, What you aren't happy with, State that you felt because of his previous incompetence you felt that it would be inappropriate for him to have tried to rectify for fear of further damage to the car resulting in more bills, And what you hope to get out of it, I.E Half of the rectification costs etc.
Then give him 14 days to respond and state you are prepared to take legal action to recover your losses if needed.

dan_uk_1984

I got this letter template from Consumer Direct, does this sound OK, being fair etc?

Dear Mr *****,

Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982 (As amended)
Common Law Scotland

On 6th of March, you undertook mechanical repair work for the sum of £40.





The problems are:

• During your work you caused damage to a hose coupling as well as putting your knee through a plastic box housing various ECU's. You then suggested using glue to repair the engine hose and box. When I asked when you would be able to come back to repair the damage you were dismissive and said not until the following week. When I explained that I needed my car to get to work you said that the glue should be ok.
• The glue repair lasted a day of use, so by Tuesday the car was running rough and stalling. I had no choice other than to order the part and book my car into a local garage to have the work done ASAP. Upon reflection I did not want to contact you for fear of further damage to my car. The repair of the oil hose cost £234 for labour and £60 for the part. I've had a quote from Land Rover of £40 for the plastic lid.

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (as amended) states that work should be carried out with reasonable care and skill.




I would like the following:

• 50% of the costs that I have already incurred from the other garage for labour to be paid back to me and 100% of the cost of the part.
• 100% of the cost of the replacement plastic lid, or you to source a plastic lid and I will fit this myself.

I’m trying to be reasonable in only asking for 50% of the labour back and hope that you can appreciate this especially as I would rather avoid the possibility of going to court.
Please respond to my complaint in the next 14 days. If you fail to respond in this time, I will have no option but to consider taking the matter to court, in which case I will be pursuing you for 100% of all costs incurred.

Yours Sincerely

Daniel *****

babyshoes

Sounds reasonable, but I would include the final figure you are asking for, so that he doesn't have to do percentage sums!!

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

50%?

!!!! that, I'd want all my costs.

vaio

[FONT=&quot]Yep, any formal letter or claim should be for the maximum and if you want to let him off 50% then do that as part of the negotiations which will follow.[/FONT]

dan_uk_1984

vaio wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Yep, any formal letter or claim should be for the maximum and if you want to let him off 50% then do that as part of the negotiations which will follow.[/FONT]

I wondered about that. I'll let him off of 50% of the labour to avoid having to go to court, but as you suggest I'll negotiate that at a different time.

Thanks,

Dan

vaio

frankly you've fallen out with him already due to his poor workmanship so I'd go for all your costs.

Maybe I would have given him a reduction if he'd held his hands up straight away.

In work if we have a problem with a job we do our dammedest to stop the problem affecting our client, the mechanic should be the same, he should be making problems go away, not causing them

ETA: and if he still doesn’t cough up then add some money for hassle, travelling etc to the claim when you issue it


.

Mark_Hewitt

dan_uk_1984 wrote: »

Who knows what "Reasonable" is!? I consider a week reasonable, )

I wouldn't. We're not talking about a broken TV here. For many people, myself included, a car is absolutely essential and being without it for a week would be massively expensive, and just not doable. It's perfectly reasonable for the OP to say that waiting a week is not acceptable.