Poor Garage Service - Advice Please

taff_87

I'm after a bit of advice...

In early December 2011 I had a new catalytic convertor fitted to my car - come mid December 2012 the cat snaps clean through.

A quick visual inspection & a crucial mounting bolt is missing, which meant the weight of the cat was being self supported (I think either the bolt was never fitted or fitted loosely).

I call the garage & they say "only a 12 month warranty - nothing we can do to help" - unimpressed with this (and also due to some other poor work previously completed) I went elsewhere to get a new one.

I wrote a letter of complaint to the garage who then admitted that actually it's a 2 year warranty & that I had been wrongly advised. I'm told if I had the part then they'd honour a warranty claim.

As I was originally advised that there was nothing they could do I hadn't held onto the part. I argued that their poor advice had led to this outcome, but they have refused to refund.

So I'm looking at either doing a chargeback on my credit card or section 75 via my credit card - do I have any grounds for this? Anyone have any advice?

Strider590

Are you positive somebody didn't get under your car one night and try to steal the catalytic converter? Perhaps got disturbed mid theft and ran off?

It's a BIG problem up and down the country at the moment, commercial vehicles and 4x4's get targeted most (easier access + greater reward), but they'll have a go at any car.

Fact is it's hard to prove anything unless you get under the car yourself directly after a job is done, to check for yourself.

forgotmyname

If you had the part then you would have had a decent change or a refund for the original item or costs for fitting the new one.

Without the part, You may struggle. Other than the invoice for the new part you have little proof that the part failed in the way you said.
And they cannot inspect the part to see why it failed.

In the RAC or AA? Anywhere you can get free legal advice?

steve-L

forgotmyname wrote: »

If you had the part then you would have had a decent change or a refund for the original item or costs for fitting the new one.

Without the part, You may struggle. Other than the invoice for the new part you have little proof that the part failed in the way you said.
And they cannot inspect the part to see why it failed.

In the RAC or AA? Anywhere you can get free legal advice?

I doubt it will make any difference as the garage would themselves have made a warranty claim and hence only have been providing labour.

forgotmyname

But the company the garage bought the CAT from will want it back so they can claim a refund from whoever sold it to them or the original manufacturer.

Without the part how will they prove the part was in fact faulty.

Depending on the part and the supplier, Sometimes they will offer something towards labour if a part fails under warranty.

taff_87

Thanks for the replies

Strider590 - I'm pretty sure this hasn't happened - the car's not a commercial vehicle or 4x4 (it's only a Citroen Saxo) - the cat wasn't too expensive, so my guess is that this is too low value to be worth the effort for thieves. It's parked on street at night, but the area I live in is pretty safe (I think).

forgotmyname - I am in the RAC, so will ask their advice. I was offered a deal on the labour but as I didn't trust them to do a good job (see below) I went elsewhere.

The same garage also.... returned a mates car to him with the wheel nuts only done up hand tight (I was passenger in the car when the wheel started wobbling at 60mph on the motorway) & advised him he needed a new turbo (at £1000). When he sought a second opinion from another garage they refitted a hose which had become detatched, so no turbo required. Hence why I reckon they are most likely to have caused the problem.

The key point for me is the poor advice I received from them - if I'd been correctly advised from the start then I'd have kept the part.