M.T.A Disputes and Mediation.

[clintondane]

I dropped our car in for a warrant this morning at a Dunedin garage, i bought 2 great condition 2nd hand tyres from the same place and got a wheel alignment done at the same time. I was quoted a total of $240 which seemed ok.

I got a call to go pick the car up and was informed the bill totalled well over $300. I argued that i was verbally quoted a price and since nothing other than what was agreed upon was done how could that be. The answer was their prices didn't inclide GST, this only gave me more ammunition as no one had told me that and there were no signs informing customers as such. Their final fuckup was telling me they were gomma hold onto our car til i paid the substantial difference. Needless to say i nutted off I got in touch with my lawyer amd she suggested i was legally right on all counts i could have picked my car up with my spare keys. She also suggested calling the MTA and reporting the problem. I did that and 5 minutes or so after hanging up had a call from them telling me the garage had agreed to the original figure.

The moral of this story is if you feel your MTA accredited garage are shafting you, call the MTA mediation team. Their number is 0508 682 633.

Sorry for such a long winded story but didn't feel like answering questions should there be any.

Cheers.

[Joker]

grind my gears and fun bits tickled all in one thread!

well done for standing your ground : thats why I only "estimate" costs these days and never "quote"

[clintondane]

If they'd said,"look, the price may vary from X to Y" i wouldnt have had a problem but considering there was no mechanical work involved and as such no parts or labour to pay for there was no reason to think the price quoted would vary.

When i went to pay the bill the guy had a go at me, lol. I'm 6'1 and a big guy so i had to laugh at the little prick trying to be hard, lol. After i was done laughing i said to him, what did he expect me to do, just pay the bill? I told him I'm not into being assfucked and even less in to saying thankyou afterwards. Also suggested they try choose people they wanna shaft more carefully as not everyone is a pushover or thick. Tosser! Scares me to think how many people would just pay and leave without standing up to these types of places.

[Joker]

but there's the problem : parts are a fixed cost

Labour can vary from job to job, all for the sake of a stuck nut or trying to make the wrong "customer supplied" part fit (not saying this is the case)

my point is that sometimes it CAN take an hr to do a 10 min job when the UN-foreseeable pops up, and they tried to charge you for it, which as you pointed out is not on when "quoted" a figure

I just lost myself...

I think my point was times are tough and I can appreciate them "trying" to recoup costs IF it took longer than expected

[wrx_lou]

Labour on doing an alignment shouldnt vary that much. Yes it does between a 2wd and 4wd/awd car but they are usualy done at fixed prices. 99% of places have a fixed price anyway.

[clintondane]

 wrx_lou said:

Labour on doing an alignment shouldnt vary that much. Yes it does between a 2wd and 4wd/awd car but they are usualy done at fixed prices. 99% of places have a fixed price anyway.

Exactly

[boon]

I'm sure you've twigged already but I wouldn't be taking my car back to the same place ever again.

[clintondane]

Oh hell no! Midway Motors by the way is who it was. Have taken our car there a few times without incident although they have fucked up a couple things. Don't know how their head mechanic was a top subaru mechanic once upon a time? Will be going to Sims Brothers from now on i think.

[Andrew NR]

I've heard good things about Sims too but I have a mate who's a mechanic and does all my servicing and repairs nice and cheap. I can put you on to him if you want Clint, I'm sure he'd love the extra cash.

[clintondane]

Yea that'd be good, thanks andrew.

[Ben]

Nothing but good from sims. The place in Andersons Bay is excellent. Id happily take my car there for general maintenance over the Southern Subaru dealer.

[clintondane]

My partners mum takes her car to Sims i think? Will definitely be keeping them in mind.