Almost totally ripped off by garage

WithCheesePlease

I had a bit of car trouble a little while ago and brought my 02 Ford Focus to my local garage to be looked at. I was told I'd need a new water pump (~€350), that the head gasket was gone (>€1000) and for an existing problem with the dash fan I'd need a new fan motor (again ~€350).

I had no idea what to do with it for a while (wasn't worth fixing for that) but eventually brought it to my local Ford main dealer (Harmonstown Motors) and explained to them that the water pump was gone, as was the head gasket and I needed a new fan motor (spelled out "the problem" to them) and looked for an assessment and a quote. They fixed the issue with the water pump (coolant leak for ~€35) and fixed the dash fan problem (replaced a resistor for ~€17) plus a little for labour and told me there was nothing wrong with the head gasket. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't nearly as serious a problem as <snip> had diagnosed and cost me a tiny fraction of what they had quoted to fix.

Is it worth complaining <snip> for very nearly totally ripping me off?? My car was off the road for over a month while I thought it was dead and not worth fixing.

Or do I just put it down to bad luck / misdiagnosis and move on?

Hiace.

WithCheesePlease wrote: »

Or do I just put it down to bad luck / misdiagnosis and move on?

This one.

Doctors differ and patients die.

Fair play to you for naming and shaming.

Harmonstown Motors will get your business from now on, for treating you with a bit of honesty and decency.

Bearcat

And for what it's worth, harmonstown motors harbor a mechanic there by the name of Brian Kane that's a wizard with porsches eespecially of the older variety. I wonder did Brian save your wallet from destruction?

Glad your focus is sorted or going to be. Pity about the other crowd.

CrackisWhack

Lucky escape there!

There really needs to be more regulation on the car industry, people have been getting robbed blind for years.

listermint

Its worth letting them know that you were unhappy with the prognosis and that you had your issues resolved elsewhere. If anything it will give them onus to brush up on their Ford Focus knowledge.

Hiace.

listermint wrote: »

Its worth letting them know that you were unhappy with the prognosis and that you had your issues resolved elsewhere. If anything it will give them onus to brush up on their Ford Focus knowledge.

Don't kid yourself and waste your time talking to them, they knew fine well what they were doing. Better just to name and shame em to everyone you meet.

padraig91

Send this into a local paper. people like this dont deserve business!

Stevie Dakota

Wonder if you had left it with them would they have done the imagined work and billed you, or done nothing and billed you?

td2008

Surprising, this place seemed to have a great reputation on bmw-driver.net

Berty

padraig91 wrote: »

Send this into a local paper. people like this dont deserve business!

May as well "Talk to Joe". The last line of defence for those de-void of education and common sense. :rolleyes:

You get nowhere and regret ever going ahead with your claims be it to Joe or the local rag.

Don't go back to the first place, simple as.

Chuck Stone

Could OP have asked for a written estimate?

TestTransmission

No naming and shaming here folks, I've removed all references to the garage.Go ahead and discuss the underlying issue though

johndaman66

padraig91 wrote: »

Send this into a local paper. people like this dont deserve business!

Very unlikely they would run the story for fear of loosing future advertising revenue I'd think. Of course they will tell you the reason they're not going to run the story is because they are leaving themselves wide open legally.

WithCheesePlease

td2008 wrote: »

Surprising, this place seemed to have a great reputation on bmw-driver.net

I was very surprised myself to be honest - the fella I dealt with seemed dead on and I had been in with them once or twice before (new battery and some other small bits over time) and never had a problem. I'm hoping it was just some young fella that looked at my car that just didn't know focuses. Still though, I won't be going back!

E39MSport

TestTransmission wrote: »

No naming and shaming here folks, I've removed all references to the garage.Go ahead and discuss the underlying issue though

oh, the power

RedorDead

TestTransmission wrote: »

No naming and shaming here folks, I've removed all references to the garage.Go ahead and discuss the underlying issue though

Out of curiosity - why not?

TestTransmission

RedorDead wrote: »

Out of curiosity - why not?

If you have an issue with a moderators decision, please feel free to send a pm and do not feel the need to derail the thread, otherwise it will result in a ban.

Alan b.

RedorDead wrote: »

TestTransmission wrote: »

No naming and shaming here folks, I've removed all references to the garage.Go ahead and discuss the underlying issue though

Out of curiosity - why not?

Garages are very fond of sending out solicitors letters threatening to sue for slander and most people don't need the basket or don't have the money to proove there are telling the truth so back down.
Not supprised to hear stories like this. Happened me with agarage before and the only "excuse" offered was that my car shouldn't have even been accepted to be worked on there because it wasn't bought there. A main dealer refusing work on own brand cars it seems.

tmcw

RedorDead wrote: »

Out of curiosity - why not?

Google wisely, RedorDead-san, and you can find out who was named and shamed.

Available to see right now, but time is probably limited.