lying garage

[mrrj]

Hi sorry this is quite a long story it started early at the beginning of april . i am a sole trader of property maintenance so really need my van and tools . I have a vauxhall vivaro van that developed a fault , i used to be a mechanic so i diagnosed it to the number one injector.

 

I called a local garage who claim to to be diesel injector specialists . I called up and checked with guy on the phone that they had an hydraulic puller as this is the only way to get them out , he said yes they have and if i dropped it in on tue 9th april they would have it done in a couple of hours at £55 an hour plus £195 for the injector which i thought was fair. At 5.30 on that day a chap called me to say it was not coming out and they are gonna leave it soaking overnight .

 

The next day (wed 10 th) i called at about 4.30 after hearing nothing and was told the same again .On thursday the 11th the boss called me telling me that the hydraulic puller is only a 10 ton puller and not shifting the injector and that they need a 20 ton puller (investigation online shows these injectors break at 8 -9 ton ) but he could not get one till the following tuesday which i said was no good and i would take it elsewhere.

 

On the friday i went in in the morning and they had the other puller there already so i left them to it . I called sat 13th and was told the injector was out . I called monday 15th and was told they have made a mistake and dropped some carbon down the piston bore and would call me back when it was out. I called tuesday 16th and was told they have just removed the sump and was ready to take out the crankshaft to remove the piston which i was shocked to hear .

 

This  is exactly what i was told after calling back wed 17th and thursday 18th.. they gave me a courtesy car on friday 19th which was a really old corsa and i could only put a tiny amount of tools in . My van was on a ramp with the gearbox ,sump and crankshaft removed . I asked the mechanic there what was dropped in the bore and he said something metal and that the piston cant be removed from the bottom.

 

I went in saturday 20th and spoke to a mechanic and asked if they own a hydraulic puller which he stated that they have never had one and had to hire one to pull mine out . The boss made me wait 30 mins in reception and when we spoke i told him that  if i knew he had no hydraulic puller i would have never come to him . He was very rude but admited it was his mistake , when i told him i have lost loads in lost work his reply was you and me both . i asked why he lied about the hydraulic puller but he just said he had one but lost some parts of it. Next they took the head off which required pulling the other 3 injectors .

 

I called day after day with no answers but i had to go and get something from the van on the morning of monday 29th to see the head of the van on the bench with injector number 3 broken inside , the boss wasnt about but the mechanic there said they had a trainee with a dremel trying to remove the broken one . I have rung daily mostly with no reply or no answers than today the 9th may 29 days after dropping it in and many many days lost work the boss called me and said it was ready but i need to pay 6 hours labour plus the injector costing about £600 .

 

After explaining that my loss of work is in the thousands he said no payment no van and hung up . Can anyone give me advice on the situation thanks.

Rick

Edited May 8, 2019 by Andyorch
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[dx100uk]

issue a claim in the small claims court for loss of earnings etc etc 

[ericsbrother]

They havent shown reasonable care  as professional people so you shouldnt be paying them anything, let alone an inflated bill to cover their bodges.

My brother had a similar thing many years ago with a motorbike, that was resolved by having a number of large men collecting the bike and bro then suing for the damage done. Getting your van back will be the real problem to overcome so do you have a spare key and some large friends with a trailer?