I took my Octavia for its annual service in early April to a reputable Skoda dealership in North London and as a result, they noticed that the LEFT wingmirror indicator was faulty (it had flooded with rainwater). I agreed to have it replaced as part of my MOT which was due in May as they has to order the parts. When I took my vehicle on Saturday, they managed to fix the light and I paid at the desk for the MOT and the replacment indicator + labour (around £120). This is where the problems started.

I was held back at the front desk as the manager wanted to see me. It turned out that in the process of the repair, they had cracked the mirror itself in 3 places trying to get it off. When he appologised for what had happened, he asked me to pay £25 (cost price) for the replacement mirror which I objected to. After some to-ing and fro-ing with me getting ganged up on by the manager and the receptionist ("it had siezed up, there was no alternative"), I told them I wanted to see my car and talk to the person who tried to fix it.

On leading me to the car park, the mirror was indeed totalled and the manager agreed to replace it free of charge (in front of the mechanic) and then went to book that in with reception. Fine, I might lose 2-3 hours of faffing around in a week's time, but it won't cost me a penny. I left the garage.

On driving home, i'm creeping over 60mph onto the M4 sliproad and notice that the OPPOSITE, drivers side mirror is vibrating and wobbling all over the place. I've had the car 3 years and there was nothing wrong with it, yet on the same day I ask them to look at the LEFT wingmirror indicator, they cause a fault with the RIGHT mirror to the point where everything I see behind me is bouncing up and down like i'm driving through an earthquake.

I call them back and get another receptionist who tells me that the broken mirror is on back order with no delivery date and I have to wait until Friday to find out when it will be in stock, before I can have it replaced FOC. I mentioned the new fault and she seemed like she cared, but who knows. I'm not paying for this. If anything, I'd expect a refund on the original work because of all the hassle of having to take a morning off to get this sorted.

Just venting!

Edited 17 May, 201115 yr by Auberne

It may just be totally unrelated and the adhesive on your right mirror has chosen this time to fail. I would pull the mirror glass off asap and then stick it back on with double sided numberplate/carpet tape. Alternatively you can leave it on and try and have it out with the dealership, but if it falls off and smashes in the mean time then you'll have to fork out for a new mirror glass, and seeing as they are on back order at the moment that'll leave you with no wing mirrors for a while...not good.

Too much to be a coincidence. I reckon they could not initially get the left off, so they tried with the right to compare the problem, managed to get it off and then put it back in a half assed way. 3 years of solid dependency with not a single problem and then you get a faulty mirror within an hour of them messing with the left? Hmm.. suspect.

I agree...suspicious, but what can you do?! There is no way to prove that they've had a hand in it.

Too much to be a coincidence. I reckon they could not initially get the left off, so they tried with the right to compare the problem, managed to get it off and then put it back in a half assed way. 3 years of solid dependency with not a single problem and then you get a faulty mirror within an hour of them messing with the left? Hmm.. suspect.

+1.

There's lots of reputable specialists out there.

Time to take it on the chin and vote with your feet.