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No, that is not the beginning of a joke, it's merely a strong urge on my part. 
I just had my car at the mechanics to change the tyres (which was definitely needed). When they bring my car back out, I notice straight away that the handle on the drivers door is completely damaged (which it most certainly wasn't when I left the car there).
What do the sunshines say? "No, we didn't do that, you must have hit something on the way here..."
Yeah, like I wouldn't have noticed that, just like I didn't noticed the damage before despite having entered and exited the car twice before today (last time when I left the car with them).
The most elephanting part of it all is that now it's word against word and nothing I say can or will pursuade them to take any responsibility. I even have my wife as witness. I drove her to work this morning, and she can testify that the damage was not there before.
My guess is that the mechanic did the damage, knows about it very well, but is afraid to admit it to his boss... 
So now I'm on my way to Sears to buy a crowbar (that IS an old joke[^])
And people wonder why mechanics have such a bad reputation... 
RANT OVER!!!
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
modified 24-Jul-15 4:18am.
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Feeling with you, had such problems also, worst i encountered so far. Driving off the first meter car breaks down.
We didn't do that, oh yeah we forgot that, that costs put in amount high as elephant € to fix it. Uhm what? You f*'d up and i need to pay? Whoat?
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Most irritating part is that I feel so helpless. It IS their fault, I know, but I haven't got any hard proof, so basically I'm elephanted! 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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Yeah, that is indeed the worst part about it :/
Such moments take me spread the word of their failure, change the mechanic and hope they GDIAF ASAP.
That makes me kinda feel better a little.
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Johnny J. wrote: but is afraid to admit it to his boss...
did you talk to the boss directly?
If they don't admit the fault you can try to use your insurance (not ideal I know). In any case I would never ever go back.
next visit at the garage take pictures of the car or let them sign a paper telling the car was OK when brought in.
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V. wrote: did you talk to the boss directly?
Yeah. I even got the contact info to HIS boss, and I'm going to contact him as soon as he's from vacation. Not very hopeful, though.
V. wrote: If they don't admit the fault you can try to use your insurance
Probably not even applicable. There's a deductible amount on my insurance that is probably larger than what it costs to fix it...
V. wrote: In any case I would never ever go back.
Thatg's the most irritating part. I've been a customer there for 8 years and ALWAYS been extremely satisfied. Good service and nice staff. On a few occasions, I've had to use other mechanics, and they have been worse to say the least...
V. wrote: next visit at the garage take pictures of the car or let them sign a paper telling the car was OK when brought in.
I thought about that. It really ought not be necessary. Is that really what the world has come to?  I'm getting old (and grumpy)
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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Put it all in a letter, say you've been a customer for a long time. If it isn't going to cost much to fix [from what you say about insurance] they'd be mad not to fix it to retain your custom.
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 Thanks - I think I will
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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V. wrote: next visit at the garage
Next visit? If this happened to my car there wouldn't be a next visit.
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I feel you.
Too many bad experiences with mechanics. Ofc there are a lot of good and qualified people but in Sweden you don't have to look far to even find huge chains trying to rip people off.
At the flip of the coin I've also had exceptional good service at times where the car has felt like brand new when coming back.
My worst experience was when one mechanic tried to convince me that I had to do a lot of expensive work done with my breaks. Took my car too a workshop sponsored by the manufacture and they did a free inspection and they said everything as ok but if I wanted what I could do was to change just a small part which was starting to get worn out but would last a good while longer.
Would be about 40$ a tire for materials + some work which easily could be done by yourself. About half a year later I went to another mechanic and it cost about 90$ for the work and 200$ for materials but it was worth it for the easy of it. The original shop said it would cost about 800$.
What sucks is that my only solution to really come to grip with this would both be a hassle and in turn cost a bunch of money.
I think the best thing for the future is to document the state of the car as much as you can before you turn it in just to have something more substantial to lean on. One thing that might not be relevant here but I usually report even minor cosmetic damage to my insurance company even if I don't wish to claim any damage so that when something happens it's always clear what's new should something major happen and here I would use that as my support and if push comes to show claim compensation from my insurance and sic them on the firm.
Most people want to fix things easy and simply and just the threat that the insurance company will be involved can usually help make sure the outcome is in your favor, even if the threat is only implicit.
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Member 11683251 wrote: I usually report even minor cosmetic damage to my insurance company even if I don't wish to claim any damage so that when something happens it's always clear what's new should something major happen
Why would you do that? Then you lose the possibility to get an old but minor damaged fixed under insurance with a new bigger one (if they are roughly in the same place)??? 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
-
I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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Ask them if the have CCTV of your car arriving?
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I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
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I could, but without being 100% sure, I would say that they don't. It's not normal here in Sweden to have camera surveillance on private property. You'd need a special license for that, which is not that easy to get (AFAIK)...
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
-
I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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I know that feeling too.
I brought my car in for service and when I got it back in the evening for a huge amount of €.....I mentioned quite a lower fuelmeter (filled 100% that morning, was less than 50% in the evening).
So someone used my car for any reason without knowing why. And remember: They dont drive about 300 km in the garage with my car.
Since then I allways check my car and make a picture of the meters on the dashboard.
One or two returns later I had a problem with a rented car. They claimed I drove over 100 kilometer while back and forth to work was less than 20. So if I rent a car when my car gets fixed. Pictures are made. The only way to prove......
Sometimes they claim they had the rented car 100% fueled up and than I show picture that it was 75%. You should see their eyes. No more problems since that picture...
In Word you can only store 2 bytes. That is why I use Writer.
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Perfect!
Gotta start doing that. That is at least something that's manageable.
A couple of months ago I was parked in a parking lot, and I noticed a white car parked next to me. When I get back to my car, the white car is gone, but somehow, the left corner of my rear bumper is crushed and torn apart, and there's white paint on it. And no explanation note on my car of course.
At that point, I was so pissed at myself for not having taken note of the license plates of the cars next to mine. Of course, you don't do that, because it would be a lot of work if you had to do that every time you park.
But with the current state of affairs, you really ought to do so...
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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digimanus wrote: filled 100% that morning, was less than 50% in the evening
Nowadays dealers write down the mileage shown by the odometer when the car comes in, and when it leaves. It's on all of my recent receipts.
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Well - there's the option of taking them to small claims court. Are they willing to miss the day's pay over the cost? You've got the same decision to make, but they may decide to pay up when they get the summons.
Don't forget to (1) have the cost of the repair, and (2) the cost of the summons, and (3) lost time's value for the new repair all itemized.
Kind of a shot across the bow: settle up or it could cost you (50/50 split in court).
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Johnny J. wrote: And people wonder why mechanics have such a bad reputation
My dad was a mechanic for 40+ years. He's got plenty of stories that can confirm it only takes one bad apple.
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Old mans traditional and conservative politics (7)
An easy one to end the week off with. Good Luck
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Is it Victory, as in Victor and Tory?
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Nope, but your on the right track. Half right 
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OK Thanks, if I'm honest I'm glad I only got it half right, I wouldn't have a clue, pun intended, on posting Mondays one.
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Go on and challenge yourself... But sometimes it is harder to think of than solve.
Generally I work backwards making them. Think a word and go from there
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