RT Mechanics – Volvo Specialist’s Repair Gone Wrong!

[mole]

I'm sorry that some choose to misinterpret my Harold Shipman comment, I was in no way inferring Russ was a mass murderer. It was about dishonesty and abuse of trust and no more.

[RollingThunder]

Originally Posted by Nuisance

I ask this question of the forum. How many people here have had poor work done and successfully pursued legal action against a garage with a satisfactory outcome?
Further to that; How many of the ones jumping up and down saying "you should have gone legal first" have actually taken their own advice and succeeded?

I wasn't inferring that legal action should have been taken first - merely that legal advice should be SOUGHT. Knowing where you stand gives you a better footing when negotiating with another party - if you know you have little chance of a legal action succeeding then you know when to call it a day and lick your wounds, and equally if you know that you have a very good case, then it can allow you to 'push' for a satisfactory result more confidently.

And yes, I have followed my own advice and won an out of court settlement - quite often a court summons is enough to get things resolved - if you know you have a solid case to present.

Finally, just to prevent any other misinterpretations (!) I am not suggesting that legal action be taken here (or not) - as I previously stated the original post only portrayed one perspective and its likely there is more to it than initially is apparent.

[the alarming man]

Originally Posted by mole

I'm sorry that some choose to misinterpret my Harold Shipman comment, I was in no way inferring Russ was a mass murderer. It was about dishonesty and abuse of trust and no more.

dishonesty and abuse of trust?????....it would seem russ as tried to put things right ...but when a customer states he is recording telephone conversations as a company director you do have the right to deal through your solicitor,as i previously stated recording call without prior consent of both parties (i.e our calls are some times recorded for training and quality purposes if after the message you dont put the phone down you are acepting your call we be recorded) is illegal in itself

[strbryan]

Aren't you missing the point here?Whether Greg did (or did not) record a conversation is besides the point.

Greg has a car that is FUBAR'd

I also recall that Greg played no part in sending Russ on his merry ways BUT was indeed his dad.Greg has apologised to Russ for his dads actions But is that any reason for Russ to refuse to fix Greg's car?

I seem to remember other loyal customers of RT mechanics who have been told to sod off once they realised they weren't getting the service they where paying for

[Nuisance]

I was just seeking to illustrate how much of a PITA it can be to deal with things through legal channels. Especially if the other party attempts to dispute matters.

Knowing what I know, I think that Greg has a much stronger case than most of us in his position did. Many of us had allowed sufficient time to elapse, and others to "look" at the cars before taking action. This allowed the defence of "someone else has interfered with what you see" to be used by the offending mechanic. Greg promptly had his car with a representative of the manufacturer who were able to compile a report in good time. That is a huge bonus.


I do not in any way seek to deter Greg from following the correct path.

I do know that when it is frequently said "you should deal with this legally before posting here" that such a situation is frequently a little optimistic, and as is true in this case, the complainant has already exhausted all reasonable diplomatic channels.

As was true in my case I had reached a point where Hamish had said "that car does not come back here" in response to a perfectly civil request for them to further investigate the poor performance of the tune, Adam had even invited it back when Hamish turned around and said No. Similarly with SW Autos I reached a point where Stuart had started denying that the fuel tank leak was anything to do with the fitting of the pump.

I do not in any way condone bad mouthing of businesses that have not had reasonable opportunity to provide a satisfactory resolution in good time.
I have had a minor hiccup with the Braydon Motor Company, and initially I could have kicked off if I was so inclined, but to their credit they swiftly and courteously resolved the issue to my satisfaction. I took this as being a positive experience and remained confident that their ability to resolve such issues without fuss would ensure that future work would be of a satisfactory and professional standard. I returned there happily on many occasions and have since recommended their services to others. No business performs perfect work 100% of the time, but to identify errors and resolve them in a prompt and efficient manner (no matter what the cost) is a sign of a good trustworthy business.

As seems the case with Greg, more than adequate provision was allowed for the garage to rectify matters and it was the garage that had ceased dealing with the customer.

Having read Greg's correspondence It seems that he has exhausted all reasonable measures to resolve the matter amicably with the garage prior to posting his experiences on the internet.

There can be a fine line between "airing one's dirty laundry" and allowing others to see what you have been through in order that they do not experience the same thing.

Not only are these things a let down to the person involved, but all those who have recommended the services of the trader over the years can be left feeling very uncomfortable.

I do not wish to take sides here, and have no comment to make on the workmanship of the garage, however I find the process that is being played out in this dispute rather sadly all too familiar. When are we ever going to see an honourable trader turning around in the 11th hour and saying "I will resolve this mess"?
I understand the despair, frustration, and embarrassment felt when such a betrayal of trust is experienced. When you have spent large sums of money, well "over the odds", in the expectation that you were receiving the best available service, and were prepared to do so, one is left with a huge sense of betrayal when all goes pear shaped and you are told to "sod off".

£11,000 is a lot to spend on maintaining an 850, but not when you believe it's getting the best attention. I have spent over that much on my P2 V70, and now I have a superb car, but in all honesty thanks to VT and SW I have spent at least £7,000 that I really didn't need to spend. I think that had I not got suckered with these forum "specialist garages" I could have spent £4,000 and got the same results.

One has to ask why Greg was of the belief that he was getting the best attention, and a huge amount of blame (or credit) lies with internet forum users. All the hype surrounding these traders over the years has provided them with a huge cash cow, an ability to charge a premium for services that would be had at dealer prices or less elsewhere.

As these "Specialist Garages" benefit hugely from large amounts of forum hype, it is only fair that they face up to their actions in the same place. How often they sit there reaping all the rewards of glowing reports from "normal" service, yet when the result of their poorer actions becomes public all sorts of attempts are made to hush it up.

I get sick to death of seeing incredibly snivelling ass kissing posts saying "I've just been to Hardy and Laurel's and what a wonderful place they are" "I've just paid them some money and they did what one would expect them to" "What a wonderful human being Hardy is" "You should all go there" It's more worrying when all the "miracle" work is in reality rudimentary mechanics, one tends to fear an eventual disaster with such highly inflated expectations.

Such overly glowing praise can lead others into escalating the praise to put these traders on an almost god-like level. The reality is that the bloke is a mechanic, and when it turns out that he's a reasonably average one at that it all comes falling down around his ears. What was "the greatest Volvo mechanic in the world" with "the fastest Volvo in the world" (and he actually believed it) turns out to be nothing of the sort. Even worse when this "fastest Volvo in the world" is really a sales excersise just for the forums, yet it leaves "mere mortal" forum users in total awe, and wanting a little bit of this on their car. (I'm not referring to RT here, but the hype that surrounded SW, and "THE 850" if you choose to make a comparison then that's your choice)

It was with such expectation that I received a terrible result. Having experienced good things with rudimentary tasks, I opted for a more complex custom job, it was here, in uncharted waters that it all went wrong. Yet many times since I have read quotes dismissing the experiences of those of us who have had poor service based on the experiences of others who have had nothing more than a software upload.

I urge all forum users to tread very carefully with these seemingly brilliant "experts" and look upon them with perspective.

Personally I now do basic bits myself, use a mechanic I know personally, and other stuff from a Volvo dealer. I will never go near one of these internet specialists again.

[Nuisance]

Originally Posted by the alarming man

but when a customer states he is recording telephone conversations as a company director you do have the right to deal through your solicitor,as i previously stated recording call without prior consent of both parties (i.e our calls are some times recorded for training and quality purposes if after the message you dont put the phone down you are acepting your call we be recorded) is illegal in itself

And irrelevant.

[the alarming man]

Originally Posted by Nuisance

And irrelevant.

explain

[Nuisance]

Originally Posted by the alarming man

explain

Quite simple.

The point of issue here is the level of service a customer did or did not receive from a motor trader.

What is not a issue is what the customer may or may not have done regarding the recording of a personal telephone conversation of their own. This is a totally separate subject, and one being confused here with what Greg and RT are disputing.

I detect a slight wish to in some way tarnish the image of the plaintiff for whatever reason in order to satisfy some agenda.

So far we've had offence over the name Shipman, and distractions over UK intercept law / personal recording rights.

A good working knowledge of regulations regarding PERSONAL recording rights would also not go amiss here.

[Nuisance]

Originally Posted by the alarming man

i previously stated recording call without prior consent of both parties is illegal in itself

I would be most interested to see an example of which law this action by a private individual whom was one of the parties to the conversation is in breach.

[GregE102]

Originally Posted by the alarming man

dishonesty and abuse of trust?????....it would seem russ as tried to put things right ...but when a customer states he is recording telephone conversations as a company director you do have the right to deal through your solicitor,as i previously stated recording call without prior consent of both parties (i.e our calls are some times recorded for training and quality purposes if after the message you dont put the phone down you are accepting your call we be recorded) is illegal in itself

Hello there

I can see that what i have said has upset you deeply! So I offer to you my apologize to you.

But i did not do this as it is not addmisable in court of law anyway so what would have been the point?

Regards Greg