Key Post: Car Service. Company replaced tyres without asking

This was originally posted by Age 25

A colleague of mine left her car in for a service. When she got it back the garage had put 4 new tyres on the car at a cost of over €80 each. They said that all four were unsafe. They never phoned her to advise her that they were going to do this. She asked them to put the old tyres back on and they refused on safety grounds saying that they could be held liable. Can they do this?. Surely she is entitled to get a second opinion on these tyres or indemnify them against being held responsible should anything happen? Any views.

Re: Car Service. Is this a rip off?

At a minimum, they should return the old tyres so she can independently verify their condition.

ripoff

Yes, gut feeling says yes.

A service normally constitutes a set amount of duties as per set mileage brackets. Anything outside these is (best practice) normally advised. Eg. "Your brake shoes are running low, I would advise you to change them soon".

If the terms of the service were to prepare for an NCT, then maybe they were working towards that, but they should have clarified first.

Re: ripoff

If she instructed them to remove the tires they should have done it. I'm sure whe would have been willing to sign a note saying she had instructed them to do it, so the liability issue is a red herring.

If she knew of another Tire Supplier that she preferred to use she should have had that option. What if the tires were €160 each, would she still have had to pay?

-Rd

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Why didn't they offer her remolds?

Defo smells of rip-off.

I just got my car serviced on Saturday.
Oil change & Oil filter
Two new windscreen wipers (complete)
coolant
brake light bulb
reversing bulb
He even checked the air pressure and advised that the pressure in one of the tyres was wrong.

Total cost: €70. (€10 cheaper than one of your tyres!)

Re: .

I can't see how they could enforce payment for the tyres. After all she didn't even agree to buy them. Asking the garage for return of her old tyres wont work. They are likely to give her the worst tyres in their skip - she will have no way of proving they weren't hers. Sounds like one for the ODCA.

Re

Was their an estimate made vaialable for the work or set service price discussed?. I can understand if they wanted to fit new tyres and aclled but sheeeet this is wrong.
What is you came back and the fitted a new enginve , drivetraina and gearbox? Nope i would argue that the owrk acrried out exceed the remit of a general service and that special authorisatiuon should have been reuested before this extrat work was carried out.

She could be a pain and ask then to remove the tyres and fit the old ones and get the job done somewhere else but thi is outrageous !!!!! Kick Ass

Rip off

Unfortunately the motor repair trade is one of the few industries that hold all the chips in relation to cost dispute. I have also heard some dodgy stories with off-site PC repair operations!

You don't get your car back if there is an issue. They may also threaten you with storage fee per diem if you are refusing payment, coupled with the cost of not having a car.

There is alot to be said for building up a relationship, working off referral, and setting out the terms of service beforehand eg: "Any parts over €40 needs an okay".

Re: Rip off

Are they a SIMI member? If so, check if the [broken link removed] is any help to you (though the .pdf isn't downloading for me today).

car service

WHERE did you get your car serviced for e70 - a good bargain. Most cost e150 for that, at least the ones I checked.

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The same principles apply to the motor industry as any other one. You're not obliged to pay for anything you didn't ask for, so if you didn't ask for the tyres you don't have to pay for them. If they refuse to take them back, that's their business. Just make your position clear and follow it up in writing if possible.

Not so sure that a garage can withhold your car (worth thousands) until you pay for any work done (worth just hundreds). My father-in-law, who had his own mechanics business, often let a car out without being paid and had to pursue the customer by other means if necessary.

Can any of our legal contributors comment?

off-site PC repair operations

Sparky,

What's the story with "off-site PC repair operations"?

Sure.

Re: Car Service. Is this a rip off?

Try the small claims court, it only costs €9.00.

Off-site PC repair

Please only take it as an example and not a slur on the trade.

I know somebody who left one in for an internal modem issue and got hit with a 4 hour labour X 65€ bill. When they questioned it they were told that they would have to pay to collect and if they didn't the PC would be sold at a later date.

260€ is a large fraction of a used PC price?

Re: Off-site PC repair

Sparky,

€65 per hour is not hugely excessive especially if the person had their own premises, overheards etc).

The 4 hours is the problem. I could well imagine a strange issue with drivers etc taking that long. Goodness know's I've spent that much on more on some issues over the years (I'm not in the hardware business so I'd expect a pro to be better than me).

That said, it would have been cheaper to simply install a new Modem, and the person doing the service should have known they were in for a long hall after about 30 minutes.

I don't know car's but I'd imagine they are a bit more predictable than PC's. I sure hope they are anyway.

-Rd

garage rip-offs

A few years ago the AA did a survey of garages in Britain and found that women bringing cars in for repairs or service were ON AVERAGE charged DOUBLE the price men were given. Have had experience of this myself, and must say, that car maintainence evening class I went to way back when was very useful in getting the mechanics to back down and recognise I had some idea what I was talking about. Still, do find if I ask a man to bring the car in for me that the price tends to be less...........

65€ p/h

"€65 per hour is not hugely excessive especially if the person had their own premises, overheards etc)."

No, it definately is not excessive, nor did I say it was.

The bottom line is, you don't have much room for immediate argument when the trader is holding critical goods, be it a car, a PC or a vet with your beloved pooch!

If the trader was supplying those goods/services to your premises, they would probably be alot quicker in forewarning you of costs.......would you agree?

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WHERE did you get your car serviced for e70 - a good bargain. Most cost e150 for that, at least the ones I checked.

Click to expand...

Dennis Buckley of Co Kerry. It's a bit remote, maybe that's why it was such a good bargain.

car

First service @ ford main dealers cost E100.

Re: car

i agree with the above about ford.
had 2 examples myself over the last couple of years myself. 1 - needed a new catalytic converter. quoted over £400 for a generic one size fits all job from quick fit. ford did the original part for £280 +fitted it myself. second example was for a full respray (convertible - less paint than most) . after ringing around a load of body shops . i was quoted 2500-4000 . ford did it for 1500+vat, did a great job too and even collected/delivered it with a transporter. both examples were walden motors in town behind the ilac. all the parts / bodyshop staff i dealt with couldnt have been more helpful . i cant recommend them highly enough.