Garage misdiagnosed- entitled to refund

[dave_uk]

Hi,

 

I took my car to my local garage because there was a noise coming from the drivers side when travelling above about 50mph. They told me that although the sound appeared to be coming from the drivers side it was actually the wheel bearing on the rear passanger side that needed to be replaced.

 

After replacing this wheel bearing they called me and told me that the car was still making the noise and that the drivers side rear wheel bearing now needed replacing too. I queried this as I thought they had initially replaced the wrong one but they assured me that they both needed replacing and charged me for both.

 

Today I discovered that the noise is still happening and I believe that they have completely misdiagnosed the problem. Am I entitled to a refund for the 2 wheel bearings?

 

 

Thanks

 

Dave.

[Conniff]

No, you are not entitled to betterment. You could ask that the old ones are put back, that will achieve nothing and would probably put you in a worse position that before.

 

You could ask for a refund of the labour charge though and just pay for the bearings.

[dave_uk]

No, you are not entitled to betterment. You could ask that the old ones are put back, that will achieve nothing and would probably put you in a worse position that before.

 

You could ask for a refund of the labour charge though and just pay for the bearings.

 

ouch.. I wasnt expecting that.

 

I assumed that because they had misdiagnosed the issue and carried out unneccessary work that I would be able to get a refund.

 

Does this mean that we are all just have to trust that garages are being honest and that they can carry out unneccesary work and there is no come back?

[Conniff]

No, there is nothing at all to stop you making a complaint and asking for a refund for misdiagnosis. They may offer you a service instead or something material rather than cash, but you usually come off better than if it was a cash refund.

 

They obviousl didn't check the bearings out properly as it is easy to decide if a bearing has gone or not. But as you complained of a noise and that noise is still there, you should ask for a full refund and see what they say.

 

They obviously didn't take it for a test drive afterwards.

[Patma]

Does this mean that we are all just have to trust that garages are being honest and that they can carry out unneccesary work and there is no come back?

My son had a similar situation with his car when the garage completely misdiagnosed a problem and did all sorts of unnecessary work till they happened upon the right thing when they'd run out of ideas.

A friend who is a mechanic recommended that he ask for a complete written breakdown of everything they had done, recording the result of the action, costs of parts and labour etc.

The garage were so ashamed of putting it all down on paper, they reluctantly struck a deal that my son was happy with.

I don't believe you should have to pay labour charges for unnecessary work, as Conniff said and it might be worth negociating to see if you can shame them into a deal.

[dave_uk]

ok. thanks for the advice.

 

I will phone them tommorow and see what they say.

[Conniff]

Unless they say what you want to hear on the phone tomorrow, send them a letter with the same demand and then you will have it in hard copy.

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Also complain to your local Trading Standards,