Providing a refund on a car not yet handed over?

[Arfur Dealy 823]

6 minutes ago, Dave2302 said:

I agree with you on a sales car, statutory warranty etc, but if I'm putting a Clutch kit in a workshop customers MB, VW, whatever then I personally have to guarantee it, and I don't wanna be doing it again in 6 months time cos they are whinging it rattles or judders  

30 years !! That is around when they first appeared in about 1995 era

Like me, you're showing your age lol

Dave, I understand exactly where you are coming from as a workshop, but equally it may last another 100k... It's up to you to give the choice, document it, cover your ass, not to make the decision for the customer surely.. 

 

[Stalker 180]

3 hours ago, Arfur Dealy said:

Dave, I understand exactly where you are coming from as a workshop, but equally it may last another 100k... It's up to you to give the choice, document it, cover your ass, not to make the decision for the customer surely.. 

 

The only problem with that is that customers don’t listen or understand either.

I have no problem fitting just a flywheel on its own if the clutch is fine or vice versa.

Internal slave cylinders can be a real lottery and should be changed ideally every time.

 

[Arfur Dealy 823]

3 minutes ago, Stalker said:

t's up to you to give the choice, document it, cover your ass, not to make the decision for the customer surely.. 

 

3 minutes ago, Stalker said:

The only problem with that is that customers don’t listen or understand either.

I have no problem fitting just a flywheel on its own if the clutch is fine or vice versa.

Internal slave cylinders can be a real lottery and should be changed ideally every time.

 

I repeat.

It's up to you to give the choice, document it, cover your ass, not to make the decision for the customer..... 

There may be absolutely nothing wrong with the DMF. Why assume that its faulty, how are they to know it hasn't altready been replaced ? To blanketly assume it hasn't and state it must be replaced is a rip off and very very bad advice.... Simple

To blanketly say a DMF should be replaced with a clutch is simply wrong. 

End of.

[Arfur Dealy 823]

As mechanics you are not in the position to say it needs replacement until you hear it at cold start up and inspect when the clutch is out. 

[Stalker 180]

Unfortunately with all distressed purchases (repairs are always distressed purchases) 

customers never want to pay the extra, NEVER..... N E V E R... get that?

They also don’t ever want to pay the labour again to change a £50 part when it fails two months after a clutch change.

 

You have also read my reply wrong... I didn’t say that a dmf should always be changed. 

We are the only garage for miles around us that will just do a flywheel or a clutch without doing the whole shooting match.

 

12 hours ago, AutoJacob said:

Hi guys

In a bit of a pickle here a customer has bought a car, brand new clutch fitted prior to them buying it.. however slave cylinder has gone and contaminated the new clutch.

They're now thinking about a refund, however I've offered a loan car and promised to get it fixed in 3 days.

What would you guys normally do in a situation like this, without providing a refund?

Cheers

What kind of a car is it autojacob?

Can your workshop not pull out the stops and prioritise the job for you? 

Please don’t tell me you bought the parts?

[Arfur Dealy 823]

8 hours ago, Stalker said:

Unfortunately with all distressed purchases (repairs are always distressed purchases) 

customers never want to pay the extra, NEVER..... N E V E R... get that?

They also don’t ever want to pay the labour again to change a £50 part when it fails two months after a clutch change.

 

You have also read my reply wrong... I didn’t say that a dmf should always be changed. 

We are the only garage for miles around us that will just do a flywheel or a clutch without doing the whole shooting match.

Stalker, I understood your reply perfectly. I do “get it”.... I admire that you only do the work that is actually required. 

I can also understand why customers feel fleeced when unnecessary repairs are insisted upon. 

[BHM 994]

The trouble is more than 90% of the time DMFs do need changing & on the few occassions the DMF wasn’t changed due to being within tolerance they then didn’t feel ‘right’. A case of disturbed parts etc.? 

If I’m honest I’ve only ever experienced 2 DMF/clutch units that have felt 100% after a cheapo 3-part only job although I’m particularly sensitive to the mechanics of a vehicle (so I’m told!).

Tbh I don’t blame garages advising customers it’s a 4-part job. Admittedly what the customer authorises is up to them. It’s not in garages’ interests to advise a customer to do a half-arsed repair only for the customer to revisit saying “it doesn’t feel right”, after all cost-wise labour v. DMF is similar.

[Dave2302 387]

I do not fleece my Customers. I advise them, and tbh, I have never had anyone not do a DMF at the same time, despite cost.

This may be a location thing again,my Customers like their Cars reliable, a breakdown up here in bad weather with no phone signal can be very serious sh!t !!

Just now, BHM said:

he trouble is more than 90% of the time DMFs do need changing & on the few occassions the DMF wasn’t changed due to being within tolerance they then didn’t feel ‘right’. A case of disturbed parts etc.? 

If I’m honest I’ve only ever experienced 2 DMF/clutch units that have felt 100% after a cheapo 3-part only job although I’m particularly sensitive to the mechanics of a vehicle (so I’m told!).

/\ /\ /\ Couldn't have put that better myself. Back in the late nineties when I had the Transmission firm we did 2 or 3 without changing DMF, and before the 12 months was up they had either come back rattling or juddering, so nope, I don't do them without now, and nope, I don't feck around asking customers to sign disclaimers, the sort of guy who wants a cheap job is not the sort of customer I want. My workshop is booked up 3 weeks in advance, and has been for a very long while now !!

We all do very high mileages up here, a lot of my custom is fleet owners. One guy does Bristol and Back from IOS weekly, his Manual E Class Estate has now done 230k miles, and due to the way it has been maintained it still drives like new.

On the flip side, if I removed a Gearbox and found the DMF to be very recent, and not Chinese, of course i would send it back to Factor for Credit, but that has never been the case, usually the bast@rds are rattly anyway by the time the Clutch needs doing !!