Garage broke my window

Scienceguy

I took a car in for a service. First time I’d used the garage. The garage called later to say that door locked with key in ignition with the car on ramp. They said it was a fault of the car (ignition switch error). They broke the window rather than waiting for a locksmith as they said they were losing money as a result of not being able to use the ramp. They replaced window using another car and charged me for the window (£50) but not the labour. Returned home to find glass shards on floor, in child seat, in centre console. What recourse do I have in this situation? 

oh_really

When I worked in a workshop [many, many, years ago], first thing I did when putting a vehicle on  a ramp was to lower one of the drop glass due this possibility. Vehicles tend to come into a workshop as they have a fault, I note your was in for a service though.

Perhaps ask if it never occurred to them to lower a window.

shaun_from_Africa

Scienceguy said:

They said it was a fault of the car (ignition switch error). They broke the window rather than waiting for a locksmith as they said they were losing money as a result of not being able to use the ramp. They replaced window using another car and charged me for the window (£50) but not the labour.

As it was the first service, I'm assuming that the car is still under warranty. Is this correct? and was it a main dealer garage that you went to?

Did they also replace the ignition switch? 
If not, I would  contact the garage and insist that the change it as they have admitted that it's faulty so it should be a free of charge warranty replacement.
If they refuse, I would escalate it to the head office of the manufacturer and see what they say.

Scienceguy

It’s a little worse than that. He had previously checked computer and knew there was an ignition fault error. He said that he did not expect the error to manifest in locking doors. However I’m not upset about that really. It’s the fact that he did not clean it up properly. I have just seen the glass so I’m concerned that there is more under chairs and carpets. I would like to know if there is an accepted professional manner in which glass should be removed? How long should it take, should he be removing interior door parts? Basically what can I ask him to do that is reasonable?

AdrianC

You can ask him to run the hoover over it again... Or you could just DIY it.

You mention the child seat - garages often refuse to remove child seats, because they don't want to be held responsible if it's not properly refitted.

531063

Why didn't they ring you to see if you had a spare key before they broke the window?

facade

Why did they need to break the window at all?  I'm sure Fred will be along to explain

oldagetraveller1

Fred would watch and follow this Youtube video to solve the problem. That's apparently where he finds all his knowledge.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pILXh-UxJdc

fred246

It's unbelievable. I am truly lost for words. Where did they get the window from? I can't believe they charged you for it. I remember on a forum someone saying that their car was in for some major engine work that was going to take days. He walked past the garage and peaked in to see his car with a door missing. He went to ask and the garage said another customer had needed a new door so they had given his to another customer. They would get a new door for his.

facade

fred246 said:

It's unbelievable. I am truly lost for words. Where did they get the window from? I can't believe they charged you for it.

Exactly. A child can get into most cars in a few seconds without breaking anything- in fact they frequently do

Just be British about it.

Never ever go back there, and tell everyone you meet what sort of garage they are

MinuteNoodles

To replace the window you need to strip the door down, at the very least all the handles and trim panels and switches from the inside as well as the plastic weatherproof membrane. You would then hope they hoover out the broken glass from the bottom of the door otherwise it'll rattle when you open and close it.

Fitting a new glass is a job done in under an hour but if they've broken it there is absolutely no way you should've been paying anything for it because the reason they had to break it is entirely down to a situation of their own making. First of all as has been mentioned they should have had the window down in the first place. Secondly the fact it was stuck on the ramp losing them money is not an excuse to start taking a hammer to a vehicle and damaging it.