We were contacted by a member who took his bike in for service. His story goes like this:

” I took my bike in for its first service and they crashed it. What are my options.”

A very polite question in the circumstances, and our guess was an unlucky road test, but no explanation was given. Our advice:

“The answer to your question is that the dealer is responsible for making good the bike to its pre-accident condition and value. The dealer isalso responsible for reasonable expenses such as an alternative bike while the repairs are made, or the cost of alternative transport. The downside in terms of value is that a repaired bike which has been involved in an accident is likely to be worth less, as a buyer will look at it with a wary eye. The dealer should agree in writing to allow a trade in value which ignores the accodent. A dealer with an eye on its customers ought to make that offer without prompting.”

The repairs are complete and saisfactory, a bike was provided to keep our member on the road, and the service bill has been waived. We are waiting to hear about possible trade in value.

These things happen, and lets  hope all dealers do the right thing. We will let you know when we hear about the trade in value point.

Let us know if you have had a similar experience.

Comments

1. Shaun Kelly Says:
   March 26th, 2009 at 1:28 pm

   My car engine failed on me in Oct 2007,it went into the garage for repair, the garage sent the engine to a specialist for, what turned out to be a full rebuild, this took untill March 2008 to complete, due to sourcing cheaper parts to keep the price down, (which I was fine with). In this time it had to go back to the specialist due to there being a fault on it.When I got it back I ran it in, but within 3 weeks and 2,500 miles, the engine had failed again, it went back to the garage and the engine sent back to the specialist(!), there was quite a lot of phone calls to establish that the engine specialist said it was my fault it failed and would not repair it, this went on for about 6 months, only after I threatened them with a solicitors letter did they agree to do the work. the engine was returned to the garage at the end of Dec 08, it was put back in to the car, but once it was running they found another fault with it, so off came the head and it has been sent back to the so called specialist. I have informed them that time is of the essence and wanted the car back by March 27th, this has not happened, again!.and I am still without my car, (which has now depreciated in value by approx £1,500 and I have had no use out of it).

   Could you tell me what are my options and what can / should I do, as I am now reaching the end of my patience.
   Cheers
   Shaun

   You have been incredibly patient.
   What you have to decide is who is your agreement with. Have you an agreement with the repairer you are dealing with, or have you got an agreement with the specialist people who did the rebuild. It does not matter if you have a written contract, it is just a matter of common sense. Who are you dealing with.
   Someone took on a job, told you what the outcome would be, and I guess you have paid them.
   It is obvious the job is not up to scratch so write to whoever you have the agreement with. Set out your understanding of the job they were to do. Give them three weeks to complete the job, or give you your money back. Your threat is that you will bring an action in the County Court.
   Go along to your local County Court and ask for their booklet on “small claims.” A small claim is an action with a value below £5,000. The good thing for you is that the cost of starting a case is low, and the legal cost consequences of lossing are also low, unless your case is hopeless.
   You should get an opinion which supports you from whoever you would like to repair the car. They should be able to see what work has been done, and what is necessary to put you where you should have been. They might also be able to advise on the question you raise about the drop in the value of the car.
   On car questions we like the Honest John website at http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/index.htm. They have a useful guide to good garages.
   Write your letter, find the people to get the repair done properly, and let them know they will be asked to write a report for you to support your claim. Get along to the County Court, and read the booklet.
   Do let us know how you get on.
   Good luck from the team at Your Key.

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