teenyweeny Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 After reading this thread its not a matter of whether he fitted a cambelt or not or whether anyone else can do it cheaper the question is,did they carry out unauthorized work,if so report them to a official motor trade body who may investigate,i.e The Institute of the Motor Industry. several posts were moved yesterday possibly made by the person that did the work on the ops car.he is either unproffesional and or works for a dodgy unscrupolous company.either way the op was duped and deserves to make a full complaint as bullerboy suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCow Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 If you don’t pay you don’t get your car back ………… knowing your rights is one thing , Exercising them is another …….. What would you do ? I'm not sure to be honest, but I would have left my car there and sought advice before paying up that much money. I know the OP said the car was needed for work the next day which is fair enough, but it just seems if this garage/bloke has got away with this so many times then it's about time people stopped just forking out whenever he decides to do a bit of extra handywork! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcoblog Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 I'm not sure to be honest, but I would have left my car there and sought advice before paying up that much money. I know the OP said the car was needed for work the next day which is fair enough, but it just seems if this garage/bloke has got away with this so many times then it's about time people stopped just forking out whenever he decides to do a bit of extra handywork! That's the problem ... my GF needed the car for the next day, she couldn't do without it ... she had patients to see at various surgeries over sheffield and I'd explained this to the garage proprietor to ensure the service was completed on the day it was booked in. If I was a cynical person, in retrospect I could see how an unscrupulous person could take advantage of this opportunity to make money. I'm not saying this is the case. She couldn't leave the car there and miss her appointments as she's a very professional person. Plus the fact an unscrupulous person could charge storage fees, hiking up the bill even more and not returning the car until the bill was paid or the outcome of litigation was settled. This would put a lot of pressure on the owner of the vehicle just to pay up and forget about it due to unnecessary stress and time from work ... for a job that she was more than willing to pay for in the first place if the quote was anywhere near the bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tradescanthia Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I agree, but I'm upset at the OP getting robbed and stuff. I'm going for a bath BATH ????? Steady on mate you had one LAST month !!!!:hihi: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shogun Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 A timing belt going in a car is a disaster, it was good of them to pick up on it,but they should have contacted you with a price,and not gone a head and done the work,the price of a timing belt and tensioner is about £50 and will take about 2 hours to do depending on what kind of car it is ,I think they have been a bit cheeky and are over priced, ask for a bill and look at what they are charging you for , if you have paid them already then that's it I am afraid, don't go there again and learn by you mistakes next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampent Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 A timing belt going in a car is a disaster, it was good of them to pick up on it,but they should have contacted you with a price,and not gone a head and done the work,the price of a timing belt and tensioner is about £50 and will take about 2 hours to do depending on what kind of car it is ,I think they have been a bit cheeky and are over priced, ask for a bill and look at what they are charging you for , if you have paid them already then that's it I am afraid, don't go there again and learn by you mistakes next time. Re read the thread!! Unless you have xray vision, nobody knows when a cam belt is going to 'pop'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampent Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 BATH ????? Steady on mate you had one LAST month !!!!:hihi: I have 'five a day'! Part of my diet thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shogun Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Re read the thread!! Unless you have xray vision, nobody knows when a cam belt is going to 'pop'! I can tell you don't know any thing about engines ,when your timing belt tensioner goes your timing belt falls back a few cogs and the pistons smack into the valves destroying the engine,you don't need X-ray vision to tell when a timing belt tensioner has gone. and when you fit a new tensioner you should always fit a new timing belt.if that had gone while it was in the garage it would have been a different story . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcoblog Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Can we stop talking about cam belts and tensioners please! That's not my point in the thread starter. The question is ... is it good business practice to carry out expensive work on a car that has been booked in for a normal service before getting permission to undertake it? If, during the service a problem was noticed with the jockey wheel, or anything else for that matter that is not noted in the standard service check for that particular service (and mileage), should it not be standard practice to inform the customer before doing the work? On top of the shock of a more then tripling of the quoted price, there's the psychological shock of knowing you won't get the car back unless you pay. This probably outweighs the monetary cost as someone has suddenly taken control of you and the direction of laid down work plans... the car was taken in on monday as my GF had the day off on annual leave. She'd changed her appointments to see clients at doctors surgeries to compensate for this and was fully booked for the next day. The garage knew this and obviously the fact she had no option but to pay. To my cynical way of thinking, the phrase 'Having you over a barrel' springs to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shogun Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 The work they did would have saved you a lot of money had the cam belt tensioner gone,but they were in the wrong by not letting you know and getting the go ahead from you to do the work,there is not a lot you can do when the job has been done so I think it was bad practice on there part, don't go there again , also it is best to change the cam belt when you change the tensioner manly be course if you were the last to work on it and the belt goes after the customer takes the car out of the garage you can be responsible for that happening {cover your arse} look on your receipt and if it dose not say cam belt changed they have over charged you ,most garages will give you the old parts back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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