Dodgy mechanic complaint?

TheLondoner

Hi everyone!

I was just hoping for some advice on what I can do about a dodgy mechanic who has ripped me off in the past (I suspect) and who tried to rip me off this week? Story below:

I took my car to have some squeaky tyres sorted out. I was charged £120 for calipers, pads and whatnot. I've no idea if the work was done. Car started making noise after a week so I took it back and the chap said the grinding noise in the tyres would go away. I left it at that. I think the mechanic removed a crucial component in the gear box during one of these services so I would have to come back for servicing.

A month later my gearbox seemingly falls apart on a short 5mins trip to Asda. I took it to the same mechanic, left it with him overnight and he tells me it's a "major job". He said the car needed a new clutch and the gear box needs to come out and some other parts. He quoted me £500 for the job. I had sleepless nights! I was a bit suspicious because over the last few months I seemed to have had to visit the mechanic for something once every two months which is ridiculous.

Anyway, for peace of mind I took the car to another mechanic for appraisal. Guess what? I didn't need a new clutch and the gearbox didn't need coming out. The mechanic told me a screw was missing in the gearbox and it was integral to the whole gearbox. The part was £1.80, and with labour I paid £91.80 for the whole job. I suspect the first mechanic deliberately took this screw out during one of the services to justify trying to get me to get all this unnecessary work done.

I e-mailed trading standards. They referred me to citizens advice bureau. They said they would refer it to trading standards and took some details. On their advise I got a written quote from the old mechanic, and I have a receipt for £91.80 from the new mechanic detailing the part (a screw) that was missing.

My question is: what can I do? I really want to take this man to court to recover the hundreds of pounds that i've spent on servicing with him, have his garage closed down or him to incur a heavy fine because I think he has taken me for a ride. Other than the quote + receipt from the most recent job, I have no proof the old mechanic removed the screw, no proof any of the previous work was unnecessary.

Any advice greatly appreciated. This man needs to be taught a lesson before he rips off anyone else and before someone dies from his supposed wreckless actions.

tight_scotsman

Put it down to experience and move on. Without proof of what you allege you don't stand a chance of getting him to court. Find yourself a mechanic you can trust there are still some out there.

TheLondoner

@tight scotsman That's what I think as all. (RE: court case). Do you think I have enough information with the quote and actual receipt from the new mechanic for trading standards to do anything about?

I might ask the new mechanic on monday (seems pretty honest) whether there is anyway this screw can fall out by itself. If not, then I suspect the old mechanic took it out at some stage knowing my gearbox would fall apart, requiring this 'major work'.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Stop giving business to people you don't trust would be a good start, and if you inadvertantly find a rogue trader who swindles you, you don't reward them by going back for another ripping.

TheLondoner

@GILBERT AND SULLIVAN I wont now, but before I did trust him without question! He abused my trust in him and ignorance of anything about cars. Shocking people like this exist in the world. I thought most people were honest and friendly but it seems even the honest and friendly seeming people can stab you in the back when they like. What hope is there for this planet when people like this exist?

tight_scotsman

Like I said put this down as lesson learned. The stress of trying to get recompense from a dodgy back street mechanic is just not worth it. Even the most savvy of us can get ripped off. Only last week the AA fleeced me of £100. I got my cash back and learned a lesson. I will also be taking my breakdown cover elsewhere when my renewal comes round.

straighttalker

Seriously? A screw from the exterior part of the gearbox was removed which caused it to malfunction? I highly doubt it.

TheLondoner

@STRAIGHTTALKER it was a torx screw inside the gearbox somewhere. they had to take the gear stick panel off to access it, but didn't need to take the entire gearbox out. Got the impression it was a pretty straightforward job. Will be interesting to hear if these parts can fail/break or whether it was an act of sabotage.

arcon5

I can be a cynic at the best of times but even I'm struggling to understand how and why you are blaming them? £90 labour so prob about two hours, you think the other garage spent two hours sabatarging your car on a whim?

takman

The way you say the car had "squeaky tyres" shows how little knowledge you have of cars and dodgy mechanics would easily pick up on this and take advantage of it.
So the best thing you can do now is learn about cars and do some research online before you take the car to the garage so you know a little about what they are talking about. This will then make sure you know exactly what work is being done on your car and why.

So many people will blindly hand a car over to a mechanic and happily accept what they say and hand over hundreds of pounds to for work they say needs doing. Even a mechanic with good intentions but little knowledge can easily misdiagnose a problem and charge too much!

TheLondoner

@takman Good advice, thank you. I admit, I was a fool and played for it. I was too trusting of the human race. I trusted most people unconditionally. I will now, till the end of time, treat everyone with suspicion, especially mechanics.

@arcon5 I'm a sucker, I know . But the first mechanic quoted me £500. The job was done for £91. I didn't need a new clutch, oil etc etc that the first mechanic quoted me for. I think this dishonest behaviour has no place in the trade. Such a shame this kind of thing goes on. I thought humans were better than this patheticness. What happened to the good old days of earning an honest buck?