Roadstar Autocentre - i've raised a Court Claim re: terrible service after wrongly fitting a turbo **WON**

[gavino76]

A bar was put in place for roadstar autocentre on 10/12/2020

roadstar autocentre filed a defence on 10/12/2020

DQ sent to roadstar autocentre on 10/12/2020

 

 

 

[gavino76]

hi bank fodder.

 

I'm looking through the guidance at the moment. It states the onus is on me to advise the court on how i want to proceed once the defendant has filed a response (Defence)

 

im looking at my claim online and there is no further information, i cannot view the defendants defence. what should i do now, do i wait for the DQ to come back from the defendant? its a little bit stressful. i feel a little out of my depth, not having done this before. Although i believe im right.

[dx100uk]

MCOL should send you a copy 

N180 next 

look in the legal section of our library.

 

[gavino76]

hello there

 

am i waiting to receive paperwork from the court? i don't want to waste  time.

[dx100uk]

ring the court tell them you have not received a copy of the defence its now 7 days since it was filled.

 

[gavino76]

thank you

[slick132]

2nd Class post is taking 7 days just recently, going by cards sent and delivered

[gavino76]

hello. i received the DQ today and with it, a copy of the defence. the defence is as follows:

 

Quote

 

Mr gavino76 picked his car up on the 4th January 2020 and returned about a week later stating a problem with the turbo charger.

 

The vehicle was examined by 2 mechanics and no problem found.

 

Mr gavino76 came into us again end of January for a quote on further work he needed. 

When eventually complained again of problem with the turbocharger

 

he was to deal with our head office and given an email address plus direct line telephone number.

 

Mrgavino76 was asked to let our head office have supporting evidence that the car went to an independent garage.

Our head office heard nothing from him either by email or phone.

 

The head office tried to phone him but the phone call went unanswered. 

 

Should mr gavino76 furnish us with the supporting evidence we would of course take it into consideration.

 

 

the defence was dated 7th dec 2020.

 

the info on my claim history is:

 

A bar was put in place for roadstar autocentre on 10/12/2020

roadstar autocentre filed a defence on 10/12/2020

DQ sent to roadstar autocentre on 10/12/2020

 

the vehicle we're actually talking about is a van. a large red van.

the high pitched screaming was apparent from the moment i drove way from the garage,

 

due to the sheer volume of work i faced after returning from xmas break it was just not convenient to me to return it for examination, and also they never seemed to have availability.

 

the garage had it at the end of jan 2019 for around 2 weeks and one of the problems id raised was the heater was not working. in the 2 weeks they had it, they could not fix it or explain why.

 

when i returned at the end of jan to try to have the heater fixed again (which they still couldnt manage), they 'examined' the screeching noise. they told me that there was a couple of screws loose and it had been sorted. and that they had put a dye into the engine to find the oil leak.

 

on their defence, they have stated that the vehicle was examined by 2 mechanics and no problem found. They have signed this to be true.

 

upon leaving the garage the van was still screaming,

i called the garage and we ended up having an argument.

 

the garage manager is very blunt and rude and totally unhelpful.

 

I emailed the manager to say 'i am not interested in a stupid argument, i want the screaming fixed, i have paid almost £2000 without question now i am receiving terrible customer service.'

 

as i was so busy at work it was impossible to get back to the garage on the few occasions they did have a slot.

 

there was a period of time during the year when the noise stopped, or was almost imperceptible, and it was so draining trying to deal with the garage that i left it. and eventually, it came back.

 

after a few calls or emails i was told the mechanic that done the work would come for a drive with me to determine the source of the noise.

 

we drove, the high pitch noise screamed, i asked him if he could hear it, and he sat next to me in my own van, looked me in the eye, and said no.

 

i took him back to the garage. i emailed the manager to ask for a verdict, no reply.

when i rang him, he told me the noise was not mechanical (the noise the mechanic said he couldn't hear) and it was nothing to do with them and not their problem.

 

i was seething yet i did not know what to do, as i did not know what i could do.

i suffered it.

 

at some point the power to the van was suffering and it was almost as though something was not working.

i took it to a garage that the man i work for recommend, and they found the problem straight away.

 

the turbo had been incorrectly installed.

a part that was renewed by the new garage was given to me to keep, and was clearly burnt and damaged.

 

i do understand that I'm a bit all over the place here, we're talking about january to september.

 

would anyone be able to advise me in how to proceed without writing a novel,  or is this a necessity.

its a little bit difficult as it was over quite a long time,

 

i can't precisely remember the exact sequence of events. i do have quite a few emails, can i use these as evidence.

 

i understand i am to ask for mediation.

[BankFodder]

Have you received the directions questionnaire?

If you have, then it will be at this point that you will need to decide that you are prepared to pay an extra fee to go through to a court hearing. You will also be able to agree to mediation.

On the matter of the choice of the court, you should choose your local court because the other side is a business and so they should come to you if they have a different local court.

You need to make sure that you have evidence to prove the basis of your case.

Although it's not totally relevant – it tends to give a clue as to the incompetence of this garage so it would be helpful if you can show some evidence that when you first took it to the garage they were unable to find anything wrong and it was only when you took it to Ford that they identified that there was indeed a problem and in fact the turbo needed replacing.
I think it's important to emphasise that it's quite extraordinary that the garage were unable to recognise that the whole turbocharger needed replacing.

As a say, this is not strictly relevant that it tends to show the incompetence of the garage. It also may tend to suggest that they were not competent in the fitting of a turbocharger because they couldn't even recognise that there was a problem.

Secondly, you need to get a statement from the garage to recognise that it had been incorrectly fitted. This needs to be a written statement and you should obtain it as quickly as possible please and post it up so that we can see.

This is your most important piece of evidence and it needs to be very clearly stated by the person who makes the statement, that they were asked to look at the van on a particular date, they inspected it, they discovered that a turbocharger had been incorrectly fitted – and they should give a description of the way in which it was incorrectly fitted.

They should then say in the statement that they were asked to reinstall the turbocharger which they did and they charged £XXX for it.

This is essential evidence and you should get it as soon as possible.

Finally, you have said that when you first realise that there was a continuing problem with the turbocharger after it had been fitted, that you went back to the garage and they can do anything about it. You need some evidence of this – emails or anything else.



 

[gavino76]

There was more phone conversation than emails. 

 

I do have the defects report from ford which I sent via email to the garage. But not anything from the garage telling me they cannot find a problem 

 

I have 2-4 emails sent to the garage saying that there is a screaming noise and how could you give it back to me like that, I need it looked at asap pls.

 

At the time I didn't know the turbo was blown.

 

They have also said In their defence how they asked me to contact head office and was asked to furnish them with evidence of having been to an independent garage, I have an email from the garage asking for the invoice from the independent garage which I sent in to them.

 

I will contact the  independent garage first thing in the morning.

 

 

[gavino76]

i have the mechanics mobile number that repaired the turbo. i messaged him, and called him. he has not responded.

i called the garage. the secretary said to me, most of the information is on the invoice. i did say i need a written statement for court ands she is prepared to do so and has sent it through the post on headed paper. not going to manage a written statement from the mechanic unfortunately.

 

i do have emails, not many. most of the corresponding was done via phone unfortunately, i didn't know it would come to this.

 

the court is 10 mins walk from my house. the defendant is based 5 mins walk from the court. i may return the forms in person? will save time. is this ok?

 

 

[BankFodder]

Recorded delivery

[gavino76]

iI've printed off all the emails that were swapped between us. one of which is a photo of the faults list from ford but no conversation.

 

one of which is me mentioning to them that they asked me to take my van to fords to find the faults as they couldnt manage it.

 

one of which is the invoice from the independent garage for the repair to turbo.

 

i have the parts which were removed during the repair, one of which is burnt.

 

i am waiting for the letter from the independent garage to add.

 

so i print X3 copies of DQ? and serve copies on all other parties. do i post a copy direct to them?

[AndyOrch]

 

 

 

Quote

so i print X3 copies of DQ? and serve copies on all other parties. do i post a copy direct to them?

 

[gavino76]

Hello guys. Sorry for the gap between updates. I have been completely wiped out with Corona virus. 

 

The last thing I done was posted off the n180 and I am waiting for a response. Also, I registered with the mediation service and have heard from them on email.

 

Thank you

[BankFodder]

Thanks for the update.

We've had a lot of experience of people going to mediation when they have been bringing actions against Hermes, the parcel delivery service.

I suggest that you find your way to the Hermes sub- forum and look at some of the threads there and see how the mediation works and see also how the mediator puts pressure on people to give up their rights.

I suggest that you search on "Hermes, mediation" – and see what that brings you. It is well worth understanding exactly what is going to happen and there are some very good experiences there

[gavino76]

So my van has been back for an MOT. (At the new garage i use which was responsible for repairing the turbo) and they have had to replace the water pump (which was replaced with the turbo at the garage I am taking to court)

 

How can I add this to my current case, or is it too late, please advise on what I should do.

 

Thank you

[BankFodder]

You have to remind me, have you actually issued a claim on this? And what has happened?

[gavino76]

Sorry.

 

A claim has been issued for the cost of the labour of the installation of the turbo. It was defended. I have returned the DQ.

 

My van has been in to the new garage I use and the water pump needs to be replaced at a cost of £220, this being after it was replaced along with the turbo that was blown during the initial work Dec 2019

[BankFodder]

Well this claim is fairly well advanced. It would cost you about £200 also to amend the claim and then you would have to give the other side an opportunity to defend and all of that would delay everything.

I think it could be an idea to simply gather as much information as you can about the present problem and then depending on the outcome of the turbo case, threaten them with a further action for the water pump and see how they react.

If you had discovered this before the claimant been issued then there would have been no problem adding it.

This is on the basis that I understand that you had a brand-new water pump fitted about a year ago and that it has now failed.

Make sure that the old water pump is retained and you may need to get somebody to inspect it at some point – but not yet.

Try to get a full statement from whoever it is who has identified the felt water pump – relating to signs and symptoms of its failure, its condition once it's taken out – and of course keep all receipts et cetera with the possibility in mind of bringing an action in the future.

[gavino76]

Ok then. I'll bear this all in mind, thanks again.

[gavino76]

hello. i have my telephone appointment set for thurs 28th jan between 8 and 10am for approx an hour.

 

I've read some posts re vs hermes, and i will be assertive. this incident is from dec 2019, i dont have an exact timeline of how this all unfolded, will they focus on specific dates, i cant see how they would make a difference to the outcome?

[dx100uk]

you mean mediation?

 

dx

 

[gavino76]

yes, sorry

 

[BankFodder]

I see their in their defence then not really denying the fact that your claim – but they are saying that they want evidence. They are saying that they found no problem – but of course that was their own people and not independent.

Did you supply them with the information that they referred to in their defence? Did you supply them with this information before you issue the claim or since you have received the defence?