Visa chargeback or small claims?

hieveryone

Hi all,

A garage recently carried out work on my car. Long story short, my car has come back damaged. The garage are refusing to interact with me.

I paid the bill (£700+) by Visa credit card. Can I go the chargeback route, or is it a small claims job?

Thanks in advance 

Ditzy_Mitzy

May we have some more information please?

What do you mean by 'damaged'?  Has something gone wrong with the work or been damaged as the result of it being done, or has the car picked up a scratch or similar whilst in the garage's custody.  

Aylesbury_Duck

As above, more information is needed to be able to give decent advice.

I can't see that chargeback will work because presumably, the garage has done the work, it's just that there's damage arising from it?  Ultimately, your claim would be for the extra costs associated with the damage, rather than a complete refund.  Unless what actually happened is that the job wasn't done at all and you now have a broken car?

hieveryone

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

May we have some more information please?

What do you mean by 'damaged'?  Has something gone wrong with the work or been damaged as the result of it being done, or has the car picked up a scratch or similar whilst in the garage's custody.  

Hello, yes sorry - it was damaged in the process of carrying out the work quoted for. However, this particular part of the car shouldn’t have been touched anyway.

born_again

No chargeback option for what you describe.

Perhaps explain the work & the damage. So people can have a clear understanding of the problem.

hieveryone

My GPS wasn’t working in car.

Work to be carried out was described as requiring the inner roof lining to be removed in order to access and no access via antenna cover on roof.

Antenna cover on roof has been removed and damaged, as well as paintwork on roof of my car. I’m not convinced the interior roof lining has been touched at all.

Garage charged additional labour for ‘difficult to remove’ cover and also want to charge me for replacement of the damaged antenna cover. 

Aylesbury_Duck

hieveryone said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

May we have some more information please?

What do you mean by 'damaged'?  Has something gone wrong with the work or been damaged as the result of it being done, or has the car picked up a scratch or similar whilst in the garage's custody.  

Hello, yes sorry - it was damaged in the process of carrying out the work quoted for. However, this particular part of the car shouldn’t have been touched anyway.

Thanks.  Seems clear to me that chargeback won't work then.

You need to get a quote for correcting the damage and then send the garage a letter before action, saying that you want them to correct the damage or pay for it to be corrected elsewhere, and if they don't respond within 14 days, that you'll commence small claims court proceedings.

Ditzy_Mitzy

hieveryone said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

May we have some more information please?

What do you mean by 'damaged'?  Has something gone wrong with the work or been damaged as the result of it being done, or has the car picked up a scratch or similar whilst in the garage's custody.  

Hello, yes sorry - it was damaged in the process of carrying out the work quoted for. However, this particular part of the car shouldn’t have been touched anyway.

In what way?  Is it a case, as an example, where you've booked the car in for fitment of a new radiator and they've scratched the passenger door whilst raising it on the ramp?  

If so, the garage ought to have insurance to cover accidental damage whilst the vehicle is in their care and they can be pursued via that route.  Conversely, the unrelated damage does not absolve you of contractual obligation to pay for the work.  If push comes to shove, you can threaten to sue them for the repair costs but chargeback and/or Small Claims for the radiator (or whatever) is a non-starter.  

born_again

Of course they will have to remove cover on roof to access the GPS antenna, as they are housed in there. Cabling will run under headlining.

hieveryone

born_again said:

Of course they will have to remove cover on roof to access the GPS antenna, as they are housed in there. Cabling will run under headlining.

That’s not how it was described to me. The job was described to me as a nightmare due to the fact that this car brand weather tight seals the antenna cover and there is absolutely no access to the GPS module via this method. 

MattMattMattUK

hieveryone said:

born_again said:

Of course they will have to remove cover on roof to access the GPS antenna, as they are housed in there. Cabling will run under headlining.

That’s not how it was described to me. The job was described to me as a nightmare due to the fact that this car brand weather tight seals the antenna cover and there is absolutely no access to the GPS module via this method. 

The GPS module probably is not in the roof, the antenna likely is. In general, the antenna will be in the cover on the roof, the cabling will run under the headliner and down a pillar and the GPS module will be somewhere behind the dash as part of the rest of the driver facing electronics.