Legal Advice

Leylandi_2

Yesterday my son broke down in London.
He contacted ADMIRAL his breakdown provider and 2 hours later they sent someone out.
2 hours is bad enough but the mechanic then took 3 hours to diagnose the head gasket had blown and in the mean time ordered a piece of pipe telling Kev that was what was needed at a cost of £146 before realising it was the gasket. Kev refused to pay and the car was immediately impounded. Kev was then verbally threayened with the car being scrapped if he did'nt pay. He was bullied into paying for a part that was'nt required and no old part or receipt were given. He was then left alone in a totally strange area of London for a further 2 hours until a tow truck arrived to get him home.
I find this totally unacceptable and wondered if it was indeed legal.
ADMIRAL BREAKDOWN ARE USELESS.

SwipernoSwiping

He would need evidence, "Proof" other than verbal for you to deal with this through the authorities that deal with this. (an Ombudsman) I believe.

esmerobbo

Its the chicken or the egg scenario, what came first. I imagine the pipe needed was a water pipe? If the pipe went first then it may have overheated and caused the headgasket to fail. If the head gasket went first it could have caused the pipe too fail.

Depending on the value of the car if the headgasket is too be fixed then you would need the pipe anyway. However you could check what the pipe was, and how much it did cost yourself, they may have or may not have been ripping you off.

What car is it?

2 hours to wait for assistance is quite normal, not right but normal. Did the 3 hours include them finding the burst pipe, going too get it, then refitting it before realising the HG had gone?

Then waiting 2 hours for recovery again is not right but is average.