Called dishonest at car dealership! What redress?

[needsnewartsyinsta]

I damaged my car a few weeks ago hitting the front bumper and needed the front camera push back into place which required the bumper to be removed.

I got a quote for my local garage and also a quote from the dealership, as the dealership quoted £165 to do the repair as opposed to £150 at the independent garage - they said it's a quick job but they do charge a minimum of 1 hours labour for any job, I decided to go with the dealership as it would be £15 more and my car is less than 3 years old and still under warranty

After dropping the car off I got a phone call today saying that they would need to charge me an extra hour's labour to remove the bumper I authorised the work to go ahead, however when I got there I did ask for records of how long had been spent on my car to justify the additional hours labour. The sales assistant was extremely rude when I explained to her but I was querying the charge for additional hour given that I've been quoted £165 to fix the camera back in place, check the sat nav and check the boot light however when I dropped the car off I said I didn't need these two additional bits of work done doing anymore just the camera put back in place, which i didn't see was 2 hours labour. She said the £165 charge was the initial charge for diagnosis and a flat charge however long diagnosis takes, and that any repaid were extra. I said this had not been explained to me when i was quoted for the work and I was taken by surprise when they called me about the additional charge, i agreed it because I need my car back but I didn't feel the quote had been properly explained to me

After I had paid for 2 hours labour and was ready to go, the sales assistant said to me that I simply didn't want to pay the additional work and I was being dishonest about expecting the quote to be the cost that I would pay. I found this extremely insulting, and asked to see her manager. He spent 10 minutes getting briefed by her, but then said he didn't have time to discuss this with me and he would phone me tomorrow. I I said to him that's fine he could speak to me by phone but I I'm expecting a written apology from the sales assistant.

I bought this car from you at this dealership as I have done with all my previous cars, in the dealership there is a sign saying they will not tolerate abusive aggressive behaviour but I consider that I have been abused. I'm planning to e-mail the manager tonight to set out what's happened, I think calling a customer dishonest is inexcusable, I am in a profession which requires absolute honesty and will not tolerate being spoken to in this way.

Any tips for what I should say to the site manager tomorrow? This is simply unacceptable - unfortunately as my car is still under warranty I will need to go back there for servicing but I'd rather go anywhere else!

You’re not going to get a written apology but just vote with your feet if you feel that miffed - if you need work doing on the car, go to a local garage and when it comes to getting a new car and they’re contacting you, you can say “no thanks, I think I will go elsewhere because of [this experience]”

Total overreaction
Demanding a written apology?

You're definitely going to come off as the unreasonable one and be a joke to them in the break room.

It was a small misunderstanding. You're focusing on the wrong problem to complain about

Still confused about why you chose the place that was more expensive in the first place.

no - they kept the copy I signed! and wouldn''t return it to me

the quote from the dealership was was only £15 more then the independent garage , if I'd known it would be £180 more obviously I would have gone to the independent garage

I really don't care if I am a joke for them in the staff room - what i care about is receiving an apology and ensuring this member of staff learns that it's not acceptable to insult people and accuse them of being dishonest

no - I brought the car into the dealership to get my initial quote and then waited for a week for them to fit my repair in - it was not over the phone as I wanted an accurate quote

I don't think someone calling you dishonest is abusive. But it's clearly not good customer service. So just frame it as you had a poor experience and explain why.
I think demanding written apologies from fairly junior members of staff is a little OTT and somewhat pointless. What good is an insincere apology in writing from a stranger? That's not how customer service works. You'll hopefully get some form of apology or explanation from this manager and that should be sufficient.

How depressing the number of people not only prepared to put up with but thinking we should EXPECT to experience a) cowboy main dealers and b) being called dishonest by them.

if you were to recieve a letter do you think the apology would be honest?

I'm not concerned about the sales assistants personal views or what she personally believes - my concern is the unacceptable and unwarranted way I have been spoken to which I want a written apology for

If you can I would instal an app on your phone that records all your phone calls and then you have a voice recording of what is being said to you. For them to withhold the original paperwork you signed is very telling. I would be asking for it and see what excuse they come up with for not providing it. It is very shitty customer service.

You need never deal with them again, your car can be serviced under warranty by pretty much any other garage. We take ours (7 year warranty cars) to our local garage and support that family run business and have done for years.

Cannot believe you are spending so much tjme and energy being so worked up about something so insignificant. And I say that as someone who often bemoans terrible service and follows it up.

Email dealership manager with details of your complaint, send to the brand too as they will likely take it more seriously, then get on with your life. If they decide to do anything, great. If not, then move on, you're not going to effect any change by persevering if dealership don't see an issue.

Dealerships are very keen on good customer feedback, give a Google review warning others to beware of misquoting and I'm pretty sure they will be in touch to make things right.

The time to argue the price is when they called you about the additional cost. If you didn't want to pay it you should have not authorised them to do the work and taken it to the other garage. Whenever a garage has rang me due to my car needing extra time or work I ask them why before authorising it and get it sent over by email in detail not once have I authorised it then gone to pick my car up and complained about the cost.

I would contact the manufacturer and confirm where you can get work done without infringing the warranty. The independent garage may be perfectly OK. Then you can tell the manager that his employee's customer service was abysmal and you won't be going back. I wouldn't bother with written apologies, a nasty review on Google saying they don't stand behind their quotes and call customers dishonest when they ask for clarification on additional charges would be more to the point.

but I consider that I have been abused.

YABU for that shite.

Again I posted, this seems to be the horrible toxic culture of this industry sadly, the worker themselves will have a bad manager passed down and down the organisation, the business model is not about customer satisfaction it’s profit, they know people will be anxious about warranties and choose dealers and they bury customers in technical details and treat them as if they are stupid. That customer service rep will not have had decent training and pressure on them from above to do/say certain things. I’ve never had a good experience in a car dealership as a female in my life and I’ve had a number of cars. I have had great experiences in independents and where possible that’s what I choose. I do not even think dealers care about bad google reviews tbh.

I thought tyre would be more expensive in dealership but thankfully it wasn’t.

i Miss my honest mechanic but it wasn’t practical when i changed car so I am using dealership

That's not going to happen
You are getting on your high horse because a staff member said something you took insult to when you should be focusing on the way they're tried to rip you off

Demanding apologies just makes you look unreasonable

It's the only way to do in many cases. Imagine a surgeon who doesn't know exactly what they might need to fix until they actually begin the operation.

Obviously always make your own mind up before proceeding with repair work and be prepared to challenge anything odd. But in terms of how labour hours are charged, it is normal for them to be increased following an initial diagnosis.

It sounds like we could potentially be using the same main dealer garage 😂 I’ve asked one bloke way too many times to send me the warranty and service paperwork that I’ve never been given and continue to be ignored 😂🤦🏻‍♀️