Body shop tried to rip me off...anywhere I can complain?

bhavinshah

Hey all,

Here's the story:

I damaged a panel on my rear bumper ("moulding")...it's a plastic part. I went to my Hyundai dealership where I got the car to find out about getting it repaired, they told me the part cost (£12.15 + VAT) and said that it would also need to be painted, and confirmed that only the panel should need replacing, not the whole bumper. So they referred me to a body shop.

Went to it, they had a look. I explained that it shouldn't require the whole bumper to be replaced and the guy mumbled something like "yeah...should be fine". They posted me a quote the next day...£570?!?

Obviously this was outrageous - they decided to replace the whole bumper and paint that too + additional labour costs etc.

So I shopped around, when to my local place where my parents get their car serviced. They've just done the job today for £158 including labour and parts (and VAT). They only used the one panel that cost £12.15 + VAT.

I think it's pretty disgraceful that a body shop could try to charge for the entire bumper when it definitely didn't need replacing. If someone didn't have the time to shop around, they would have been massively ripped off.

Is there anyone/anywhere I can complain about this? It's pretty shoddy business practice, especially as Hyundai referred me to them.

I'm guessing not because they're free to choose their prices. But it's the principle! At least I've had a chance to rant (thanks for reading if you got this far :T)

wealdroam

bhavinshah wrote: »

Hey all,

Here's the story:

I damaged a panel on my rear bumper ("moulding")...it's a plastic part. I went to my Hyundai dealership where I got the car to find out about getting it repaired, they told me the part cost (£12.15 + VAT) and said that it would also need to be painted, and confirmed that only the panel should need replacing, not the whole bumper. So they referred me to a body shop.

Went to it, they had a look. I explained that it shouldn't require the whole bumper to be replaced and the guy mumbled something like "yeah...should be fine". They posted me a quote the next day...£570?!?

Obviously this was outrageous - they decided to replace the whole bumper and paint that too + additional labour costs etc.

So I shopped around, when to my local place where my parents get their car serviced. They've just done the job today for £158 including labour and parts (and VAT). They only used the one panel that cost £12.15 + VAT.

I think it's pretty disgraceful that a body shop could try to charge for the entire bumper when it definitely didn't need replacing. If someone didn't have the time to shop around, they would have been massively ripped off.

Is there anyone/anywhere I can complain about this? It's pretty shoddy business practice, especially as Hyundai referred me to them.

I'm guessing not because they're free to choose their prices. But it's the principle! At least I've had a chance to rant (thanks for reading if you got this far :T)

As you say, they can set their prices.

I guess they didn't want the job.

Much the same as anything else you buy, be it a tin of beans* or a Rolls Royce, it's usually a good idea to shop around.



*ok, maybe not shop around for beans.

FATBALLZ

If they think the insurance is paying they will come up with this sort of fantasy quote, triple the value of the work is really a starting point. No point complaining this is just how it works.

bhavinshah

FATBALLZ wrote: »

If they think the insurance is paying they will come up with this sort of fantasy quote, triple the value of the work is really a starting point. No point complaining this is just how it works.

Yeah it's possible I mentioned that I was considering insurance depending on the cost.

Ah well, I feel like I've saved a lot of money even though I'm down £158 purely because of something that was my fault :rotfl: