Talk Morgan Forums Talk Morgan Members Section Dealer Talk Livid at my local dealer

Just a bit of a rant I'm afraid...

My Aero is going in for service tomorrow so I've been digging out all the relevant paperwork. I've just discovered a job card for the last service (which I didn't realise I had) and I'm absolutely livid.

I've been charged 1 1/2 hours labour for washing my car. WTF? If I had realised I'd been charged for this, I would not have paid this part of the bill. I always keep my car impeccable so there was no need for them to wash it. Everywhere else this has always been a complimentary service too (if they have the time).

And SIX HOURS to replace the door handles. Really?????

I always thought this particular dealer was a rip off - I've paid him nearly £2k for doing absolutely nothing to my car; all the niggles I asked him to fix haven't actually been fixed - and now that I've found this job card, it just takes the biscuit. I think he thinks I'm some stupid bimbo (maybe I am, for paying his ridiculous charges) - he's the dealer who told me that they fixed the roof the best they could however if I didn't want the roof to leak I shouldn't drive in the rain

Thank goodness the Aero has been booked in somewhere else for it's service tomorrow (kindly recommended by several people on TM )

That'll be about £100+ for the wash, then?

Was it bathed in asses' milk? (actually that would be extra, look under parts)

On a forum such as this it would be entirely reasonable to name & shame...

I think yes, we need to know how reliable dealers are, so name and shame. However I've always thought the back up would be the Factory if all else 'fails' but I've had to return several times for them to fix things they 'broke' whilst sorting other items. They seem very much under pressure these days and I worry that quality control suffers.
Even my long standing 'Tin Top' garage was found wanting recently when I noticed I'd been charged for parts not fitted at service and advised that new parts were needed 'very soon' when they didn't.

Nothing new here then: A friend of mine was charged for renewing the brakes on his Escort by a Ford dealer when no such thing had been done and this is going back to the eighties. Meabh.

I used to ask for the parts that had been replaced from one van dealer we used to deal with and also a Merc dealers when I discovered the workshop staff were doing private jobs, all they were doing was taking off parts in the dealership cleaning them and using the new parts on the pjs.

Of late mine has gone back to the factory for servicing, personally I don't think the dealer have the electronic know all to deal with some of the aero issues.

Car dealers don't you love them.

Many sites have a no naming and shaming policy because of the possible legal ramifications which can arise from doing said 'shaming'.

At Talk Morgan we pride ourselves on low, to almost no, moderation (moderation tends to be deletion of spam and moving post to the correct forums); therefore, the moderators and I would be unwilling to change this just to allow people to rant about dealers. However, this does not stop people voicing their experiences, as long as they stick to the facts and do not stray into speculation. You will find that people have done just this in the past and voiced their experiences - both positive and negative.

If (and I assume from your post this wasn't the case!) the dealer said, "do you want us to wash your car?" and you said, "yes!", then perhaps there would be a grey area as to whether you had asked for a service, they provided it and thus you got charged for it. (I'm playing the Devil's Advocate because even had this been the case, I would think it was extremely poor service to charge you for a car wash! However, in the case above, it could simply be a matter of 'misunderstanding').

Now, setting aside the above, and assuming you didn't ask for the car to be washed or it was never mentioned, then I can understand why you are livid; I would be as well.

I had a similar situation where my dealer charged me (my first Morgan) for collecting my car from the factory (it was a new car). When I queried this, I was told it was common practice to charge the customer for collection. Perhaps I was green behind the Morgan-ears but after some discussion, I did pay the £250.00 but it still, to this day, annoys me and I feel it was unjustified.

My father in law back in about 1970 was charged by his Merc dealer for new shock absorbers with 60 000 kms and for new Amortisseurs with 65 000 kms

Frank

Which is why I didn't mention the dealer, and nor will I on an open forum



At no point did he ask. And as I said before, the car was clean so it wasn't as if it needed to be washed either. Both of my other cars have been in for service recently; both were washed and I wasn't charged for this 'privilege'.

It just annoys me that I've spent over £100 on a car wash - I could have had the car detailed for that!!!

I appreciate that and your understanding. Hence, my comment was in line with Hook's question.