Was I over charged? (2 Viewers)

[Geo]

£274 17 for a full service kit What the hell did that include

I would be asking for a full breakdown of cost. tell him he can answer you or the Judge

 

[CazPaul]

To be honest I know most of the hab service is a big con....unfortunately when you come to sell the van it's sure as damm it the buyer will want a full hab history and as the van has that up to now and it's a £40k van I opted to have that done.

The original £500 including vat I was fine with for both services thinking it would at least give peace of mind.

It's the additional work that I'm unhappy with mainly as I don't think it had the leaks when it went in for the service, and then the fact they did the work using the most expensive parts without at least talking to me first and giving options. Without the old parts or the receipts for the new parts for all I know they could have bought the parts anywhere at a fraction of the cost they charged me. And 4 hours labour to fit a filter housing, 3 hose clips and refill coolant seems more than excessive.

It's money I really could have done without spending at the minute so it stings a little.

I don't think people would want a full hab history when buying an old van, surely not, I wouldn't even give 2 minutes thought to that, seriously. Engine history more important and the condition of the hab etc at time of sale.

 

[irnbru]

Its a bit strange looking there are no figures of the damp readings on the vehicle image. Why is it blank?

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[Northernraider]

Have you sat back and thought the service centre may be right and the work did need doing?
All the resident forum experts on here are crucifying somebody’s business and livelihood on this forum without any proof that he had has ripped you off. You are just assuming many facts.
I am all for passing on information of dodgy dealers etc to other forum users but not until proven.

To be fair I'm not assuming much , I just know the van ran beautifuly it has never missed a beat it didn't leave any marks anywhere it was parked and just last month when I was under the van at the tyre fitters there wasn't any sign of leaks.

Of course there is the possibility the leak just happened but you have to admit that's a long shot.
And it doesn't excuse fitting the parts and doing the work without seeking authorisation first.

Imagine if I hadn't the money to pay for it?

 

[stewartwebr]

Hi, we use Fiat Professional/Iveco truck dealer at Broxburn, AM Phillip Trucktech, they also have facilities at Dundee. Service Manager is called Alan, very friendly helpful guy.

Also heard good reports about Imperial Commercials at Bellshill.

Both though will charge Fiat parts prices and Labour is main dealer prices, have found they will do fixed price Motorhome servicing and negotiate on parts prices.

Hope this helps.

Bill

I thought the same about A M Phillips at Forfar until I returned to find a hole on the side of my motorhome. They were mortified and obviously said they would do all that was required to put right. Fortunately, I wanted an external shower point and the hole was in the place I would have fitted it. Not sure I would trust them again, but agree excellent service and technical knowledge. Just feel they are more focused on large trucks and commercial vehicles so not quite as careful with your pride and joy...mistakes happen I guess.

 

[Northernraider]

I don't think people would want a full hab history when buying an old van, surely not, I wouldn't even give 2 minutes thought to that, seriously. Engine history more important and the condition of the hab etc at time of sale.

I did when I bought it

I wouldn't spend £40k on a van without one

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[Northernraider]

Its a bit strange looking there are no figures of the damp readings on the vehicle image. Why is it blank?

Yep he says he only done high level checks because the van has my stuff in it.

He actually claimed at one point they normally charge people if they have to move things as he had to take 4 shirts out my wardrobe to top up the alde reservoir

 

[irnbru]

Yep he says he only done high level checks because the van has my stuff in it.

He actually claimed at one point they normally charge people if they have to move things as he had to take 4 shirts out my wardrobe to top up the alde reservoir

The point is why are there no readings for anywhere that he didtake readings from. I would request it gets done again and the info completed. The hab damp inspection is useless otherwise.

 

[Northernraider]

£274 17 for a full service kit What the hell did that include

I would be asking for a full breakdown of cost. tell him he can answer you or the Judge

It was supposed to be all filters plus oil , wheels off brakes cleaned adjusted etc
Unfortunately there's no tick/check sheet included so I can't see what they did.

You'll notice they made a comment regarding the screws on the air filter box being difficult to remove.

He told me they removed them with vice grips as they were rounded .......guess what
They also refitted the same screws with vice grips instead of changing a few screws that would have cost pennies ......but happy to fit the most expensive filter housing lol

I don't understand that logic

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[Northernraider]

The point is why are there no readings for anywhere that he didtake readings from. I would request it gets done again and the info completed. The hab damp inspection is useless otherwise.

Yep I strongly suspect he just didn't do it

That said there's no signs of damp in the van I tested it when I bought it and check it myself regularly.

The things I wanted him to check and investigate he hasn't done he obviously couldn't even see the carbon monoxide detector or smoke alarms as he ticked them as non applicable.
He had to ask me how to hook it up to electric as he hadn't seen one with a service hatch before and my hook up is hardwired in to the van.

 

[SpeedyDux]

I've read this thread and understand why @Northernraider is very displeased with the service he got. I've had experience of rip-off bills of £1000+; and worse still, a VW Main Stealership estimate totalling £1,400 for major suspension replacements based on a completely incorrect diagnosis of the actual problem by their Van Centre workshop supervisor, which I declined and I got fixed by a real VW Van expert for £170.

I tend to be dissatisfied with a garage workshop if they do the basic service I asked for, but don't phone to advise me that something quite important ought to be replaced and might fail completely before the next service. Ancillary pulley bearings and drive belts or split driveshaft boots would be my prime examples. Leaks? They never get better, only worse. I am happy to pay for the extra work and parts if it is reasonably necessary to prevent an avoidable return workshop visit, or worse still, a breakdown.

 

[The Wino]

The original quote of £500 For the combined service was inclusive of vat I think it's just under £400 then 20% vat on top.

But yes I stupidly assumed that like other garages I've used in the past that he would have phoned me and said we have found such and such and it needs this part at this cost etc and asked for the go ahead before just doing it.

That's why I think they damaged the filter housing themselves and knew the van wouldn't run without replacing it

We,ve all been there in different situations hindsight is easy

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[Kool Kroozer]

Yes and ripped off, always pays anyone to have a tool kit and learn and know about your MHs workings, its good practice and saves you a lot of money in the long run !

 

[PhilG]

So you put it in for a service because you are going to Portugal, yet you are not happy because the guy repairs things that might cause you to break down , miles from help. I assume you may have mentioned your intent to winter away.

The filter housings are a known problem, and have caused woes for lots of people... as for the hose clips, trust me when i say nobody is going to mess about touching anything with the cooling system , unless they absolutely have to , because its a pain in the arse, especially on campers with all the extra stuff they stick in them.

If you want to buy a genuine filter housing online, fit it yourself, and take all the responsibility for that , then crack on, how hard can it be?


I would say , that without a doubt, he did everything he did, because of your stipulation that it needed to be done in a day , and you lived in it,rather than rebooking it and doing it later, and causing more inconvenience.

There is a reason i got out of the motor trade, this is why.

Put vehicle in for 'peace of mind ' check.

Moan when potentially vehicle stopping issues are nipped in the bud.


All the other 'issues' are down to unrealistic time constraints, IMO.

 

[Northernraider]

So you put it in for a service because you are going to Portugal, yet you are not happy because the guy repairs things that might cause you to break down , miles from help. I assume you may have mentioned your intent to winter away.

The filter housings are a known problem, and have caused woes for lots of people... as for the hose clips, trust me when i say nobody is going to mess about touching anything with the cooling system , unless they absolutely have to , because its a pain in the arse, especially on campers with all the extra stuff they stick in them.

If you want to buy a genuine filter housing online, fit it yourself, and take all the responsibility for that , then crack on, how hard can it be?


I would say , that without a doubt, he did everything he did, because of your stipulation that it needed to be done in a day , and you lived in it,rather than rebooking it and doing it later, and causing more inconvenience.

There is a reason i got out of the motor trade, this is why.

Put vehicle in for 'peace of mind ' check.

Moan when potentially vehicle stopping issues are nipped in the bud.


All the other 'issues' are down to unrealistic time constraints, IMO.

Well your entitled to your opinion but I'll disagree with you.
Mechanics was my first trade...granted I moved away from that a long time ago but I still do most of my own repairs and I know my way around a vehicle.
He claimed he could do the combined service in one day.
With the additional work he did it in 2 days but still did not advise of the filter housing being damaged on the first day he simply said at 5pm it had a diesel leak.
Even the next day he didn't mention where the leak was.
The additional work was not disclosed in detail until I arrived to collect the van
He could easily have told me it was the filter housing on day one and advised of the cost
I'm sure it's probably not the first one he has fitted.
He wasn't at anytime told he had free reign to do anything to the van without authorisation.

And as I said leaks tend to go only one way

And that's down .....where they leave marks.
As the van is parked in exactly the same spot at work for 7 out of 14 days I'd have expected there to be marks on the ground.

And his reluctance/refusal/avoidance to show me the old parts or indeed the receipt/invoice for the purchased parts on my behalf is very suspicious don't you think?
I clearly asked him for that invoice and he told me I didn't need it as he personally warrantied the repair for 12 months
I said to him then that as I'd be in Spain and Portugal I coukd claim on the part from a fiat dealer in Europe if it failed during that time whereas bringing it back to him wasn't an option.
That's when he wrote the part number on the bottom of the invoice shown in the pics above and said just show that to fiat and that will do.

Somehow I'm not convinced

But as i said your entitled to your opinion but don't assume I have no mechanical knowledge......i have plenty

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[tacr2man]

So you put it in for a service because you are going to Portugal, yet you are not happy because the guy repairs things that might cause you to break down , miles from help. I assume you may have mentioned your intent to winter away.

The filter housings are a known problem, and have caused woes for lots of people... as for the hose clips, trust me when i say nobody is going to mess about touching anything with the cooling system , unless they absolutely have to , because its a pain in the arse, especially on campers with all the extra stuff they stick in them.

If you want to buy a genuine filter housing online, fit it yourself, and take all the responsibility for that , then crack on, how hard can it be?


I would say , that without a doubt, he did everything he did, because of your stipulation that it needed to be done in a day , and you lived in it,rather than rebooking it and doing it later, and causing more inconvenience.

There is a reason i got out of the motor trade, this is why.

Put vehicle in for 'peace of mind ' check.

Moan when potentially vehicle stopping issues are nipped in the bud.


All the other 'issues' are down to unrealistic time constraints, IMO.

Seems the customer is always wrong type view . The original post seems pretty reasonable to me , you would expect a bit of bias in his own view. A phone call doesn't take long , and not expensive, and keeping the customer in the loop good practice, as I always did it in business I have operated including the motor trade.
Doing so builds trust and people dont like getting " nasty" surprises, not so critical the other way I always found.
If the agreed job in the time frame agreed started to slip then that was the time for communication .
The OP may not be entirely correct in his view but the way it was all handled contributed to his final view. JMHO

 

[PhilG]

At the end of the day, you are there and i am not, its your money, and your choice ( although i grant you , not one you may have taken had circumstances been different) .

You cant win either way, people moan if you do the work, and people moan if you dont.

I'm glad i'm out of it.

 

[Louis]

To be fair I'm not assuming much , I just know the van ran beautifuly it has never missed a beat it didn't leave any marks anywhere it was parked and just last month when I was under the van at the tyre fitters there wasn't any sign of leaks.

Of course there is the possibility the leak just happened but you have to admit that's a long shot.
And it doesn't excuse fitting the parts and doing the work without seeking authorisation first.

Imagine if I hadn't the money to pay for it?

If you had a leak, you would have smelt

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[Northernraider]

At the end of the day, you are there and i am not, its your money, and your choice ( although i grant you , not one you may have taken had circumstances been different) .

You cant win either way, people moan if you do the work, and people moan if you dont.

I'm glad i'm out of it.

I only moan if I feel I've been wronged

I understand sometimes vehicles don't cooperate and things take longer due to unseen problems etc, I've done many of my own repairs I thought were 15 minute jobs and spent hours doing them, and had parts break while trying to fix other parts....so I'm aware of the problems that can occur.

But it's very easy to spend someone else's money and I feel that's what he did.
Personally I'd have liked the option to choose the part from fiat at £289 or the part from Euro carparts at £110 or eBay at £76

If it had the leak and it's a big IF from me as like I said I had no knowledge of it ...it obviously wasn't severe so I could have got the part and had it fitted later.

Also the full coolant system change was never agreed I'd assumed he would change the 3 hose clips reconnect and bleed.
4 hours seems excessive.

Especially as when I first booked the services he told me the mechanical service took 4 hours and the habitation service took 4 hours and that as such he could get the van turned round in a day as he would get the mechanic stuff done first then the hab service.

So it all just seems suspicious.

As said I wanted the peace of mind but as I no longer trust anything he has said or done with my motorhome I really don't have that and it still cost me more than twice what I initially expected.

That's why I'm moaning.

Communication from him would have helped immensely.

I've read about the issues with these filter housings since this was done and how much of a pain they are which leads me to believe the technition doing the job has broke it when changing the filter ....theyve spent most of day one trying to repair it or disguise it and when time has ran out he's had to tell me it wasn't ready to give them more time next day to fix it .....then they have fitted the only part they could get at short notice and I've paid the cost of that and the time they wasted doing it.

The coolant leaks I suspect were to justify the additional time and cost

That's my theory ...and of course I can't prove it and they know that .....but in my heart I know there was no signs of any leaks

Everyone else on here of course doesn't know that and I understand they have the right to make their own judgement but as fellow vehicle owners I guess I just think like me you will all know your own vehicle.
I invested what to me is a good bit of money in my van,I've poked around at every area of it , tinkered and adjusted things here and there and it's my home at the minute , I don't neglect it and I don't grudge maintaining it.

I just hate the feeling of being lied to and taken advantage of .....and sadly that's how I feel

 

[mushy]

If I am using a garage I know nothing about I ask them to put all the old replaced parts in a box for me.This puts them on edge a bit but so what. I also ask them their labour charge and roughly the cost of the job and to phone me before replacing anything we have not spoken about.

A motorhome is only a shed built on a van chassis basically, so I take mine to a general motor engineer or a commercial based garage for the straight forward mechanical repairs.

I now need to find a hab engineer I can trust without paying a fortune.

 

[Northernraider]

If you had a leak, you would have smelt

I think so and it does leave a black mark

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[Louis]

N

I think so and it does leave a black mark

New pants then

It should have read “smelt the diesel leak”

 

[Northernraider]

N
New pants then

It should have read “smelt the diesel leak”

PMSL yeah I meant the diesel leaves a black mark on ground too haha

 

[Louis]

PMSL yeah I meant the diesel leaves a black mark on ground too haha

I knew it !

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[Musicboy]

I haven't used a garage for years & certainly wouldn't given all the info on these threads .
I use mobile mechanics/ fitters... Ya can see what they are doing & even examine what parts are being used / replaced ....
As for hab checks ... Most checks are usually visual & checking systems work ... Well .!!! . We all do that don't we ....
My idea is .... if there is a fault on an item then get that fixed . Sorted .... I certainly wouldn't trust anyone for a hab check as they can just make errors up as they go along ...
Like most we have been bitten before .... Its a disgrace really ...
I do most work myself & anything I can't handle , I pay a mobile bloke to come out ....
Most mobile operators use to work for dealerships ... Talking them ya will be horrified ... That's why most go solo ...
My last experience with a dealer , just for a service .... I requested that I have the old air filter .. oil filter ... diesel fuel filter & two disc pads from the front .... WOW .... It was like I swore at them .... After several chats with workshop manager & even the Boss ,,,, they concluded that they couldn't show the used items as they re cycle them .... I said I would recycle them ... After 15 mins I knew this was a lost cause ....
I drove off .....
Just saying .... we all have to very careful ... Walk away from anyone who fails to respond to questions & mark your oil filter etc with a indelabel marker pen .... & then tell them ya have done so .... ummmm ... If they are ok they will ve fine .. if not ... drove off .....

 

[Musicboy]

Further more ( don't mean to blab on ) but someone mentioned in a previous post that a motohomers we should always go through the van & make ourselves familiar with its workings ... Some may be frightened by doing this dependent on their own abilities , but it's well worth while ....
Myself & many others go through our vans , front to back ....up & down & undeneath .... inside & out ....
I personally will remove panels ... flooring etc to inspect the workings of the vsn ... piping ... waste ... power cable ... mains ... 12v .... Personally I think it's well worth it .... & if I consider necessary make improvements .... All in the knowledge that you are satisfied & you have done it yourself & not some jobs worth telling you untruths .....
it's also very much peace of mind satisfaction .... ie ... If ya hear something on the van or something not quite correct , ya can visualise where the prob may be. ... Ok. .. maybe not but it doesn't cost ya anything ay ..... & something ya may even be able to fix yourself .... Just saying .... The joys of motorhoming ... Wonderful,....

 

[Northernraider]

Further more ( don't mean to blab on ) but someone mentioned in a previous post that a motohomers we should always go through the van & make ourselves familiar with its workings ... Some may be frightened by doing this dependent on their own abilities , but it's well worth while ....
Myself & many others go through our vans , front to back ....up & down & undeneath .... inside & out ....
I personally will remove panels ... flooring etc to inspect the workings of the vsn ... piping ... waste ... power cable ... mains ... 12v .... Personally I think it's well worth it .... & if I consider necessary make improvements .... All in the knowledge that you are satisfied & you have done it yourself & not some jobs worth telling you untruths .....
it's also very much peace of mind satisfaction .... ie ... If ya hear something on the van or something not quite correct , ya can visualise where the prob may be. ... Ok. .. maybe not but it doesn't cost ya anything ay ..... & something ya may even be able to fix yourself .... Just saying .... The joys of motorhoming ... Wonderful,....

Couldn't agree more ....electrics are my down fall im not good with them but mechanical and plumbing etc I will normally have a go. The downside of my mh is it's size and weight it's 5.2 tonne and 8.5 metres long so even changing the oil isn't easy.

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[The Dotties]

Same here, Ipswich to Cheltenham for service and mot. motorhome medics. Fit it in as part of a holiday.

Ollie.
Where do you go to in Cheltenham?
I use a local to me garage on the edge of Gloucester, and in fairness seems to do a good job, but I haven't used anybody else to compare.
Geoff

 

[Musicboy]

Oh yes (northernraider) . We all have our different skill sets. ..
I've had a few large RV .... & still used mobile mechanics ... If they have the right kit they just get on with it . They will let ya know if it's too much for them .... Personally I don't do engine mechanics apart from check oil etc , but always had good service from mobile operators ... Yep ,,, bigger the van , more work . It's just the mass ..... I hope ya van will get sorted as It's good bit of kit ... Cheers

 

[olley]

Ollie.
Where do you go to in Cheltenham?
I use a local to me garage on the edge of Gloucester, and in fairness seems to do a good job, but I haven't used anybody else to compare.
Geoff

Motorhome Medics http://www.motorhomemedics.co.uk
They are in with a coach company who do the Mots, really good couple of guys. Phoned me up one year when they were doing the service and said " no point in doing an oil change, you ain't been nowhere since last time".
We go shopping in Cheltenham while they do it. Briarfields campsite just up the road, handy but a bit dear, we use court farm at Twigworth near Gloucester.

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