Disputed invoice sent to a debt collection agency

[snoobie]

Hi there,

I hope you guys can help, I currently have an ongoing dispute with a garage for work that I did not authorise, is 3x more expensive than original estimate will also not provide the diagnostic showing the work was even required (I have asked twice in email). They have made 2 separate offers for payment, 1 for less than the invoiced amount and the other to keep the car as payment, both of which I have accepted but they have later reneged and insisted the full invoice needs paying.

I have suggested we look at some sort of arbitration to find a binding solution but have now received a letter from a DCA demanding the full invoice amount of £6k + £1k (DCA fees), the garage still has the car. Am I able to go back to say that this invoice is in dispute to the DCA? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

B

[atticus]

You can of course make that reply, but this case is likely to end up in court as a way of resolving the dispute.

[snoobie]

Thank you for the reply Atticus. Would it be the DCA taking the court action or the garage? Do you think I should go to court? Many thanks

[Pezza54]

It would be helpful if you could provide more details:
The car, its age, mileage, approx value
The fault with the car that the original estimate was to fix and the £amount of the estimate
What the garage actually did and how much they are trying to charge you
Whether you left a phone number for the garage to call you if there was a problem

If you end up going to court the judge will want to know what is a reasonable cost for the repair work, provided it was needed.
You could contact another couple of garages to find out what they would have charged.