Picked my car up from the body shop after some "refinishing" - Page 2

m5rosemont83 · 17th October 2011, 20:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by master345

File a Small Claims suit and keep a dialogue with them. When they receive the small claims notice, they will know you are serious.

The mileage is key. Can you prove they drove the car 24 unnecessary miles? Or did you just guess that. Did they write down the mileage when you brought it in? Did the shop know it had indeed been driven 24 miles? If you can not prove the 24 mile usage, I think you're sunk. But if you can, then a judge will ask the shop why they had driven so far for a little problem.

I wrote the mileage on the list I gave them.
He acknowledged 24 miles driven verbally but on paper he wont.
Pretty sure small claims will get me nowhere in this case

hellrot · 17th October 2011, 20:19

i might chalk this one up and let karma play its role, as it seems as though it may be more of a hassle than anything trying to pursue this...if you feel confident about it, then by all means pursue...from what it sounds like, i would think that the clutch was on its last leg anyways and needed to be replaced very soon...you probably knew that already since you had a clutch/flywheel waiting to go in...just my opinion...

please don't think i'm not on your side on this one, as i am 100%...just doesn't seem like there is enough on your side to come out on top...

m5rosemont83 · 17th October 2011, 20:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellrot

i might chalk this one up and let karma play its role, as it seems as though it may be more of a hassle than anything trying to pursue this...if you feel confident about it, then by all means pursue...from what it sounds like, i would think that the clutch was on its last leg anyways and needed to be replaced very soon...you probably knew that already since you had a clutch/flywheel waiting to go in...just my opinion...

please don't think i'm not on your side on this one, as i am 100%...just doesn't seem like there is enough on your side to come out on top...

It was starting to go. Bought the parts as preventative.
Never slipped no matter what gear or rpm.
Assholes probably were thinking I wouldn't notice if they played around.
But that's besides the point. Toasting a customers clutch is wrong and F@$#ed up.

But ur right about me being at a disadvantage.

AndrewAZ · 17th October 2011, 20:44

time to play with matches

sor118 · 17th October 2011, 20:49

Man that SUCKS and this is a perfect example of why I hate taking my car to any shop and try to do everything on my own. There unfortunately seems to exist a lack of pride in workmanship, business ethics, and respect for other's peoples property within the last decade to the freakin' present. It's very damn disconcerting.

When a shop has to work on my beast, I take video of the car in and out plus mileage on the cluster just before I hand it over to the shop. I also read them the riot act to ensure they know I am serious. I also do what ARD does and write down no authorization for driving off premises unless contacted and authorized.

It's a bloody shame that because of all this crap, we have to make ourselves look like a bunch of paranoid fools... but we have to protect ourselves.

Speak to the manager about the situation and contact your insurance company to let them know what is going on to see if they can apply pressure if at all possible.

Best of luck man.

master345 · 17th October 2011, 20:51

If it was starting to go, it seems likely that they pushed it over the top with their joy-ride. So maybe it would have gone another 1000-2000 miles if they didn't do that. So from that prospective, you would have been replacing in the near future anyway.

So that's why you shouldn't be too bummed about it. Yes, what they did sucks, but when you think about it, you're really not that much worse off from their unprofessionalism. You were going to replace it anyway, so in the end, they didn't change the course of events.

Bimmerbear · 17th October 2011, 21:18

Change your clutch and throw the old one through their window.

Strike · 17th October 2011, 21:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by sor118

Man that SUCKS and this is a perfect example of why I hate taking my car to any shop and try to do everything on my own. There unfortunately seems to exist a lack of pride in workmanship, business ethics, and respect for other's peoples property within the last decade to the freakin' present. It's very damn disconcerting.

This is very true and unfortunate. It's the same reason why the only time I will ever let a shop touch my car is for an inspection, alignment, or to mount/balance. When I can, I'll remove the wheels and just bring those!

Sadly when I was younger I worked as a technician and a valet at times. When people would come in with a car like ours I would definitely check it out a bit. Not quite like this, never racked up miles or put it in a position where parts would be damaged, but I definitely would have done more than just drive it into and out of the bay and/or spot. I'm not defending it at all. I've been part of the problem that I now try to avoid. It's sad but will probably never change and we should all be careful.

m5rosemont83 · 17th October 2011, 21:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by master345

If it was starting to go, it seems likely that they pushed it over the top with their joy-ride. So maybe it would have gone another 1000-2000 miles if they didn't do that. So from that prospective, you would have been replacing in the near future anyway.

So that's why you shouldn't be too bummed about it. Yes, what they did sucks, but when you think about it, you're really not that much worse off from their unprofessionalism. You were going to replace it anyway, so in the end, they didn't change the course of events.

No.. It wasn't going to go in 1000 to 2000 miles..
There was only 40K on this clutch.
I'm pretty sure it had 5-10k left there was no slippage at all.
Its easy to burn a clutch to hell with this car in a very short time.
Does it bother me? Hell yeah. Am I gonna let it get to me? No.
Don't want to change the clutch on my own so gonna go to my buddy's shop.
My mechanic is awesome and on Thursday he said we'll get it done.

Leezamonkey · 17th October 2011, 22:08

Feel for ya buddy, stuff like this annoys me and I'm glad I can do quite a bit myself. If I do drop it off for work to be done, I record mileage and strictly say no driving it at all. They know me so don't take the piss. Still look at it this way, you get to have a new clutch and don't forget to change some other seals and what not while it's all off. Think of it as a kick up the *****. Good luck