Advice from legal buffs

[FordXR8Guy]

Hello my apologies for a post like this for my first however I have a problem I'd like to hear another view from.

Recently I had my XR8 serviced by my local Ford dealer which was the same dealer I bought the car from. Somehow the car had an accident during the service and I was very disappointed to see that the car had hit a wall during the moving of the vehicle from service center to carpark.

The damage included the from bumper, bonnet, headlight assembly and front wheel as well as other misc parts expected. I was told while inspecting the vehicles damage that they were not charging me for this service (Sort of expected)

I couldn't hide my dissapointment and this car was the first new vehicle i had ever bought new and I wanted something new, shinny and fully covered under a warranty for the first time in my life.

Now some months later, I am being contracted by the dealer requesting payment. I mentioned that I thought this was settled as per the aggreement which the service manager apparently knew nothing about. At the time, I left with no invoice or mention of later settlement. After a bit of discussion, he agreed that if this was indeed said, he would honour this agreement.

A few days past and while the Manager agrees this was said, he is still chasing part payment for the service, because I had some additonal items done during the service (Wiper blades, injector cleaning fluid and brake fluid flush).

Do I have a legal right here, where do I stand? Advice would be much appreciated from people with legal knowledge.

[dave351cid]

hmmmm????
dont you hate it when people dont stick to their word.

i`m not sure about legals but if they didnt invoice you how were you expected to pay.

did they fix the car ok??

[XR6TCraig]

Go and see the guy in person. Persuade him that the service was thrown in because the morons that work for him made mince meat of your first new car, your pride and joy!

Originally Posted by dave351cid

did they fix the car ok??

Yeah, what happened in regard to the damage done. Was this fixed to your satisfaction and in quick time?

[bonspeed]

Ford are terrible in situations like this.

[Sam]

They must be bloody hard up to chase you for this, I would deal only with the dealer principal in this situation, sounds like some newby in accounts is having a go at you.

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by bonspeed

Ford are terrible in situations like this.

This has nothing to do with ford, and, everything to do with the dealer.

[UNRULY]

Threaten him with legal action in return for the depreciation in value of your new car. In victoria we have the VCAT tribunal. Its free, so it wont cost you anything, but they will avoid going there because it will mean work for the service manager. I'm sure the small bill will be forgotten about when they realise the cost of defending themselves at court will far outweigh the money they are chasing.

[BionicGT]

I agree with Sam. Go see or ring the dealer principal. I've done this in the past when a particular Ford dealer's service department stuffed up the servicing of my previous Ford. The matter was quickly resolved.

[FordXR8Guy]

Car was fixed, never to ones satisfaction however because I know it had been repaired. Sure from anyone other then the owner, you'd say its unnoticable.

[yift]

tell him you will pay him for it when he pays for your damage!

[X000BOSS]

Originally Posted by yift

tell him you will pay him for it when he pays for your damage!

uummmm, i think they already have

[AUTickford]

Ford is just terrible, since the ba came out ford has turned to ****. pity wheels magazine or whoever gave the ba car of the year couldnt have it for a decent amount of time to see how dodgy it really is ing_sm

[69Fastback]

Okay, short legal opinion. In the absence of there being a contractual exclusion limiting or excluding their liability for damage caused to your vehicle whilst it was in their position, they are liable for the damage. They are bailees of your vehicle whilst it is in their possession, therefore, they owe a duty of care in relation to the vehicle.

In relation to the costs of the service, the ordinary position would be, that if the work is performed, you would have an obligation to pay. However, if an agreement was reached between you and the service manager (who obviously had authority to make the agreement) that you would not have to pay for the service and you have relied upon this and acted to your detriment, it gives rise to what is called an estoppel, meaning that they are now stopped from reneging on the agreement and trying to force you to pay.

As said above, I would discuss the matter with the dealer principal, and mention that he probably does not wany any bad publicity.

Cheers

[Wally]

Pay the money. They will already be out of pocket with the insurance premium. Going through life looking for freebies because of adversity or infraction is not admirable and you may be putting hardship on the poor sod who was driving the car.

[coupdy do]

You had a verbal agreement with the manager tell them "you will see them in court if they want the money" They have workshop insurance so your insurance shouldn't be involved or affected.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by Wally

Pay the money. They will already be out of pocket with the insurance premium. Going through life looking for freebies because of adversity or infraction is not admirable and you may be putting hardship on the poor sod who was driving the car.

if i kicked you in the nose and flattened it through your face, then paid for your medical bills and charged you for the damage to my shoe , would you pay the money ???

do you come from an alternate universe or something. :

[FordXR8Guy]

Nah i'm not looking for freebies at all, in fact I am very disappointed over the entire situation. The XR8 was my pride and joy and the most money I have ever spent on a car in my life. I treated it like.........well like I want to keep it in good condition and to see it all smashed up was ugly. To hear them tell me the service was free was sort of expected as I certainly wasn't a happy chappy.

Using your logic Wally, can I go out and crash your car and providing I have the car fixed, its all good? You would probably expect me to pay for towing and any related expences incured during the entire situation. If that was accomadation or travel fee's or even a cold drink while waiting, whatever, so be it.

[XR06T]

Originally Posted by Sam

They must be bloody hard up to chase you for this, I would deal only with the dealer principal in this situation, sounds like some newby in accounts is having a go at you.

bingo!!

a quick call to the dealer principle will have this sorted in no time..

wally, have you actually read the first post?
gtfpv has a good point..

[Squalo]

LMAO! Thanks gtfpv : )

[XplosiveR6]

Originally Posted by AUTickford

Ford is just terrible, since the ba came out ford has turned to ****. pity wheels magazine or whoever gave the ba car of the year couldnt have it for a decent amount of time to see how dodgy it really is ing_sm

yea thats right, how the hell does some worker at the dealership crashing a BA make the BA a dodgy car now?

[Wally]

Originally Posted by FordXR8Guy

......Using your logic Wally, can I go out and crash your car and providing I have the car fixed, its all good? You would probably expect me to pay for towing and any related expences incured during the entire situation. If that was accomadation or travel fee's or even a cold drink while waiting, whatever, so be it.

No you didn't use my logic at all. By your logic if someone crashes into your car on the street the other driver should pay for your inconvenience, hurt feelings and the spark plugs of your last service. Guess what.... it won't happen and your insurance company won't pick up the tab either. Why.... because it's frivilous.

gtfpv your logic evades me. Aggravated assault is not a damaged piece of tin. And I do have private health insurance.

[FPV8U]

I wouldn't give them a cent, they said you wouldn't be charged for the service, so i don't see why you should have to pay for "Extra's" performed during that Service.

[bonspeed]

Originally Posted by Outbackjack

This has nothing to do with ford, and, everything to do with the dealer.

Very true, but at the end of the day the big blue sign out the front says "FORD"

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Wally

Pay the money. They will already be out of pocket with the insurance premium. Going through life looking for freebies because of adversity or infraction is not admirable and you may be putting hardship on the poor sod who was driving the car.

If the dealer is big enough they will have their own crash repair dept.

He was NOT asking for 'freebies' just advice and if it puts hardship on the poor sod who drove it then perhaps they (who was driving too fast in the car yard) might learn to treat other peoples cars with some respect!

Like the others have said, go straight to the top of the food chain. If heads roll, so be it, they are supposed to be professionals!

[eav8]

i'm a ford man but I happen to work for a holden dealership and I can assure you that any damage incurred on a customer's vehicle whilst in our care is paid for by the dealership and usually the service becomes goodwill. If the vehicle is in for anything major (eg transmission rebuild etc) then we still invoice for the job. Obviously if the vehicle has been professionally repaired at our expense then our side of the incident has been covered.
I feel for you and think that the dealership in mention needs to accept that it made the deal, however if they have repaired your vehicle and you have then taken receipt of that vehicle then their part of the responsibilty is over.
The service may have been free but "extras" are not a part of a service and are usually charged seperately to the service fee.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by Wally

No you didn't use my logic at all. By your logic if someone crashes into your car on the street the other driver should pay for your inconvenience, hurt feelings and the spark plugs of your last service. Guess what.... it won't happen and your insurance company won't pick up the tab either. Why.... because it's frivilous.

gtfpv your logic evades me. Aggravated assault is not a damaged piece of tin. And I do have private health insurance.

HAHAHAHA !!! IT'S ALL GOOD wally . I AM NOT A VIOLENT man , and wouldnt assualt anybody , ( it's just net chat) . i have a profile of you in my mind though . you are either a poor man who let rich people take all your money off you , or a boss. who disregards everyone else, and are only concerned with yourself .

in your 1srt reply you say that the person who smashed his car is a poor sod . and that the dealer workshop is most probably struggling . i put it to you . that the workshop was dishonest and covered up the accident, ( perhaps the poor sod should've paid the insurance premium, and the service costs as well. with the dealer principle also being notified and aware of the accident . often F A R Q U E people over in your field now do you WALLY ???

[Wally]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

HAHAHAHA !!! IT'S ALL GOOD wally . I AM NOT A VIOLENT man , and wouldnt assualt anybody , ( it's just net chat) . i have a profile of you in my mind though . you are either a poor man who let rich people take all your money off you , or a boss. who disregards everyone else, and are only concerned with yourself .

in your 1srt reply you say that the person who smashed his car is a poor sod . and that the dealer workshop is most probably struggling . i put it to you . that the workshop was dishonest and covered up the accident, ( perhaps the poor sod should've paid the insurance premium, and the service costs as well. with the dealer principle also being notified and aware of the accident . often F A R Q U E people over in your field now do you WALLY ???

Wrong on many fronts. If you want to picture me, then think of a middle aged man, with a very successful business, extensive assets, several tertiary and trade qualifications, benevolent to almost everyone, build my own and other people's engines as a hobby, hate with a penchant the loss of freedoms and the nanny state successive govts have forced on us in the last 25 years. I have paid rent and bills for people who are less well off, sponsored schools, trained several apprentices of the year in the past 30 years, trained quite a few captains of industry, delivered lectures and papers to industry groups, been published a few times, etc.

The criteria I live by are Christian ethic, honesty, empathy, shared success. I have never dudded anyone of payment and in return I have very loyal creditors.

If I spent my life looking for opportunities to short pay people, I might still be wealthy, but I would suspect I would also be less of a person, or worse... a politician. :hihi:

I guess I'm a dinosaur.

[MO]

To put it in perspective my XY was put into a Ford dealer to have every tie rod ,rubber bush and anything else to do with suspension replaced including the swing arm bushes.

The apprentice was given the job of taking it to the tyre shop to be wheel aligned...he pulled up behind a cement truck..who was just starting to reverse..apprentice could'nt find reverse on single rail 4speed.

End result I paid the $1200 for the suspension work the dealer paid the $2500 repair bill.

You have had your damage paid for if the service bloke said no charge for service good luck.

[FordXR8Guy]

Ok.

I'll add another twist to this story, I didn't initialy mention this as I didn't want it to influnence overall opinion.

Because of the damage, I desided right at that moment I didn't want a damaged car, regardless of repair. I sat with the sales guy and organised a trade and left the damaged car for them to deal with, not that I had achoice of leaving the car there anyway. I bought a new BF that day adn picked up the new car the next. Under the assumpton of previous promises and after how well the dealership handled the situaton, I had no reservatons in dealing with them again.

I will say in hindsight, I wouldn't have done the deal had the service issue came up then, I would have had no problem in paying for it and moving my business to another dealer.