Dispute with a garage

pinkshoes

imnotamechanic said:

Thank you all for your replies, my post was genuine. I have since spoken to the citizens advice bureau and from a free legal helpline and am following their advice in an attempt to resolve the matter. In case you are interested, there has to be a contract in place between the consumer, me, and the service provider, in this case the garage. It can be verbal or written. Without a contract a consumer is not bound to pay for the service. I am willing to pay for some of the work, but not for an unrequested ‘service’. I am attempting to negotiate.  My car was towed to the garage by The AA, it was a sunday so the garage was closed. Thank you again….

It would help if you could answer some questions if you want advice...

How did they get the car keys if it was shut?

How did they know how to call you if they didn't have your name and number as you'd never spoken to them?

What work did they carry out and how much did they charge? Which part of this are you disputing? (e.g. they had a broken down car and they fixed it. Are you saying they did more work than they needed to?)

Surely leaving a broken down car and the keys is a contract in its own right to have it repaired? Otherwise why leave the keys?

born_again

imnotamechanic said:

Thank you all for your replies, my post was genuine. I have since spoken to the citizens advice bureau and from a free legal helpline and am following their advice in an attempt to resolve the matter. In case you are interested, there has to be a contract in place between the consumer, me, and the service provider, in this case the garage. It can be verbal or written. Without a contract a consumer is not bound to pay for the service. I am willing to pay for some of the work, but not for an unrequested ‘service’. I am attempting to negotiate.  My car was towed to the garage by The AA, it was a sunday so the garage was closed. Thank you again….

So who told the garage what was the issue & provided the keys?

imnotamechanic

There are questions put to me here which indicate that not everyone understands the process of a car being recovered by a breakdown service, in this case, The AA. This is my first ever post on this forum and I took for granted that my post would be read in full and that it would be assumed that I had already looked into basics like the t’s&c’s of the AA before posting.  Thank you again for your responses and especially to those of you who understand legal contracts, which I now understand too.

Thank you too to those of you who queried a possible ‘scam’ between the AA driver and the garage, as this was a concern of mine, one which The AA have rejected, however the have stated that the AA driver should not have guessed what was wrong with my car, or how much it was going to cost to fix, without actually knowing, neither should he have told me he thought my car was probably a right off. 

If the AA driver had not told me those things I would have found overnight accommodation near the garage so that I could go in in person the next morning when they opened, in expectation that it was not a serious problem, that they would be able to fix it and I would have been able to drive it home on the Monday and be back in time to fulfil my important commitments on the Tuesday

I do not wish to go into any more detail as this is now an ongoing situation which needs to find a resolution 🤞

sheramber

imnotamechanic said:

There are questions put to me here which indicate that not everyone understands the process of a car being recovered by a breakdown service, in this case, The AA. This is my first ever post on this forum and I took for granted that my post would be read in full and that it would be assumed that I had already looked into basics like the t’s&c’s of the AA before posting.  Thank you again for your responses and especially to those of you who understand legal contracts, which I now understand too.

Thank you too to those of you who queried a possible ‘scam’ between the AA driver and the garage, as this was a concern of mine, one which The AA have rejected, however the have stated that the AA driver should not have guessed what was wrong with my car, or how much it was going to cost to fix, without actually knowing, neither should he have told me he thought my car was probably a right off. 

If the AA driver had not told me those things I would have found overnight accommodation near the garage so that I could go in in person the next morning when they opened, in expectation that it was not a serious problem, that they would be able to fix it and I would have been able to drive it home on the Monday and be back in time to fulfil my important commitments on the Tuesday

I do not wish to go into any more detail as this is now an ongoing situation which needs to find a resolution 🤞

You didn’t say anything previously  about.     “the AA driver should not have guessed what was wrong with my car, or how much it was going to cost to fix, without actually knowing, neither should he have told me he thought my car was probably a right off. 

If the AA driver had not told me those things I would have found overnight accommodation near the garage so that I could go in in person the next morning when they opened, in expectation that it was not a serious problem, that they would be able to fix it and I would have been able to drive it home on the Monday”

How were the garage supposed to know you thought your car was a write off ?

Aylesbury_Duck

imnotamechanic said:

 Any advice appreciated.

Turned out that this wasn't the case.

cannugec5

When my old van broke down I called out Green Flag. The mechanic assessed the situation and suggested it was beyond economic repair. 

He recovered the van - and me- home. I was then able to arrange disposal of said vehicle. 

If the OP believed the vehicle to be a ‘write off’ but permitted taking it to a garage there was as a minimum an expectation of a second opinion - which would incur a cost. 

Use of the term ‘write off’ implies involvement of insurance. There is nothing to suggest the vehicle had been involved in an accident or other insurable event. 

I think the OP has still not understood his own failings in this situation and if he persists in delay the storage costs may become astronomical. 

eskbanker

sheramber said:

How were the garage supposed to know you thought your car was a write off ?

cannugec5 said:

If the OP believed the vehicle to be a ‘write off’...

???

OP hasn't given any indication of thinking/believing their car to be a write-off, but has just said that this is what the AA guy stated....

sheramber

cannugec5 said:

When my old van broke down I called out Green Flag. The mechanic assessed the situation and suggested it was beyond economic repair. 

He recovered the van - and me- home. I was then able to arrange disposal of said vehicle. 

If the OP believed the vehicle to be a ‘write off’ but permitted taking it to a garage there was as a minimum an expectation of a second opinion - which would incur a cost. 

Use of the term ‘write off’ implies involvement of insurance. There is nothing to suggest the vehicle had been involved in an accident or other insurable event. 

I think the OP has still not understood his own failings in this situation and if he persists in delay the storage costs may become astronomical. 

He may not have taken out recovery, only roadside breakdown. , which woukd not cover taking him home. 

Hoenir

If the OP doesn't want to keep the car. Might as well gift it to the garage in lieu of the money owed. 

If the OP didn't want the repair work undertaken. Then they'd still need to have the vehicle removed from the garage at their own expense to somewhere else. In the meantime storage charges would still accrue. 

Okell

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

CCRs require certain pre-contractual information and without this the consumer is not bound by the contract.

Also for a contract to be formed offer, consideration and acceptance are required, @Okell might have more to say on whether this occurred. 

Yes but I think here the key is whatever discussion was had between the OP and the AA discovery man.

I suspect it was along the lines of "I can tow it to the nearest garage for you for them to repair - that's the service we provide.  If you don't want them to look at it you'll have to arrange for it to be towed to your home yourself and you sort it out".  It depends on exactly how the conversation between the two of them went and the OP hasn't been terribly forthcoming.

We once broke down in the middle of nowhere (about here Scotland - Google Maps ) and the local AA recovery man was also the only garage repair service within a 30 mile radius. 

I've also had to do a call out within quarter of a mile of my house when the clutch cable snapped.  I was presented with "I can either tow it to the nearest repair garage to be fixed or drop it off at your house as it is.  But it's then your responsibility to get it to a garge to be fixed".

I didn't really feel I had much of a choice in either case, but I did fully discuss my options with both recovery men before agreeing to what they suggested.

It all depends what was said and what instructions were left with the garage.  (I can't believe no instructions were left with the keys)