They did not remove the Intercooler. No need.
[J. I`ve got no temp sensor, so it was plugged up. No worrys m8.... ]

Also J. is right, only labour time should be paid not ramp time. Like you said what was stopping them pushing the car off the ramp?
I did complain to the owner, his response was that`s what you get for having an expensive car......What rubbish! (So that gives him the right to charge what ever he likes? I think not)
He also did not like that when I dropped the car off, I told the mechanic that the "trainee" was NOT to drive the Scoob(owners son).
I can appreciate the stubbon bolt holding things up, but to charge me for 5hrs is T*ss.

I could stop the cheque and write another for 3hrs work.

Dave

J.
Exhaust is louder than expected.
very "boomy" at low revs. but Sounds loverly in the mid range and above.....
I haven`t been "pulled"..... yet......YET.....

 

I had my Scoob in the Local garage for an exhaust change.
I changed the "Standard" exhaust with a HKS full system & downpipe(Cheers J.)
When I went to pick it up last night they told me the bill was £130+vat. Total 5hrs work.
WTF?
5hrs?
It took them that long because one bolt on the turbo was stuck. He also said if it`s on the ramp then he will charge me for the time even if it was not being worked on.
That has to be total B*****ks surely.
Also he told me that the exhaust had to be "Modifyied" yeah right......The modification was to put a plug into a take off on the down pipe(there`s an "Extra" one, I`m not sure what it`s for maybe J. can answer?)
Of course I had to pay the bill before they gave me the keys back. I paid by cheque.
I`m seriously considering stopping the chq and write another for 3hrs work, I think that is fair.

Has anybody else encounted this problem before?

Dave

 

The down pipe change is quite complicated because they have to remove the intercooler to get at the bolts for the downpipe and if the car is an older one then it could be quite probable that it has become stuck. I think an average length of time to change a downpipe is about 3 hours the rest of the system shouldnt have taken anytime at all but if they had problems with the fitting then it could very easily go beyond 3 hours.

Darren

 

Howdy...

The extra hole is for the temp sensor that imports have (UK/European/Oz cars dont have it)

I thought I included a plug (bolt) for the hole ? Sorry if I didnt...

You dont have to remove the intercooler...it does make access slightly easier...but isnt required.

To do the whole job should be 3 hours or less... 5 hours is bloody high...even if they couldnt shift a nut... I had problems with one sticking once.... but it didnt add two hours!!

To be honest.. I dont think there is much you can do...you'll have to pay them

The crap about being on ramps is rubbish. They should charge for labour time..not ramp time... what was stopping them rolling it off the ramps then ? I would write to the Director and complain about this issue

Cheers,

J.

ps - How is it anyway ?

 

Dave.

Unless you arranged a fee in advance (always advisable) you will have to pay the full whack. The fact that you said you didn't want his son driving the car probably wouldn't have helped. If he works there officially he would be insured and he may have taken it as an insult. Perhaps he did it on purpose?
As said though, he certainly can't charge you for ramp time. Try and get out of him how much of the five hours was charged as 'ramp time'. You can then stop your cheque and pay labour charge x hourly rate.

Stef.

 

Would you care to disclose the garage so no one else has the misfortune of going through a bad experience?

Regards

 

Cancel the cheque

See if they get back to you

Do they have your address?

I've cancelled cheques on a few occassions for rip-off work, or were I've thought about it and am just not happy - (I hardly ever pay by access cos you then dont have the luxury to cancel the amount easily!) On the majority of them I never heard from them again - but then never went back there. Dont be afraid to cancel it.

Its the easiest thing to do to pay them to get the keys and then cancel later

Incidentally £26 per hour +VAT seems very reasonable - a normal Subaru garage would charge £50 per hour++

It costs me £7 to cancel one with First Direct!

 

Steve,
The garage is NOT an IM Dealer.(I did not see the point to go to a IM dealer for an exhaust swap. I have no IM warranty)
The reason I went there is because the workshop manager is supposed to be a "friend" or so I thought. He was not there when I went to pick up the car. The disagreement was with the owner. "it`s my garage so I can charge what I like".

I think I will stop the chq. And give them another for 3hrs work.
That I think is a "fair" price to pay, knowing that the car was not worked on for 5hrs, but on the ramp for 5hrs.
There was nothing to stop them pushing the car off the ramp.
Also if it does come down to "Ramp time" then should I not be paying for the over night ramp time?
Silly argument I know.

The only person who knows where I live is my "Friend", the owner does not. Whether my "Friend" informs the owner where I live is another matter.

Thanks everybody
Dave
I don`t make a habit of stopping chqs.
Do I J.

 

Presumably you did not give a cheque card number when presenting the cheque?

If you did (for cheque guarantee purposes) then you will NOT be able to cancel the cheque.

Regards

 

Dave (Aka Mr Bouncy Cheque)..


HAHA...

I havent checked to see if its cashed.. I trust ya..

I thought you could still cancel a cheque even if you presented your card ?

The card just guarentees that when its cashed the bank will honour the amount the cheque card is valid for ?

I'm not up on money things.... *shrugs*

Its an interesting one... let me know what happens

J.

 

I did not give card details.....(yet to see a card that covers £150)

J.
Ya chq cleared on Thursday.


I`ll let you all know the outcome.

Dave

 

One thing I've learned over the years is to a) get a written quote for the work and b) if they refuse to quote, walk away, there are plenty of other garages that will.

There are bad places that will charge *you* for *their* learning curve. A certain specialist tuner of japanese vehicles has this rather nasty habbit... and they won't quote, so I avoid them now, as apparently do most other people who have had work done by said outfit.

There are also a few gems out there.... they're few and far between but they do exist. Scoobysport is one such example, and one of the very few places I wouldn't ask for a written quote.

As for cheque guarantee cards, I've seen up to UKP250 guarantee limit. They probably do go higher, but I've yet to see them. I've also stopped a guaranteed cheque in the past; a rather unsavoury estate agent didn't want to return a "refundable deposit"... I never heard from them again :-)

Cheers,

Pat.

 

Having worked in reatail regularly saw £250 cards, but the banks are cunning b$%£%rds when using a £100 card a cheque for up £100 is fully covered, if the cheque is for £100.01 none of the amount is guaranteed , also if you write two cheques for the same transaction neither is covered.