Garage damaged my car

Bigphil1474

For good customer service, they should ring him again, and not go ahead with damaging his car without speaking to him. What sort of garage damages a lock to fix another fault without speaking to the owner first. If he'd said he couldn't find his bonnet key, then fair enough. If they still couldn't get hold of the customer they should have just left the car until they did or he returned to collect it. The customer would be unhappy it wasn't fixed, but I'd guess less unhappy than finding out they'd broken into the bonnet and damaged the lock. The OP has a fair gripe IMO.

Herzlos

Bigphil1474 said:

What sort of garage damages a lock to fix another fault without speaking to the owner first.

A garage who can't open the lock using the key the customer provided, where that lock has a bad reputation for failing.

Yes, the garage should have tried to phone again, but maybe the lock was broken anyway and the other key wouldn't have helped.

If the garage parked the car up and didn't do any work on it, people would also complain.

AdrianC

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

One option doesn't put a job back to the next day, causing problems with their workshop schedule - and very likely the customer's schedule, too.

Ditzy_Mitzy

AdrianC said:

anotheruser said:

I have two keys for my Focus, one a flip version, the other not.  I presume both open the lock.

The OP doesn't seem to have answered my question about this.

AdrianC said:

Birkets said:

I have a Ford Focus which have seaparate security key for the bonnet.( I couldn't lay my hands on my main keys so took the spare, hoping they wouldnt need it but found my keys half an hour later.) Turned out they had removed the lock for the bonnet and helpfully advised they had 'fixed the problem'.

When did you last use that spare key to open the bonnet?

If the OP has driven the car there using a key that doesn't open the bonnet, the garage have tried to phone him, and the bonnet locks do have a reputation for failure, 2+2+2 = 6?

Should they wait until the OP reappears to collect the car that evening, and then say "Ah, right. We've not touched the car, because we had one attempt to get hold of you then gave up"?

I agree: this doesn't make sense.  I've owned both Mk1 and Mk2 Focuses, neither of which had a separate key for opening the bonnet.  The Mk2 I've got came with a normal key, with controls for the remote central locking, and a spare key with no such controls.  The key blade on both is identical, meaning they both open the bonnet.  The Mk1 had the old style Ford round keys, again with identical cuts.  As far as I am aware, there cannot be a specially cut 'bonnet key' for the Focus as the bonnet lock barrel is identical to the ignition lock barrel.  The Mk3 does not have a key operated bonnet lock, instead having a conventional internal release lever.  
What has possibly happened here, if it's a Mk1, is that the bonnet lock barrel and one of the keys have worn away slightly meaning that only that one specific key now opens it.  I had the same problem with an old Orion: it had various keys that only worked in certain locks on the car, owing to the different wear patterns of said locks and keys.  I had to employ a proper auto-locksmith to cut me a special key for the boot when one finally wore out completely; he explained the intricacies to me.  If that is the case, one might suggest that the bonnet lock was already broken.  

Bigphil1474

Not sure your conclusions make sense Ditzy. The OP clearly stated he has a separate key for the bonnet. More likely that the bonnet lock has been replaced at some point, or possibly the ignition has been replaced, so that he has 2 identical keys that both work the ignition, and 1 separate key that unlocks the bonnet, which is on his main set of keys but doesn't have one with his spare ignition key.
The OP knew the garage had rung him (possibly on a mobile so caller ID?) so if he'd rung back and the garage said we haven't touched your car because we can't get in the bonnet, I doubt he would have been miffed. I'd have been apologetic and dropped the key round straight away, and be expectant that it might cause a delay in the vehicle being fixed. No dramas.

AdrianC

Yes, I'd missed that nugget.

So the OP takes a car to the garage in full knowledge they can't get under the bonnet.

Brilliant.

mustiuc

And complain afterwards. 
I bet he would've opened this thread anyways but the title would be "garage failed to repair my car for days" - because I took the keys with me and failed to answer the phone/call them back. 

Birkets

Apparently everyone knows suspension work requires access to the bonnet, duh, and apparently no-one is working/educating from home, on other calls, taking a shower, or any one of a number of things that require you to not be attached to your phone, and should seemingly expect to suffer the consequences should they, heaven forfend, make a mistake?
It was an oversight to not take the key, both keys are on the main keyring which had been misplaced, spare was used at the last minute forgetting the need to access with a separate key. 
 When the call was returned less than an hour later the additional work had already been done,  it was not made clear what it involved, misleading information was given. The damage was only revealed after the repair was completed. I have never experienced this at other garages, ever. 
If you have no helpful advice regarding recourse it's more helpful to simply remain an observer than to derail the conversation. I only sought potential remedies to the situation.

AdrianC

What was the suspension work?

Birkets

Hi, I'm looking for some direction about how to get a garage to rectify damage they caused. Took my car for a specific suspension repair, to a local well recommended garage. They called an hour after drop off, I missed it and when I returned the call 45 mins later I was told they had already done extra work and would be charging me for it, which was removal of the grill to get access as the bonnet was locked. I have a Ford Focus which has a separate security key for the bonnet. ( I couldn't lay my hands on my main keys so took the spare, hoping they wouldnt need it but found it when I returned home half an hour later.) Turned out they had removed the lock for the bonnet and helpfully advised they had 'fixed the problem'. Also when they phoned to say it was ready, they said I could now access it with a long handle screwdriver. If they'd waited 45 mins for my call then they could have had the key and avoided damaging my car. In correspondence they've tried to tell me that I gave authorisation for the work, I didn't, I was advised after the fact that they'd done the work, and now it turns out that they'd done something different than advised on the phone so not really an issue of permission at that stage. They've also then said the lock was damaged, this was the first mention if it and a change in their story to try to fob me off. The only way it could be broken without use of the key is if they damaged it themselves. They're not denying they did it but they're refusing to repair it. What are my options?