Armegatron

A quick update on this. The car was returned on Thursday and I'm pleased to say the job is finally done http://i.imgur.com/Tjqm82r.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GUUhX7P.jpg Given the work was patched together in places with various re-re-re-re sprays happening I guess time will tell if the paint cracks, corrodes or what not. Would I buy another Skoda with a balance of warranty? Probably not. While the mechanicals are covered by the A* mechanics in the garages, I'm not happy that a car worth potentially £25,000+ would go to these bodyshops for work under warranty. While Skoda have been really helpful throughout and allowed this to eventually be resolved I think 4 months, five or six visits, to replace a tailgate is beyond a joke and they seriously need to review their approved repairer criteria and auditing procedures.

It's ongoing. I'm hoping to have the car back tomorrow or Wednesday. There is a thread in the Octavia mk2 section of the site listing the full saga but in short they denied doing anything until I challenged them with the footage, so without the camera I'd have either had to pay for a CSI style investigation to prove they damaged and painted it, or more likely had to fork out for the repair myself. Thank god the camera proved my case is all I can say!

The wife could do with a new dash cam given they've come along leaps and bounds since, and her £25 640x480 camera is now corrupting memory cards left right and centre it is time for a new one. When I bought mine, the front camera cost £92. Quite a big spend. This was followed by a rear camera at £45. My total outlay for cameras so far has been over £150. Now, £150 sounds like a lot and I 100% agree - however take this example of an approved Skoda bodyshop exercising their professional attention to detail and honesty to my car when it went in for warranty work and returned with numerous defects... I think that £150 has been a wise investment!!!

Mobius Action Camera for the rear which caught their shenanigans DR32 for the front, which the t**ts taped over when it went back in. All in all, the Mobius is better, despite not having a screen, due to the form factor. I'm now looking for a new camera to replace the wifes in her car, and that'll free her old one up for when I'm using the company car

The parts were baking in the oven yesterday and new badges will be fitted (again). Lets hope they put them on the correct sides, straight and level without having used a bloody screwdriver to get the old ones off!! Fingers crossed today or Monday

I was also wanting to ask, there is now a thin gap under the spoiler where it fixes to the tailgate. I'm guessing frost in there would **** it up in the coming winter months... Fed. Up.

Some of you might already know, but my car was in for warranty repair many moons ago on the tailgate. A run down can be found here. Approved by Skoda UK, the job should have been a doddle and with the car going to an approved body shop I felt in safe hands. The claim was that on a 2010 Octavia Vrs the tailgate had corrosion on both sides of the lip - those suffering with this will understand without me going into more detail. The car was returned from repair number 1 with a popped bubble on the paint, granted the underside, but this could let some more corrosion in. There was also damage to the wing where the gas strut had caught the paint. Unfortunately I have no photos of this but Skoda UK have them as they were taken by the dealer. The car was sent back to the repairer for number 2 visit. This time around the paint on the repair had black marks (on a candy white car) and overspray local to the repair. The car was immediately rejected and returned to the repairer. Roll on visit number 3. There were significant issues with overspray to the whole car including exhaust and wheels. A chip was also apparent on the new and freshly painted tailgate in the area of the repair. Furthermore the spoiler had a rough texture and poor paint finish. The repairer denied doing anything to the spoiler when twice challenged on this. HOWEVER... Dashcam footage shown the repairer had a collision in my car where an object struck the spoiler and tailgate (hence the chip). The spoiler was repainted with the left over paint while in situ on the car, hence the poor quality repair! Visit number 4... The garage finally accepted responsibility when challenged with dashcam footage. I'd also noticed that the tailgate was misaligned and was allowing water ingress into the boot in large quantities. On return of its fourth visit the garage returned my vehicle with two original defects outstanding - overspray remains on the wheel, windows, exhaust and tail light. The tailgate remained mis aligned making it difficult to shut the boot. New problems were also present in that the Skoda badge was poorly mounted with damage and doublesided tape visible. The Octavia and VRS badges were on the wrong sides and were wonky. There was damage to the mudguards and the rear wiper arm had clearcoat splashed on it. Polish residue was also stuck onto the wheels and in nooks and crannies. The spoiler also had a slight orange peel effect to it and while the repair to the untrained eye looks reasonable I feel my car went in with an OEM in tact spoiler and had come out differently. Finally, there was water ingress from the wiper grommit. Repair number 5 was then carried out at another garage. This garage had on the job card to resolve all the above issues. Today the car was returned to me with the following: A chip in the paint behind the Skoda emblem on the tailgate where the badge was prized off Damage around the screw heads that secure the spoiler A poorly adhered VRS badge Overspray / roughness remaining on the alloy wheel In addition, the spoiler paint thickness is much thicker given they've painted over the old paint on the old damaged spoiler making me worry about how well it'll hold up in future. It seems my request for a new spoiler fell on deaf ears. So the car was immediately send on its way for repair number 6. All the 'best' pictures of the failed repairs can be found here: http://imgur.com/a/Iz4y6 A video of the incident can be found here: The repairer that I'd 100% say you'd be best off writing off your car so you can choose your own Insured repairer rather than being stuck with the one Skoda UK leave you with is RMB Autos in Yarm, Teesside. http://www.rmbauto.co.uk/ Now, the reason I'm posting isn't explicitly for a rant, although I'm happy to vent as I'm sick of this. There are several people that have reported problems with RMB Auto doing shoddy repairs on all manner of cars and I really don't want another person to have to suffer a repair from them as your car would probably come out more knackered than it went in!

So I sent an email to the managing director of RMB Auto, Robert Bennett, and local Skoda dealer (who will remain nameless) on the 15/9/14 asking for a response within 14 days to my letter of complaint or I'd consider legal action to recoup costs. It is now the 5/10/14. Skoda UK have again been brilliant and have booked the car into a non-RMB chain repairer at Newcastle for alignment, replacement badges and leaking grommet to be looked at and are also footing the bill for a loan car. In the mean time, the wheels and other parts are still covered in over spray and I've not heard anything back from RMB in way of apology or compensation offer. So I have two options, go down small claims route to recover costs to put right the over spray (a detail by my usual provider at a cost of £250) OR post the video and the associated details to RMB Auto's twitter, Facebook and review sites and see what happens. Regardless, Watchdog and the other programs of that type have all been contacted so we'll also see what happens there.

Just an update to this... I washed the car yesterday and found the bung on the rear wiper isn't sealed properly and is allowing water into the brand new tailgate. It was obvious this was a problem without even looking inside the car by the fact there was a large build up of condensation on the inside of the window around the bung. Opened the boot and took a look (because the plastic trim also hasn't been correctly clipped in) and could see loads of drips coming down. Again how an approved repairer can get it so wrong is beyond me!

Thanks 10 days old already!! Was hoping his first trip from hospital would have been in my car as we'd used it as our wedding car :( At least swmbos waters went in their courtesy car, kinda regret putting a towel under her now. Would have been sweet revenge!

Posted in error - doh.

The footage in court would be pointless given I have an admission from them later that confirmed what had happened in agreement with the actions on the video (other than the 1 person claimed by them and the 3 on the video). The letter has been adjusted slightly to cover the provision of a loan car and a couple of other minor points. It appears the work may now be carried out at JTC600 in York, some 55 miles from me. It was suggested I could go there, and wait for the work to be done and drive home the same day. This I'm not happy with. I'm not taking more time out of work / paternity leave away from my new born Son and wife who is recovering from an operation so I can fix their problems. If anyone has experience of this garage / bodyshop I'd be keen to here from you... http://www.jct600.co.uk/dealerships/volkswagen_york/

They claimed it was one new person acting alone to cover it up hence no paper work etc. Video clearly shows 3 people were aware of this issue. The sound would probably have alerted others in the workshop too. Would you believe they have asked for the car for another opportunity to put it right?!?! Erm, no. I'm a nice guy, so if I had a customers car that I (as a company) had been responsible for damaging and then covering it up then I'd bend over backwards to make that customer happy. Especially if he had a video of the event. IF I found out the customer had a baby boy while we had the car, I'd return the car to him with a card and flowers to say congratulations. Instead, the company gave the customer the car with more defects. I'm biting my tongue as there is plenty more I could tell you about this place, but as I'm going down the legal route I'm keeping some things back (including other footage).

Repairer is RMB Auto at Teesside http://www.rmbauto.co.uk/bodyshop/ Full video is here: Skoda UK / RMB Auto and Derek Slack Motors have been contacted with my demands to put right the situation and have 14 days to respond before legal action is taken. The certification companies for RMB Auto will also be contacted including "ATA", "PAS 125", "British Kitemark" Reviews will be placed on the following sites... http://www.motorcodes.co.uk/garagefinder/rmb-toyota-1542.html http://www.motorcodes.co.uk/garagefinder/derek-slack-motors-ltd-skoda-2337.html https://www.facebook.com/RMBAutoparc/posts_to_page https://www.facebook.com/rmbauto/info?ref=page_internal https://www.facebook.com/pages/RMB-Toyota/153625104672432?sk=reviews If anyone knows of more review sites that would be appreciated. VW Lookers Teesside and Darlington will also be contacted to inform them, as one of their customers with a brand new Golf R has had a similar experience just this past week. Transcript of the video:

I've also had confirmation from my detailer that a brand new VW Golf that arrived with a paint defect at a local VW dealer was sent to the same bodyshop for minor repairs. The vehicle was returned to customer with overspray, damaged front window trim and a dirty interior (0 mile car!!!). I'm trying to get in contact with the customer to arrange a VW / Skoda complaint about the approved VAG garage.

http://vimeo.com/105884033 Trimmed video of the event hiding the particulars of the garage and the faces of the 3 who were aware but did not document or inform me of the collision.

Holding the footage of the managers antics as I'm not sure where that stands legally. To be honest it means nothing when compared to everything else that has happened too. I've drafted a letter to the repairers managing director who used to work with a colleague of mine. I've been told the md would normally hate this kind of story as it could damage the company that he owns badly indeed. Letter is redacted of the details but is below and will be sent tomorrow after I hear from skoda uk, however judging by the previous comment here I really should address the letter to skoda uk? http://pastebin.com/S5eTSm2f

Ratboy - the repair was indeed to rectify a corrosion / paint / structural defect (I have not seen the independent report other than I know his recommendations were to replace the tailgate). Skoda have paid their approved repairer for the work and it is the repairer that I have grievance with but I'm losing patience with the whole process.

Rest assured I will. I wish I'd never contacted skoda uk and had the first lot of work done or just accepted the 1st repair as the best it'd get. Stupidly I kept thinking they were able to do a decent job but it has been mistake after mistake. The dishonesty has been the worst part. Had I not had the dashcam I'd have been screwed. The garage did tape up the camera when they knew of the existence of it at the last visit however the camera was a decoy and a 2nd camera caught the manager who was handling the work with the foulest language, saying effectively I was making a fuss over nothing and making out the spoiler wasn't that bad. In my opinion if I noticed the repair without the video being reviewed first then it wasn't a good enough repair.

Anyone following the Facebook version of Briskoda will already know I've had some issues with an approved repairer (who at present will remain un-named). I'm looking for some advice on how best to proceed... Skoda UK customer services have been kept in the loop at all times and has often acted as mediator when defects occurred, pressuring the repairer to take the issues seriously. 1. Skoda approved replacement of tailgate due to defect at the seam. 2. Local dealer took collection of my vehicle and provided loan car. 3. My car was returned with damage where the gas strut upon replacing the tailgate seemed to have caught the bodywork. Also there was a bubble in the paint. This was made apparent to the dealer immediately. 4. Dealer arranged for me to deal directly with local approved repairer that was rectifying their previous work. 5. Repairer collected my car, carried out the work and returned it. The paint on the repair had black marks (on a candy white car) and overspray local to the repair. The car was immediately rejected and returned to the repairer. 6. Repairer contacted me and foreman assured me the car was repaired to an OEM standard. 7. Received the car. While the work they were addressing was up to standard there were significant issues with overspray to the whole car including exhaust and wheels. A chip was also apparent on the new and freshly painted tailgate in the area of the repair. Furthermore the spoiler had a rough texture and poor paint finish. The repairer denied doing anything to the spoiler when twice challenged on this. 8. Dashcam footage shown the repairer had a collision in my car where an object struck the spoiler and tailgate (hence the chip). The spoiler was repainted with the left over paint while in situ on the car, hence the poor quality repair. 9. The garage accepted responsibility when challenged with dashcam footage. The garage agreed to rectify the faults and provided a top up to my diesel tank as a good will gesture. The garage refused to pay for a detail to correct the overspray but instead offered to Gardx the car and provide a certificate assuring it would be the same quality as the detailer as they believed the detailer was charging too much. 10. An additional point was made that the tailgate was misaligned and was allowing water ingress into the boot in large quantities. This was also on the agenda to be repaired. 11. The garage returned my vehicle with two original defects outstanding - overspray remains on the wheel, windows, exhaust and tail light. The tailgate remains mis aligned making it difficult to shut the boot. New problems are also present in that the Skoda badge is poorly mounted with damage and doublesided tape visible. The Octavia and VRS badges are on the wrong sides and are wonky. There is damage to the mudguards and the rear wiper arm has clearcoat splashed on it. Polish residue is also stuck onto the wheels and in nooks and crannies. The spoiler also has a slight orange peel effect to it and while the repair to the untrained eye looks reasonable I feel my car went in with an OEM in tact spoiler and has come out differently. 12. Skoda have their hands tied as this is the only approved repairer in the area, but may be able to send the car out of area to be resolved. So - who is responsible? Skoda UK or the approved repairer? I'm looking to take small claims court action to recover costs to put right the faults if Skoda can't come good however as I didn't pay for the original repair I'm worried this would muddy the waters, unless I were to claim against Skoda UK? I'm due a call from Skoda UK tomorrow and as I say they have been helpful but I'm getting frustrated now that an approved can get it so wrong and I'm still not satisfied with the quality of the work. I'm not wanting to prejudice any outcome that may happen so I've left the details out of the post but once settled will likely be posting the video, images and company name.

Give VW and Seat garages a try just in case!

Cheers fellas - bought some HEKOs off eBay for £30

Hi matey - which deflectors are these (Heko, Skoda, SuperSkoda etc) as they look like the exact fit I'm after? Cheers!

For me, the main reasons were: 1. Faf of having to mount and unmount the phone and cradle each time 2. Killed the battery on my phone ... literally (or at least it did on my HTC Desire S, ended up bloating to a size that damaged the screen and stopped holding charge). On a phone with a sealed battery like my new HTC One it is not worth the risk as I'd have to send it off for an expensive repair to sort a damaged battery 3. Takes up much less windscreen real-estate 4. Daily roads voyager occasionally crashed, especially when taking calls or using satnav

If they have marketed it as a universal holder, and it didn't fit your phone, then it is not fit for purpose IMO. My biggest gripe with blister packaging is the waste that while the product mightn't be good for a person and is returned it still could be resold if it weren't for the awful packaging which ultimately means landfill / return to supplier (and all the transport costs associated).