Car Scratched At Dealer

[PONTYC4]

Hi all,

 

Can any of you shed some light in this as the dealer doing absolutley nothing about it and I'm going mad trying to get some sense from them!!

 

My car went in to have a warranty repair on a wheel bearing (after 21k). It was with the garage from 8am until 2pm when I went to collect it from the dealers in Cardiff. When collecting it I noticed a 2inch long gouge in the middle of the drivers door which obviously wasn't there before. This is not just a polish out job, it's more or less down to the bare metal.

 

Anyway I went straing back in to let them know what had happened and to find out how they were going to sort it out. They said they had to look at the CCTV to find out where the damage took place and to see who may be responsible, and would contact me in due course. This was appriachin 4 weeks ago0!

 

Needless to say i've made god knows how many phone calls, emails, letter and faxes to them and have had absolutley no respnse.

 

Has anyone any idea what dealer policy seems to be on this as I all I can see is they're hoping if they ignore it long enough the problem will go away!!

[Welshguy]

Hi all,

 

Can any of you shed some light in this as the dealer doing absolutley nothing about it and I'm going mad trying to get some sense from them!!

 

My car went in to have a warranty repair on a wheel bearing (after 21k). It was with the garage from 8am until 2pm when I went to collect it from the dealers in Cardiff. When collecting it I noticed a 2inch long gouge in the middle of the drivers door which obviously wasn't there before. This is not just a polish out job, it's more or less down to the bare metal.

 

Anyway I went straing back in to let them know what had happened and to find out how they were going to sort it out. They said they had to look at the CCTV to find out where the damage took place and to see who may be responsible, and would contact me in due course. This was appriachin 4 weeks ago0!

 

Needless to say i've made god knows how many phone calls, emails, letter and faxes to them and have had absolutley no respnse.

 

Has anyone any idea what dealer policy seems to be on this as I all I can see is they're hoping if they ignore it long enough the problem will go away!!

 

If you left it in their care then they should be responsible for it's welfare, however I'm pretty sure the disclaimer you probably signed allows the dealership to accept no liability in the event of something like this. It depends if THEY made the stratch, or if somebody else did (I.E. if it was parked on the forecourt and somebody just walked past and decided to damage it). Keep kicking up a fuss though and I'm sure they will come good. Just make sure you kick up a fuss in public face-to-face meetings. Nothing a dealership hates more than a customer kicking off in public!

 

Im actually in Cardiff - which dealership are you referring to?

[ham's c4vts]

this may not help, but did you get dealer to look at your car to check for damage before they took keys from you?

the dealer i go to always check and if they dont i tell them too check.

hope you get it sorted mate

[Stuey]

this may not help, but did you get dealer to look at your car to check for damage before they took keys from you?

the dealer i go to always check and if they dont i tell them too check.

hope you get it sorted mate

 

Same for me, they wont let you leave the car there unless they have checked it over. mine went in twice in 2 days and they checked it both times.

[wozza]

Same mine always check the car over as well.

[Rich_Eason]

I always have to guide the dealer to the car as otherwise they'd spend all day looking for it.

 

Besides which I tend to chuff them off a bit as I always park it in amongst all the brand for sale spankers ;)

[PONTYC4]

Thanks for the responses all.

 

The dealers Evans Halshaw in Cardiff. We did the usual signing over of the car and pointed out to them on the form the actual scratch that was on it prior to giving the car to them.

 

On the inspection front it's never once been mentioned to actually look over the vehicle physically , however if it ever goes back there in future (unlikely at the mo!!) I'll be doing exactly that.

 

To be honest the service manger doesn't seem the slightest bit intersted so I can see them hiding behind their t's &c's and me having to sort this out myself ;) :angry:

[Stuey]

I always have to guide the dealer to the car as otherwise they'd spend all day looking for it.

 

Besides which I tend to chuff them off a bit as I always park it in amongst all the brand for sale spankers ;)

 

nothing like a bit of C4 roulette!

[Welshguy]

Thanks for the responses all.

 

The dealers Evans Halshaw in Cardiff. We did the usual signing over of the car and pointed out to them on the form the actual scratch that was on it prior to giving the car to them.

 

On the inspection front it's never once been mentioned to actually look over the vehicle physically , however if it ever goes back there in future (unlikely at the mo!!) I'll be doing exactly that.

 

To be honest the service manger doesn't seem the slightest bit intersted so I can see them hiding behind their t's &c's and me having to sort this out myself ;) :angry:

 

Ahh..Evans Halshaw..was going to try them out in regards to fixing one or two little niggles with the car as I have always previously gone to Jacksons on Bessemer Road. I'm not sure if your familiar with Cardiff but the Jackson's place is purely a garage (no sales) and it's a stone's throw away from Evans Halshaw - They've sometimes not been able to fix faults that I raise but that cannot be faulted in terms of customer service. You are definately made to feel your care matters to them. I would suggest trying them in future? Tell them Mr. O'Leary sent you and no doubt they will smile..I am a regular!

 

As for your current situation...well if you pointed out a stratch while filling in their paperwork and they signed off the car as ok (bar your listed stratch) then I would say they failed in their duty to properly inspect the car and it's their fault if you have discovered a new stratch.

 

The bottom line as I see it - unless the stratch was seen and pointed out to you when looking over the car (and thus mentioned in the paperwork), then it's their responsibility. Threaten them with a call to Citroen UK and see what happens.

[Welshguy]

By the way - any pictures of your car?