Difficulty with repair company. (1 Viewer)

[bigtree]

I made a comment about this problem in another post but here's the gist of the story,my main Heki developed a leak over the winter.I would have probably have deal twith it myself but the weather was very bad so contacted the nearest motorhome repairer,they quoted me £180 to repair it which i thought was reasonable.Once he started the job he stated that it was taking longer than normal as he had never seem this type of sealant that Frankia uses,I suppose at this point alarm bells should having been ringing.He went on to say that he would need to charge me more but wouldn't charge for all the hours spent,although he did threaten to if i made a song and dance about it.He refused to tell me what material he would use to seal it but guaranteed it would never leak again,upon going to pick up my van he said go and check to see if i was happy.Well I wasn't as i couldn't see any sealer between the heki frame and the roof,went back in to tell him and he said leave it and they would rectify it.I said do you want to come out and see what i mean,and he said no just leave it.When we returned to pick it up again he said go and have a look,this time i could see sealer round the edge of the frame but they had obviously used masking tape to make a neat edge round the frame (so i thought ) bits of tape and a dirty rag were left on top of my van. By this time he was getting stroppy talking to us so i paid and left.Forward 3 months and we have just arrived in France in heavy rain,guess what, it's leaking.Phoned him and he says we will need to change tack and mentioned that we will need to fit a new skylight and bring it back in.Well i told him where we were and that wasn't possible and then told him we were getting our last warranty habitation check carried out in 2 days time,at that he said get them to repair it under warranty.I said to him about his comment that it would never leak again,and he replied, let me know how you get on.Fotunately I had the remnants of some Sikaflex type sealer left in my toolbag so once it dried outside i proceeded to remove the Heki screen to find that they hadn't unscrewed it from the hinges and put sealer all the way round the edge,I took several photos and got back on the phone to him.The response was,email me the photos,and that was the last I heard from him.My repair was adequate until i got to Spain,then i purchased a tube of Sika type stuff and a gun.The following day I removed the bead I put on and squirted the new stuff into the gap then cut the nozzle wider and put a fat bead all the way round.This held for the duration of our trip and since then.Upon returning home I contacted them to see what they were going to do about it to be told they never received the photos and to send them again,their reply was a few pictures of my frame during their strip down to show how clean they had made it,don't know what that proved. Once i eventually got to talk to him he was evasive,difficult and aggresive during the call and said the only way forward was for him to replace the Heki and that he would look to give me a favourable price for the part and labour.i asked him what about his guarantee ( their website states 3 years ) and he said that this was the only way he would go and if I continued trying to get him to do anything else he would put the phone down on me,which he did. Sorry if this was a bit long winded but I'm just not sure what to do, we were thinking Consumer Advice/Trading Standards rather than going to the expense of filling a lawyers pockets. Over to the experts on here for your opinions and advice.
Thanks Trev.

FAO @irnbru

 

[bigtree]

Here are the pictures I took prior to sealing it in France.

 

[Speve]

He's a bodger/cowboy and you need to take advice on this go to CAB but there are people on here that will know what to do..
Good luck and don't let him get away with it

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[pappajohn]

Once you get an outcome from CAB/trading standards, satisfactory or not, its time to name and shame even if its only to stop others getting pulled in.
Obviously cant do the job correctly so shouldnt be doing it at all.

Im sure there would be a couple of noughts in the original price so if you have no luck you could always take it to small claims court for a full refund.
If he doesnt respond to the court in a given time, which i doubt he will, you win and he gets a black mark and ordered to pay back plus costs.

 

[Gromett]

I am not sure how much use trading standards are to be honest.

I would be tempted to go straight to small claims court.

The way I do it is, I get the form, complete it. Write a cheque out.

I then photo copy the whole lot and send a covering letter that describes the whole story as you see it. Explain that you want a full refund for work that was billed but not carried out. Give a 14 day notice period for the refund. Send it by special delivery (required signature).

Give him 21 days then file.

 

[bigtree]

Should also have said he is backed or part of one of the big insurance groups in Britain,begins with an S and ends in n.

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[gus-lopez]

What others have said, he is a bodger/con man.

 

[pappajohn]

Should also have said he is backed or part of one of the big insurance groups in Britain,begins with an S and ends in n.

He may be on their list of approved repairers but thats where the relationship will end.
Any repairer could apply and doing one good job at a reasonable price may open the door.

 

[bigtree]

He may be on their list of approved repairers but thats where the relationship will end.
Any repairer could apply and doing one good job at a reasonable price may open the door.

When you phone they answer, Hello S*****n.

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[tonyidle]

There's only one way to repair a roof light that's leaking between the roof and frame and that is to remove it, very thoroughly clean it and the seating area on the roof, then replace it using non-setting (usually butyl) sealant. There is no way to do the job properly unless the rooflight is removed completely. As an aside never, ever, use Sikaflex polyurethane adhesive as a sealant. It will work (no better than butyl mastic though) but future removal of the device it is used on will be close to impossible. Unless an adhesive is needed stick ( ) to non-setting sealant.

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

Somehow I've managed to miss who it was that carried out the repair, can you tell us who it was? We're just down the road in Ayrshire & wouldn't want to use the same people.

 

[TheTwoOfUs]

If you paid by credit card get your bank involved.

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[bigtree]

When you phone they answer, Hello S*****n.

Here's a clue.

 

[bigtree]

Should also have said he is backed or part of one of the big insurance groups in Britain,begins with an S and ends in n.

And this one, i don't want to put the name on an open forum,looking for advice on how to go forward with either them to rectify their shoddy work or how to get my money back and get it done properly. As i said in my OP I would have done the job myself but the weather was against me.

 

[ABZSteve]

Near Linton?

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[GWAYGWAY]

That is a total bodge, it is sanitary silcone and not enough of it in any case. To seal the top I would use sealing tape and a bed of PROPER caravan non setting sealant. bed it down and clean up by removing the masking tape after to get a clean edge. You have been robbed.
Takes less than an hour to do it as the biggest job is cleaning off the old tape and goo, white spirit or mild solvent.

 

[robrace]

Having taken a couple of people to The County Court through the small claims court I would suggest that is your direction!I wouldn't let it go back to whoever did the job as if I have read your post correctly they have had the vehicle on two occasions and not done a satisfactory job.You should send them recorded delivery a letter asking for a refund for the work carried out as it has proved unsatisfactory.Give them 7 days or else you will go to Court.Then if you do not get a refund go to the small claims court.It is a simple and cheap option.You must gather as much evidence as you can and be prepared to use it if they defend the case.If they do you will have to go to Court but it,s a simple procedure for "small claims".You sit round a table and give your evidence.The "judge" will then make a written judgement.Of course if you win you may not get paid!!We won our case and the defendant was ordered to pay us £11000 but we never got a penny despite sending the Bailiffs round and putting a charge on the defendants house.Unfortunatly for us his house was repossessed by the Building Society and sold for what he owed them.But even though we never got paid I would still do it again.

 

[Bobby22]

Should also have said he is backed or part of one of the big insurance groups in Britain,begins with an S and ends in n.

I don't think they are using the name of an insurance company. I think they are independent of any insurance company.
I knew of a hire van company of the same name a few years ago, and they were based in an area in the east end of Glasgow of the same name.

If you go to their site through yell.com you can write an honest review!!!

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[cornish boy]

A quick search through Companies House records shows a Vehicle Repair Company in Glasgow whose name starts with the same as a UK insurance company.

Both the annual return and last set of accounts show no link with any insurance company in terms of shareholding or control. In fact there is only one shareholder, a male born in 1952.

The company I looked at has the following company number - SC452414