Peugeot are ripping me off - please help me!!!!

hardworker2010

My car broke down a few weeks ago - the engine just cut out and I was unable to restart it. I had the vehicle towed to a local garage where I normally take it for servicing. They were unable to find the problem and suggested I take to the dealer which I did. Booked in with my local Peugeot dealer and explained the problem to them.

Peugeot agreed to have the car and told me that it would cost £59 + VAT to do a diagnostic and if they can find the problem and fix it within the hour then they would do everything for that amount. If the vehicle needed anything extra they would ring me and let me know. I was informed they were busy but as long they had the vehicle on site they would look at it within 24 - 48 hours. So the car was recovered to them on Tuesday 11 January 2011 and they said someone would look at it on Wednesday and they would let me know. On Wednesday I did not hear from them so rang them on Thursday and they said they would call me when they had looked at it. I did not hear back on Thursday so called on Friday morning and was informed the car was in the workshop and someone would ring me once they have had a look at it. I rang around 4pm to check what was happening - and was informed that they had found the problem apparently there it was a wiring problem and the car had been fixed and it would cost £375 + VAT. I was taken aback by the price and said I would call them back once I had a think about it.

I have called them today and spoke to the manager and questioned why its come to that much and I was informed that they spent 5 hours working on the car. I told him that I had been told that I would be informed if there was work that was needing to be done beyond the £59+VAT. At this point the manager backtracked and said the work had not actually been done, they had only done a temporary fix and if they were to carry out the work it would take about half an hour to do and the total of all this work would be £375+VAT

I asked him if i choose not to go ahead with the repairs and take my car elsewhere what is the cost and he told me it would be about £70 (which is the £59 +VAT) but they are NOT willing to give me a comprehensive diagnostic report - they will give me a general diagnostic report and wherever I take it to they will also have to do their own diagnostic report. In my opinion they have made a mess of this because they should have been informing me what they have been doing and asking for authorisation to spend that much time on the car and not just work on it and bill me for 5 hours at the end - which is not what we had agreed originally. He claims that I agreed to 5 hours of work - which is a lie because I did not they worked on the and called me afterwards. The original agreement was £59+VAT anything extra they would ring me. Now the manager has said to me he is willing to fix the car for £300+VAT! Now they are trying to recupe their labour costs from me, which is unfair as I did not agree to this. What I am expecting is pay for the diagnostic which is £70 (as initially agreed) and labour to fix the problem (which the manager has admitted will take half an hour) and I will be on my merry way.

My problem here is Peugeot have spend 5 hours looking for the problem (which i appreciate) but that is not my problem because they have trained personnel to do this job and when they became aware that this job would take longer - they should have been on the phone to me hourly or every couple of hours- letting me know and whether i was happy to pay for that much time - but to lump me with such a bill at the end is not on!

Secondly they are now refusing to give me a specific report of what is wrong with car so why am i paying £70 for a report that does not tell me what is wrong and have to go somewhere else and pay more money for the same thing. Surely they should give me a technicians report telling me exactly what is wrong with the car. What are my rights as a consumer when it comes to diagnostic reports - I dont feel its fair for me to payy for a general report telling me there is a problem because that is information i already know.

Peugeot have made a mistake in their operating procedures and I feel I am being ripped off. Please help me - has anyone had a similar problem or anyone who knows more about how to go about rectifying this situation or any suggestions and thoughts.

MrRedundant

You arent being ripped off.

You paid for a diagnostics and you will get a report of this. Diagnostic checks do not pinpoint the exact repair needed.

I am guessing it was damaged wiring that required stripping out and hunted for; I dont see why you should expect them to do this for free and then tell you exactly how it was done so you can go elsewhere and not have to pay for all the required hunting.

custardy

I asked him if i choose not to go ahead with the repairs and take my car elsewhere what is the cost and he told me it would be about £70 (which is the £59 +VAT) but they are NOT willing to give me a comprehensive diagnostic report - they will give me a general diagnostic report and wherever I take it to they will also have to do their own diagnostic report. In my opinion they have made a mess of this because they should have been informing me what they have been doing and asking for authorisation to spend that much time on the car and not just work on it and bill me for 5 hours at the end - which is not what we had agreed originally. He claims that I agreed to 5 hours of work - which is a lie because I did not they worked on the and called me afterwards. The original agreement was £59+VAT anything extra they would ring me. Now the manager has said to me he is willing to fix the car for £300+VAT! Now they are trying to recupe their labour costs from me, which is unfair as I did not agree to this. What I am expecting is pay for the diagnostic which is £70 (as initially agreed) and labour to fix the problem (which the manager has admitted will take half an hour) and I will be on my merry way.

then pay th £70 and get your diagnostic report
this will state what error codes are present on the ECU memory
then your garage of choice can make of that what they like
or pay £375+VAT and get it fixed
you have a choice

hardworker2010

Mr Redundant

I am not asking them to tell me how to repair the problem - I am simply asking what the problem is and I am not asking them to do it for free. I am happy to pay the £70 to be told what the problem is - not that there is a problem because I know that already - why would I spend £70 to be told something I know already. What I dont agree with is them spending 5 hours on the car and not communicate with me and just charge me for the the 5 hours at the end - if its genuine why are they now agreeing to come down on the price to carry out the repairs.

custardy

hardworker2010 wrote: »

Mr Redundant

I am not asking them to tell me how to repair the problem - I am simply asking what the problem is and I am not asking them to do it for free. I am happy to pay the £70 to be told what the problem is - not that there is a problem because I know that already - why would I spend £70 to be told something I know already. What I dont agree with is them spending 5 hours on the car and not communicate with me and just charge me for the the 5 hours at the end - if its genuine why are they now agreeing to come down on the price to carry out the repairs.

you are paying£70 for a diagnostic
that is the cost of 1 hours labour to cover hooking your car up to diagnostic equipment
this will tell you what error codes the ECU is flagging up and may indicate the area at fault
that is the info you will get
If you want the info from a far more in depth investigation then pay for it
if not then you are no worse off getting the £70 diagnostic you agreed to in the first place

optimus_primera

In answer to your question, no you do not have to pay the dealer for work you have not agreed to.

If the agreement was,as you have said, to call you before undertaking any work, then that is what they should have done.
Been there done that.

hardworker2010

optimus_primera wrote: »

In answer to your question, no you do not have to pay the dealer for work you have not agreed to.

If the agreement was,as you have said, to call you before undertaking any work, then that is what they should have done.
Been there done that.

The manager has told me to fix the problem will take 30 mins - which should be another £70 but he is telling me if they complete the work the bill will be £300/375 + VAT - its obvious they are charging me for the 5 hours work they did without my consent. The only option is for me to pay £70 then take it somewhere else where they will charge me another £70 to look for the specific problem - it just feels like am doing the same thing twice.

custardy

hardworker2010 wrote: »

The manager has told me to fix the problem will take 30 mins - which should be another £70 but he is telling me if they complete the work the bill will be £300/375 + VAT - its obvious they are charging me for the 5 hours work they did without my consent. The only option is for me to pay £70 then take it somewhere else where they may charge me another £70 to look for the specific problem - it just feels like am doing the same thing twice.

given Pug had to do 5 hours on investigative work
how do you think another garage will do it from the diagnostic read?

Inactive

custardy wrote: »

given Pug had to do 5 hours on investigative work
how do you think another garage will do it from the diagnostic read?

Exactly, I think that the OP is just going to have to bite the bullet on this one, if he takes it elsewhere they may take even longer in locating the fault.

optimus_primera

custardy wrote: »

given Pug had to do 5 hours on investigative work
how do you think another garage will do it from the diagnostic read?

I doubt seriously they spent 5 hrs on it ......the labour charge alone would have been more than the price the OP has said lol......

What is the cost for? is it labour,the parts or both?

iolanthe07

5 hours labour from a dealership would be around £300 - much more in London.