Tweet
Hi all
Got a problem with a dodgy garage bill.
In January I took my car for an MOT it required a couple of things to get it passed but nothing major and when I went to pick it up the mechanic said their was a noise from the engine that he claimed was the timing belt and it needed replacing at a cost of £150which I agreed to.
When I phoned him the next day he said there was a problem with the car and he couldn't get it running....I said the car was running fine when it cam in and I expected it to be running when I got it back...he said not to worry he would sort it.
Over the next eight weeks I was back and forward to the garage as he tried one thing then another to get the car running....constantly muttering about how much this was costing him but never actually saying to me it will cost more than the original £150 quote.
After eight and a half weeks he called me to say the car was ready and I could pick it up the next day. when II went to get it he asked me what my thoughts were on the bill and I said I thought I had asked for a timing belt at a cost of £150....he said the bill including labour was £1390...I said you have got to be joking the car isn't even worth that much. He then said he would not charge for the labour and the cost would be £900.
He and another mechanic who he works with began to say that the fault that had caused the car not to start was nothing to do with them and was just one of those things...I must admit to feeling intimidated by the two of them and because I wanted my car back gave them two hundred pounds saying I would have to try and get the rest at a later date.
Two weeks later he phoned me and demanded that I pay him the outstanding amount to which I said I did not ask you to carry out the extra work...that he did not inform me of the rising costs of the job and that I have not had an official typed itemised bill and that I was not paying him any more as I felt and had been told by other mechanics that he caused the damage to the engine by incorrectly fitting the timing belt....to which he said he was going to see a solicitor and take me to court as he had a cctv recording of the conversation in his office where I agreed to pay him.
Another two weeks went by and just when I thought he had given up he called me again when I was visiting my girlfriend and our daughter at her house....He said he had found my real address ( I had already gave him my address on the day of picking up the car) and he was coming around....he then quoted my girlfriends address and he and the other mechanic turned up on her doorstep demanding the payment....I told him this is not my house and to send the bill to my correct address....he said he had spotted me going in to her house a few days earlier when he was calling in a nearby takeaway...he then began to threaten to send debt collectors to my girlfriends home saying that her address will end upon a credit blacklist if this happens....he has threatened to report the address saying that we are pulling some kind of benefit scam (we are not I stay at her house a couple of nights a week but see her and my daughter every day as I only work around the corner from her house and call for tea in the evening before going to my own flat)....he has also threatened to come around one night and sabotage the work he has done on the car.
Up until this last incident I was not bothered about the phone calls to me but now my girlfriend is worried that he might come back when I am not there or that he may carry out his threat to send debt collectors.
Does anyone know what action I could take to get this grease monkey out of my life....obviously without paying him or damaging the relationship with my girlfriend any advice would be appreciated.
Got a problem with a dodgy garage bill.
In January I took my car for an MOT it required a couple of things to get it passed but nothing major and when I went to pick it up the mechanic said their was a noise from the engine that he claimed was the timing belt and it needed replacing at a cost of £150which I agreed to.
When I phoned him the next day he said there was a problem with the car and he couldn't get it running....I said the car was running fine when it cam in and I expected it to be running when I got it back...he said not to worry he would sort it.
Over the next eight weeks I was back and forward to the garage as he tried one thing then another to get the car running....constantly muttering about how much this was costing him but never actually saying to me it will cost more than the original £150 quote.
After eight and a half weeks he called me to say the car was ready and I could pick it up the next day. when II went to get it he asked me what my thoughts were on the bill and I said I thought I had asked for a timing belt at a cost of £150....he said the bill including labour was £1390...I said you have got to be joking the car isn't even worth that much. He then said he would not charge for the labour and the cost would be £900.
He and another mechanic who he works with began to say that the fault that had caused the car not to start was nothing to do with them and was just one of those things...I must admit to feeling intimidated by the two of them and because I wanted my car back gave them two hundred pounds saying I would have to try and get the rest at a later date.
Two weeks later he phoned me and demanded that I pay him the outstanding amount to which I said I did not ask you to carry out the extra work...that he did not inform me of the rising costs of the job and that I have not had an official typed itemised bill and that I was not paying him any more as I felt and had been told by other mechanics that he caused the damage to the engine by incorrectly fitting the timing belt....to which he said he was going to see a solicitor and take me to court as he had a cctv recording of the conversation in his office where I agreed to pay him.
Another two weeks went by and just when I thought he had given up he called me again when I was visiting my girlfriend and our daughter at her house....He said he had found my real address ( I had already gave him my address on the day of picking up the car) and he was coming around....he then quoted my girlfriends address and he and the other mechanic turned up on her doorstep demanding the payment....I told him this is not my house and to send the bill to my correct address....he said he had spotted me going in to her house a few days earlier when he was calling in a nearby takeaway...he then began to threaten to send debt collectors to my girlfriends home saying that her address will end upon a credit blacklist if this happens....he has threatened to report the address saying that we are pulling some kind of benefit scam (we are not I stay at her house a couple of nights a week but see her and my daughter every day as I only work around the corner from her house and call for tea in the evening before going to my own flat)....he has also threatened to come around one night and sabotage the work he has done on the car.
Up until this last incident I was not bothered about the phone calls to me but now my girlfriend is worried that he might come back when I am not there or that he may carry out his threat to send debt collectors.
Does anyone know what action I could take to get this grease monkey out of my life....obviously without paying him or damaging the relationship with my girlfriend any advice would be appreciated.
Comment