Brake switch £115 to replace

[Funky_duck]

Hello all this is my 1st post but have read a number of yours for lots of good advice.

I recently got the flashing coil on my dash along with the orange engine management light plugged in my vag com and read intemitant brake switch and int. Abs fault. Took my fabia vrs to my local dealer and explained my vagcom findings, they called me back later and said it would be £8 plus half hour labour. When I went to collect the car they told me it was now £115! Shocked I Asked for a breakdown as it's not what I was quoted. They said that it was £40 to plug her into a vagcom to double check, £8 for the part, £40 labour and 10% cleanliness fee for a plastic cover to be put on the seat to keep it clean. I did explain that I had already done q vagcom and told them ofthis and that I wasn't aware another one was being done. To which the response was " oh didn't we tell you, never mind it's done now and that's the price". It all seemed a little rude and blazay and to rub salt into the wound the abs light came back on the following morning. I've called them back only to get a rude manager tell me I would have to pay to have it looked it " nothing is free " apparently. I am now waiting on Skoda hq to call me back. Are Skoda garages normally like this? Is there anything else I can do. Thank you for your time in reading this long post.

Craig

[blueR36]

you have been trearted appallingly , the part is guaranteed for two years, how did you pay if by card you have recourse with them as well . how can they recharge for vag-com when they have not fixed first time . here is skodas charter . http://www.skoda.co....es/default.aspx

also the three garages near to you all have customer charter logos next to thre names http://www.skoda.co.uk/gbr/findaretailer/Pages/default.aspx

best of luck Alan

[Gizmo]

Name and shame them I say as that is truly appalling 'service'

[mannyo]

All dealers are franchises, so are not directly linked to Skoda. They all can charge what they like for parts, labour etc. If one dealer is expensive then go elsewhere as the experience maybe a whole lot better. I know of a number of member here who have had diagnostic work for free, it takes less than 10 seconds to read the codes from the car using a portable battery powered tool.

[shark_90]

Yes that's a rip off. Including diagnostics etc our price would have been £8 switch (or whatever) then £22.50+vat labour!

[rwbaldwin]

Ignoring the issue about you having done your own diagnostics, it is a rip off.

If it was a quotation they gave you, they should stick to it.

If it was an estimate, then it is wrong for them to add things on later that they knew (or should have known) would be required. This includes diagnostics. NB/ I would expect them to check that the ECU was seeing the 2nd channel of the brake switch after fitting.

I can't see how it could possible be that much, even in London. I think this is a case of 'Split and Pad' - where you split the job into a number of stages and put a minimum charge/time on each step. A mate of mine in Derby thought he was ripped off when he was charged £56 all in for the same thing by a dealer.

[bobh]

That is shocking definatly name and shame. its a 10 minuet job the part twists out, and the new one twists in, just like changing a light bulb just move the plastic cover above the pedals, (a few screws) and thats it

[SCVRS]

Outrageous price and outrageous treament! Name and Shame them for us all to avoid!

[Funky_duck]

They were Saunders Abbott in Sidcup. It's still on going I did pay with card but don't know the next steps. Thanks for the advice

[Overhaul ed]

Hi, i don't think they are a Skoda main dealer anymore from what i heard, i have also noticed they sell any makes of cars on there front now.

[fabdavrav]

rip-off merchants!!!!! I replaced my own, and then with my £80 code reader I then wiped any codes etc. This just adds more weight to my reply to the question people allways say to me "you must really enjoy fixing cars"...No I don't like getting a sore back, pulling my shoulder, lying on a cold concrete floor, but I am not (if I can help it) going to pay some wit my hard earned money to a job up and rip me off!!...Sorry...rant over!!

[robmawer]

To which the response was " oh didn't we tell you, never mind it's done now and that's the price".

Whenever I have work done, dealers normally print out and make me sign a job sheet which lists what they're going to do, then if any extra work arises in the course of doing the work they phone me to authorise it.

If I came back to collect the car and they'd done something which wasn't on the job sheet and which they hadn't phoned me about I would be refusing to pay for the additional work...

[Guest]

10% cleanliness fee for a plastic cover to be put on the seat to keep it clean.

That is a rip off, I purchase thin white covers for slipping over seats when I am giving a thorough internal cleaning, they work out at aprrox 17p, or they did last time I purchased them 100 per roll, retail price to me. They are quite strong and I have left them on when the weather was bad to ensure the seats stayed dry.

[KenONeill]

10% cleanliness fee for a plastic cover to be put on the seat to keep it clean.

So it somehow costs more for the cover for a 20_000 mile service than for a 10_000!!? :moon: that!

[rwbaldwin]

10% cleanliness fee for a plastic cover to be put on the seat to keep it clean.

That is a rip off, I purchase thin white covers for slipping over seats when I am giving a thorough internal cleaning, they work out at aprrox 17p, or they did last time I purchased them 100 per roll, retail price to me. They are quite strong and I have left them on when the weather was bad to ensure the seats stayed dry.

Whatever they call it, it is the equivalent of a small order surcharge. Problem here is that it wasn't a small charge.

Whatever the name, it actually covers all the non-spannering items such as booking the job in, fetching the car from a parking space, putting the seat cover and paper floor square in, doing the paperwork, cleaning up bay, putting tools back, taking car back to parking space, etc.

At £100+ (without this fee) I would expect that it had already been covered in the hourly rate, so you have paid twice.

Split and Pad :( (see post #6)