Just wondered if any other women are completely taken advantage of at garages?

I have just had a new Manual Transmission put in my fiat stilo, I didnt like the garage who did it and took it to another one to get my air con fixed and just out of curiosity asked them to see if it had had work done recently on its gearbox.  The reply I got from the mechanic was the original clips were still on the gear box and it hadnt been touched since being manufactured.

Hmmmmmm  Now what do I do???  Im soo angry as the guy who "fixed" the gearbox accused me of damaging the courtesy car I had from them and said he would send me a £200 bill for the damage.....  I havent recieved this bill and this is what made me think he had made enough profit from the gearbox as not to chase the damage on the courtesy car (which I didnt cause by the way).

The gearbox was done under warranty but he told me my condenser had gone in my air con but wouldnt be covered by warranty, Lucky I didnt take it back to him and the new garage told me it was a £28.80 pipe that was broke on my air con not the condenser.  Im worried about other people (women) using this garage as he is very intimidating, bet he wouldnt be if I was a man!!!!!!  Im going to report him to the head office of the car manufacturer.

(I hope this isnt causing any probs with libel admin, hopefully not as I aint mentioned any names)

I'm quite lucky as my brother in law is an ex mechanic so if I'm wary of a garage and their diagnosis I check with him first. If I was in your position I would ask around your friends and family who they use. It awful that tradesmen try to take advantage of women but this sometimes happens to men too. (we women do it all the time) :-D

I used to work in a garage a few years ago now, and one of my jobs was typing out people's bills when the mechanic's used to bring their cards over with details on the back, eg. half an hour's labour - quite often the boss would come sailing past, have a quick look at the card, cross it out and write on one hour's labour! Just things like that to up the price.  And this was a well respected garage, but if people had only known!  After that, I wouldn't trust any garage now!
  Hilda

I would speak to Trading Standards, the garage may be "known" to them and they may have a look into it for you.  If you are a member of AA or RAC they might take an interest too.  Men get ripped off too sometimes :)

Good Idea didnt think of trading standards or the AA...  Im like a dog with a bone now I wont let this go especially as he was soooo aggresive with me.  I got the name of the garage through the manufacturers official website, which I think he needs taking off for sure. 

He also replaced 3 tyres he said were road illegal!! Now I feel such a fool for believing him.

Trading standards will be helpfull when you eventually get through to someone - they have to call you back :rolleyes: How old is the car? They might advise you to get an independant report of the condition of the vehicle in its current condition which will set you back a bit from £100 to £300ish depending where you go although im not sure if a rac check will be ok it might need a more indepth report I had problems with a garage who repaired my engine and it had to go back several times 2 recon engines and 3 months intotal off the road so i do feel for you. Also if you havent already get a written report on the exact work carried out on your car from the garage, if they are not willing to give this then tell trading standards in your complaint.
If it needs fixing then the garage are wholely responsible to carry out any work neccessary to corect the problem and you have to give them a chance of fixing it, although if they have charged you for work not carried out you will have to prove this by an independant report which will be an indepth one as it will involve removal of some parts to clarify the situation.

I've currently got a dispute going on with a major car manufacturer.

I've spoken to Trading Standards and they have been very helpful.

I have always dealt with main dealers and realise that they are no better with their tactics than the local independent garage. I had cause to complain to the motor manufacturer about one of their dealers and all they said to me was "they're a franchised dealer, therefore we have no control over them"!!

A couple of years ago, my car went in for a standard service and the dealership rang me up telling me that I needed a new power steering pump on my then 2 yr old car, but they would do it under warranty but I would still be liable for 25% of the cost. I told them to go ahead and replace it, but I wanted the old pump so that I could send it off to get an independent test done on it by the manufacturer and miraculously.........they said that they would do it anyway with no cost to myself as a goodwill gesture :rolleyes:

Thankfully, because of the business that we're in, we hear all the tricks in the trade.

Explain the whole story to TS's and they should then be able to guide you and if necessary, advise you to seek legal advice :)

Good luck

Thanks everyone Im phoning trading standards tomorrow.  My car is coming up for 3 years old and this garage isnt doing poor work, it is charging for work it isnt doing......  It kept my car for 3 days and didnt so much as open the bonnet.  Cant wait to speak to trading standards and the rac.