Dealer has damaged car...

[A13EX F Trophy No70]

wait till the damage has been fixed

take lots of pics before it goes in again, wheels, and doors etc, (one of the most common places for damage is the bottom of the doors on 2 poster ramps)

once it's all been sorted write a letter to the dealership manager make sure it's polite and well thought out, dont go slagging people off but inform him of how you think a mechanic may have damaged the car whilst working on it and falsified the inspection report, and that you would like to take the opportunity to inform him / her of this to prevent it happening in the future.

add photo's to prove this i'm sure he'll have a word with the mechanic in question. sounds like there's a bit of a loophole in the paperwork system that the mechanics use to get out of the s**t it may help him to remove the loophole and prevent it happening to someone else.

 

[White16valver]

If you're doing pics you should do them on a film camera, as digital pics can be manipulated easily and are therefore at risk of being doubted.

Get the woman to stand in the picture while you take them lol

Also, get them to sign something for the mileage. I'd be tempted to ask to stay there and watch! lol

 

[Fred@BTM]

bumper off job to replace a washer jet properly

 

[Da]

I had an alloy scratched (very minor) by my dealer, I phoned them up the next day and they replaced if FOC within the week! I seriously don't understand why customer service can differ so massively from garage to garage! :dapprove:

 

[jayxx83]

if that happened to me i would feel like walking in there and whacking the grease monkey over the head with his wrench.

still as said stay calm and hopefully it will get sorted

 

[Dunx90]

Hope you get this sorted out, all thatdamage to remove it, must of been an apprentice mecanicinc doing it, making a mess and taken a day to change them

 

[Obelix]

Mmm,Not good.
Looks like they have hacksawed it and the handle or frame has been hitting the light at the same time. If you look at the scratches they seem to be be directional from top to bottom. The paint looks like a mole grip scrape. Clamp,twist,scratch!
Let them sort it and then tell them what you think of their cowboy antics.

 

[mattjk]

Hmm, maybe next time just ask for the part and fit it yourself

I dont trust anyone to do anything to my car id much prefer do it myself (other than cambelt) Im really puzzled as to how those scratches got on the screen

 

[Tom H]

I doubt they would claim off there insurance for a headlight, i know a local peugeot garage that had sets of wheels stolen from cars the main workshop broken into and tools stolen and they replaced them off their own back as it wasnt worth a claim... i assume business insurance is expensive stuff reserved for large claims.

Same as at my work we had a pole fall on a members of staff's car smashed a window and dented the rear quarter again the company paid out for it as it wasnt no where near large enough for insurance.

More likley the grease monkey has admitted its his fault and there now just trying to save face imo... no company is going to want to admit to that. There all going to be friends there at the end of the day...

 

[Iridium]

Woah - that's like, well I'd be pissed...

Dan

 

[Faxo]

As said, they wont be claiming off insurance! Im a techy for a Ford main dealer and our excess is £30,000!!

Regarding the damage report, yea you can damage a car and just write it on. The idea of them is for the receptionist to go round the car upon arrival with the customer, but they never do as receptions packed. I dont bother filling them in, they're useless plus im sure if i did damage a car, then wrote on the report, it'd only draw attention to the damage! Sure, cars get damaged from time to time, no matter how much care you take - one technician can deal with 10 cars a day - but as said, in my dealership the customer is ALWAYS right! We even had to fit a new engine to a KA because the plug snapped on the way out and dropped porcelin into the bore, unfortunately a bit was left in and the engine started. Thats customer service though!

Wait until its fixed, THEN complain to 1st the service manager, then if your still not happy, the dealership principle

 

[Kiev85]

Get the woman to stand in the picture while you take them lol

haha...if someone asked me to do that, they would get a swift toe in the balls...

take pictures by all means...but thats a bit far..

 

[Fagan]

My sisters motor went into a garage for a service, and when we went to pick it up the whole offside of the car was caved in, looked as though it had been hit by a high up white car/van

Turns out they use white vans and the metal part on back on the vans was the exact same height as the damage on the car.

They tried to say it was nothing to do with them and not their problem. All we did to resolve it was get a solicitors letter sent to them saying we were taking them to court.

Apparently they didnt have a leg to stand on and they paid for the repair and respray.

 

[Martin_172]

thats dealers for you, my cars still under warranty but instead i just pay for repairs and do them myself as its been in twice and both times fucked up, my centre section fell off and i dropped it off to get sorted, they just pasted it back up and it fell off again on the way home, went back in and this time got a new centre section, wasnt fitted properly and was blowing like mad, i gave up after that!

 

[GordonD]

I think you're all being unfair to the dealer.

Yes, the damage around the washer is without doubt due to the mechanic.

But its not really plausible he caused all those scratches to the headlight cover. If he did it with a tool he would have noticed the first time. The dealer's explanation that someone using the car park backed into your car is by far the most plausible way you could get scratches like that. I've had damage like that at that height above the ground, not to the Clio, but to another car, and it was the tray of a one tonner. I saw the courier do it and drive away, but the distance and angle was wrong to get a number plate.

I'd say you're extremely lucky it happened in a dealers premises so it goes on their insurance not out of your pocket, and that whoever did it got you at an angle so what their vehicle collided with was the polycarbonate headlight cover not the bonnet.

 

[Davey C]

Again thanks for all the replies.
As advised i'm going to wait until the damage is fixed and then take further action.
I doubt it will do any good because from my experience Arnold Clark policy is basically to ignore customer complaints rather than deal with them.
I was warned against buying from them but it was the usual, "it won't happen to me" attitude i took and also that they were the only dealer with a suitable car when it was time to purchase.

Again thanks for all who have contributed.

I think you're all being unfair to the dealer.

Yes, the damage around the washer is without doubt due to the mechanic.

But its not really plausible he caused all those scratches to the headlight cover. If he did it with a tool he would have noticed the first time. The dealer's explanation that someone using the car park backed into your car is by far the most plausible way you could get scratches like that. I've had damage like that at that height above the ground, not to the Clio, but to another car, and it was the tray of a one tonner. I saw the courier do it and drive away, but the distance and angle was wrong to get a number plate.

I'd say you're extremely lucky it happened in a dealers premises so it goes on their insurance not out of your pocket, and that whoever did it got you at an angle so what their vehicle collided with was the polycarbonate headlight cover not the bonnet.

I disagree. The marks on the light are undoubtedly tool marks.

Here are the facts:
1. Car left in possession of dealer to make repair with bodywork in pristine condition.
2. Car parked with the front end against a wall.
3. Car taken to service bay, area around the lamp worked on.
4. Car returned, again parked with front against the wall.

It is simply impossible that damage occurred to the car by a passer-by because if anyone had hit the car they would have collided with the rear as the front was against a wall.
Further the only way damage of that nature and composition could occur is through multiple contacts between the surface of the lamp and the other material.
The marks are also directional.

So the only explanation is that the mechanic caused the damage. I'm sure if the garage thought they had the slightest chance of avoiding paying for the damage they would.

I know every explanation is open to interpretation and that we can only speculate as to what happened as neither of us were there, however i simply cannot accept that it was damaged by a member of the public from the facts above. Think about a car hitting another car and then look at the marks. Its not possible for scratches like that to occur in such a situation.

 

[Iridium]

I think you're all being unfair to the dealer.

I'll have some of that when you're finished smoking it

The fact they really obviously did the damage around the washer, and as such took no care in working on the car is more than enough to warrant the replies in thread IMHO - it went in unmarked, it should've come out unmarked. End.

Dan

 

[Davey C]

I think you're all being unfair to the dealer.

I'll have some of that when you're finished smoking it

The fact they really obviously did the damage around the washer, and as such took no care in working on the car is more than enough to warrant the replies in thread IMHO - it went in unmarked, it should've come out unmarked. End.

Dan

Couldn't agree more.