So do you think it is because I'm a girl!

Being a female makes them think it's easier to try.
The bad places do it anyone they think doesn't know about their vehicle.
This is one of the reason's I don't like having places work on our vehicles and when I do take them in I will often sit there and watch the guy doing the work.
Been cheated enough in the past.
Then you find the oposite places that are so friendly and helpfull that you leave feeling guilty for paying so little for their time.

Friend took his sister in laws car back to the dealer and asked the manager if each thing in the list had been done. He actually read the list one at a time with was this done. After going through the list he then ask them to come out to the car. Once there he poped the hood and pointed out all his markers followed by a little black box attached to the bonnet. He then again ask was anything done at all. When they said yes it was serviced he then said well how about I send the footage from the camera in that box to fair trading and today tonight with your bill.
Car was then serviced by them under his supervision after hours with all workshop staff staying back till it was done and a full refund.:D

Pity there was no camera in the box.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by austastar

Brake and clutch fluid not checked (they had been drained to half capacity to check)
Tyres were not rotated (marked to check)
Plugs were not changed (marked to check)

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Filthy ****ing scumbags.
Good on you guys for catching them out.

:ohyes:

cheers

I remember years ago i had a company Dunny dore,the A/C drain blocked up.

I took it back to the dealer,& when i went to pick it up,they wanted a signature so they could charge the company for the repair.

After showing them the service manual where it is written it should have been done at the last service,they did a backflip & it was suddenly no charge.

One of our work vans went to the dealer recently for a service,& they rang & said it needs new front disc pads.Now that van had done 60k.we never change the pads until at least 120k,often 150k.We have been using this dealer for 20yrs.

I told the lady on the phone the van must have a problem & it needs to be rectified by themselves as it is still under warranty.
She rings back & tells me they have made a MISTAKE.......yeh sure

When i went to pick up the van,i spoke to the guy who runs the show,& i have delt with him for 20yrs.He eventually admitted that the more work she(the lady i spoke to)puts through,the higher her monthly bonus.

I left it at that,but wont be going back.As said i have been going there for many years,& we have a number of vans,they have lost a good customer.

They try it on anyone,its the old buyer beware....

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Originally Posted by numpty

That must be a very specific salary sacrifice contract, as we can get our Defender serviced wherever we like. It was only ever taken back to the dealer over warranty issues.

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It was probably standard for down south where there is good choice, but the card that came with the car only had 2 places that it could be taken for servicing (national chains) as they were the only ones that accepted the card. Did get it sorted out, and most people I have spoken to seem to have had a good run from salary sacrifice. I suspect that because I was the first 4x4 that they did from the Darwin branch this was the problem, all the other cars had been small city comuter type cars but mostly they had done computers and the like

caveat emptor - make sure you read the fine print.

But this is besides the issue of bad service, it's not just females that it happens to, I am a typical top ender male - beard, tattoos, crew cut, Brad Pitt I'm not :D sort of head that fits into any front bar in Australia (except I'm a wine drinker) so even blokey looking blokes get tried as well.

I guess as a female it may be harder to confront the manager? dunno obviously as I'm not one but I certainly passionately hate being ripped off.

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Originally Posted by V8Ian

In 35 years in the transport industry I've only known one tyre service to shave tyres, it was controversial then and is still not recommended practice.

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Can you imagine any truck owner being willing to have bought and paid for rubber machined off a tyre? Most would want tyres with deeper tread.

There was a retreader in Wollongong who catered to taxi owners, who, incidentally, are the meanest creatures God ever created. This guy had moulds for the common Holden/Falcon sizes with greater tread depth and he used a very hard compound. Taxi owners loved these are they lasted virtually forever and seemed to me to wear in to a high shine and never seemed to wear any more. They were absolutely deadly in the wet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scarry

One of our work vans went to the dealer recently for a service,& they rang & said it needs new front disc pads.

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A good friend's son had his little jelly bean car serviced at the principal Brisbane dealer. Less than two weeks and only a couple of hundred k's later it started making bad noises from one front wheel. A disc pad was so worn it was making metal to metal contact with the rotor. RACQ was called for a roadside assist and the vehicle was towed away.

Now this was a major and expensive service. The wheel bearings were supposed to have been removed and repacked. Obviously they were not. The young man was astute enough to get the RACQ involved and threaten the dealer with the Dept. of Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs for the rip off and Qld. Transport for leaving the vehicle in a dangerous condition. Copies of all correspondence to the relevant ministers and local member, the television do-gooders, and to the vehicle manufacturer.

Result- grovelling apologies from the dealer, the manufacturers service rep. putting a rocket up the dealer, repairs no charge, and reimbursed for the towing.

In the early 1960's, a school mate was an apprentice motor mechanic at a very big dealer. Apprentices did all the oil changes and grease jobs in rotation. He told me they were allowed twenty minutes on the hoist and if not finished were to stick a finger in a tin of grease and dab some on the nipples not yet done to give the appearance of having been serviced. Some vehicles then had as many as thirty grease nipples.

Let's also celebrate the good service we get. The bloke I take my Landie to is top notch. Knows his stuff, especially Landies, shops around to get the best price on parts for me, and so on.

The tyre place I go to is also very helpful, going the extra mile for no charge on occasions.

It's good to celebrate the good experiences, as well as have a thread like this to remind us to be vigilant of the sc__bags. My past experience with that type of low-life would also lead me to believe that it's not just the ladies that they try things on with.

Being a retired spanner I still look after the families vehicles. Having spent most of my working life on the spanners I can tell a few stories.

I changed jobs on a fairly regular basis for numerous reasons. I have worked for some very honest places and some real shonkies and some in between.

I once worked in a small shop that if we were quiet and a "while you wait" automatic transmission service came in, when the pan was removed some tea leaves would be placed in the pan and when mixed with the oil left in the bottom would look like clutch material.

The customer would then be brought into the workshop, shown the pan and told the transmission was on the way out.

Back in 87/88 I worked in a Ford dealership and when a car was brought in for a service it was done properly. Ford Laser 40,000 service included front wheel bearings repacked. It was quite a big job and was always done. There was no pressure put on us to hurry the job.

I used to also do a lot of after hours jobs at home. I had quite a large regular clientele which also included a lot of females.

I treated them no differently than males, in some cases spending more time trying to explain certain things

This is why I still do my own and after reading this thread just reinforces what I already know.

Dave.

I think ageism is a far more prevalent problem than sexism. I've found men over about 30 are particularly wary of younger (say 20s) mechanics/apprentices/sales assistants and prefer to speak with someone older and more "experienced".

Women up to their forties on the other hand are much more comfortable, open and even prefer dealing with younger people (predominantly males) in the same roles. I reckon it's likely due to the fact that they feel like they hold the balance of power in the negotiations.