Left car into garage, came back full of shoes???

terrysgirl33

Registered User
Messages
690
I thought this was funny at the time, but I'm getting more and more annoyed by it!!

I left in our new-to-us car to get a part replaced, and when I collected it today, there were about 3 pairs of mens shoes in the behind the passenger seat, a clothes hanger, and a new CD. I drew the garages attention to this, and they removed the stuff, but I'm now wondering if I should have done anything else (I know I can't really do anything about what happened now, it's more for future reference if it happens again). I was going to hang onto the shoes and dump them, I'm sorry I didn't now.
 
Did you take a note of the mileage before you got the car serviced? It is good practice to do so as you can tell if the employees have been driving the car and using it for personal use. A relative of mine once spotted his car whch was in for a service at the time parked in the local supermarket!!!
 
It is often necessary to drive a car for a while to see if a problem has been sorted out. This may require a mechanic or salesperson to take the car home for a day or more. As long as they don't put up too much mileage or leave it dirty I don't see the problem. I think they should apologise and that should be enough.
 
I don't think we will be leaving it in again without making a note of the mileage, lesson learned! Since a part of the engine was being replaced, it did need to be driven to see if it was working, but I don't see where the shoes come in!!

Edited to add, they didn't put up huge mileage, no more than 100 miles, and it was clean.

Reedited to add, no they didn't apologise.
 
Don't see a problem with this at all unless the shoes were smelly! My cousin and uncle both work in garages and it is common practice that they drive a car home in order to make sure there are no problems with it after they or one of their staff have worked on it.
 
I work in a garage and drive different cars home alot, depending who lives the further away to make sure all is okay. While I do, I may carry my wife in the car (as we use it to drive where ever we are going) however your not to use it like you would your own car etc.

I do think you are well within your right to demand an apology and question what was you car used for and who was driving and maybe to see him/her.

Car's are to expecsive for messing around with in and if you cant trust your local (Main dealer) to mind your car as you would, then you should not go back.
 
Thanks for the replies. I never thought about driving a car 'home' to see if it was OK, that makes sense. I guess from the fact that there was about 3 pairs of mens shoes, and a dance music CD in the player, I got the feeling it was used for a night out? The car seems fine though. It was a dealer, but not a main dealer. With a bit of luck we won't need to go back to them, I'm not sure we would use them again...
 
Thanks for the replies. I never thought about driving a car 'home' to see if it was OK, that makes sense. I guess from the fact that there was about 3 pairs of mens shoes, and a dance music CD in the player, I got the feeling it was used for a night out? The car seems fine though. It was a dealer, but not a main dealer. With a bit of luck we won't need to go back to them, I'm not sure we would use them again...


If they did a good job and you were happy with the price I don't see why you wouldn't go back.
 
Its understandable that a member of staff may drive your car for the reasons mentioned above and im sure nobody would have a problem with that. However it is not reasonable to expect him to use the car as he would his own.
I know most garages are very particular about making sure the radio in the car is back to the station and volume level the customer had it at for example.People know their car may be driven but certaintly do not want to see evidence of this when they pick it up.
He should have respected the car and not played his own cds and left his shoes in the car.
 
I don't think I have ever got my car back with the radio back on the same station I left it on. I have used many garages.
 
But if you came to our garage and got your car back, it was washed and hoover, serviced as you required and we went to the extra of knowing the station and volume your radio was at, (we would have checked function in service and noted any fautls, not just not touch it) and gave you your car back.

It was price and service you wanted and you have the peace of mind, we minded it the same as the owner (if not better than some). You would come back to us time and time again because you wouldn't want to try any other garage because you were happy with us.

Customer loyality is what a gargage wants and needs. This is what needs to be done, little things that annoy people, the radio station, the seat adjustment etc. You may not complain but if you talk to the neighbour and he has the same issues, we might loose you as a customer and a main dealer doesn't want that.
 
Back
Top