Dispute with Garage
Discussion
My Van started making a blowing noise under acceleration. Took it to the garage an suggested it could be a turbo gasket. They did a smoke test and diagnosed turbo replacement.
They were unable to source a turbo so I took it upon myself. I sent pics of turbo by W’App and email, but no response. Bought turbo and gave to them to fit. Got a phone call to say that the turbo was wrong, but they had already taken the original one out. I need my van for work so I asked them to replace the faulty one to keep me going.
I raised concerns that I was going to be billed for work when they should have checked the turbo before taking out the old one. I then got the correct turbo that they then fitted. No improvement - turns out it was a gasket. I got them to fit the £30 gasket set - all good.
I then received an invoice for over a grand. I paid for half of the labour and all of the parts and explained that due to their misdiagnosis and removing the turbo before checking it was correct, that that was all I was prepared to pay. I paid what I think is fair on receipt of invoice and explained why. They are now talking about court to retrieve the outstanding £400. There work was not up to scratch and I don’t feel I should pay for it (I’m a carpenter and I wouldn’t charge if I screwed up). However I don’t want some county court nonsense being on my record. What to do?
They were unable to source a turbo so I took it upon myself. I sent pics of turbo by W’App and email, but no response. Bought turbo and gave to them to fit. Got a phone call to say that the turbo was wrong, but they had already taken the original one out. I need my van for work so I asked them to replace the faulty one to keep me going.
I raised concerns that I was going to be billed for work when they should have checked the turbo before taking out the old one. I then got the correct turbo that they then fitted. No improvement - turns out it was a gasket. I got them to fit the £30 gasket set - all good.
I then received an invoice for over a grand. I paid for half of the labour and all of the parts and explained that due to their misdiagnosis and removing the turbo before checking it was correct, that that was all I was prepared to pay. I paid what I think is fair on receipt of invoice and explained why. They are now talking about court to retrieve the outstanding £400. There work was not up to scratch and I don’t feel I should pay for it (I’m a carpenter and I wouldn’t charge if I screwed up). However I don’t want some county court nonsense being on my record. What to do?
egor110 said:
You sourced the wrong turbo and told them to fit it though .
This is why most garages will only fit parts they've sourced themselves.
Exactly this. You supplied the part, your problem.This is why most garages will only fit parts they've sourced themselves.
Most turbo's cant be checked for correct fitment until they are side by side, it may be a minor but significant difference.
You cannot just decide what you are going to pay because you are unhappy, the bill should be settled and if you are unhappy, state it and then try and recover some of the cost.
The wrong Turbo is on you OP, you chose to go out and buy it and got it wrong.
The gasket issue is more complex but ultimately working on vehicles is often not an exact science and this can happen, my only thought on it is that if you were adamant it was a gasket issue you should have told them to replace that first, you compounded the issue buy buying a new turbo yourself.
I would pay the bill and find another garage in future
The gasket issue is more complex but ultimately working on vehicles is often not an exact science and this can happen, my only thought on it is that if you were adamant it was a gasket issue you should have told them to replace that first, you compounded the issue buy buying a new turbo yourself.
I would pay the bill and find another garage in future
I had similar when I was changing a turbo for a customer on their t5 transporter, turned out to be a hole in the manifold.
It wasnt possible to say for sure what was needed untill the manifold and turbo were off as they were on the back of the engine and noise and smell were all we had to go on. Customer needed it on the road for work so agreed to get turbo etc ready for a saturday repair. So stripped it all and when I had it on the bench could then make an accurate diagnosis, I had a new turbo but no manifold to hand. Had to rebuild it all back up so he could use it monday morning, return turbo and order a manifold. Fixed it the following saturday and then he disputes the labour and cost of 2x gasket sets, saying misdiagnosis. I would have dug in and kept the van till the bill was paid as I'd given up 2 Saturdays in a row and done the running around to source and then return the turbo so felt I should be paid for it. But garage manager didnt want the hassle so reduced the bill for him.
In my own bias opinion the garage have done their best by going for the most likely culprit first to keep you on the road with minimum VOR time. You should sell the turbo or talk to the supplier to see if they have any interest in taking it back, and the time they are billing is part of the diagnosis time imo. It sucks for you but that is the way it goes sometimes.
It wasnt possible to say for sure what was needed untill the manifold and turbo were off as they were on the back of the engine and noise and smell were all we had to go on. Customer needed it on the road for work so agreed to get turbo etc ready for a saturday repair. So stripped it all and when I had it on the bench could then make an accurate diagnosis, I had a new turbo but no manifold to hand. Had to rebuild it all back up so he could use it monday morning, return turbo and order a manifold. Fixed it the following saturday and then he disputes the labour and cost of 2x gasket sets, saying misdiagnosis. I would have dug in and kept the van till the bill was paid as I'd given up 2 Saturdays in a row and done the running around to source and then return the turbo so felt I should be paid for it. But garage manager didnt want the hassle so reduced the bill for him.
In my own bias opinion the garage have done their best by going for the most likely culprit first to keep you on the road with minimum VOR time. You should sell the turbo or talk to the supplier to see if they have any interest in taking it back, and the time they are billing is part of the diagnosis time imo. It sucks for you but that is the way it goes sometimes.
As usual we are being told a piece-meal version of the real truth and are being expected to give a definitive answer.
It sounds to me like YOU intervened in their diagnostic process and therefore took it upon yourself to accept the consequences.
The mistake is 100% down to you on the information currently to hand.
It sounds to me like YOU intervened in their diagnostic process and therefore took it upon yourself to accept the consequences.
The mistake is 100% down to you on the information currently to hand.
Aerate said:
I raised concerns that I was going to be billed for work when they should have checked the turbo before taking out the old one. I then got the correct turbo that they then fitted. No improvement - turns out it was a gasket. I got them to fit the £30 gasket set - all good.
I then received an invoice for over a grand. I paid for half of the labour and all of the parts and explained that due to their misdiagnosis and removing the turbo before checking it was correct, that that was all I was prepared to pay.
Personally, if I owned the garage I wouldn't be letting you take it away without full payment.I then received an invoice for over a grand. I paid for half of the labour and all of the parts and explained that due to their misdiagnosis and removing the turbo before checking it was correct, that that was all I was prepared to pay.
You told them what to do & bought incorrectly (what you thought were) the correct parts and at that point it is 100% down to your error.
They provided the labour for the job & you didn't pay for this.
In the end it was as per their original diagnosis, you say it was down to their misdiagnosis and yet their original diagnosis was a turbo gasket which was the actual issue.
100% your interference caused the issue/additional expense!
Learn your lesson, when a competent person diagnoses an issue, believe them!
It seems that the garage concerned is 100% competent, you need to keep using them & suck it up buttercup!
The automotive industry is a odd one with respect to diagnosis. If a garage diagnoses a failed component incorrectly the cost of this is almost always passed on to the customer. The reality is though that most garages don't have the skill required to operate any other way. A diagnosis should be exactly that. If you can't confirm that the part has failed you haven't finished testing. Sometimes it may not be possible to be definitive but on the rare occasion that is the case you need to have a very careful conversation with the customer.
The OP is in the wrong for supplying the incorrect turbo. The garage shouldn't have replaced the turbo. They should eat the cost for everything other than the gasket replacement. Won't happen though.
The OP is in the wrong for supplying the incorrect turbo. The garage shouldn't have replaced the turbo. They should eat the cost for everything other than the gasket replacement. Won't happen though.
Surprised they gave you the keys to your van back before you payed the invoice.
I suspect if you had not intervened, they would have fitted the turbo, found it did not fix the problem and then looked at the gaskets. They would have sorted it out but not for £30 in parts as you would still have a new turbo fitted that was not actually needed.
I do have some sympathy with anyone trying to diagnose a problem and not being correct first time, it isn't easy. As you stuck your well intentioned oar into the situation you have muddied the waters making it difficult to apportion responsibility easily.
If you are worried about threats of court action you need to balance will they really go to court over £400 and how much grief do you want for £400. From the responses on the thread seem to be against you, paying up might be the path of least hassle.
The only guarantee here is the garage will not fit customer supplied parts again because it is a world of pain.
I suspect if you had not intervened, they would have fitted the turbo, found it did not fix the problem and then looked at the gaskets. They would have sorted it out but not for £30 in parts as you would still have a new turbo fitted that was not actually needed.
I do have some sympathy with anyone trying to diagnose a problem and not being correct first time, it isn't easy. As you stuck your well intentioned oar into the situation you have muddied the waters making it difficult to apportion responsibility easily.
If you are worried about threats of court action you need to balance will they really go to court over £400 and how much grief do you want for £400. From the responses on the thread seem to be against you, paying up might be the path of least hassle.
The only guarantee here is the garage will not fit customer supplied parts again because it is a world of pain.
Richard-D said:
The automotive industry is a odd one with respect to diagnosis. If a garage diagnoses a failed component incorrectly the cost of this is almost always passed on to the customer. The reality is though that most garages don't have the skill required to operate any other way. A diagnosis should be exactly that. If you can't confirm that the part has failed you haven't finished testing. Sometimes it may not be possible to be definitive but on the rare occasion that is the case you need to have a very careful conversation with the customer.
The OP is in the wrong for supplying the incorrect turbo. The garage shouldn't have replaced the turbo. They should eat the cost for everything other than the gasket replacement. Won't happen though.
Thorough investigation to confirm the cause of an issue with confidence, can be very time consuming and therefore expensive.The OP is in the wrong for supplying the incorrect turbo. The garage shouldn't have replaced the turbo. They should eat the cost for everything other than the gasket replacement. Won't happen though.
Aerate said:
My Van started making a blowing noise under acceleration. Took it to the garage an suggested it could be a turbo gasket. They did a smoke test and diagnosed turbo replacement.
Aerate said:
It wasn’t the turbo - it was the manifold gasket. Even after the correct turbo was fitted, the issue remained.
I disagree with all the people piling in to say it's all the OP's fault.The garage misdiagnosed the problem, even after the OP suggested what the actual problem was.
I think there is a bona fide dispute here.
To the OP, I would see if there can be a resolution through further discussion. If they stick to their guns and you don't fancy the garage escalating (which would be a fair enough position) then there is little you can do other than settle.
You could always see if the CAB have some helpful legal advice as well.
OverSteery said:
Thorough investigation to confirm the cause of an issue with confidence, can be very time consuming and therefore expensive.
Yes, a big part of the problem is that it is very difficult to explain the value of thorough diagnostics to someone with little or no technical knowledge. Most people think diagnostics is 'plugging a computer in'. It is a job that takes a lot of knowledge to do right.There are also occasions where the time taken to diagnose a fault is more expensive than replacing the potential causes of the fault.
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