Little disappointed with main dealer

[Ian Parkin]

Today my wife dropped off our daughters smart car at main dealers for its 2 year service agreed price off the menu
After 4 hours returned to be presented with a bill £129 more than expected
On checking the bill the girl said “We fitted new brake pads”
Even my wife knew that was unlikely on a car that had only done 6k from new and mainly motorway long journeys
So she removed the charge
Then there was £15 for screen wash which i had brimmed this morning at my wife’s insistance so they couldn’t charge for that
The sales girl removed that too
Upon return to home i checked brake pads and they are not new

Is this common?
My wife has had good service with her numerous B class’s she’s had with this dealer
I only bother them for parts on occasion

 

[Wighty]

Today my wife dropped off our daughters smart car at main dealers for its 2 year service agreed price off the menu
After 4 hours returned to be presented with a bill £129 more than expected
On checking the bill the girl said “We fitted new brake pads”
Even my wife knew that was unlikely on a car that had only done 6k from new and mainly motorway long journeys
So she removed the charge
Then there was £15 for screen wash which i had brimmed this morning at my wife’s insistance so they couldn’t charge for that
The sales girl removed that too
Upon return to home i checked brake pads and they are not new

Is this common?
My wife has had good service with her numerous B class’s she’s had with this dealer
I only bother them for parts on occasion

That sounds almost criminal to me . I would try and move dealers .

 

[rf065]

There is only one way to deal with this, contact Trading Standards! If we all did this, they would soon be out of business.

Russ

 

[AMGeed]

Shocking to replace pads unnecessarily, then put worn ones back in.

I'd be inclined to ask to speak to the service manager and make him squirm.

I thought it prudent to ask the customer before going ahead with unauthorised work?

 

[Ian Parkin]

THey left the allegedly new pads in just removed the charge. I may well ring him tommorow and see what he has to say

 

[OrangeSport]

THey left the allegedly new pads in just removed the charge.

You said

"Upon return to home i checked brake pads and they are not new"

 

[Ian Parkin]

By that i meant that they had said they had fitted new ones and charged but when challenged removed the charge off the invoice
By implication if new ones had been fitted it should be obvious looking at them after a drive of 3 miles

 

[Wighty]

By that i meant that they had said they had fitted new ones and charged but when challenged removed the charge off the invoice
By implication if new ones had been fitted it should be obvious looking at them after a drive of 3 miles

Very true , they would be gleaming still .

 

[umblecumbuz]

Wonder who knew about this blatant padding? And I also wonder how often this dealer does it?
The 'Sales girl' was obviously aware. Why otherwise would she remove charges from the invoice without investigating first? Interesting that she has authority to do this, anyway.

The charges were false, and therefore fraudulent. I wouldn't let it go. Instead, I would write immediately to the dealer, detailing what took place and asking for their response. No threats or ultimatums, just a request for their take on this. It is just possible that there has been a genuine mistake .... !

It is also possible, if this turns out to be an established practice by the dealer, that your wife's 'good service' over the years may have cost you more than it should have done.

 

[Ken_R]

The charges were false, and therefore fraudulent. I wouldn't let it go. Instead, I would write immediately to the dealer, detailing what took place and asking for their response. No threats or ultimatums, just a request for their take on this. It is just possible that there has been a genuine mistake .... !

+1 but with a copy to the appropriate Tradings Standards, together with photographs of the 'supposedly' changed pads.

Terminate the letter, below the signature,

CC X Trading Standards Dept.

Such may be seen as extreme pending an explanation and, no doubt an offer of whatever (in the future) will be offered but, if Trading Standards (for the area) already have previous complaints, such might be just the extra piece of the puzzle to start an Investigation (or prompt a Prosecution).

Otherwise, Trading Standards will just file it away pending any further reporting.

Prosecutions are necessarily based on the gathering of both Evidence and Intelligence. In many instances, it is the Intelligence that is lacking before an Investigation can be instigated. Companies, in general, will acquiesce to the 'consumer' because they don't want their name brought to the fore. This then leads to them making additional unnecessary charges to other 'consumers', and so it goes on.

Putting them 'on notice' to Trading Standards, should at least focus their mindset on future accurate billing.

 

[umblecumbuz]

No to Trading Standards as a first step.
That's a thinly disguised threat to the dealer, and does not give him a reasonable chance to explain or respond.

The sole purpose of a benign non-threatening letter is to allow the dealer to establish his position. Time enough to involve others - Trading Standards, for instance - if the dealer's response is not satisfactory.

Why fire your big guns before you need to? Certainly log the evidence, but retain it for future use if needed.

 

[Submariner1]

No to Trading Standards as a first step.
That's a thinly disguised threat to the dealer, and does not give him a reasonable chance to explain or respond.

The sole purpose of a benign non-threatening letter is to allow the dealer to establish his position. Time enough to involve others - Trading Standards, for instance - if the dealer's response is not satisfactory.

Why fire your big guns before you need to? Certainly log the evidence, but retain it for future use if needed.

Totally agree with you.

I'd be more inclined to get them to put in the foc brake pads

Pretty shocking ... thank god I never get this kind of crap at Hughes of Beaconsfield.

I'd be wondering did they bother change the oil filter!

 

[sonic]

The dealer needs naming for the protection of others.
Main dealer Sheffield?

 

[bembo449]

merc dealers aren't the only ones who do this , id say 60% of folk just pay the bill but the fact they carried out work on the car without authorisation is enough for you to get all but the service work part of the bill , waved , my mate took his Porsche in for warranty work and renewed rear discs and pads without contacting him , they said it was wear n tear and thus chargable to which he replied " I never asked you to fix the issue , just investigate " ended up paying just for the new pads at £% quid and not the 185 quid the bill came too , they have took the **** so give em what for asap pal

 

[ernieh]

For the record, I've never had this problem at MB Grangemouth. At the last service, they said it needed rear pads which I knew and they did them at a price I couldn't argue with. They also highlighted that the rear tyres were very low in tread, but didn't try a hard sell.
Compare that with the last service at a different dealership, not in the Arnold Clark Group, who wanted to change the pads, discs and rear tyres at 11000 miles.
I reckon I'm savvy as regards dealers' tricks, but I sometimes wonder if a short course in basic car maintenance could save the less savvy a fair bit of money, even if it is just to have a better understanding of what to look for!

Ernie

 

[Ian Parkin]

I did wonder if it's because they think it's a young woman's car and she or her mum would just accept what was said the car needed
Remember it's only done 6 k and mostly motorway journeys so original pads hardly worn
And charging £15 for filling screen wash !!!
Even if it was empty seems blatant overcharging
It was filled to the brim before taking the car in

 

[Ian Parkin]

Certainly in machine tools the 600 group are so named because the smallest part costs £600... Maybe they trying to get all services up to a minimum of £600
The dealer is part of the jct600 group

 

[KennyN]

Make an appointment with the service manager and have a face to face chat with him , it is harder for them to lie if you are sitting with them.

Let him do the talking and watch him squirm as he tries to justify the blatant lies and unprofesionalism his team practice.

He will assure you that he has spoken to the technician directly and be assured that it will never happen again , but it is probably happening in the workshop as you are speaking to him.

I am not in the habit of putting people on the spot but a similar thing happened to me and I found it satisfying that he knew the they had been found out.

Kenny

 

[peterws1957]

Certainly in machine tools the 600 group are so named because the smallest part costs £600... Maybe they trying to get all services up to a minimum of £600
The dealer is part of the jct600 group

It becomes clear why the JCT600 group has an annual turnover of over £1bn! May be a letter to Mr Tordoff himself might stir things up.
I do wonder why the motor trade continues to be allowed to do this sort of stuff instead of being prosecuted for what amounts to fraud. Similar to going into a restaurant and being billed for food or drinks you either didn't have or didn't want. (this has happened more than once to me) . I always (politely) make it clear when taking a car in for service that I don't pay for any items replaced that I have not authorised. Never had a problem since I started doing this.

 

[Frosty149]

Being billed for a service or goods not received, is plain and simple illegal - fraud, misrepresentation - call it what you will.
Maybe there’s a reasonable ‘mistake’ explanation, but the quality control responsibility, for this organisation and situation, does not sit with the customer and never will.
The senior management need to be aware of the problem and need to provide an explanation to avoid becoming culpable themselves (if not already so).
I would suggest a letter in the first instance, to senior management, no threats, recount your experience and demand (in polite terms) an explanation.
Once a response is forthcoming you can proceed further or how you wish.