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Being charged "no fault" fee after technician spent 4 hours on my car
Pastabath
Posts: 14 Forumite
Dear all, I have to register a new MSE account to protect my identity. I was long standing member in MSE, had been learning and contributing money saving idea, but it is my first time experience this issue.
Short story:
My Ford Fiesta has noise at the rear, and it is still in the warranty, so sent to Arnold Clark for fixing. The reception told me there will be charges if the fault is not under warranty, for example problem with tyre wear. After the technician spent 4 hours fixing, the reception claimed no fault found, and charged me £52. I was upset, demanded to show the technician myself, but cannot replicate the problem, therefore forced to pay. But it was very unfair because the technician probably fixed the problem in his 4 hours fixing! Complained with Resolved, got ridiculous answer (see below full story), I escalated to CEO, no reply for 2 months.
Ford refused to intervene, though I made all booking on their Ford website secure.ford.co.uk/OSB
Feel I was being scammed and bullied because
a) I was never told about no fault found charges
b) If there is a "no fault found" charges policy in place, why not just ask the customer to show the problem before any work? It takes only less than 5min to show the problem, then everyone would be happy
I would be happy to pay for £52 if I cannot replicate the problem (before any work done to my car), I am 100% certain there is problem and noise at the rear which was why I sent for repair.
c) It is very unfair to charge me no fault found charges after the technician spent 4 hours fixing it. He could have fixed the problem, then scam me for no fault found charges.
Hope fellow MSE members can advise what to do.
The car is still under warranty, I expect Ford to pay for the repair. I asked and confirmed it will be fixed under warranty when I first arrived. The reception lady told the exception was if it was not cover under warranty, for example tyre wear, which is fair enough. But after the technician spent 4 hours fixing the car then charged me for the no fault found charges, it basically means I was intentionally sending the car (without fault) to Arnold Clark so that I could be scammed £52 by Arnold Clark.
If this is not covered under warranty, then I most probably didnt want to fix it at all because the noise is annoying definitely, but I can live with it, and it is apparently Ford car quality problem. Why risk myself £52 for a Ford car quality problem.
Also, the noise came back after 2 months, but the car warranty was over unfortunately. I am annoyed with the noise, but I can live with it. I have no plan to fix it since it is out of warranty. The noise is very annoying but it should not affect the car safety, I wont spend money to fix. I am not rich, I am trying to save money wherever possible, which is why I am active in MSE.
£52 is not big, but it is my 1 week food allowance. I am happy to spend the money if it is required, but feel frustrated because I was being scammed and bullied.
Full story:
First arrive at the service centre, the reception confirmed to me that as my Ford car is still under warranty, it should be fixed free of charge. Only if the technician finds it is not under warranty, I would need to pay £52 for the investigation. I agreed this is reasonable because I asked how do I know it is not under warranty, the staff said for example tyre wear out which is not under warranty. But then, I was charged £52 because no fault found and was blamed I had agreed to above statement. This is wrong, because Arnold Clark never mentioned no fault found. If there is a rule for no fault found, then this can be avoided by asking the customer to show the problem to the technician, it shall take less than 5 min, and it is a win-win situation. Remember that, I was only allowed to show it to the technician after the technician spent more than 4 hours with the car. If Arnold Clark want to charge customer for no fault found, shouldn!!!8217;t Arnold Clark be a little more professional in liaise this situation by asking the customer to show the problem to the technician at the very beginning (not after the technician spent 4 hours). Also, by asking the customer to show the problem to the technician at the very beginning, it should take less than 5 minutes (compared to 4 hours and charge the customer for 4 hours investigation), and probably Arnold Clark didn't need to charge the customer for that 5 minutes at all. Therefore, either Arnold Clark intentional scam the customer because the technician can fix the problem in 4 hours then charge the customer £52 for no fault found, or the system itself is a major flaw.
Arnold Clark reply:
1. The branch will investigate various different possibilities to try identify where the fault is coming from, if the branch are unable to replicate the fault then they would be unable to rectify something they cannot find.
2. This is not mandatory, although this may have been helpful, it is not something that is generally done.
3. We don!!!8217;t think this is wrong, it is not compulsory to have a customer identify a fault before the car is taken in to be diagnosed, again although this may have been helpful, it is not compulsory.
My Reply:
I totally disagree with you and the answer is ridiculous because if the customer didnt see the problem, why the customer waste time to make booking and send the car for Arnold Clark to be charged £52 for no fault found. Certainly the customer noticed there is problem with the car, which then only I made the appointment so that the car can be investigated and fixed under Ford warranty.
The Arnold Clark system is flaw and designed to scam the customer. If Arnold Clark want to charge for no fault found, then allow the customer to show the problem in less than 5 min before the technician start working on the car. Charging the customer for no fault found after the technician spent 4 hours, is very unfair to the customer and it is a scam!
The resolver.co.uk recommended to escalate to CEO after sometimes the typical customer service could not resolve the problem. I never expect the CEO to reply me, but I expect resolver.co.uk must have escalated the issue to the executive office or top management since the typical customer service could not give me a satisfactory (actually ridiculous) answer. But no reply from the "CEO" since I escalated 8 weeks ago.
I feel I am being scammed and bullied here. Everytime I was passing by Arnold Clark, I had urge and angry wanted to walk in Arnold Clark to slap his manager for scamming me. It is not big money, but it is clearly a scam.
Hope fellow MSE members can advise what to do.
Short story:
My Ford Fiesta has noise at the rear, and it is still in the warranty, so sent to Arnold Clark for fixing. The reception told me there will be charges if the fault is not under warranty, for example problem with tyre wear. After the technician spent 4 hours fixing, the reception claimed no fault found, and charged me £52. I was upset, demanded to show the technician myself, but cannot replicate the problem, therefore forced to pay. But it was very unfair because the technician probably fixed the problem in his 4 hours fixing! Complained with Resolved, got ridiculous answer (see below full story), I escalated to CEO, no reply for 2 months.
Ford refused to intervene, though I made all booking on their Ford website secure.ford.co.uk/OSB
Feel I was being scammed and bullied because
a) I was never told about no fault found charges
b) If there is a "no fault found" charges policy in place, why not just ask the customer to show the problem before any work? It takes only less than 5min to show the problem, then everyone would be happy
I would be happy to pay for £52 if I cannot replicate the problem (before any work done to my car), I am 100% certain there is problem and noise at the rear which was why I sent for repair.
c) It is very unfair to charge me no fault found charges after the technician spent 4 hours fixing it. He could have fixed the problem, then scam me for no fault found charges.
Hope fellow MSE members can advise what to do.
The car is still under warranty, I expect Ford to pay for the repair. I asked and confirmed it will be fixed under warranty when I first arrived. The reception lady told the exception was if it was not cover under warranty, for example tyre wear, which is fair enough. But after the technician spent 4 hours fixing the car then charged me for the no fault found charges, it basically means I was intentionally sending the car (without fault) to Arnold Clark so that I could be scammed £52 by Arnold Clark.
If this is not covered under warranty, then I most probably didnt want to fix it at all because the noise is annoying definitely, but I can live with it, and it is apparently Ford car quality problem. Why risk myself £52 for a Ford car quality problem.
Also, the noise came back after 2 months, but the car warranty was over unfortunately. I am annoyed with the noise, but I can live with it. I have no plan to fix it since it is out of warranty. The noise is very annoying but it should not affect the car safety, I wont spend money to fix. I am not rich, I am trying to save money wherever possible, which is why I am active in MSE.
£52 is not big, but it is my 1 week food allowance. I am happy to spend the money if it is required, but feel frustrated because I was being scammed and bullied.
Full story:
First arrive at the service centre, the reception confirmed to me that as my Ford car is still under warranty, it should be fixed free of charge. Only if the technician finds it is not under warranty, I would need to pay £52 for the investigation. I agreed this is reasonable because I asked how do I know it is not under warranty, the staff said for example tyre wear out which is not under warranty. But then, I was charged £52 because no fault found and was blamed I had agreed to above statement. This is wrong, because Arnold Clark never mentioned no fault found. If there is a rule for no fault found, then this can be avoided by asking the customer to show the problem to the technician, it shall take less than 5 min, and it is a win-win situation. Remember that, I was only allowed to show it to the technician after the technician spent more than 4 hours with the car. If Arnold Clark want to charge customer for no fault found, shouldn!!!8217;t Arnold Clark be a little more professional in liaise this situation by asking the customer to show the problem to the technician at the very beginning (not after the technician spent 4 hours). Also, by asking the customer to show the problem to the technician at the very beginning, it should take less than 5 minutes (compared to 4 hours and charge the customer for 4 hours investigation), and probably Arnold Clark didn't need to charge the customer for that 5 minutes at all. Therefore, either Arnold Clark intentional scam the customer because the technician can fix the problem in 4 hours then charge the customer £52 for no fault found, or the system itself is a major flaw.
Arnold Clark reply:
1. The branch will investigate various different possibilities to try identify where the fault is coming from, if the branch are unable to replicate the fault then they would be unable to rectify something they cannot find.
2. This is not mandatory, although this may have been helpful, it is not something that is generally done.
3. We don!!!8217;t think this is wrong, it is not compulsory to have a customer identify a fault before the car is taken in to be diagnosed, again although this may have been helpful, it is not compulsory.
My Reply:
I totally disagree with you and the answer is ridiculous because if the customer didnt see the problem, why the customer waste time to make booking and send the car for Arnold Clark to be charged £52 for no fault found. Certainly the customer noticed there is problem with the car, which then only I made the appointment so that the car can be investigated and fixed under Ford warranty.
The Arnold Clark system is flaw and designed to scam the customer. If Arnold Clark want to charge for no fault found, then allow the customer to show the problem in less than 5 min before the technician start working on the car. Charging the customer for no fault found after the technician spent 4 hours, is very unfair to the customer and it is a scam!
The resolver.co.uk recommended to escalate to CEO after sometimes the typical customer service could not resolve the problem. I never expect the CEO to reply me, but I expect resolver.co.uk must have escalated the issue to the executive office or top management since the typical customer service could not give me a satisfactory (actually ridiculous) answer. But no reply from the "CEO" since I escalated 8 weeks ago.
I feel I am being scammed and bullied here. Everytime I was passing by Arnold Clark, I had urge and angry wanted to walk in Arnold Clark to slap his manager for scamming me. It is not big money, but it is clearly a scam.
Hope fellow MSE members can advise what to do.
0
Comments
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Not really want to read through all that but I get the gist. You're being charged £52 to investigate a fault if which in the end they couldn't find. Sounds pretty reasonable and fair to me, particularly as they spent 4 hours on the job, so to speak.
Also, I'm not sure the need for all the subterfuge
:think:Dear all, I have to register a new MSE account to protect my identity. I was long standing member in MSE, had been learning and contributing money saving idea, but it is my first time experience this issue.0 -
Not really want to read through all that but I get the gist. You're being charged £52 to investigate a fault if which in the end they couldn't find. Sounds pretty reasonable and fair to me, particularly as they spent 4 hours on the job, so to speak.
Also, I'm not sure the need for all the subterfuge :think:
Feel I was being scammed and bullied because
a) I was never told about no fault found charges
b) If there is no fault found, why not ask the customer to show the problem before any work? it takes only less than 5min to show the problem, then everyone would be happy
c) It is very unfair to charge me no fault found charges after the technician spent 4 hours fixing it. He could have fixed the problem, then scam me for no fault found charges.
The car is still under warranty, I was expecting it is free of charge0 -
So you were either charged £52 for 4 hours labour, which is very reasonable for a main dealer, or you were charged £52 to fix the fault which is even more reasonable!
If it's a scam, it's a very poor one! I'm sure the technician could have been doing something far more profitable for the business in those 4 hours than just earning £52 off you. Even if you assume they are only on minimum wage, that still cost Arnold Clark over £30 to pay them for the time. So the garage earnt £20 in those 4 hours before other costs.
You surely didn't expect them to work for free for 4 hours?b) If there is no fault found, why not ask the customer to show the problem before any work? it takes only less than 5min to show the problem, then everyone would be happy
But you yourself said you couldn't replicate the 'fault' when you showed them?demanded to show the technician myself, but cannot replicate the problem,0 -
So you were either charged £52 for 4 hours labour, which is very reasonable for a main dealer, or you were charged £52 to fix the fault which is even more reasonable!
If it's a scam, it's a very poor one! I'm sure the technician could have been doing something far more profitable for the business in those 4 hours than just earning £52 off you. Even if you assume they are only on minimum wage, that still cost Arnold Clark over £30 to pay them for the time. So the garage earnt £20 in those 4 hours before other costs.
You surely didn't expect them to work for free for 4 hours?
The car is still under warranty, I expect Ford to pay for the repair. I asked and confirmed it will be fixed under warranty when I first arrived. The reception lady told the exception was if it was not cover under warranty, for example tyre wear, which is fair enough. But after the technician spent 4 hours fixing the car then charged me for the no fault found charges, it basically means I was intentionally sending the car (without fault) to Arnold Clark so that I could be scammed £52 by Arnold Clark.0 -
But you yourself said you couldn't replicate the 'fault' when you showed them?
I was only allowed to show the problem to the technician after the technician spent 4 hours fixing the car. It is very unfair to charge me no fault found charges after the technician spent 4 hours fixing it. He could have fixed the problem, then scam me for no fault found charges.
If there is a "no fault found" charges policy in place, why not just ask the customer to show the problem before any work? It takes only less than 5min to show the problem, then everyone would be happy
I would be happy to pay for £52 if I cannot replicate the problem (before any work done to my car), I am 100% certain there is problem and noise at the rear which was why I sent for repair.0 -
So sue them if you believe you are right. As a long standing member of MSE I'm sure you are aware that is your next step as the complaint has got you nowhere.0
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It is not big money - £52, but very frustrated because I feel I was scammed and bullied. for 8 weeks, the CEO didnt want to reply me at all.
To be blunt, probably because the CEO has more important things to do!
So what do you want to do then as you asked.....Hope fellow MSE members can advise what to do.
You have complained, escalated it and are still obviously not happy with their answer. So at that point you either need to move on with life or sue them. Nobody on MSE has a magic wand they can wave to make them reply or resolve it to your satisfaction.0 -
Does the car still have the noise that you took it in for?0
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