The Motor Ombudsman and disputing a garage repair bill

Has anyone used the Motor Ombudsman and are they impartial or in the pockets of the garages?

We had a quote for a repair, the garage then wanted to add a load more labour halfway through due to problems getting a couple of bolts out, I tried to negotiate the labour down unsuccessfully but then agreed a revised quote to continue the work.  A few days later they advise the work is complete but the bill has gone up again for random fixings (I can swallow that) but also as they forgot to include part of the work on the previous quote.

All correspondence is on email and the revised quote I agreed was worded as the ‘total invoice’.

It looks like I need to try and resolve it directly, then pay anything noting on the invoice ‘payment under dispute’, then go through the rigmarole of an 8 week complaints process with the dealer, and only then can I raise a complaint with the ombudsman.

Wondering if there is any other advice or perhaps credit card protection?

Is small claims an option for this sort if thing?

‘Quote’ and ‘Forgot to include’ equals tough shit. If they forgot to include the cost of something in the quote for work you requested them to do, they should suck it up. Additionally, if they’re an experienced garage, they’ll know when fixings are going to be rusted/a bugger to work on etc and allow for it. Unless the work was ‘take it to bits to see what’s wrong then quote for repair’, they should stick by the original quote and you should make sure they do. Sod em.

Is this a main dealer? If so I would start by complaining to the manufacturer as well

I have used the ombudsman before for a PCP issue and it took years to resolve. The problem is if you don’t pay the invoice then I presume you are not going to get your car back?

Quote or estimate…..

Is the garage registered with the ombudsman? I’d never heard of it before as a thing

It’s a main dealer and they are registered with the ombudsman.

Fault, grinding from steering and stiff steering and failing to self centre (no fault lights).

I had a estimate and then they strongly recommended a diagnostics (rant deleted about that experience) which turned out to be an opportunity to present me with a video and nearly £3k of extra work.

I then rejected all work except that required for the original fault and got a message back with the approved cost.

Rant deleted about magical disappearing parts, and needlessly buying a banger to tide us over.

Work starts and they want nearly £500 of extra labour as there are two seized bolts securing the hubs. Apparently it’s taken two mechanics 6 hours (12hrs labour) to fail to undo both bolts and drill one side out.  I’m not sure what the second mechanic was doing, must have been telling the first which way to turn the breaker bar, or perhaps he was mopping the other guys brow?

The book time for the repair is 1.9hrs.  I’d expect to struggle for hours under a car on axle stands but I can’t see a pro with all the tools/lifts struggling for hours on end to remove a bolt. I’m pretty sure the ones they are taking about are a pinch bolt with a nut the other side, you’d just cut the thing off or use a nut splitter after 15 minutes wouldn’t you?!

I agreed a new ‘total invoice’ and then the next email states the work is complete but they forgot to include the alignment and they also needed some extra fixings.

I could just leave the car there as we were expecting to be without it until the beginning of July at the minimum anyway hence spending £1500 on a banger days earlier but I don’t trust them one bit and would rather not leave the car in their care.  And I expect once things get a bit heated they’ll decide there will be a storage fee.

Thanks for any further tales of woe/success!!

It’s a main dealer

of course it is. Which brand?

Let’s be generous and believe that they spent a day trying to remove a couple of bolts. As you suggest, this does not inspire confidence. Given their unlimited funding approach to fixing things wouldn’t you have expected them to remove the entire assembly and just put new stuff in?

sorry to hear about your woes OP. Sometimes I found main dealers (MB) would negotiate wild labor charges a bit. My past experiences with VAG dealers were not as good. Good luck getting your car back for an acceptable price.

Volvo! So frustrating…when we were told it was a main dealer only job (backed up by the internet) we thought although expensive, at least it will be a simple job for them that they know inside out, with no nasty surprises (unforeseen work) or follow up issues from a garage doing that model for the first time!

It’s put me off them for life…we normally buy 3yr old cars and run them until they enter banger status we are possibly going to chop it in early now and get something else, especially if replacing electrical components are going to routinely need to be brand new and coding in by Volvo 🙄

PS It needed a whole steering rack, they’ve managed to design it so you can’t just replace the motor.  They said they couldn’t get the hubs off, suppose I should just be glad they don’t come as an all in one assembly along with the exhaust!

Solicitor/Citizens Advice

See if your Local Authority has a Trading Standards Dept.

Had the car been fully main-dealer serviced previously?

What age & mileage?

I’d show up in person, refuse to leave without the car, present your quote and tell them that’s all you agreed to pay for, that your taking your car and paying what they agreed on.

better still , if it’s parked on the lot, take it with the spare key, and then go in and pay

Volvo!

TL:DR version. Volvo main dealer couldn’t fix an alternator fault, despite a couple of new ones and other investigations.

Turned out to be an ECU fault, which was fixed by someone in Sweden remotely plugging into the car here. Massive bill amicably reduced to a sensible repair cost for the actual fault.

It can be done, hope it works out for you

What dealer group?

I’d firstly speak to the dealer principal.

And log a complaint with https://www.volvocars.com/uk/customer-request

Happy to have a look at your estimate and invoice etc..

I’ve been workshop control etc for Nissan and iveco and been a warranty claim manager

Sounds very much the main stealer experience.

Our local Volvo (Arnold f*****g Clark) main dealer couldn’t replace a radiator under warranty without leaving a small leak still or able to get coolant levels correct….

Not Derby Volvo..? Who are the reason I didn’t order a new Volvo. They c**ked up a DMF and clutch change on my v60 which left be stranded on a busy roundabout waiting for the AA. The manager there basically laughed at me and said not their fault and I quote ‘we don’t build them!’

No but it says f***ing Volvo in big letters over the door and the part that failed has just been worked on by your team.

Loved the car, not the dealer.

I’d never buy a car from Arnold Clarke

A lot of main dealers seem to have one brand trained “Master Tech” (lol), you really are better off at a trusted independent.

Took a car to a main dealer once as it was cutting out. Turned out to need a new battery, final invoice was around £600 for the wasted diagnostic time. But the funny part was on the initial examination they gave a quote for well over a grand’s worth of unrelated work, eg loose wing mirror (it was fine). Had this before, there must be gullible people out there who trust them and say yes

I don’t know but

It looks like I need to try and resolve it directly, then pay anything noting on the invoice ‘payment under dispute’, then go through the rigmarole of an 8 week complaints process with the dealer, and only then can I raise a complaint with the ombudsman.

Attempting to resolve a dispute directly before turning to a third party is usually how these things work.  Eg, you can’t refer a parking ‘charge’ to POPLA until you’ve first had a challenge rejected by the parking company.  There are people who would argue “email the CEO of Volvo” or similar, but with a large corporate there will be a process to follow.

I’d have thought however that getting out of paying the inflated costs would be considerably easier than getting a refund of any monies already paid.  Additionally, I’d have thought it unlawful to undertake any work you haven’t authorised.  Them struggling to undo a bolt sounds very much like a “them” problem to me, would they have given you a smaller invoice if the job had turned out to be easier than anticipated?

As I said though, I don’t know, I’m just spitballing ideas.

I’d never buy a car from Arnold Clarke

Wasn’t it AC who got heavily spanked for clocking cars back when odometers were still physical turnydials?  (Apologies to them if I’m misremembering)

Wasn’t it AC who got heavily spanked

Sounds familiar, I can’t remember the exact reason I’d never buy, but there are plenty of horror stories out there to read. If you search nationally for a make/model AC are usually the cheapest or in the lowest three so suckers get pulled in

There’s good and bad AC dealers.

Buying wise they’re pretty cheap due to their size.

Still want to know what bolt it was?

As someone up there said, I’d get the spare keys drive it off the garage then go back in the banger and offer to pay them what they originally quoted.

A main dealer should have a job spec for work detailing the parts, time and grief involved. If they missed some of those elements off, it’s on them.

It seems that for the first time over many weeks, I have managed to swing things in my favour slightly as they are now saying they will honour the last invoice, although they haven’t actually sent it to me.  Still tempted to sign as payment in dispute over the extra labour fiasco but the bill is now ‘only’ £300 higher than expected at a smidge under £2000 so I think I’ll cut my losses rather than drag it out over the summer (and I agreed it although you are over a barrel when this happens)  Thanks for the advice!

Still want to know what bolt it was?

I quote ‘bolts (and screws I think, not completely clear on the voicemail) holding the hubs on’.  The rack is the same as the one fitted to the Focus and the chassis/suspension is meant to be the same as well and a ‘how to’ video for that car says the lower arm pinch bolts are a T55 Torx and an 18mm nut.

Had the car been fully main-dealer serviced previously?

What age & mileage?

Last two or three services have been DIY.  2017/80k.

I’d get the spare keys drive it off

I had thought about using the spare key to ‘steal ‘ the car back but expect it to be blocked in as they’ve already reiterated that the bill needs to be paid before collection. I also thought about temporarily disabling the fob they have (as you can on some vehicles if you lose it) but surprise surprise, you can’t even do that without going to a dealer!

I dunno the specifics of the car, but in all cars I’ve seen a separate hub assembly it’s been four easily accessible bolts that you could drill out.  And even if you messed that up you could get a new hub carrier assembly thing.  12 man-hours seems a rip off for stuck bolts.

Sometimes I found main dealers (MB) would negotiate wild labor charges a bit. My past experiences with VAG dealers were not as good.

It depends on the dealer chain not the brand they carry.  My local VW dealer is Sinclair which is the same group as my MB dealer* and they operate in quite similar ways, which is a good thing.

* I say dealer, I mean parts supplier.  I’ve got no chance of being able to buy an actual car from them.

So they’ve ‘Halfords/Kwick Fitted’ you for an extra £300 over the agreed job price? Is this £300 more than the initial quote or £300 more than the revised/in-between quote?

If the former, mebbies accept but I’d never go back there. I’d speak to the Dealer Principal and explain why you won’t be buying another Volvo from them or taking any future Volvo work to them. I’ve found them to be pretty good once you get away from the shiny suits.

If it’s £300 more than the revised quote, did you agree to the revised quote (give them the go ahead) or did they just do the work then try and plonk another £300 on top of their already revised price? Again speak to the head honcho and tell him (or her) how dissapointed you are and how it’ll affect your future choices. Don’t threaten them, explain rationally why the experience has been sub par especially when Volvo market themselves as a premier brand…

Garages are great when it comes to being cavalier with your money. Much less so when the slippery feckers are footing the bill…

<edit> I would not pay under duress or steal the car from them in the hope of future redress – there lies almost certain dissapointment…

To keep the thread off topic, I’m a serial Volvo buyer and the only issues I have had are with the one bought from Arnold Clark. Issues that could be traced back to Arnold Clark not prepping the car properly for resale. And the sales process was utterly painful. Arnold Clark Inverness, never again, I’d sooner walk.

Regarding the OP I seem to have an opinion that differs from everyone else – a quote isn’t a fixed price, you still have to pay for the actual work that is required.

We use a very local independent so it might help that they know us. But when i collect my car she hands me the keys and says “I’ll invoice you…”

I realise some jobs have to be done by a dealer. Out independent isn’t cheap. It’s a solid hourly rate and full wack for parts. But in 18 years they’ve never been close to pulling a fast one in what needed doing. I thought their quote for a new turbo was steep so took it to some one with a lower rate. They were fine about it. I think independents care more about the customer relationship than dealers and multiples

Quote

Regarding the OP I seem to have an opinion that differs from everyone else – a quote isn’t a fixed price, you still have to pay for the actual work that is required.

Quote

First link on google disagrees

https://www.qualitysolicitors.com/blog/small-claims-advice-car-and-vehicle-repairs#:~:text=If%20a%20garage’s%20quote%20is,expected%20to%20do%20the%20work.

Solicitors want contention…..! My opinion above is just that, an opinion, and subject to change……

The extra £300 was included in the new quote I agreed, the dispute was over other stuff that had been missed so once that was added back in the price went up.  The 3 hours extra labour could be genuine but they claimed they’d already spent 12hrs at their own cost on these two bolts which is what got my back up, and the ‘prediction’ that they needed another 3 hours before the bolts magically come out.

Additionally, a quote needing to be increased as there are additional parts required is a big difference from one being bulked out with extra labour for the same repair.  Book time is 1.9hrs, it should be on them if the bolts are known to seize and they should be upfront about possible issues.

Is it the CV stub axle from the hub? Volvo assemble these dry so the stub doesn’t migrate in use but they inevitably seize. They are difficult to rig any sort of press/puller in situ so the whole strut/hub/driveshaft has to be removed and pressed apart in a large workshop press.

Also a main dealer probably only work on <3year old lease/PCP/warranty period cars and aren’t geared up for cars with a few more years of rust on them.

.double post

Most cars are dry assembled as the lines are run clean.

Without knowing what bolts where seized its hard to say if they are being shit or not

Shame it wasnt a Passat or molegrips would have done it the day before your holiday 😉

I find threads like this much the same as football threads.  Everybody knows better than the manager.

Glad your sorted

‘only’ £300 higher than expected at a smidge under £2000

<£2,000? ‘‘tis but the cost of a service at some dealers.

‘a quote isn’t a fixed price…’

Au contraire. A quote is a fixed priced based on the information agreed between the two parties. If either party knowingly or wilfully misleads the other, obv the quote may not then apply.

An estimate is an estimate of cost subject to final charges based on what work is actually carried out/required.