Damaged property, any rights?

eld526

Hi everyone,

Just looking for some quick advice. My leather handbag has been sliced (4-5mm thick leather) by an unprotected driver's seat rail in my partner's car and isn't repairable unfortunately. The car is in warranty and not long after the damage we took it to the garage for servicing and asked them to take a look at it. We were told yes, it's incredibly sharp, no these caps shouldn't come off (we certainly haven't done it we bought the car when it was 11 months old, the cap has certainly not come off when we've had it), and they will repair this for free under the warranty. To me, this is an admission of a manufacturing issue otherwise we would have to pay for it.

As soon as I broach the subject of compensation for my damaged handbag the start reeling off the usual nonsense. They are trying to claim anything could have done it. I'd be hard pressed to find anything that could cut straight through leather as cleanly as that, and they said so much! I complained as soon as the incident happened but was ignored, finally with the servicing they've listened. The garage has admitted that the rail was unsafe and these caps should be permanently fixed, I think I should be entitled to claim the money back for my damaged bag.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

bris

Well anything could have done it.

Can you prove otherwise?

TonyMMM

You could claim against your partner - who could then refer it to their insurers.

Alternatively you could try contacting the customer service dept. of the manufacturers and try and get some sort of goodwill payment.

Or you send a letter before action tot he garage that supplied the vehicle , and follow up with small claims court (but you may not win).

Fosterdog

The caps may not be easy to remove but it is possible that the previous owner took them off, that wouldn't be the manufacturer or dealers fault.