Freelander 1 Unexpected charge by garage for non diagnosis of issue?

flanagaj · Mar 17, 2016

Took the Freelander to a garage today as I could not identify what a knocking noise was. Before I took the car in I explicitly made it clear that I was happy for work to be done, but I didn't want them randomly replacing parts on a whim that they then fix it. They said "we don't do that sir and we will only fix it if we know what it is."

Cut a long story short, they call me back and tell me they don't know what is causing the noise, but I needed new prop bearings. I book the car in for 2 weeks and my wife went to collect it.

She comes back and tells me she has just stumped up £70 to the garage and hands me an invoice with a 1 hour bill!!

Is this common as I am fuming that they had the audacity to sting me £70 when I had just booked in to have £200 worth of work done. Maybe it's me, but being charged for not diagnosing a fault is a new one to me.

td4van · Mar 17, 2016

They spent the time working on your car to try and identify the source of the noise - why wouldn't they charge you for the time they spent?

While they were working on your car they weren't earning on any other job and they have bills to pay as well!

However I do understand your frustration

flat · Mar 17, 2016

seems reasonable to me, they spent time, no guarantee you would come back and get them to do the work so why wouldn't they invoice you straight away?

jamesmartin · Mar 17, 2016

presumably they spent a hour working on your car,whether they found an issue or not

flanagaj · Mar 17, 2016

Ok. Fair enough. I thought that as a result of me giving them work to replace anti roll bar bushings, central prop carrier bearings that a diagnosis charge would not apply. I'll be honest and say never in my whole time have I been charged to have a problem diagnosed.

I'll bear this in mind going forward.

Thanks

blue beasty · Mar 17, 2016

flanagaj said:
Ok. Fair enough. I thought that as a result of me giving them work to replace anti roll bar bushings, central prop carrier bearings that a diagnosis charge would not apply. I'll be honest and say never in my whole time have I been charged to have a problem diagnosed.

I'll bear this in mind going forward.

Thanks

I'd bear it in mind going backwards anorl

I guess a lot of places would hope that you actually turn up for your booked slot and add an hour onto the final bill but they're being up front and honest about it.

Dunno how anyone can afford to pay £70 an hour for anything though

wattfield · Mar 17, 2016

They tend to charge just for a diagnostic check, but it would have been nice if they'd told you that when you took it in.

Tiny1000 · Mar 17, 2016

I would expect to have the bill taken of future work undertaken, after all they're getting work because of what they found. If a builder came round your house and measured up for an extension, then gave you a quote they wouldn't charge you for the quote or the time it took to work it out

jamesmartin · Mar 17, 2016

blue beasty said:
I'd bear it in mind going backwards anorl

I guess a lot of places would hope that you actually turn up for your booked slot and add an hour onto the final bill but they're being up front and honest about it.

Dunno how anyone can afford to pay £70 an hour for anything though

theyd have added it to the bill, if the vehicle wasnt removed from the premises before any other work was done

jamesmartin · Mar 17, 2016

wattfield said:
They tend to charge just for a diagnostic check, but it would have been nice if they'd told you that when you took it in.

if you knew he cost of the kit etc youd see why

wattfield · Mar 17, 2016

jamesmartin said:
if you knew he cost of the kit etc youd see why

I have

, I wasn't arguing with the charge but better to be upfront about it.

At least it wasn't a Kia dealer

Carrington224 · Mar 17, 2016

flanagaj said:
Took the Freelander to a garage today as I could not identify what a knocking noise was. Before I took the car in I explicitly made it clear that I was happy for work to be done, but I didn't want them randomly replacing parts on a whim that they then fix it. They said "we don't do that sir and we will only fix it if we know what it is."

Cut a long story short, they call me back and tell me they don't know what is causing the noise, but I needed new prop bearings. I book the car in for 2 weeks and my wife went to collect it.

She comes back and tells me she has just stumped up £70 to the garage and hands me an invoice with a 1 hour bill!!

Is this common as I am fuming that they had the audacity to sting me £70 when I had just booked in to have £200 worth of work done. Maybe it's me, but being charged for not diagnosing a fault is a new one to me.

Maybe I'm a bit fick here but this sentence makes no sense to me at all.

flanagaj · Mar 17, 2016

Tiny1000 said:
I would expect to have the bill taken of future work undertaken, after all they're getting work because of what they found. If a builder came round your house and measured up for an extension, then gave you a quote they wouldn't charge you for the quote or the time it took to work it out

That was my assumption too, but when I queried whether this would be the case I was told no. I could understand a charge if I took it in, got told what was wrong and then took it away without then doing any work.

MANOSLADOP · Mar 17, 2016

my friends , here in Greece the garages when you visit them for a problem the give you the repair cost in no time,They wont charge you anything for the diagnose.Once ihad a porche the 993 twin i had a maf problem.Nobody could find the problem.I went to Germany and the charged me 600 just to tell the problem and the found a screwdriver in the engine behind the radiator.I think if you visit one garage only and pay the work , to diagnose a problem the wont charge.NEVER send a woman to doa man job.

xamtex · Mar 18, 2016

if you are that annoyed cancel the repair work and take your custom elsewhere?

mikescuba · Mar 18, 2016

flanagaj said:
Took the Freelander to a garage today as I could not identify what a knocking noise was. Before I took the car in I explicitly made it clear that I was happy for work to be done, but I didn't want them randomly replacing parts on a whim that they then fix it. They said "we don't do that sir and we will only fix it if we know what it is."

Cut a long story short, they call me back and tell me they don't know what is causing the noise, but I needed new prop bearings. I book the car in for 2 weeks and my wife went to collect it.

She comes back and tells me she has just stumped up £70 to the garage and hands me an invoice with a 1 hour bill!!

Is this common as I am fuming that they had the audacity to sting me £70 when I had just booked in to have £200 worth of work done. Maybe it's me, but being charged for not diagnosing a fault is a new one to me.

Several years back I had a Renault Scenic. The clock on the dash packed up so I took it to a Renault agent. They connected it up to there diagnostic computer and told me it needed a new dash computer, the part alone was £1200 plus the fitting. I told them forget it. I was charged £70 which is a standard charge by Renault just to have the diagnostic check. And that was several years ago. Hence I have never touched a French car since.

flanagaj · Mar 18, 2016

xamtex said:
if you are that annoyed cancel the repair work and take your custom elsewhere?

I didn't want to have to do that, but in the end that is what I did.

Freelander 1 Unexpected charge by garage for non diagnosis of issue?

flanagaj

Active Member

td4van

Well-Known Member

flat

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jamesmartin

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flanagaj

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blue beasty

Leaks an prone to bits dropping off

wattfield

AKA Dirk Diggler

Tiny1000

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jamesmartin

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jamesmartin

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wattfield

AKA Dirk Diggler

Carrington224

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flanagaj

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MANOSLADOP

New Member

xamtex

Active Member

mikescuba

Well-Known Member

flanagaj

Active Member

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