Hi

Just want to vent this and give warning to others that may get stung as well. So I brought my 2009 XF in to guy salmon to sort out my remote locking/keyless entry and my Satnav (which was just a blank screen).

And before I start I just want to say Im not being "tight" my car before the Jag was a 2010 Audi Q5 S-Tronic which was actually more expensive to maintain and am used to big car bills but I found Guy Salmon to be a rip off! Here's what happened:

I dropped the car in at 10:00 and asked that I was quoted before any work was carried out.

I phoned up at 13:00 to ask how things were going and was informed that I would have a bill of more than £3000!!!!!

This was what they said:

1) Keyless entry module needs replacing.
2) SatNav wire was disconnected.
3) Indicator switch broken.
4) Headlight broken.
5) Bonnet catch missing.
6) Undertray missing.

After I grilled the technician this is what I found out:

1) The keyless entry module is indeed knackered - nothing bad here.
2) SatNav wire reconnected and is working - Awesome!
3) Indicator switch is fine but screw loose - Wanted £800 for this!!!
4) Headlight Broken - Again a loose fitting but wanted to charge me over £1100 to replace the whole unit!!???
5) Bonnet opens and closes fine but wanted £400 for this.
6) Undertray is indeed missing

Ok so once I found this out I said forget about it and I will come and pick the car up. Technician said they have already reconnected the Satnav cable as they were already in there - ok fair enough they hadnt quoted me anything so assumed this would be good will.

Went to pick my car up to find a £370 bill waiting for looking at the car......oh and a "free" wash.

Obviously annoyed as I clearly stated I would like a quote before any work would be done and no one said anything about a £370 bill for looking into it. And I think £370 for plugging a cable in is a bit steep.

 

Sounds like you were ripped off (somewhat), if what the service writer and the technician told you are true. Here in the US. you are expected to pay diagnostic time to investigate your problems. That should have been posted on signage on the wall and or, on the invoice when you agreed to have them look your car over. Without seeing your invoice, I suspect most of the bill was for diagnostic time, and since they had to pull the nav. head to find the problem, why not just fix the connection.

 

I get the whole diagnostic time charge but I would have expected them to at least inform me there would be a fee. And then the car was only in for around 2 hours meaning almost £200 an hour for labour???

 

That's a bummer man. You know what they say, vote with your wallet. Consider it a somewhat expensive lesson and take your business to another shop in the future. Post up a bad review on Google reviews, Yelp, Angie's List or whatever else you guys have out there across the pond to let others know to avoid the shop....in this day and age those kinds of tactics can really damage a business.

 

Ask to speak to the dealer principle and go through it with him, that's outrageous, they should've advised prior to proceeding with any work......any decent garage does

 

I guess its a lesson learned, I will speak to someone in senior management before going on a hate review spree, being a business owner myself I know how damaging bad reviews can be (not that weve ever had any that have been legit). I'll give them the chance to rectify the issue, its not so much as a money thing than it is a service and honesty issue.

 

Hey Nick, thanks for that & totally agree.
Generally, we don't tend to let specific hate rants stay on the forum anyway, they can be damaging to many in so many way, not just the intended target as it were.


I tend to always be as specific as I can when in situations like these and let the service rep know exactly what I expect from them, in no uncertain terms, however, as I said....


I fully believe that they should have advised costs prior to starting any work.
Any member of senior management / dealer principle should take your comments on board and deal with them appropriately.
This situation can be resolved I'm sure.


Hope to hear
Good luck