The grumpy thread

[dozeydustman]

Oh, and the Saab may now need an indicator switch as the headlamp main/flash function is pissing around

[somewhatfoolish]

22 hours ago, 108 said:

You need to throw the dog in the shower and eat the bread. 

#helpful_suggestion

 

🥲

Shower with the dog #savingenergy

[Datsuncog]

Ask to use the bakery's shower before going home

OR

Bring the bread into the shower with you, wrapped in plastic bags?

 

This is getting a bit like one of those logic riddles involving foxes, chickens, farmers and boats...

[High Jetter]

How about having a convenient cupboard in the kitchen that the bread could go into? Or a bread bin?

[somewhatfoolish]

2 hours ago, High Jetter said:

How about having a convenient cupboard in the kitchen that the bread could go into? Or a bread bin?

Where's the fun in that? Captain sensible.

[Split_Pin]

My dad was ripped off by a main dealer today (no surprise but wait until you hear this right old load of tripe).

He had his 2017 Volvo V40 cross country into John Clark Volvo in Edinburgh for a service and MOT. He's 74 now and hates the long and busy drive in from Linlithgow so they always collected it and dropped it back off which is brilliant.

They delivered it back to him and said that there were some rusty screws on the undertray and they broke it whilst trying to remove it. 

And charged him £400 for a new one (which took 3 days as the wrong part arrived initially)

It also needed a new front damper which was £160 for the part.

For a service, MOT, parts and labour, they charged him TWELVE HUNDERED POUNDS.

I'm below amateur and even I have removed an undertray which has had rusty fixings without breaking the thing. Cutting the bolt and making do with the no doubt countless other fixings would surely have sufficed.

Obviously he is going to complain but I'm beyond words how a main dealer can do this to someone. They obviously saw he was a pensioner who lived in a nice house and just took the piss. 

I'm really angry about it.

[cobblers]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

My dad was ripped off by a main dealer today (no surprise but wait until you hear this right old load of tripe).

He had his 2017 Volvo V40 cross country into John Clark Volvo in Edinburgh for a service and MOT. He's 74 now and hates the long and busy drive in from Linlithgow so they always collected it and dropped it back off which is brilliant.

They delivered it back to him and said that there were some rusty screws on the undertray and they broke it whilst trying to remove it. 

And charged him £400 for a new one (which took 3 days as the wrong part arrived initially)

It also needed a new front damper which was £160 for the part.

For a service, MOT, parts and labour, they charged him TWELVE HUNDERED POUNDS.

I'm below amateur and even I have removed an undertray which has had rusty fixings without breaking the thing. Cutting the bolt and making do with the no doubt countless other fixings would surely have sufficed.

Obviously he is going to complain but I'm beyond words how a main dealer can do this to someone. They obviously saw he was a pensioner who lived in a nice house and just took the piss. 

I'm really angry about it.

I genuinely don't think they do this stuff out of malice, I think the "system" just ends up this way. The guy doing the work is given set times for jobs so if he spends half an hour extra trying to sort the undertray out, it comes out of his own pocket and he'd have to jump through hoops to try an get paid for it, so the procedures just mean they order a new undertray.

Doesn't make the shafting any better, but I always subscribe to the "do not immediately attribute to malice what could otherwise be attributed to incompetence"

[Split_Pin]

Seriously, fuck the mechanics pocket man. My dad has just been charged £400 for a part that could have been taken off without breaking it. So you're saying just suck it up as long as the mechanic doesn't have to pay for it?

I can't believe 4 other folk on here actually liked the above response as well. 

 

[juular]

3 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Seriously, fuck the mechanics pocket man. My dad has just been charged £400 for a part that could have been taken off without breaking it. So you're saying just suck it up as long as the mechanic doesn't have to pay for it?

I can't believe 4 other folk on here actually liked the above response as well. 

 

For the £400 I suspect almost anyone would say, fine, ditch the undertray.  Or cable tie it back on (which is easier in the long run to deal with).

A phonecall would have sorted all of this out.

£400 for an undertray and £160 for a shock isn't incompetence unfortunately, it's blatant profiteering out of people that don't have mechanical knowledge.

[captain_70s]

1 hour ago, cobblers said:

I genuinely don't think they do this stuff out of malice, I think the "system" just ends up this way. The guy doing the work is given set times for jobs so if he spends half an hour extra trying to sort the undertray out, it comes out of his own pocket and he'd have to jump through hoops to try an get paid for it, so the procedures just mean they order a new undertray.

Doesn't make the shafting any better, but I always subscribe to the "do not immediately attribute to malice what could otherwise be attributed to incompetence"

It shouldn't be the customer who has to pay up for the incompetence. 

If you sent your car for a service and the apprentice filled the sump with antifreeze you wouldn't expect to pay for the resultant replacement engine they had to fit...

[cobblers]

4 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Seriously, fuck the mechanics pocket man. My dad has just been charged £400 for a part that could have been taken off without breaking it. So you're saying just suck it up as long as the mechanic doesn't have to pay for it?

I can't believe 4 other folk on here actually liked the above response as well. 

 

No I'm saying blame the shit system, not the mechanic. If he spent the extra half an hour on every undertray, he'd be skint or sacked in a few weeks. The system makes it impossible for him to do a proper, honest job

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, cobblers said:

The guy doing the work is given set times for jobs so if he spends half an hour extra trying to sort the undertray out, it comes out of his own pocket and he'd have to jump through hoops to try an get paid for it, so the procedures just mean they order a new undertray.

Really?

If they find corroded fixings or some other issue that means the job takes longer, they just charge per hour labour to do the job.

In the event of corroded fixings on an undertray (which is a shit design in the first place.. they should be able to last longer than 5 years) even if the mechanic had to grind them off and then use new fixings with penny washers, that might be another 1/2hr labour and a few quid for fixings.

This is a classic case of a Main Stealer living up to the stereotype.

[Split_Pin]

Glad to see we haven't all gone mad. My point is, as above, a few extra hours getting the tray off intact would not have cost £400. That's just wear and tear and my dad would have been absolutely fine with that. Instead they, admittedly as well, broke it trying to get it off. 

[PhilA]

Then feedback to Volvo; underneath cars need to have stainless bolts for pieces that need to be removed for service routinely.

Answer to come back: Volvo announces it's no longer to sell cars in Scotland due to environmental concerns.

(The Scottish environment causing rust is a concern).

It's all turned into a massive time and motion study so they can quantify every moment of the day.

[Talbot]

Or plastic quarter-turn fixings.  Which must be cheaper than Stainless or indeed mild steel bolts.  Plus quicker to remove and refit.

[PhilA]

Then the fixing has to be aerodynamic, so it turns into a flat piece with a huge wide slot that is chewed up immediately by any screwdriver known to man; particularly when the mix of grit, mud and oil on the backside has glued the thing in place. That coupled with having to be made from environmentally friendly plastic means it'll have the strength of Dairylea. Result: flappy undertray.

"We're sorry we broke your car trying to undo it" does need to be a phone call; 160 for a front shock (assuming McPherson style) isn't bad once you factor in shiny floors, air conditioning, free coffee and wages.

For Old Jim down in the Arches whose only outlay is electric and rent on the space, fitting a Euro Crap Parts shock is only a few minutes in his own day so charge an hour and add 30% onto ECP's price and call it good, mate. He answers to nobody but himself. There is no chain of accountants waiting for the monthly figures.

[reb]

What are Volvo* making their undertrays out of these days that it broke trying to take it off? The one on my old 850 was barely held on, thus smacked every speed bump and pothole I came across, which were numerous. When I finally got more screws for it it was a bit scuffed but it wasn't broken...

[andyberg]

Surely if they broke the undertray then they should replace at their cost??????

[dome]

Sounds an awful lot like when the Ford dealer snapped an injector clamp on our works Transit and the quote for repair increased from £500 to £6000 as it "needed a new engine". Needless to say they got told to FRO and got a specialist in to remove the injector after I kicked up a stink. 

Shame your dad has paid them but I'd get on to Volvo via twitter or their head office-they've ripped the hole right out of it. 

[Yoss]

4 hours ago, andyberg said:

Surely if they broke the undertray then they should replace at their cost??????

That was the first thing that sprung to my mind too. I would be asking them the same thing. 

[DavieW]

The thing I've found with main dealers of all colours is they don't "repair" parts, it's replacement. I've seem hubs with broken studs replaced as they can't or won't remove the broken stud. Same with sumps, replace because the sump plug snapped. As with the injector above, they won't entertain repair, same as the undertray,  whereas a non franchise garage will happily repair.

 

 

[andyberg]

1 minute ago, DavieW said:

The thing I've found with main dealers of all colours is they don't "repair" parts, it's replacement. I've seem hubs with broken studs replaced as they can't or won't remove the broken stud. Same with sumps, replace because the sump plug snapped. As with the injector above, they won't entertain repair, same as the undertray,  whereas a non franchise garage will happily repair.

 

 

That's fine, but THEY broke it. THEY should pay for a new one??  If I borrowed your car and broke something you would expect me to replace that part at no cost to you. 

In my opinion unless the garage covered their ass in the first place by saying removing the undertray may result it it breaking the. I would be telling them, you broke, you fix...

[DavieW]

13 minutes ago, andyberg said:

That's fine, but THEY broke it. THEY should pay for a new one??  If I borrowed your car and broke something you would expect me to replace that part at no cost to you. 

In my opinion unless the garage covered their ass in the first place by saying removing the undertray may result it it breaking the. I would be telling them, you broke, you fix...

I totally agree. 

[twosmoke300]

A decent independent would have greased the bolts on the previous service so the undertray came off easily . 
 

Just sayin

[Split_Pin]

13 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

A decent independent
 

Unfortunately that's not something that exists near where my parents live.

[twosmoke300]

I’m sure there is somewhere . 
Also - who changes one damper ? 
 

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

Also - who changes one damper ? 

Me.

'Cos I'm tight, I hate pissing about with suspension and unless I'm trying to beat my PB round the Nurburgring I'm unlikely to notice the difference in handling.

[Remspoor]

@Split_Pin too late now. Maybe next time dad should say no extra work without  agreement. He, or you, can talk to them before hand. I would also ask them to save the old parts so that they can be inspected.

A search has thrown up these guys.

https://www.craigmoncrieff.com/volvo/

I assume these are the overcharges. https://www.john-clark.co.uk/volvo/servicing-parts/

If so a review here may help. https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.john-clark.co.uk/location/volvo-cars-edinburgh

 

[Split_Pin]

2 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

I’m sure there is somewhere . 
Also - who changes one damper ? 
 

Volvo, clearly 🤷‍♂️

[Split_Pin]

7 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

@Split_Pin too late now. Maybe next time dad should say no extra work without  agreement. He, or you, can talk to them before hand. I would also ask them to save the old parts so that they can be inspected.

A search has thrown up these guys.

https://www.craigmoncrieff.com/volvo/

I assume these are the overcharges. https://www.john-clark.co.uk/volvo/servicing-parts/

If so a review here may help. https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.john-clark.co.uk/location/volvo-cars-edinburgh

 

Excellent tip on Craig Moncrieff, thanks man. I've not heard of them before. They're not too far from where Murray Volvo used to be. They had a presence in Edinburgh for what must have been over 40 years and their closure was where my dad's problems started. They were a short walk from Edinburgh Park Station, the suggested garage is just a wee bit further away.