Consumer Law?

[Foxyflugel]

Hi everyone

Can anyone advise of the position of a car owner when a garage has not once but twice, carried out unauthorised works to their vehicle?

1st time - due to MOT fail agreed to have the work done - left contact numbers for collection. When car was collected - bill was over £200 more than price given - garage had carried out additional work without calling to get it authorised - bill paid on a credit card after telling the garage of displeasure and disgust at this deceit.

2nd time - Only returned the car as told by another garage that part fitted at garage 1 was faulty. Took car into garage 1 and they confirmed this and agreed to fix it. Took the car in and guy said that he did not need my number and gave me a time to pick it up.
Collected car (dropped my OH off at garage - with no payments as it was FOC due to a faulty part).

OH was presented with a bill as they had replaced a part - again, without permission from us/authorisation.

OH said I was unhappy and would go to garage next day to discuss - they gave my OH the old part and garage 2 said all it needed was a little lubrication and didn't need replacing!

Visited garage 1 and said was not prepared to pay for unauthorised work - yet again!! Guy was aggressive and rude and demanded the whole bill. I said I was willing to pay for the part but he refused.

Any ideas on this situation?

Thanks in advance

Foxy

[des8]

Re: Consumer Law?

Contentious, no!
Technically they should undo the unauthorised work ie put the old part back on at no cost, but would you trust them!

Depending on how much you "owe" them it may be worth trying to negotiate, or even ignoring them to see what they intend to do.
Have they threatened initiating court action?

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Consumer Law?

I agree with des8 - tell them to put the car back in its original condition.

Correct me if I am wrong but if the repair improves the vehicle, the garage can keep the car until payment is made. Your only option would be to pay up under protest and pursue a claim for reimbursement., but how do you go about proving that the work was done without your authority? Wouldn't it be a case of their word against yours?

Is the garage a member of an organisation that has a dispute resolution procedure?

[Foxyflugel]

Re: Consumer Law?

Thanks for your replies.

The details are - they said approx £80 to fix the brake pipe (which it failed it's MOT on) and the bill was £318!! They had fitted brake calipers.
Garage 2 said that one of the brake calipers was leaking (when they serviced it). Took it back to garage 1 and told them and they confirmed this - hence why it was booked in (as we said we would never use this garage again) for the part to be sorted out (replaced?fixed?).

I dropped my OH off and obviously he had no payment as there was non due.

They had fitted a handbrake cable and presented him with a bill for £84. £40 cable £44 labour.

This was after I told them last time what I thought of them doing work without authorisation.

I went down the next day and offered to pay for the part and the guy was aggressive and refused - he said he wanted all the bill. I said I would give him his part back after having another fitted at garage 2 - he refused this also.

We definitely do not want this garage working on our car ever again tbh.

The owner said we would be getting prosecuted for theft of goods.

This garage clearly carries out work to boost it's income - whether necessary or not - and whichever way you view it - carrying out unauthorised work is morally and legally? wrong.

The MOT failure does not state anything about brake calipers - just the brake pipe - so surely this is proof of what it needed to get through it's MOT?

Unsure of the dispute resolution membership - how would I find this out?

Foxy

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Consumer Law?

If you were dealing with a travel agent you could go to ABTA for an 'independent' resolution; like an ombudsman I suppose.

The garage may advertise that it is a member of a specific trade organisation, say the Independent Garage Association for example. If the organisation has a dispute procedure you should, theoretically, be able to get an independent opinion, or a decision that may become final and binding.

There are a number of organisations that they might belong to.. try this for example http://www.motorcodes.co.uk/

I once had a car MOT'd and the garage failed it on a brake pipe and worn tyres. They said the brake pipe would cost about £300.00 to repair because they would have to remove part of the bodywork to repair it (it was on a Vauxhall). I took the car to another garage and it passed. The mechanic said the brake pipe just needed a bit of corrosion protection to prevent it getting any worse and tyres were still legal.

I threatened to report the first garage to VOSA and they were very apologetic saying that they were looking after my best interests. They agreed that the brake pipe could be greased to prevent further corrosion and made some excuse about the MOT man not being familiar with the tyre wear equipment! They refunded my MOT test fee.

Needless to say we haven't used them again.

[R0b]

Re: Consumer Law?

It's difficult with garages as a lot of the time the worl to be carried out is usually agreed verbally. You can't be prosecuted for theft as you had no intention to permanently deprive them of the part so that's a fail straight off the bat.

I would personally wait and see what they do, you have offered to pay for the part but on the flip side they have carried out work without consulting you. Your proof being that the MOT failed which only stated the brake pipe and nothing else, so there would be no reason to fix any other parts unless you agreed to it.

I agree though, certainly would not let them carry out any further work on the car, you don't know what they might do and could potentially make the vehicle dangerous. Even if you decide to take the car back as a result to replace the pipe I would have an independent garage do a report on the vehicle to state that it is mechanically sound - just for peace of mind in case anything goes wrong with it afterwards!

[Foxyflugel]

Re: Consumer Law?

Thanks for your replies everyone.

I have just seen a review that someone has left at the end of Jan this year. They took it in for a service and the same garage failed to put a fuel tank clip on correctly and the ladies car emptied fuel out all over the road the next day!! She went back and they were very rude and said that the clip must have been faulty and weren't bothered at all. Also, I spoke to one of my old friends and they did a friend of hers car and pulled the exact same trick - massively inflated bill compared to the initial amount stated and she could not afford to get her car back - they kept it - so wrong!!!

They need stopping! I will look into the dispute route tomorrow. Can I report them to VOSA and the Trading Standards?

Thanks

Foxy

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Consumer Law?

VOSA regulate MOT standards, so if it's not MOTwork then probably not. Trading Sstandards might be your best bet, but i presume they have to receive a few complaints before they investigate. It's worth a phone call at least.

[R0b]

Re: Consumer Law?

Worth contacting your local trading standards about this although they may or may not do anything and advise its a civil matter. Arguably by the garage using threatening and abusive behaviour in trying to extract the monies from you, they could be contravening the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regs (CPUT), as far as harassment, coercion or undue influence.

I would stand by my previous suggestion on what to do.

[Foxyflugel]

Re: Consumer Law?

Thanks guys - I will give Trading Standards a call and sit and wait for their next move.

Foxy :tinysmile_twink_t2: