£78 for a diagnosis that I didn't ask for!

sxtrail

Guest
Hi there!

I'm sick to death of being told lies by my local dealer and now they are ripping me off!

The Freetrack went into the dealer today to get the drivers door fixed as the door interior was loose and rattled a bit. I was quoted £78 pounds to have this fixed.

Instead, while going to fix the problem they identified a more serious issue with the window regulator and needed to order parts. I needed the car back while they waited for parts to be delivered but they wouldn't hand me my keys until I paid a diagnosis fee of £78!!

I never asked for a diagnosis. I was expecting to just go and pick up a fixed car for the price they previously quoted.

Is this normal practice?

I'm fuming about it. Plus the fact they keep lieing about various other things.

For your information, it's Jennings SEAT in Middlesbrough.
 
Dec 31, 2007
1,479
0
Reading
Diagnosis fee? Complete crap, I'd not be paying a diagnosis fee - I take a car to a garage for a quote, if they can do the work they tell me what it is and how much it will cost - charging you for quoting for a job is ridiculous.

I hope you didn't pay it?
 

Buzzscorpion

Guest
Sounds like you need to take this lot to Trading Standards.
You could have bought VAG-Com for that and been better placed to 'diagnose' for yourself.
I have kept all my cars away from Main Stealers for the last 20 years since a bad experience (Renault:censored:) Found two really good small multi-make garages with full diagnostics and Old School "Mechanics" who can diagnose and repair faults without the aid of '.
technology' Not averse to technology in its place but there are many things that go wrong on cars that a trained Monkey could identify so I think we need to step back a little and apply the thing thats missing with the Modern Technician (Parts Changer) Common Sense.
Would be a good exercise to get straight on to Trading Standards 'before' you take the car anywhere near the 'stealer' again.

____________________________________

Seat Altea XL Stylance 2008 - 2.0 TDi 140 :D
 

sxtrail

Guest
Hi there,

Just an update on what actually happened with this....

Basically, Jennings claimed that they'd quoted £78 to investigate the problem and quote afterwards for the cost of fixing. This is not what was said to me over the phone but I have no paperwork to prove otherwise. I distinctly remember them phoning to give me a quote for fixing the problem as they quoted me for two other jobs at the same time.

After investigating they quoted me £291 to fix the door rattle which I thought was extortionate. In my haste I agreed to have the work done but said I needed the car back and that I would return it 2 days later when the new parts had arrived. It was at this point they charged me the £78 diagnosis fee before I could take my car. I ended up paying and they also asked me to sign a document to 'authorise them to order the parts'. I spoke to Trading standards and they suggested that I started by writing a letter of complaint but they weren't particularly hopeful because I'd said yes to having the repair work done.

I stewed over this that night as I was very annoyed about being charged £78 for absolutely nothing and that was also the price I was originally quoted to 'fix' the problem.

I ended up phoning the garage early the following morning and cancelling the repair work. They responded by saying that I'd signed an agreement to pay for the parts and asked when I'd be paying for those parts. Straightaway I realised that they had tricked me the day before by asking me to sign a document to 'give them authorisation to order the parts', which they are now saying also stated that all ordered parts much be paid for. I found this very underhanded and it simply fueled my anger and so I brought to light the number of lies that I'd be told by them over the course of 3 weeks. It's a long story but put simply I'd been told a string of lies all in a devious effort to get me to have repair work done by their mechanics....

I now realise why they were so keen for me to have the other repair jobs done that I'd be 'quoted' for because one job would have cost me £501 which equated to a labour charge of well over £300. This was for a job that I now know would have taken them approximately 45 minutes!!

Anyway, a string of pointless lies, an underhanded approach and repeated attempts to charge me ridiculous amounts for labour means that I'll never be stepping foot in that dealer again.

It's a real shame as I actually liked the mechanic I had dealings with.
 
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Viking

Insurance co's are crap.
May 19, 2007
2,317
4
Near Richmond, North Yorks
I once spent half an hour in Jennings Seat while a very inept salesman tried to sell me a car. He called me a liar when I told him how much Massingberd had offered me as a part exchange price for my car, he told me that he couldn't justify paying any more than his offer as it wasn't really a car that was desireable, and wanted the name of the salesman who'd offered me the price so he could confirm it. As for the Leon he was trying to sell me, it was dirty inside and out (McDonalds boxes/pizza takeaway stuff, etc....), had some trim missing which he thought he could probably get sorted if I signed up there and then, and he had body odour as well.

And the car was advertised as "outstanding condition with one careful owner".

I've never been back to Jennings since.
 
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