Another workshop fuckup - where do we stand?

[McJamweasel]

A few weeks back my parents Rover25 Diesel started to play up, so my dad took it back to the local Rover main dealer where it was bought from. They replaced a part (something electrical, can't remember what) at about £100 + labour and the problem went. Then it came back. They had the car for over a week and decided that it was the Engine Management Unit that had fucked, so replaced that @ £600 + VAT + labour. Less than one day on and the same problem has returned. The car has gone back to the dealer.

Now what I'm thinking is that they should refund whats been paid for the previous parts, as they clearly were not needed. Am I right in thinking that?
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[hush]

You should consider getting proper legal advice on where you stand. Maybe you could go after negligence or incompetance... Might be worth getting in contact with Rover directly as well if they are a Rover agent...

[Kickstart]

Hi

I don't know, but debugging fuel injection systems of any type can be difficult. They probably plugged in the diagnostic computer and it says "replace relay xyz", with a note that if that does not work then to replace the ecu.

All the best

Keith
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[Steve H]

McJam,

As with the majority of civil cases this one isn't as simple as you receiving a straight refund from the Company as they've not provided you with a respectable service.

The Supply Of Goods and Services Act states that any service provided should be done so with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time and where no price is agreed, cost no more than a reasonable charge. As you can see it's all very subjective and basically 'reasonable' is usually deemed as what's generally accepted within the specific trading field.

If you can prove that the fitting of the first mentioned part was not required then you could probably demand some form or refund for that specific job. However if it initially cured the problem who's to say that both parts were not at fault and that both failed due to wear and tear (Just trying to play Devils advocate here!).

Personally the way I would approach this situation is to initially ask for a written report from the Company on the problems with both parts replaced to enable you to get an opinion on the alleged faults from another mechanic (or AA/RAC if you're a member). If they are loathed to give you this in writing I would question why they feel that they cannot do this as you've paid x amount of pounds for their services and you just want to be certain that you're getting what you paid for by way of an independant source.

Argue that their initial opinion maybe flawed in that the replacement of the first part did not remedy the fault and consequently you paid for services which may not have been provided with reasonable care and skill (due to the reappearance of the fault) as required under your statutory rights.

As usual feel free to PM me if you require more advice as I wouldn't want to bore everyone to death with a subject that is dryer than an arabs sandal

Good Luck

SteveH
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