Mechanic broke my car - Now refuses to pay

steveo3002

do you think the mechanic is set up as a proper buisness or a cash in hand type

did you get a recipt for the work?

dan_uk_1984

steveo3002 wrote: »

do you think the mechanic is set up as a proper buisness or a cash in hand type

did you get a recipt for the work?

He has his own van, which is sign written etc. Obviously this doesn't mean he has set up a business with business insurance etc.

I never ask for a receipt because I want the cheapest option generally!

His address on Google business directory is a residential address (where I sent the letter to today) His website although meager suggests that he has a business.

Thanks,

Dan

steveo3002

do you realise if you put the website and name /number etc , google will soon link this site when anyone searches for him , and this being a popular site it will up the top

vaio

and let us know the outcome

.

reehsetin

dan_uk_1984 wrote: »

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

but you had already initially told him you wanted to pay half, if you got to court and he said that you had asked for half and then asked for full with a reduction to half if he paid up it might not reflect well on you

blondie0000

I thought your letter was great! I think it will really put the fear of god into him, and he will see that either he can pay half now, or go through the nightmare of court and maybe end up paying it all. I don't know what the right moves are from a legal standpoint, but on a more human person to person level, I would say your letter is absolutely perfect. It shows you mean business, that you know the law, that you will not take any of his underhanded excuses and crap, showed you are prepared to go all the way, but still managed to remain professional friendly and provide him with an easy out. Please let us know how this unfolds as I am going through a similar ordeal and am very interested to hear how yours turns out!

funkymonkey1

Sorry, but I think you were being unreasonable and I think that a court would agree too.

I can see that it was annoying but you should have contacted him to ask him to put it right when the bodge went wrong.

Yes he had a duty to not break your car and to fix it when he did but by not phoning him to sort it out, you have denied him the chance to fulfil that duty.

darich

funkymonkey1 wrote: »

Sorry, but I think you were being unreasonable and I think that a court would agree too.

I can see that it was annoying but you should have contacted him to ask him to put it right when the bodge went wrong.

Yes he had a duty to not break your car and to fix it when he did but by not phoning him to sort it out, you have denied him the chance to fulfil that duty.

I disagree and think the mechanic is unreasonable.
He was given an opportunity and took it - a failed job using glue.
He was given another opportunity and didn't take it - he couldn't return until the next week.

A car is essential to many people and if he's operating as a business (it appears he is) then he should have either the competence to carry out jobs properly and profesionally and insurance to cover any problems or mistakes. He should really have both but in this case seems to be lacking them.

Hindsight is great but I'd have refused to pay for the original work.
Good advice re recorded delivery letters.

Hopefully not an expensive lesson but cheapest isn't always best. Maybe find another mechanic in future too.

Best of luck in getting is sorted.

dan_uk_1984

Thanks,

Well the letter was sent out on the 16th, I tweaked it a little bit but not much. The angle I'm going with is that I didn't get him to repair it a week later because he is quite clearly incompetent.
The irritating thing is that he probably has insurance for this sort of thing but he wont want to use it, he'd much rather loose a customer (and anyone I know) and have plenty of bad publicity by the time I've finished with him. (his google listing, the local paper, internet forums etc etc)

Dan

blondie0000

dan_uk_1984 wrote: »

Thanks,

Well the letter was sent out on the 16th, I tweaked it a little bit but not much. The angle I'm going with is that I didn't get him to repair it a week later because he is quite clearly incompetent.
The irritating thing is that he probably has insurance for this sort of thing but he wont want to use it, he'd much rather loose a customer (and anyone I know) and have plenty of bad publicity by the time I've finished with him. (his google listing, the local paper, internet forums etc etc)

Dan

In the letter did you stick with asking for half, or changed it to ask for full compensation?