Thought I'd share this as it infuriated me no end.

My 82 year Nan's 57 plate Fiesta Style had a service last week, now on the plus side the dealers came and collected her car at apparently no extra charge, she was quoted approx' £230 for the service which I thought was outrageous based on the price I just paid for my Octy, but thats a different story.

Anyway, they ring her up and tell her that one of her (15" steelies) wheels was buckled and needed replacing, being a typical Nan she said go ahead. So the car was returned later that day with the bill, on closer inspection I discovered to my shock that the 'Stealers' had charged her £125 + VAT for the bl00dy wheel........................does that take the pi55 or what?

Think I'd be calling at the Stealers for a Word

Think I'd be calling at the Stealers for a Word

I've had several! Their excuse was, it had to be done as it would fail the mot..................I thought it was in for a fekin service! They should of put the spare on and advised her of a the need to change it and given her a price, I found a wheel on the bay for 35 quid inc del, bl00dy rip off merchants.

Can you not give them the wheel back??.

Can you not give them the wheel back??.

Right up there ar53s..............not an option, its now 'used'.

Trading Standards? Get someone to phone up anonymously to get a price for the same wheel?

I would ask for the old wheel back too...

I'd be asking for the old wheel back as mentioned.

Then i would take it to a tyre fitter and ask them to check it over and also another dealer and do the same. If they said it was fine then sparks would fly.

I would also be going to trading standards. No way a Steel Wheel costs £125 + VAT. That is shocking treatment and they seem to just be taking the pi55 with her being a pensioner thinking she won't know any different.

For reference, I got a set of 4 brand new steel wheels off of VW (who I'd guess are more expensive than Ford) for £160. I would defo be having a word with them about that!

The retail list price is £55.75 (inc VAT) for a single steelie which is bad enough. You do have to had add the labour cost for swapping the tyre over, but £150 including VAT is outrageous as it is effectively £95 to swap the tyre over.

Ring the manager and ask how he can justify almost £100 to swap over a tyre - demand a refund.

Had a similar experience with my local Ford dealer last year when i put 2 cars in for MOT,

The first car passed it's MOT apart from a buckled alloy wheel, the Ford specialist i used for servicing etc agreed they would have passed the car with this alloy, and it did not cause any symptoms on the car, however Ford saw an opportunity to rip another customer off. They tried to charge £200 for a 15'' Fiesta Alloy!! Obviously i took the car away and told them what i thought, bought an alloy off eBay (brand New) for £60 delivered and took it back. The car passed it's MOT but the car was returned with a dent in the bonnet. The manager denied all responsibility and basically told me to get lost, wouldn't check the CCTV either.

The second car i put in for MOT, i knew it needed work on the rear calipers and handbrake as the calipers are prone to seizing, they said the car needed new rear discs due to disolouration from heat, pads and handbrake cable and quoted £470 for the work, they also failed the car on a rear seat belt fault and quoted £200 odd for a new belt. Obviously i told them again to jog on. Shockingly Ford then called back and said the problem with the rear seat belt was because they hadn't clicked the seat back in position correctly and asked if they could now sort the rear brake problem, even more enraged i still told them to shove it.

Took the car to the Ford specialist again who replaced the rear calipers, handbrake cable and a reviewed design handbrake lever and mechanism for alot less than £470.

Ford then passed the car, even though on the first test they wanted to replace the rear discs and pads.... mmmmmm!

Also their service charges are rediclous, i stopped using them years ago for servicing because of this.

The main reason i sold all my Fords and bought something else was due to my experience with the above MOT's, that really was the final straw.

NAME AND SHAME..you know it makes sense

I will have to do something on the QT as any mention to my nan will send her over the edge, it just fekin winds me up when people, especially pensioners are taken advantage of!

Finally update:

Spoke to the dealer in question for an explanantion as to why the wheel and tyre fitting should cost £161.25 inc VAT, after 5 minutes on hold I was then transferred to a VERY apologetic manager who stated that when the bill details had been inputted in to the system 'somebody' had added and extra 100 quid by accident!! Anyway, problem resolved with and small amount in compensation - namely front and rear floor mats - received. Result!

The second car i put in for MOT, i knew it needed work on the rear calipers and handbrake as the calipers are prone to seizing, they said the car needed new rear discs due to disolouration from heat, pads and handbrake cable and quoted £470 for the work, they also failed the car on a rear seat belt fault and quoted £200 odd for a new belt. Obviously i told them again to jog on. Shockingly Ford then called back and said the problem with the rear seat belt was because they hadn't clicked the seat back in position correctly and asked if they could now sort the rear brake problem, even more enraged i still told them to shove it.

Took the car to the Ford specialist again who replaced the rear calipers, handbrake cable and a reviewed design handbrake lever and mechanism for alot less than £470.

Ford then passed the car, even though on the first test they wanted to replace the rear discs and pads.... mmmmmm!

The rear seat/seat belt thing is doubly dodgy....part of the MOT test includes checking that the rear seat backs are able to be locked in...that clearly wasn't checked on this car during the original MOT test!

Finally update:

Spoke to the dealer in question for an explanantion as to why the wheel and tyre fitting should cost £161.25 inc VAT, after 5 minutes on hold I was then transferred to a VERY apologetic manager who stated that when the bill details had been inputted in to the system 'somebody' had added and extra 100 quid by accident!! Anyway, problem resolved with and small amount in compensation - namely front and rear floor mats - received. Result!

Name and shame......... :wonder: They were clearly taking the peeeee :S

Glad you got a result Lee.

Now come on Name and Shame. After all it is only a Found On Rubbish Dumps dealer