Ripping off, Mercedes Garage

[mean micra]

hi guys, just looking for advice really....

My sis bought an A-Class which needed an MOT and Diagnostics check cos the EM light was on....

So she booked it in with Mercedes who quoted her about £100 odd quid for the both...

they found that the Battery was low and thats what they say the only problem was and kept it overnight to make sure before doing an MOT...

they rang her up saying " now that the batterys fully charged we ran another diagnostics to see what else was wrong (WHY!)...

they said their was something wrong with the gearbox and a part had been changed and are now wanting £407 for it... she said i didnt ask you to do that change but you did it anyway...

their response was to give her a 1/2 price MOT...WOW really makes up for it...

but she paid up anyhow as they wouldnt release it if not...

she started to drive out of the garage and 1/2 a mile down the road EM light came back on and the Engine was violently shaking, so she took it back...

now they say its a non starter and it will cost £480 to fix it and the guy says " im 60% sure this will fix it"

got to love mercedes... bunch of A-class, Class-A A-holes...


is there any consumer agency that can get involved, they are ripping her off and causing further faults...

 

[Courior]

Buy Jap!... lol no seriously get intouch with a watchdog. have a look in google and there are loads of consumer help lines. hope she gets her money back!!! oh, and let us have the name of the garage and the person you delt with, NAME AND SHAME TIME!!

 

[K10Daz]

The reason they ran another diagnostic test was the flat battery could be masking other problems, so charged the battery and then ran the test again - we do it regularly in our workshops - Although repairing without authority was pretty nasty!

Daz

 

[zanes]

Not trying to be rude here, but if you buy something like a mercedes you should budget for expensive repairs etc.

Oh, we've had 2 a-classes. The first one, A170 CDI ACS (automatic clutch) had 175,000 miles on the clock when we px'ed it, now we've got a new model a-class.

 

[ollyc98]

My garage replace suspension parts without my knowledge, then I got the bill, I went to see them and told them I was not going to pay because I didn't authorize the repairs, after that they only charged for the parts.
This shows if you have a go and look like you know what you're talking about you can get your money back.

 

[Arnold]

Not trying to be rude here, but if you buy something like a mercedes you should budget for expensive repairs etc.

I think the fact the work was done without permission is the issue, not cost, and the problem isn't even fixed yet! Sounds totally out of order.

 

[tse_adam]

thats ridiculous, cant expect to get paid if nothing is fixed. i am sure you are not the only one ripped off by the so called premium brand.

 

[Speedle]

i think you'd have a good case against these idiots mate make sure you take em to the cleaners!

mercedes have seriously gone down hill over the last 5 years all there cars are crap and unreliable, the amount of people i know that have had mercs and have constant problems my mate mum had an SLR and i #### you not it was in the garage every week! and im not joking, luckily it got written off! lol

 

[neilos]

thats ridiculous, cant expect to get paid if nothing is fixed. i am sure you are not the only one ripped off by the so called premium brand.

Exactly!!, I owned a smart for 3 years and always had it serviced at a Mercedes main dealer. I got charged the same labour rates as a full size merc and it's only half a bleeding car...:down:

And yes, it did work having it serviced at a main dealer, as when I came to sell it as i got more for it.

Doing work that you've not agreed on does sound bang out of order though.

Park the car blocking their entrance and kick up a stink. Do it on a saturday morning when the showroom has more "future customers" in it. They'll probably change their tune quite quickly.

 

[Low Rider]

It goes both ways. My dad took his old Volvo 940SE in for some work a month back. Asked them specifically to replace the whole exhaust system, replace ALL suspension dampers and the clutch as it wasn't performing too well. Nothing about checking them and asking them to replace what they wanted to........

They call the following day to say the work has been done, when we arrive we find that only the rear suspension dampers were replaced, as they "didn't feel" the front ones required changing and apparently the clutch was fine. We had to get dampers from elsewhere, as they flatly refused to replace them. Since then the car has had a new clutch, upon removal the pressure plate had 2 broken springs, revealing an unevenly worn cover plate that was cracked.

Also when it went in for a service, (company car so has to), we asked them NOT to wash it, as the last time we got free complimentary scratches.......what did they do? Washed the *&^$ car! Grrrrr! lol!

 

[Ed]

Serious communication beak down within a company causes this. As for the Merc garage, car garages are NOT ALLOWED to withold a car for lack of payment, thats against the law its NOT their property. Calling something like trading standards etc would have it back in your hands pretty quickly.

This is what you do when a garage tries to turn you over;

SPECIMEN LETTER COMPLAINING ABOUT SUBSTANDARD VEHICLE SERVICING AND/OR SERVICE CHARGE​

​

(Date)​

Dear (name),


On (date), I brought in my vehicle (make, model) registration number (number) for [a full service] [repairs to (repairs required)]. [I was given an estimate of £(amount) for you to carry out the necessary repairs].


[When I came to collect my car on (date), I was given a bill for £(amount). This was far in excess of the original estimate and had I known that your charges were going to be so high, then I would not have instructed you to carry out the repair work. I was forced to pay the bill in order to be able to collect my car, but I did so under protest. I made it clear that I did not accept the amount of the bill.


Although a set price had not been agreed, the law requires that I am only obliged to pay a reasonable price for your services. Judging by your original estimate and also by the enclosed copy estimate of £(amount) I have since obtained from (name), I am writing to exercise my legal right to reject your bill on the ground that it is unreasonably high.


Taking into account your original estimate and the other estimate I have obtained, the work done to my car was worth £(amount). Please send me a written response enclosing a cheque for £(amount), representing the amount you overcharged me, within 7 days from the date of this letter.]


(or)


[When I came to collect my car on (date), I paid the bill for £(amount) in full. I was given a receipt detailing the work carried out.


On (date), only (number) days after I collected the car, [I discovered the following defect(s)] (or) [it developed the following fault(s)/problem(s)]:

• (details of defects/faults/problems).

The above [defect(s)/fault(s)/problem(s)] should not have arisen after [a full service] [the above repairs]. I had to pay for the [defect(s)/fault(s)/problem(s)] to be remedied, which cost £(amount). A copy of my receipt for the repairs is attached.


The provisions of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 require that your work should have been completed with reasonable skill and care using materials of suitable quality. Your failure to return my car in satisfactory condition clearly demonstrates that you have failed to fulfil your statutory obligations and you are in breach of contract. You are legally obliged to pay for the costs I have incurred in having the car repaired.


Please send me a written response enclosing a cheque for £(amount), representing the cost of the repairs, within 7 days from the date of this letter.]




Yours sincerely,

 

[Arnold]

Well if that doesn't work, send Ed round! Looks like a rather good letter.

 

[mean micra]

thanks guys, thats a good letter... gonna give it to her...

as you guys say its not the money cos she is willing to pay to fix apparent problems...

its the fact that they umm and arr about how sure they are about the problem replace radom parts, say its ok... and when its not they charge her again... " ahh that didnt work hey, mmm... well how about another £400 quid and we'll take another geuss"

starts to get real expensive seen as tho it drove in to mercedes but now doesnt even start...

A-class jokers...

 

[tse_adam]

get this sorted out then exchange for a micra lol, i can assure you you wont see £400 for any bills.