dilema damage to my car

[Carbon maniac]

Ok so last monday i had the day off work and toke my car over to a well know specialist to have some work done.
Now ive had credit with the garage a few times but on ariving i said to them i have a very low budget today and need help diagnosing problems so i can arange to sort them out.
Cutting to the chase the garage blew the budget and the bill ended up £100 over budget.
(not the dilema)
But i aranged to pay on the next pay day and they allowed me to take the car away.
I got home and parked up and then didnt use the car for a few days.

On going to check the car over before taking it out i decided to give it a quick clean only to discover that it had been badly damaged where work was carried out (the dilema)
so as it was after 5:30 the following day i called the garage to say i have found it and what were they going to do about it. the answer i recived was untill i pay for the work that had been done it would not be spoken about.im now getting daily calls asking for payment with no responce on the damage caused.

Now i dont want it to be swept under the carpet and neither do i want to finish the payment until i get an answer to 1. why i was not told before i left 2.what is going to be done about repairing the damage done well it was there.
but whats the cs verdict on what i should do now as im stuck in a rut with it at the moment :/

 

[George182]

Firstly you need to pay for the work that has been completed, but make sure that on the invoice/bill/letter/any other paper work that you state 'paid under protest'.

Ask what they plan to do about the damage (can you prove it was them?).

If they refuse, (and you can PROVE it was their fault) threaten to take the issue to a small claims court.

(this is probably all wrong, but its how i would tackle it!)

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

Credit, with a garage?!? I've never heard of that in my life?!

So you owe them money for seperate work, and they damaged your car in the process?

 

[Carbon maniac]

Thats the way i would of done it george but my problem is that ive had a smiler incident before and after i agreed to do it like that all other partys decided to deny all knowledge that they said they would help and i was left with a car the was a wreck and i ended up footing the bill to sort it out and im damed if im doing it again :/ should i take it to higher management to get answers it could only have been caused by them as the damage has been done by dropping the parts or hitting it delibratly square on not scraped against some thing and it was un marked before it went in :/

 

[Carbon maniac]

Yes ive had a credit with them 3-4 times over a 3 yr period but i now owe money on work done but was damaged in the process of it yes danny

 

[Ryanj]

If this has happened with them before WHY DID YOU GO BACK!?!?!... unfortunately mate the reality is, if you cant prove that they did it, your fucked...and are still legally obligated to pay for the work done

 

[Carbon maniac]

No it happened with someone else before

 

[Ryanj]

oh i see, sorry haha, but as i said without proof, your f**ked and you still have to pay. (although personally i wouldn't pay until i had some sort of written resolution)

Also you need to be a civil as possible, go to the garage with FULL payment and explain that you are more than happy to pay there and then providing they agree to repair the damage (get it in writing)

 

[Carbon maniac]

This is what i was thinking ryan but with the garage over a hour away getting there without more time off work is difficult im more than happy to pay its the fact that i was not told about it ant the car is very clean ie less than a half dozen marks on the car witch were logged before it went in with no damage in the area concerned priar to it going it and the total lack of aceptance of liabilaty that its happened. i just as well have gone to joe blogs round the corner in his back street garage rather than a specilist thats suposed to care about the customers and their vehicles :/

 

[suckmykiss]

Name and shame..

 

[BoatNonce]

You haven't even told us what the damage is.

 

[Owen92]

You drove the car away from the garage without checking for damage, therefore the garage is well within their rights to tell you where the door is. If you didn't mention the damage when collecting the car, how do the garage know that you're not just pulling a fast one because it got damaged outside your house that night?

 

[Martin.]

You drove the car away from the garage without checking for damage, therefore the garage is well within their rights to tell you where the door is. If you didn't mention the damage when collecting the car, how do the garage know that you're not just pulling a fast one because it got damaged outside your house that night?

This to be honest. It's just unfortunate and looks like you will just have to take it on the chin. Unless they are very honest and they do admit to it, which seems unlikely..

Always check a car over after it's been in someone elses care. I know it can be difficult sometimes (being dark) so maybe a call a day after might be accepted. After that they will probably just think your pulling a fast one.

 

[Sir_Dave]

1. What is the damage?
2. How can you go to a garage with a 'budget' to fix something? If it needs fixing, it needs fixing surely? You cant change half an alternator for example.
3. You drove off without checking the car, without doing a visual inspection before/after with the garage, how will you prove it was them?

 

[MartinR]

This thread is very vague! Who done it and wheres the pics.

 

[Adam.]

You haven't even told us what the damage is.

Or what the problem was.

 

[martynzs]

You drove away without checking the car, you left it for 'a few days' and have no way of proving who damaged the car. You dont have a leg to stand on.

Pay up for the work done and hope they are willing to come to an agreement IF they admit the damage COULD have been their fault.