Where do I stand on this - bodyshop/mechanic quote issue....

Toyotafanboi

reverbfuzz wrote: »

Do I physically grab the keys from him and drive off...? How does that even work?

its just another **** idea.

talk to the panel beater. tell him to hold off on starting anything more, then either make a price compromise or take your car back.

reverbfuzz

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

its just another **** idea.

talk to the panel beater. tell him to hold off on starting anything more, then either make a price compromise or take your car back.

Why would he hand me the car back though if I don't agree to his, err, blackmail?

reverbfuzz

This concerns me :

"If you formally dispute the bill, the garage has the right to keep your vehicle until the bill has been paid. This is called having a lien over the car. If you need your vehicle urgently, you should only agree to pay 'under protest'. If you don’t do this, it will be difficult to get the money back later on, as the garage could argue that by paying the bill, you were accepting the charges.

Write the words 'paying under protest' clearly on the repair order sheet, so there's no doubt about your intention."

Crackle

This guy sounds dodgy as hell. Several weeks with the car with no work done and texts you to tell you about the price increase instead of ringing.

I don't know how you're gonna resolve it op. If it was me, the very first thing I would do is have a face to face conversation with him and I'd want to know exactly what he's charging extra for.

king_of_inismac

Realistically the job is harder than expected.

The mechanic underestimated the price.

The obvious solution is to simply negotiate a compromise price with him.

Thats the grown-up approach.

Stheno

king_of_inismac wrote: »

Realistically the job is harder than expected.

The mechanic underestimated the price.

The obvious solution is to simply negotiate a compromise price with him.

Thats the grown-up approach.

This is it for me, I've had plenty of situations with mechanics (not bodywork) where a job turned out more complicated.

I'd suspect in this case, the rust/rot was more extensive once they really got down to the metal and has involved more work.

The one fault with the repair guy is not ringing once they realised that.

You need to negotiate OP if they have done unauthorised work

George Dalton

It's a very old car. Quoting for this kind of repair is not an exact science because it is impossible to predict what you are going to uncover during the course of the work. It's not like quoting for a repair job on a modern car. Sometimes you can do all the inspection you want beforehand but it is only when you start cutting away old rusty metal that you expose the extent of the problem.

reverbfuzz

George Dalton wrote: »

It's a very old car. Quoting for this kind of repair is not an exact science because it is impossible to predict what you are going to uncover during the course of the work. It's not like quoting for a repair job on a modern car. Sometimes you can do all the inspection you want beforehand but it is only when you start cutting away old rusty metal that you expose the extent of the problem.

True - but 850 is brand new news to me today. More than what I wanted/expected to pay (I'd have gone to my plan b otherwise).
I in no way agree to that price, and don't appreciate being forced to pay that...?

George Dalton

Look at it this way. Regardless of the rights and wrongs over the inaccuracy of the estimate, you are now in the situation you are in.

You need to forget the €500 estimate, the game has moved on. Now the question is whether or not the €850 is a fair price for the work.

If it isn't then pay the man for what he has done so far and take the car elsewhere.

If the €850 is fair for the work that needs doing then you either suck it up and pay for the job or else you don't get the work done. You can't expect someone to do an €850 job for €500!

reverbfuzz

George Dalton wrote: »

If the €850 is fair for the work that needs doing then you either suck it up and pay for the job or else you don't get the work done. You can't expect someone to do an €850 job for €500!

I agree.
As a matter of principle though, I don't want him to do any further work on the car. I'm now just concerned that whatever he charges me for the work done will be an accurate price. I've no way of verifying that myself... I could bring in a 3rd party to do that, but surely this guy could still charge effectively what he wants from this point on, now that the circumstances of the situation have changed?

George Dalton

I can fully understand why you feel aggrieved in this situation but I doubt the panel beater is too happy either. There are no winners here. It's just one of those things that can happen from time to time. I will say it sounds like his communication leaves something to be desired. Maybe you should call in and see the car yourself and chat to him face to face in a non confrontational manner. Ask him to explain to you how the extra parts of the job that he didn't anticipate when doing the inspection and estimate came about. It is possible that he will be able to show you exactly where the hidden work (and therefore costs) are. Then it is up to you to decide what you want to do about it.

reverbfuzz

George Dalton wrote: »

I can fully understand why you feel aggrieved in this situation but I doubt the panel beater is too happy either. There are no winners here. It's just one of those things that can happen from time to time. I will say it sounds like his communication leaves something to be desired. Maybe you should call in and see the car yourself and chat to him face to face in a non confrontational manner. Ask him to explain to you how the extra parts of the job that he didn't anticipate when doing the inspection and estimate came about. It is possible that he will be able to show you exactly where the hidden work (and therefore costs) are. Then it is up to you to decide what you want to do about it.

I do agree with what you're saying, but in practice I can easily see him listing me a load of things that are now this or that, or were harder because of a or b. He'll simply be trying as hard as possible to prove why the increase in price is justified (I'm not saying it is or it isn't by the way - my only point all along has been that I think it's a massive hike in cost from the original figure, and that I can't afford 850).

I think I'll take the car as is, hope he's not going to then charge me a load for a relatively small amount of work. That I won't accurately be able to prove/dis-prove.

I truly don't know how he couldn't have told me 850 this time last week, before commencing on the nitty gritty of the job (this is considering he'd took the bumper and grille off, and had poked plenty of holes through before last week).

Oh, and one more thing! He's fitting a front fibreglass panel that I provided - most of the work's done for him already! Hence my astonishment at his new figure! :

George Dalton

reverbfuzz wrote: »

I truly don't know how he couldn't have told me 850 this time last week, before commencing on the nitty gritty of the job (this is considering he'd took the bumper and grille off, and had poked plenty of holes through before last week).

I am pretty sure that if he knew it was going to be €850 he would have told you that figure. There is no advantage for him in telling you a low figure and then upping it. That never works out too well!

Is he used to dealing with older cars or does he mostly work on modern stuff?

reverbfuzz

George Dalton wrote: »

I am pretty sure that if he knew it was going to be €850 he would have told you that figure. There is no advantage for him in telling you a low figure and then upping it. That never works out too well!

Is he used to dealing with older cars or does he mostly work on modern stuff?

They do bodywork too, yep (he wasn't fazed when I initially took it in there).
I've sent a text off, will see what he says ....?

Toyotafanboi

probably "feck off" at 1.15am on friday night/ saturday morning :P

reverbfuzz

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

probably "feck off" at 1.15am on friday night/ saturday morning :P

Ha! No, I scheduled it to get to him at 9am....