Gearbox fault light amber and car neither engaging nor starting anymore?

[Bounce]

Originally Posted by niall1

Fooking stealers
They charged me a total of €121 to replace the €6 relay!

It takes 10 mins tops to put the relay in.Even I managed to to it.I would be having words with them.

[shane@mbtech]

Originally Posted by Bounce

It takes 10 mins tops to put the relay in.Even I managed to to it.I would be having words with them.

4 5mm allen key bolts, takes 30 secs tops.

But they cant diagnose things for free,; they have to charge for their expertise. They've fixed it afterall.

[giraffe]

Originally Posted by lawsy

4 5mm allen key bolts, takes 30 secs tops.

But they cant diagnose things for free,; they have to charge for their expertise. They've fixed it afterall.

Agreed i see both sides of this argument as you say replacing relay is quick job but you have to do fault read and follow diagnosis procedure as if you dont and it is warranty we dont get paid . Look at it in positive way he found relay fault rather than replacing a expensive part that you have fitted and problem still there , shouldnt happen but if they dont no the system it could happen . Hope that made you fell bit better

Now for the comments telling me to shut up

[shane@mbtech]

Originally Posted by giraffe

Agreed i see both sides of this argument as you say replacing relay is quick job but you have to do fault read and follow diagnosis procedure as if you dont and it is warranty we dont get paid . Look at it in positive way he found relay fault rather than replacing a expensive part that you have fitted and problem still there , shouldnt happen but if they dont no the system it could happen . Hope that made you fell bit better

Now for the comments telling me to shut up

I own/run my own Garage so I know the feeling well.

If these problems were so easy to fix, the owners would have done it.

We had one guy who came to us, he had taken his car to 3 different garages/auto sparks who couldnt tell him what the issue was. I quoted him 2 hrs labour + vat diagnosis to find the issue. (that gave us enough time to check the lights, check the wiring, check the sam module(gives the power out) and check the indicator stalk was giving signal out). He was fine with this.

We found the fault, it took us 1.5hrs to find, it was the SAM module. It was approx £280+vat for part plus 1.5 hrs lab to fit and code the SAM. He refused the work.

He then came to collect the car, we invoiced him for 1.5hrs, as this is all it took us, not the initial 2 hours I quoted. He didnt want to pay because we had'nt fixed it, what planet did he fucking live on.
He said he shouldnt have to pay anything. We politely told him that we cant work for free, its not our fault he wont pay the cost to fix and that the car would be going nowhere until the bill was paid. We also politely asked him to look at his logic and that we would not be diagnosing things for free to let people get another garage to fit/fix the things that our experience found to be at fault. He paid.

Its not as easy as people think. but thats the joys of business.

[giraffe]

Originally Posted by lawsy

I own/run my own Garage so I know the feeling well.

If these problems were so easy to fix, the owners would have done it.

We had one guy who came to us, he had taken his car to 3 different garages/auto sparks who couldnt tell him what the issue was. I quoted him 2 hrs labour + vat diagnosis to find the issue. (that gave us enough time to check the lights, check the wiring, check the sam module(gives the power out) and check the indicator stalk was giving signal out). He was fine with this.

We found the fault, it took us 1.5hrs to find, it was the SAM module. It was approx £280+vat for part plus 1.5 hrs lab to fit and code the SAM. He refused the work.

He then came to collect the car, we invoiced him for 1.5hrs, as this is all it took us, not the initial 2 hours I quoted. He didnt want to pay because we had'nt fixed it, what planet did he fucking live on.
He said he shouldnt have to pay anything. We politely told him that we cant work for free, its not our fault he wont pay the cost to fix and that the car would be going nowhere until the bill was paid. We also politely asked him to look at his logic and that we would not be diagnosing things for free to let people get another garage to fit/fix the things that our experience found to be at fault. He paid.

Its not as easy as people think. but thats the joys of business.

Perfect example , thanks for the back up

[Mark CSL]

Its always hard to pay big bills for a small fix

[niall1]

Yes i have an insured waranty but I have a €300 excess..:
Edit:
On my phone so didn't see the other posts. I work for myself so know that there's no such thing as 'free time' for staff to be finding faults. I felt a bit done as the relay issue was post two alternators (and two excess payments.. this is the third as it's below the threshold) and itemised on the bill was €12.50 plus VAT for charging the battery. Surely they've had enough out of me and my insurance policy in the past two weeks, not to mention the joyride some one had in the car..

On a positive note they've cleaned my car each 'visit' (I use it as my daily and kids in rugby and soccer gear make a horrible mess!), and the service manager is hoping to have one of my excess payments refunded because the first alternator was obviously faulty having failed in less than 100 miles.
:-)
Niall

[Bounce]

Originally Posted by lawsy

I own/run my own Garage so I know the feeling well.

If these problems were so easy to fix, the owners would have done it.

We had one guy who came to us, he had taken his car to 3 different garages/auto sparks who couldnt tell him what the issue was. I quoted him 2 hrs labour + vat diagnosis to find the issue. (that gave us enough time to check the lights, check the wiring, check the sam module(gives the power out) and check the indicator stalk was giving signal out). He was fine with this.

We found the fault, it took us 1.5hrs to find, it was the SAM module. It was approx £280+vat for part plus 1.5 hrs lab to fit and code the SAM. He refused the work.

He then came to collect the car, we invoiced him for 1.5hrs, as this is all it took us, not the initial 2 hours I quoted. He didnt want to pay because we had'nt fixed it, what planet did he fucking live on.
He said he shouldnt have to pay anything. We politely told him that we cant work for free, its not our fault he wont pay the cost to fix and that the car would be going nowhere until the bill was paid. We also politely asked him to look at his logic and that we would not be diagnosing things for free to let people get another garage to fit/fix the things that our experience found to be at fault. He paid.

Its not as easy as people think. but thats the joys of business.

I know where your coming from Shane,I'm self employed,but sometimes I can't charge what It should have cost,I have to give and take a little,very difficult for big dealerships I know with all the red tape.If they had charged him 50 or 60 quid he probably would have been happy and gone back next time with a bigger issue.

[shane@mbtech]

Originally Posted by Bounce

I know where your coming from Shane,I'm self employed,but sometimes I can't charge what It should have cost,I have to give and take a little,very difficult for big dealerships I know with all the red tape.If they had charged him 50 or 60 quid he probably would have been happy and gone back next time with a bigger issue.

It's hard Brett, sometimes in the long run its better to let things slide. That's the key to a successful, long and fruitful business. Knowing when to not be short sighted. As I said the joys of business.