Garage problem

A

andrew1977

Registered User
Messages
142
Hi

Engine warning light came on in my 2003 ford focus last week, brought it to the garage , they checked it ,said they could find nothing wrong ,reset the warning light and charged me 1 hour labour.
Light came back on on Monday, returned to the garage , left it with them,returned yesterday and they said the catalytic converter is broken, needs a replacement
This car is out of warranty by 1 week,i have been a good customer of this garage in the past few years, paid them 14500 for the car last year, 3 services so far and all the servicing needs on my previous card
When i returned yesterday they told me that the machine they have to read fault codes couldnt detect Ford Focus warning light codes and had to bring it to the main dealer .
I questioned them saying " well how did you establish that there was no problem last week " .Got little response and asked to speak to the manager as i was not happy with the customer service or techical knowledge supplied to me
Service guy said manager not available (surprise surprise ) and to leave it with him for a day or 2 and he would see what he would do
If i get a unsatisfactory response from the service guy , should i expect them them to repair the car at no expense to me ?
I have had numerous problems with the car and every time i get them to complete a job in the garage i end up having to go back with it
As a gesture of good will and PR should they extend the warranty by 1 week for me ? Should i continue to push the case.
If it needs that i go to the MD of the place i will, service has gone very downhill with them in the past year,of course when they are taking your money its all nicey nicey chat from them,in the past week i have put 450 euro into the till and a total of around 16000 in the past year

Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated

thanks
 
Andrew,

Was the warranty still valid when you brought the car to the service dept the first time?
If so then you should not have to pay a penny as they misinformed you about the condition of a car they sold you.
What would have happened if for instance they missed out on a more critical part of the car while assesing what needed to be fixed and you had an accident?
In my mind if they do not know what cars their equipment can read or not read then they are 100% at fault and they are lucky to have you as customer after such a bad show.

Talk to the manager rather the service guy, if the manager values your business and is reasonable you will have no problem as he will see you are not responsible at all for this problem.

Best of luck
Bagoftricks
 
andrew1977 said:
This car is out of warranty by 1 week,i have been a good customer of this garage in the past few years, paid them 14500 for the car last year, 3 services so far and all the servicing needs on my previous card
Click to expand...
Very bad form on the Garage's part not repairing the car if it's just 1 week past the warranty.

I recently had a problem with mine, 6 months after the warranty expired. The Service Manager got onto the manufacturer, explained what had happened and they agreed to replace the part at no cost to me.

Is the Garage a Ford dealer?

I agree with bagoftricks - and would go to see the Manager in person and calmly explain how aggrieved you feel etc.
 
I assume the origional manufacturers warranty was for two years only and not 3? And that the garage gave you one years warranty when you bought the car used, 53 weeks ago.

Assuming when you initially brought the car in with the light on, it was already out of warranty by a few days, you should still get some kind of goodwill discount (though they are not obliged). You should at very least get your 1 hour labour fee back, seeing as they were not thorough.

However if it was under warranty that time, they should pay every penny. If the managers give you stick complain to Ford Ireland and SIMI. The threat of this should scare the dealer straight. Assuming you bought from a main dealer.

If the garage is not a main dealer, SIMI may still help. Considering you have had a history of problems with the car.
 
cheers folks for the advice, the car was 7 days out of warranty when i first brought the problem to their attention but i have had numerous problems with the car . No decent customer service offered by then, the service manager told me he would ring me by close of play yesterday with a decision, no call came, going to ring him one more time today and then if he keeps giving me excuses ,i will ask for the MD
I have a letter of complaint drafted up for the MD, will give him time to respond to me and if not ,off to SIMI with my complaint .
will let you know how i get on

thanks
andrew
 
SIMI is in place to represent the dealers. They will do nothing for you except make you feel a bit better but it will drag on and on (it's all done by letter) and you will give up.
 
Hi all,

My girlfriend's car was given a service yesterday and on the invoice, labour costs were €75 per hour! That seems exorbitant to me! Is there any way to complain or does she have to just grin and bear it?
 
hi folks

update : after 3 weeks of hassling the service manager and writing to the md , calling the MD numerous times, he agreed to charge me 280 euro for the replacement part, he told me the total cost should have been 490 euro
Wont be going back to the garage again and only yesterday i traded my car into another garage .One customer lost forever from the garage i god bad treatment from

On the price of labour for a service, my garage charges 65 euro per hour for labour,so its about the going rate

Looking at the rates charged by garages and mechanics now..i think a change of career could be in order if thats the prices they can command
 
bmcintyre said:
Hi all,

My girlfriend's car was given a service yesterday and on the invoice, labour costs were €75 per hour! That seems exorbitant to me! Is there any way to complain or does she have to just grin and bear it?
Click to expand...

No grounds for complaint if you did not ask what the rates were beforehand.
 
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