Absolutely furious about this

[Ext User(Richard Cavell)]

Hi everyone,

I want to know what you all think.

I broke down on Wednesday night 5km out of Mildura in my
still-under-warranty 3 year old Mitsubishi. I'm a member of the RACV.
A very competent chap from RACV picked up my car and towed it to the
Mitsubishi repair shop in Mildura, called Hutchinson Motors.

The car has electrical problems. I've had them ever since day one,
actually, but they're not reproducible so no one seems to believe me
when I get it serviced. The shop in Mildura replaced the battery and
that appeared to them to solve all the problems. They wanted $189 cash
for labor+parts for replacing the battery, plus they put in $20 fuel.

Seems like a decent price? I had $160 on me and no immediate
possibility of obtaining more (cards, etc). I explained this to them
clearly. They said they'd sort something out. At the close of
business, they got back to me, stating that they had electronically
disabled my car and parked it in a one hour parking spot.

I spent the night in Mildura because we were now out of hours.

I stated to them this morning there was no possibility of obtaining
further cash before Monday morning. They stated that they would not
release my car. They even threatened to take the wheels off and take
the engine out to service other vehicles with. They said that the local
police suggested this!

I threatened to take them to the local magistrate's court to obtain
replevy (ie give me the damn car back at least the way it was when it
was given to you). The repair shop categorically refuses to give credit.

They gave me the car back as is - they pulled the new battery out and
put the old, faulty one back in. They then filled up the tank with
petrol. They then jump-started me and told me to drive back to
Melbourne without stopping, for fear that it would not restart.

On the amended bill they charged me for they petrol, and also charged me
$100 for service.

Does this service and fee seem reasonable to you? Because I was
literally stranded in Mildura and they were detaining my car, I had no
choice but to agree, which is what they wanted of course.

[Ext User(Noddy)]

"Richard Cavell" <richardcavell@mail.com> wrote in message
news:43f5776a$1_5@news.peopletelecom.com.au...

> Does this service and fee seem reasonable to you? Because I was literally
> stranded in Mildura and they were detaining my car, I had no choice but to
> agree, which is what they wanted of course.

A lot of country town repairers thrive on this sort of "captive business"
I'm afraid.

As far as the law is concerned in such cases, my understanding is that
they're not obligated to release the car to you unless you've paid the bill.
You may disagree with the price (and I would in this case), but if they've
performed the service they claimed to have done then you're obligated to pay
them and argue about the charges later with a relevant authority.

As far as the charges go, 190 bucks seems a tad on the exxy side for just a
battery, and it's highly unlikely that a faulty battery actually stopped
your car from running. My guess is that the car has an intermittent fault in
the electrical system somewhere, and when the service staff tried to start
the car the battery was probably drained so a new one solved the problem for
now. You'd be within your rights to not pay for the petrol they put in the
car if you never asked them to and it wasn't out of petrol when they got it.
However, they would be well within theirs to remove it.

As to their business ethics, they seem to be quite lacking in that regard.

As a former small business owner who specialised in vehicle repair, I can
tell you that the repairer is responsible for your vehicle while it's in his
possession, and doing such ridiculous things as parking it in 1 hour parking
bays in the vein hope of getting you to come up with some money would only
see *them* having to pay the ticket for parking it there in the first place.
Likewise, if they left the car anywhere where is was to be damaged, they'd
be responsible for making good any repairs. Their comments of "police
recommendations" are complete bullshit, as cops wouldn't bother giving
advice in any such matter at all.

The best advice I can give anyone in such situations is to stipulate to any
repairer that no work is to be done without your authorisation until you've
been told what is required once they've diagnosed the problem.

--
Regards,
Noddy.

[Ext User(rmcgrice)]

"Noddy" <dg4163@dodo.com.au> wrote in news:43f57ea9
@news.comindico.com.au:

>
>

Must be a nice place???
Well done RACV....

[Ext User(D Walford)]

Richard Cavell wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I want to know what you all think.
>
> I broke down on Wednesday night 5km out of Mildura in my
> still-under-warranty 3 year old Mitsubishi. I'm a member of the RACV. A
> very competent chap from RACV picked up my car and towed it to the
> Mitsubishi repair shop in Mildura, called Hutchinson Motors.
>
> The car has electrical problems. I've had them ever since day one,
> actually, but they're not reproducible so no one seems to believe me
> when I get it serviced. The shop in Mildura replaced the battery and
> that appeared to them to solve all the problems. They wanted $189 cash
> for labor+parts for replacing the battery, plus they put in $20 fuel.
>
> Seems like a decent price? I had $160 on me and no immediate
> possibility of obtaining more (cards, etc). I explained this to them
> clearly. They said they'd sort something out. At the close of
> business, they got back to me, stating that they had electronically
> disabled my car and parked it in a one hour parking spot.
>
> I spent the night in Mildura because we were now out of hours.
>
> I stated to them this morning there was no possibility of obtaining
> further cash before Monday morning. They stated that they would not
> release my car. They even threatened to take the wheels off and take
> the engine out to service other vehicles with. They said that the local
> police suggested this!
>
> I threatened to take them to the local magistrate's court to obtain
> replevy (ie give me the damn car back at least the way it was when it
> was given to you). The repair shop categorically refuses to give credit.
>
> They gave me the car back as is - they pulled the new battery out and
> put the old, faulty one back in. They then filled up the tank with
> petrol. They then jump-started me and told me to drive back to
> Melbourne without stopping, for fear that it would not restart.
>
> On the amended bill they charged me for they petrol, and also charged me
> $100 for service.
>
> Does this service and fee seem reasonable to you? Because I was
> literally stranded in Mildura and they were detaining my car, I had no
> choice but to agree, which is what they wanted of course.
>

The fee seems unreasonable to me but like many small town service
centres are prone to do they had you by the balls and they squeezed:-)
My question is why would you find yourself stuck in hicksville without
access to any money in a car with known electrical issues?
I would write (IMO telephone calls are a waste of time) to RACV and
Mitsubishi telling them about the very poor service/attitude of the dealer.


Daryl

[Ext User(Tsunami)]

"D Walford" <walford@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
news:43f593b4$0$17811$61c65585@un-2park-reader-01.sydney.pipenetworks.com.au...
> Richard Cavell wrote:
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I want to know what you all think.
> >
> > I broke down on Wednesday night 5km out of Mildura in my
> > still-under-warranty 3 year old Mitsubishi. I'm a member of the RACV. A
> > very competent chap from RACV picked up my car and towed it to the
> > Mitsubishi repair shop in Mildura, called Hutchinson Motors.
> >
> > The car has electrical problems. I've had them ever since day one,
> > actually, but they're not reproducible so no one seems to believe me
> > when I get it serviced. The shop in Mildura replaced the battery and
> > that appeared to them to solve all the problems. They wanted $189 cash
> > for labor+parts for replacing the battery, plus they put in $20 fuel.
> >
> > Seems like a decent price? I had $160 on me and no immediate
> > possibility of obtaining more (cards, etc). I explained this to them
> > clearly. They said they'd sort something out. At the close of
> > business, they got back to me, stating that they had electronically
> > disabled my car and parked it in a one hour parking spot.
> >
> > I spent the night in Mildura because we were now out of hours.
> >
> > I stated to them this morning there was no possibility of obtaining
> > further cash before Monday morning. They stated that they would not
> > release my car. They even threatened to take the wheels off and take
> > the engine out to service other vehicles with. They said that the local
> > police suggested this!
> >
> > I threatened to take them to the local magistrate's court to obtain
> > replevy (ie give me the damn car back at least the way it was when it
> > was given to you). The repair shop categorically refuses to give
credit.
> >
> > They gave me the car back as is - they pulled the new battery out and
> > put the old, faulty one back in. They then filled up the tank with
> > petrol. They then jump-started me and told me to drive back to
> > Melbourne without stopping, for fear that it would not restart.
> >
> > On the amended bill they charged me for they petrol, and also charged me
> > $100 for service.
> >
> > Does this service and fee seem reasonable to you? Because I was
> > literally stranded in Mildura and they were detaining my car, I had no
> > choice but to agree, which is what they wanted of course.
> >
>
> The fee seems unreasonable to me but like many small town service
> centres are prone to do they had you by the balls and they squeezed:-)
> My question is why would you find yourself stuck in hicksville without
> access to any money in a car with known electrical issues?
> I would write (IMO telephone calls are a waste of time) to RACV and
> Mitsubishi telling them about the very poor service/attitude of the
dealer.
>
>
> Daryl

I agree. If you write to the dealer and Mitsubishi head office, and they
*know* you have written to the RACV, I see some action being taken. A
smallish town dealer can't handle having the RACV saying they will never tow
a client's car there again. Mitsi Australia can't handle bad press from RACV
(now more than ever). It is not whether the RACV would do such things, it is
the fear in the business bosses' minds about what could transpire.
Thinsk about a letter to the Mildura local rag too.... then they'll do
anything to shut you up.

[Ext User(Jason James)]

"Richard Cavell" <richardcavell@mail.com> wrote in message
news:43f5776a$1_5@news.peopletelecom.com.au...
> Hi everyone,
>
> I want to know what you all think.
>
> I broke down on Wednesday night 5km out of Mildura in my
> still-under-warranty 3 year old Mitsubishi. I'm a member of the RACV.
> A very competent chap from RACV picked up my car and towed it to the
> Mitsubishi repair shop in Mildura, called Hutchinson Motors.
>
> The car has electrical problems. I've had them ever since day one,
> actually, but they're not reproducible so no one seems to believe me
> when I get it serviced.

Just on the fault- car electrical faults aren't THAT difficult to find if
approached properly.

In your situation, I would seek out a competant automotive electrician or
even a TV servicing tech,..get them to itemize their fault-finding procedure
and the eventual fix. Mail it to Mitsubishi HQ,..if they are still around.

Batteries which are drained or subjected to less than full re-charge from
the alternator will suffer a shortened life. Have they investigated the
alternator and associated wiring?

Jason

[Ext User(Richard Cavell)]

On 17/2/06 8:13 PM, D Walford wrote:
> Richard Cavell wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> I want to know what you all think.
>>
>> I broke down on Wednesday night 5km out of Mildura in my
>> still-under-warranty 3 year old Mitsubishi. I'm a member of the RACV.
>> A very competent chap from RACV picked up my car and towed it to the
>> Mitsubishi repair shop in Mildura, called Hutchinson Motors.
>>
>> The car has electrical problems. I've had them ever since day one,
>> actually, but they're not reproducible so no one seems to believe me
>> when I get it serviced. The shop in Mildura replaced the battery and
>> that appeared to them to solve all the problems. They wanted $189
>> cash for labor+parts for replacing the battery, plus they put in $20
>> fuel.
>>
>> Seems like a decent price? I had $160 on me and no immediate
>> possibility of obtaining more (cards, etc). I explained this to them
>> clearly. They said they'd sort something out. At the close of
>> business, they got back to me, stating that they had electronically
>> disabled my car and parked it in a one hour parking spot.
>>
>> I spent the night in Mildura because we were now out of hours.
>>
>> I stated to them this morning there was no possibility of obtaining
>> further cash before Monday morning. They stated that they would not
>> release my car. They even threatened to take the wheels off and take
>> the engine out to service other vehicles with. They said that the
>> local police suggested this!
>>
>> I threatened to take them to the local magistrate's court to obtain
>> replevy (ie give me the damn car back at least the way it was when it
>> was given to you). The repair shop categorically refuses to give credit.
>>
>> They gave me the car back as is - they pulled the new battery out and
>> put the old, faulty one back in. They then filled up the tank with
>> petrol. They then jump-started me and told me to drive back to
>> Melbourne without stopping, for fear that it would not restart.
>>
>> On the amended bill they charged me for they petrol, and also charged
>> me $100 for service.
>>
>> Does this service and fee seem reasonable to you? Because I was
>> literally stranded in Mildura and they were detaining my car, I had no
>> choice but to agree, which is what they wanted of course.
>>
>
> The fee seems unreasonable to me but like many small town service
> centres are prone to do they had you by the balls and they squeezed:-)
> My question is why would you find yourself stuck in hicksville without
> access to any money in a car with known electrical issues?
> I would write (IMO telephone calls are a waste of time) to RACV and
> Mitsubishi telling them about the very poor service/attitude of the dealer.
>

Thanks to everyone who replied. I'll point out that although I said the
car had electrical problems, I merely said that in this newsgroup
because that's what the repairman said.

Truth is, my car seems to run just fine with the old battery still in
it. I've started it more than a dozen times and driven it to and fro
today. I'll send a letter to the appropriate people.

[Ext User(John McKenzie)]

Richard Cavell wrote:
>
> On 17/2/06 8:13 PM, D Walford wrote:
> > Richard Cavell wrote:
> >> Hi everyone,
> >>
> >> I want to know what you all think.
> >>
> >> I broke down on Wednesday night 5km out of Mildura in my
> >> still-under-warranty 3 year old Mitsubishi. I'm a member of the RACV.
> >> A very competent chap from RACV picked up my car and towed it to the
> >> Mitsubishi repair shop in Mildura, called Hutchinson Motors.
> >>
> >> The car has electrical problems. I've had them ever since day one,
> >> actually, but they're not reproducible so no one seems to believe me
> >> when I get it serviced. The shop in Mildura replaced the battery and
> >> that appeared to them to solve all the problems. They wanted $189
> >> cash for labor+parts for replacing the battery, plus they put in $20
> >> fuel.
> >>
> >> Seems like a decent price? I had $160 on me and no immediate
> >> possibility of obtaining more (cards, etc). I explained this to them
> >> clearly. They said they'd sort something out. At the close of
> >> business, they got back to me, stating that they had electronically
> >> disabled my car and parked it in a one hour parking spot.
> >>
> >> I spent the night in Mildura because we were now out of hours.
> >>
> >> I stated to them this morning there was no possibility of obtaining
> >> further cash before Monday morning. They stated that they would not
> >> release my car. They even threatened to take the wheels off and take
> >> the engine out to service other vehicles with. They said that the
> >> local police suggested this!
> >>
> >> I threatened to take them to the local magistrate's court to obtain
> >> replevy (ie give me the damn car back at least the way it was when it
> >> was given to you). The repair shop categorically refuses to give credit.
> >>
> >> They gave me the car back as is - they pulled the new battery out and
> >> put the old, faulty one back in. They then filled up the tank with
> >> petrol. They then jump-started me and told me to drive back to
> >> Melbourne without stopping, for fear that it would not restart.
> >>
> >> On the amended bill they charged me for they petrol, and also charged
> >> me $100 for service.
> >>
> >> Does this service and fee seem reasonable to you? Because I was
> >> literally stranded in Mildura and they were detaining my car, I had no
> >> choice but to agree, which is what they wanted of course.
> >>
> >
> > The fee seems unreasonable to me but like many small town service
> > centres are prone to do they had you by the balls and they squeezed:-)
> > My question is why would you find yourself stuck in hicksville without
> > access to any money in a car with known electrical issues?
> > I would write (IMO telephone calls are a waste of time) to RACV and
> > Mitsubishi telling them about the very poor service/attitude of the dealer.
> >
>
> Thanks to everyone who replied. I'll point out that although I said the
> car had electrical problems, I merely said that in this newsgroup
> because that's what the repairman said.

What exactly were the symptoms you were experiencing intermittently
(this is not a bad place to get a quick 'read' on what may be causing
it, but it is of course limited to the extent that one can only go on
the description of the symptoms, rather than studying them first hand.

>
> Truth is, my car seems to run just fine with the old battery still in
> it. I've started it more than a dozen times and driven it to and fro
> today.

If that's the case, you would likely be entitled to be able to return
the replacement battery and be refunded the cost and labour to change
it. But that doesn't mean they won't drag it out to the extent you just
cut your losses.

--
John McKenzie

tosspam@aol.com abuse@aol.com abuse@yahoo.com abuse@hotmail.com
abuse@msn.com abuse@sprint.com abuse@earthlink.com fraudinfo@psinet.com
sweep.day@accc.gov.au uce@ftc.gov I am the angel of jute, vengeance will
be twine admin@loopback $LOGIN@localhost $LOGNAME@localhost
$USER@localhost $USER@$HOST -h1024@localhost root@mailloop.com
president@whitehouse.gov vice.president@whitehouse.gov
abuse@iprimus.com.au abuse@cia.gov abuse@fbi.gov abuse@asio.gov.au
abuse@federalpolice.gov.au

[Ext User(Robert Irvine)]

If you want some fun, include the local police in there with what they
are meant to have 'advised'.

I'm sure they would not appreciate themselves being dragged into it.

Rob.

"Richard Cavell" <richardcavell@mail.com> wrote in message
news:43f6eb72$1_9@news.peopletelecom.com.au...
> On 17/2/06 8:13 PM, D Walford wrote:
>> Richard Cavell wrote:
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>> I want to know what you all think.
>>>
>>> I broke down on Wednesday night 5km out of Mildura in my
>>> still-under-warranty 3 year old Mitsubishi. I'm a member of the
>>> RACV. A very competent chap from RACV picked up my car and towed it
>>> to the Mitsubishi repair shop in Mildura, called Hutchinson Motors.
>>>
>>> The car has electrical problems. I've had them ever since day one,
>>> actually, but they're not reproducible so no one seems to believe me
>>> when I get it serviced. The shop in Mildura replaced the battery
>>> and that appeared to them to solve all the problems. They wanted
>>> $189 cash for labor+parts for replacing the battery, plus they put
>>> in $20 fuel.
>>>
>>> Seems like a decent price? I had $160 on me and no immediate
>>> possibility of obtaining more (cards, etc). I explained this to
>>> them clearly. They said they'd sort something out. At the close of
>>> business, they got back to me, stating that they had electronically
>>> disabled my car and parked it in a one hour parking spot.
>>>
>>> I spent the night in Mildura because we were now out of hours.
>>>
>>> I stated to them this morning there was no possibility of obtaining
>>> further cash before Monday morning. They stated that they would not
>>> release my car. They even threatened to take the wheels off and
>>> take the engine out to service other vehicles with. They said that
>>> the local police suggested this!
>>>
>>> I threatened to take them to the local magistrate's court to obtain
>>> replevy (ie give me the damn car back at least the way it was when
>>> it was given to you). The repair shop categorically refuses to give
>>> credit.
>>>
>>> They gave me the car back as is - they pulled the new battery out
>>> and put the old, faulty one back in. They then filled up the tank
>>> with petrol. They then jump-started me and told me to drive back to
>>> Melbourne without stopping, for fear that it would not restart.
>>>
>>> On the amended bill they charged me for they petrol, and also
>>> charged me $100 for service.
>>>
>>> Does this service and fee seem reasonable to you? Because I was
>>> literally stranded in Mildura and they were detaining my car, I had
>>> no choice but to agree, which is what they wanted of course.
>>>
>>
>> The fee seems unreasonable to me but like many small town service
>> centres are prone to do they had you by the balls and they
>> squeezed:-)
>> My question is why would you find yourself stuck in hicksville
>> without access to any money in a car with known electrical issues?
>> I would write (IMO telephone calls are a waste of time) to RACV and
>> Mitsubishi telling them about the very poor service/attitude of the
>> dealer.
>>
>
> Thanks to everyone who replied. I'll point out that although I said
> the car had electrical problems, I merely said that in this newsgroup
> because that's what the repairman said.
>
> Truth is, my car seems to run just fine with the old battery still in
> it. I've started it more than a dozen times and driven it to and fro
> today. I'll send a letter to the appropriate people.