Do you think i have a right to claim back for this..?

The situation as written in a letter below to be sent off...

I would like to make a complaint about the service we have received at your garage, Squire Furneaux in Hersham.

We bought our Volvo V70 privately 6 months ago as we were about to have a baby and wanted a large, safe estate car. The Temperature Gauge was working correctly at the beginning and then after a couple of weeks started working intermittently. Around November, it stopped working altogether. The problem is that on turning the engine on the Temperature Gauge shoots straight into the red and we are told to "Stop the car immediately" on the dash warning. We decided to take the car to our mechanic, who is based in New Haw. He explained that it looked like a previous owner had tried to fix the issue himself and had made a complete mess of the wiring loom. He decided that he didn't want to have a go at fixing it and recommended we took it to a Volvo specialist. We decided that as this is a car for transporting our baby around in that we wanted a proper job done, so thought it best to take the car to a Volvo main dealer.

After waiting a week and a half to take the car in to be fixed, we took it in to Squire Furneaux Volvo in Hersham and the fix was performed on the 29th January 2013 by Richard Allen, with our Service Consultant being Steve Melvin. The fix performed was to "Replace engine coolant temperature sensor and repair wiring loom" and was at a cost of £286.86. We assumed that as this was a substantial amount of money that the job was completed, and the repair was done.

The fix lasted until the next time we drove the car, where upon turning the engine on the same problem occurred. We then phoned Volvo straight back and took it in for a second fix. The fix that was performed was to re-solder parts of the original job that were not done properly. This was done free of charge.

This time the fix lasted less than an hour. We then tried to take the car back in, but Steve Melvin wanted his Head Technician to do the job, and unfortunately he was on holiday and then off sick for over a week. As you can imagine, being without a car for this amount of time with a baby is very difficult.

Finally, on Tuesday 26th February we took it back in. My partner, who has had to deal with all this, had to wait around for 20 minutes to see Steve. Steve then asked his Head Technician what the issue was, and without even looking at the car, said it needed a new wiring loom because the wiring loom was a mess. This was a surprise to us, as until this time we assumed that the wiring loom had been completely repaired, considering this was identified from the outset by our mechanic, and also that we were told the wiring loom was repaired when the initial fix took place. I also have no idea why this couldn't be relayed over the phone, I don't think people appreciate the effort it takes to get a baby ready and out of the house to be told this without anyone even looking at the car.

My partner was then told that this fix would cost "...at least £300". When my partner argued that we had already paid out a similar amount for the car to be fixed and the fix wasn't completed, she was asked by Steve 'When you bought the car did you get a warranty with it?". This seemed like a rather irrelevant question to ask from what I can see. Why we would have paid for a fix in the first place if we had a warranty I don't know, and I'm not sure how many warranties you can buy from private sellers personally, but I am guessing not many. We were then informed by Steve that we should have been charged for the soldering which took place, that as far as we can tell was a mistake made on the first fix. This all sounds to me like a deflection tactic, trying to get away from the fact that the job wasn't done correctly in the first place, but I digress.

I then received a phone call from my partner in tears, she felt like she had been completely taken advantage of and fobbed off with no apology. I phoned Steve to try to find out what went on. Steve said that it looked like the last person to have the car did a botch job on fitting a new sensor and that the wiring loom was in a complete mess. I have no problem with this and agreed it sounded like this was the case. I asked why the initial fix wasn't replacing the wiring loom. Steve explained that they generally try to do the cheapest job. Again, I have no problem with this, however it sounds like there would not have been much difference in the price of doing the proper job, a choice we were never given. As explained before, this is the car we are transporting our baby around in so a proper job was wanted for ours and her safety. However, it sounds to me as if you have tried to botch the already botched job by just doing a standard repair and leaving the rest of the wiring loom still in the same mess it was before? If the wiring loom is in this much of the mess, surely that has to be the initial fix to take place, as even I know in my capacity of a non mechanic that this could be shorting. This makes no sense to me and not what I would expect when taking a car to a main dealer.

What I am failing to understand is and perhaps what you can explain to me is the following:

(a) Why we weren't given the chance to change the full wiring loom, which turns out to be a similarly priced job, instead of an irrelevant job that didn't need doing and didn't solve the issue? Surely being given the choice then a full fix was certainly the obvious choice to make.

(b) Why do we now have to pay additional money to replace the wiring loom - the fix that was done didn't fix the issue yet we are still charged for it? It sounds to me like the problem was misdiagnosed and now you're trying to charge us for something that shouldn't have been done.

© Why did it take Volvo a number of weeks and 2 repairs to identify the issue as the wiring loom when our mechanic identified the issue straight away?

As you can tell we are very frustrated and angry by the service we've been given which hasn't been up to the standards expected for a main dealer and from Volvo in general. With this in mind we want a full refund of £286.86 for the work done on your botch repair, so that we can pay to get a full fix done from a garage that we trust.

Please let me know your conclusion on this issue.

I would follow this letter up with a brifest letter, a 14 day demand for a refund and failing that date go direct to the small clains court.

Get a full refund as the initial repairs were not carried out satisfactorily and they are unwilling to correct the situation as it stands at present.

Follow this up with a letter to Volvo Headquarters UK just explaining what went on and see if they offer reasonable compensation. When this doesn't get a satisfactory result go to the Head office in Sweden and see what they have to say about it. May be a bit of time and paperwork involved but I would expect you to get some sort of result.

Tell Steve you are putting an advert in the local paper advising people how you were treated by them. If he ignores you just do it.

You should have been given the choice, you are the customer and it should have been made clear what the consequences/risks were of each.

Looking at your first bill - what was it for? replace or repair the loom?

If it was a repair, how did they test it to show that it worked and was adequate?

You should have been given the choice, you are the customer and it should have been made clear what the consequences/risks were of each.

 

Looking at your first bill - what was it for? replace or repair the loom?

 

If it was a repair, how did they test it to show that it worked and was adequate?

It was repair. What I find ridiculous is that they said repair but the loom is still in a complete mess.

It was repair. What I find ridiculous is that they said repair but the loom is still in a complete mess.

See reply 3 you need a full refund as the repair has obviously not been carried out.

Looks like they tried to carry out a cheap fix that they hoped would hold up for 6 months normal guarantee for repair work, which hasn't happened. They are now fobbing you off with "Well you should have had the loom replaced" but as you never had the option for that in the original quotes they expect you to pay twice for the same repair. stick to your guns get your money back and if possible some compensation.

It was repair. What I find ridiculous is that they said repair but the loom is still in a complete mess.

The initial repairs were not carried out satisfactorily then. It should last longer than a day (more like a year at least), otherwise it's not a fix.

i would put in some more bits bout the baby before sending that letter.

i would also go find the private seller you bought the car off and punch him in mouth!

As per other replies, this is a very simple consumer law case.

You paid for something that you didn't receive ergo you are legally entitled to a refund of the full amount (£286.86)

As per other replies, this is a very simple consumer law case.

 

You paid for something that you didn't receive ergo you are legally entitled to a refund of the full amount (£286.86)

 

 

Yeah it's quite similar to the situation with the poor quality corporate hospitality at Saints.

Yeah it's quite similar to the situation with the poor quality corporate hospitality at Saints.

Indeed....

Did you pay on a credit card because if you did and cannot get anywhere with the garage you can claim it back from them. You can claim they have failed and quote the sale of goods act or keep I skating they spend time and and labour repairing the original job and insist they supply you with a courtesy car.

As per other replies, this is a very simple consumer law case.

 

You paid for something that you didn't receive ergo you are legally entitled to a refund of the full amount (£286.86)

 

 

Alternatively, you might want to suggest that you are only prepared to pay the difference between the cost of the original [non] fix and the cost of replacing the loom.

I would suggest that is a very reasonable compromise as it's clear that they did feck all for the original fix!

What's the baby called?

Did you pay on a credit card because if you did and cannot get anywhere with the garage you can claim it back from them. You can claim they have failed and quote the sale of goods act or keep I skating they spend time and and labour repairing the original job and insist they supply you with a courtesy car.

This should get you a refund but not necessarily a resolution to the problem.

I would send the letter to the MD of the garage and copy Volvo UK.

At a slight tangent, why would your baby be 'at risk' if said infant was carried around in a car with a defective temperature gauge?

Honestly, I just don't get it.

At a slight tangent, why would your baby be 'at risk' if said infant was carried around in a car with a defective temperature gauge?

 

Honestly, I just don't get it.

Really, it's pretty simple? We can't tell when the car could be over-heating. That good enough?

Did you pay on a credit card because if you did and cannot get anywhere with the garage you can claim it back from them. You can claim they have failed and quote the sale of goods act or keep I skating they spend time and and labour repairing the original job and insist they supply you with a courtesy car.

Yes we did, so we can always go back to that.

Alternatively, you might want to suggest that you are only prepared to pay the difference between the cost of the original [non] fix and the cost of replacing the loom.

 

I would suggest that is a very reasonable compromise as it's clear that they did feck all for the original fix!

This was my original thinking, bit not sure I want to use them again in all honesty.

What's the baby called?

Why?

Why?

Have you been to the Paula Yates and Bob Geldof school of baby names for that one ?

Why?

I was interested.