Damage sustained to van while in garage

I'd do as he suggested, and try again tomorrow, see if he has calmed down a bit. (If he has, wind him up again, just for the fun :ROFLMAO: )
Anyway, you may get somewhere.

Is he a member of any trade organisation?

Solicitor is always an option, but it would be my last option. Easy way to run away with a shed load of £'s.
 
Its a tricky one. New windows around £800 plus "someone" taking the old ones out, shipping them to the Window company and then fitting the new ones. Aluminium door frame can probably be straightened out. Going to a solicitor as said will end up being pricy and is there any guarantee if it goes to court that Ill win? What I suspect will happen is he will calm down and agree to fix the door frame as best they can and ill be left sourcing a couple of windows. Not sure what my insurance would have to say about it. Ill check my policy but I Really dont want to claim on on mine as its bound to effect premiums across all four vehicles. Bugger.
 
barryd said:
Its a tricky one. New windows around £800 plus "someone" taking the old ones out, shipping them to the Window company and then fitting the new ones. Aluminium door frame can probably be straightened out. Going to a solicitor as said will end up being pricy and is there any guarantee if it goes to court that Ill win? What I suspect will happen is he will calm down and agree to fix the door frame as best they can and ill be left sourcing a couple of windows. Not sure what my insurance would have to say about it. Ill check my policy but I Really dont want to claim on on mine as its bound to effect premiums across all four vehicles. Bugger.
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Sounds as though he realised he'd gone too far when talking to you .
Suspect he is actually angry with staff rather than you ?
Speak to him tomorrow, you never know
 
alcam said:
Sounds as though he realised he'd gone too far when talking to you .
Suspect he is actually angry with staff rather than you ?
Speak to him tomorrow, you never know
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Well I spoke to the lady who works at the main garage just now who I have known and dealt with for over 30 years and told her some of the story although she was busy with the accountant. Apparently he hasn't gone over raising hell over there as he said he would. She is going to try and have a word if she can. She's only part time now sadly and semi retired. It was never an issue in the past if something went wrong which it did occasionally as she was very good at sorting it.

To be honest, I fear for this blokes sanity. There is no way of getting a rational solution while he is behaving like he was this morning. Will try again tomorrow.
 
The plot thickens. The lady at the garage called me just now. They are still not admitting liability but could I bring it in on Thursday so they can take a look? She now says they have found some "bits" near to where it was parked that might be off my van. Hmm. Bits of what? Window? She wasnt sure. I asked them that when I first discovered it. "Have you found the broken corners?" She also thinks there is CCTV on that road. Trouble is it was there months so it could have happened weeks ago.

Round two Thursday then face to face. :D
 
barryd said:
The plot thickens. The lady at the garage called me just now. They are still not admitting liability but could I bring it in on Thursday so they can take a look? She now says they have found some "bits" near to where it was parked that might be off my van. Hmm. Bits of what? Window? She wasnt sure. I asked them that when I first discovered it. "Have you found the broken corners?" She also thinks there is CCTV on that road. Trouble is it was there months so it could have happened weeks ago.

Round two Thursday then face to face. :D
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Good luck . Doesn't sound like a lost cause
 
The Consumer Rights Act should protect your interests in this case.

I would think that the provisions regarding reasonable care and skill would cover this situation. From the Act:

“Reasonable care and skill” focuses on the way a service has been carried out, rather than the end result of the service. This means that, if a trader has not provided a service with reasonable care and skill, they will be in breach of this right, whatever the end result.

I think you could well pursue this through the Small Claims Court seeking compensation in an amount determined by you obtaining quotes for the remedial work.

If it were me I would call a fellow called Dean Dunham who presents a Consumer Rights programme on LBC on Friday evenings at 9pm.

He will be of great help in determining how best to proceed. I listen every week and it's an excellent show.
 
Canalsman said:
The Consumer Rights Act should protect your interests in this case.

I would think that the provisions regarding reasonable care and skill would cover this situation. From the Act:

“Reasonable care and skill” focuses on the way a service has been carried out, rather than the end result of the service. This means that, if a trader has not provided a service with reasonable care and skill, they will be in breach of this right, whatever the end result.

I think you could well pursue this through the Small Claims Court seeking compensation in an amount determined by you obtaining quotes for the remedial work.

If it were me I would call a fellow called Dean Dunham who presents a Consumer Rights programme on LBC on Friday evenings at 9pm.

He will be of great help in determining how best to proceed. I listen every week and it's an excellent show.
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Thanks. Will look that up. Will see what happens on Thursday when I take the van back down.

I presume there are costs involved even taking things to a small claims court?
 
barryd said:
Thanks. Will look that up. Will see what happens on Thursday when I take the van back down.

I presume there are costs involved even taking things to a small claims court?
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£25 for small claims here, stop fooking about and take legal advice, also record all conversations on mobile.
 
trevskoda said:
£25 for small claims here, stop fooking about and take legal advice, also record all conversations on mobile.
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I think its £80 plus up to £335 or something like that if you lose. Employing a solicitor for advice Trev will probably cost more than the damage! At the end of the day if I go that route they will just close ranks and say the damage was done after it left their premises. I even paid the bill which they knocked £25 off for the damaged door locker. It wasnt until a day later that Michelle spotted the other damage. I wouldnt have a leg to stand on. They know it was done at their premises as do I of course but Im not sure a court would find in my favour to be honest.

However if the "bits" They have found do turn out to off my van then that makes things very different.
 
Get a phone call recording app and mention that it's being recorded whilst it's ringing.
 
Did the garage fail in it's duty of care? From what you've said it seems not.
 
barryd said:
I think its £80 plus up to £335 or something like that if you lose. Employing a solicitor for advice Trev will probably cost more than the damage! At the end of the day if I go that route they will just close ranks and say the damage was done after it left their premises. I even paid the bill which they knocked £25 off for the damaged door locker. It wasnt until a day later that Michelle spotted the other damage. I wouldnt have a leg to stand on. They know it was done at their premises as do I of course but Im not sure a court would find in my favour to be honest.

However if the "bits" They have found do turn out to off my van then that makes things very different.
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More or less an admission of liability.
Do you not have no win no fee solicitors over there.
 
barryd said:
I would say the most definitely have failed in their duty of care. When you hand over a vehicle to a garage to be repaired surely they are responsible for looking after it and any damage that occurs due to their negligence should be rectified by them.
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You have said it appears to be criminal damage, if they have taken 'reasonable' steps to ensure it's safety, like parking it in their yard, then they are not liable.
 
colinm said:
You have said it appears to be criminal damage, if they have taken 'reasonable' steps to ensure it's safety, like parking it in their yard, then they are not liable.
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Maybe I didnt explain but they were leaving it out round the side of the garage on a public road (dead end) during the day and apparently (according to them) putting it away each evening so it wasn't in their yard (They dont have a yard). It was only by chance when I popped down a few weeks back unannounced that I discovered that and raised my concerns then. After that I started applying pressure to get it back and was assured it would be fine. The mechanic dealing with it who I have known for years was keen to try and resolve the outstanding issues and I remember it being odd that he seemed upset and a bit teary when I insisted the other week in me picking it up later that week. I could be wrong but I wonder if at that stage he knew some damage had been done and was dreading me finding it. Who knows but they are definitely liable IMO. If someone gave me a laptop to repair and I left it outside my house on the roof of my car and it got nicked whos fault would that be?
 
colinm said:
You have said it appears to be criminal damage, if they have taken 'reasonable' steps to ensure it's safety, like parking it in their yard, then they are not liable.
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I would think that whilst it is in their care it is their responsibility,
And as Barry has said they have been parking it on the road, and chances are there were probably occasions when they couldn’t fit it into the garage every evening, and they left it on the road overnight
 
barryd said:
Thanks. Will look that up. Will see what happens on Thursday when I take the van back down.

I presume there are costs involved even taking things to a small claims court?
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I had an issue with the first mh I purchased I was fobbed off for a couple of days. I spoke to citizens advice who provided a template letter stipulating points in the law that were relevant to my case. This proved to be the proverbial rocket up their jack ass and this was resolved within the week with the exchange of the same model of mh but far better spec. I have also used trading standards on a different matter and that also proved to be fruitful. Good luck better to be fore armed when you go down.
 
barryd said:
Maybe I didnt explain but they were leaving it out round the side of the garage on a public road (dead end) during the day and apparently (according to them) putting it away each evening so it wasn't in their yard (They dont have a yard). It was only by chance when I popped down a few weeks back unannounced that I discovered that and raised my concerns then. After that I started applying pressure to get it back and was assured it would be fine. The mechanic dealing with it who I have known for years was keen to try and resolve the outstanding issues and I remember it being odd that he seemed upset and a bit teary when I insisted the other week in me picking it up later that week. I could be wrong but I wonder if at that stage he knew some damage had been done and was dreading me finding it. Who knows but they are definitely liable IMO. If someone gave me a laptop to repair and I left it outside my house on the roof of my car and it got nicked whos fault would that be?
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In that case they might be considered liable.
 
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