... (on a side note i will slag you off for spelling 'complete' incorrectly..............grammar nazi awaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy :moon: )

lol - that was a shoot yourself in the foot moment :( - the word immediately following 'complet' was also spelt incorrectly but you missed it

lol - that was a shoot yourself in the foot moment :( - the word immediately following 'complet' was also spelt incorrectly but you missed it

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, i was too eager to post to check every other word (grammar nazi now hiiiiiiiiiiiiiding )

Why would a blown fuse be a warranty issue? The fuse is there as weak point in the circuit and is designed to blow to protect the wiring and electrical consumers. If there was a wiring fault or other electrical fault that caused the fuse to blow, then it would have been warrantable and the fuse would have been replaced as part of the warranty repair.

Car repairs take time and time has to charged for, I suspect that if you'd purchased the car from them, they may have replaced the fuse free of charge. Not only are you paying for the time, you are also paying for their product knowledge, you paid them to diagnose the problem and repair your car, which unfortunately wasn't covered by warranty.

The problem is that the time spent in finding the problem, getting to the fusebox, removing the fuse and checking it, is where the charge comes from. It would be pointless to get to the point of putting the blown fuse back in and then calling you to get your permission to put a good fuse in.

I've seen an invoice where someone was charged £650 not to replace a fuse which did not repair the car.

We have been paid more than this under a manufacturer recall just to put a sticker on a battery.

ff above has hit the nail on the head which all those complaining here seem to of missed.

What you have actually paid for is for the fitter to diagnose what the problem is and to rectify it, fortunately for you he did this very quickly, most dealers would have charged you a minimum of ¼ or ½ hrs labour, so IMO you got off quite lightly.

You tried and failed to diagnose the problem which has been caused by an accessory being plugged in and short circuiting (or overloading) it, therefore it was not a warranty issue.

ff above has hit the nail on the head which all those complaining here seem to of missed.

What you have actually paid for is for the fitter to diagnose what the problem is and to rectify it, fortunately for you he did this very quickly, most dealers would have charged you a minimum of ¼ or ½ hrs labour, so IMO you got off quite lightly.

You tried and failed to diagnose the problem which has been caused by an accessory being plugged in and short circuiting (or overloading) it, therefore it was not a warranty issue.

THAT is not actually a fact.

Reason currently unknown.

Probable, yes, but not definate.

If it happens again, i WILL be going back to tell them to find what could be a fault within the electrical system.

As stated precviously up there somewhere^^, my TomTomm recharged quite nicely in the 12v socket in the boot, as it also has done in the Fabia for the last 6 years without any problems..

NOTHING else has been plugged into the c/c socket in my ownership

Probable, yes, but not definate.

If it happens again, i WILL be going back to tell them to find what could be a fault within the electrical system.

Well if it is proved to be an electrical issue that is popping the fuse then you'll be able to ask for your £10 back.

It's only an oberservation but the few posts I've read from you often come across as being a 'bit of a moan', mainly the one on DRL's. People aren't picking on you. If you want to enjoy the feeling of people agreeing with you try starting a thread that praises the Octavia instead?

+1

With regard to the price charged, I agree it seems fair. With regard to the fuse layout chart provided in UK models, it is perfectly reasonable that an owner merely checking off that would not instantly realise its wrong for the specific car. In another thread I started I mentioned mine was the mirror of what card said and that despite that the numbers didn't match up what is in the owners manual in any way shape or form, others have similar aged cars that are different again.

Had Mr Ree been given the correct literature for his car as he did try to follow it, he would have identified the problem and not gone to dealers in first place, it is a shame. Perhaps an email to Skoda UK on the matter and a scan of invoice might get you a tenner back.

For mine I took a pic of the card and fixed it specific to my car, for the symbols anyway. Stephen Hawking wouldn't be able to decrypt the numbers from anything Skoda supplied me with.

Before

After

I lost power for my sat nav my dealer changed fuse for free, said if it blew again come back and it would be checked under warranty, has not blown again, there are still some dealers who are aware that if they give good customer service the customer will return.

Well if it is proved to be an electrical issue that is popping the fuse then you'll be able to ask for your £10 back.

It's only an oberservation but the few posts I've read from you often come across as being a 'bit of a moan', mainly the one on DRL's. People aren't picking on you. If you want to enjoy the feeling of people agreeing with you try starting a thread that praises the Octavia instead?

My personal views too, or am I supposed to just turn over and have me tummy tickled in agreement with everything before me?

...and please, let's not start another arguement on ******* DRL's, PLEASE!

The whole point of this 'moan' as you so quaintly put it, :think: was to state my case regarding the mystery surrounding the fuse identification and the still unbelievable fact (IMO) that they had the cheek to charge me anything at all for a job that probably took them less than 60 seconds to rectify, a fuse that MAY have blown due to some sort of a fault within the electrical system of the car, a £20,000 car that's still under manufacturers warranty.

Regardless, they won't be getting my custom again becuase of their pettiness.

As a point of interest Mr Silver, I think you'll find that I have heaped plenty of praise on both the Octavia and Fabia since being a member in here, but I won't just sit back and be slagged off with sarcasm etc. for DARING to go against the general 'flow' sometimes. :evil:

Edited 15 March, 201313 yr by Mr Ree

Wow , I can't wait to see how upset you get when something proper brakes..

How can you say you could have changed the fuse? You failed to even diagnose which fuse it even was which is surely a prerequisite.

I'm pretty sure the garage won't mind not seeing you again though. It's sounds like your a little more trouble than your worth.

They should however have informed you prior to replacing the fuse as that is standard practice. You should still expect to pay for the diagnoses of the fault though as far as I'm concerned.

Apologies for not agreeing with you.

Wow , I can't wait to see how upset you get when something proper brakes..

How can you say you could have changed the fuse? You failed to even diagnose which fuse it even was which is surely a prerequisite.

I'm pretty sure the garage won't mind not seeing you again though. It's sounds like your a little more trouble than your worth.

They should however have informed you prior to replacing the fuse as that is standard practice. You should still expect to pay for the diagnoses of the fault though as far as I'm concerned.

Apologies for not agreeing with you.

Must admit i totaly agree with the above comment, Anyway as said before the fuse has blown for some reason BUT will not blow if the circuit it is protecting is not being used! So whatever you have fitted into the 12volt aux socket must have caused it to blow and at the end of the day has possibly saved your 20k car from going up in smoke.

Regardless, they won't be getting my custom again becuase of their pettiness.

How about giving them a quick call? Explain to them your grievance, you never know you might be pleasantly suprised.

I can understand your frustration if the fuse box is poorly labled, but that's not the dealers fault. I think looking from the dealers point of view what they did was totally reasonable- maybe they could have done it for nothing but in this case why should they?

In your opening post you freely admit you didn't buy the car from them so why should you expect any preferential treatment. They probably get freeloaders trying it on all the time, never to return after a freebee and as a business are brassed off with it-that's not suggesting that was your intention but how are they to know that?

sorry but they could have charged you a lot more and I don't think you were unfaily treated at all. They probably save their preferential treatment for loyal customers.

For everything else there's barclaycard!

The user manual is very clear on what fuse is what....

My car blew the fuse on the headlight washers (Has Xenon lights) and went through 2 services and an MoT without the dealer even mentioning it, I only realised the problem when I got VCDS, but having realised from here that the common fault was a blown fuse I went looking for this and what a ball ache (I'm an electronic engineer and have previously rebuilt gear boxes on cars so should be able to find a blown fuse! but no I ended up having to pull every fuse out of frustration due to the fuse box maps bearing no resemblence to the actual layout. I share your pain on this.

Mr Ree , you will find that there are more people on here who are with you, but because of the bulling on here , they dare not post

The user manual is very clear on what fuse is what....

You must have the only one I have heard of that is correct then lol my manual is incorrect by locations and listed numbers where as the location layout card in fuse compartment is incorrect but only back to front, manual in mine is totally wrong. In the thread where I mentioned it after hard wiring something through fuse box there were plenty of others inc Blackline owners with exact same experience of manual both on thread and by PM. Have you checked your manual against fuse box yet??

You must have the only one I have heard of that is correct then lol my manual is incorrect by locations and listed numbers where as the location layout card in fuse compartment is incorrect but only back to front, manual in mine is totally wrong. In the thread where I mentioned it after hard wiring something through fuse box there were plenty of others inc Blackline owners with exact same experience of manual both on thread and by PM. Have you checked your manual against fuse box yet??

Yes when i was looking to see if my rear wiper fuse had blown, agree the card is naff but the manual provided the correct fuse location. If I get any issues again then I may have a different opinion but so far so good.

So you basically wanted them to spend time diagnosing the fualt was a blown fuse (after you had taken the car in and said you couldn't find a blown fuse) and after they had spent this time you wanted them to ring you up and give you the option of paying them or DIY'ing once they had given you instructions. If I was you I would be gratefull they waived any diagnostic fee iirc this is to the tune of £50 and is not recalimable from SUK in the event no (warranty) fault is found.

Now if you had bought the car from them maybe they would have slipped the fuse in for free, but if it is the first time you have showed your face.........

How anyone can expect to rock up to at a dealer and expect them to diagnose and repair a non-warranty issue for free is beyond me. The ten quid charge was pretty fair and is more like a token payment. If the car had been taken to the dealer that the OP uses all the time and been charged, then maybe I could understand the moan, but they would still be justified in charging for it.

And as for the fuse diagram being wrong, it's easy to that a fuse has blown. If you can't identify the right one take them all out one at a time and check them. Sounds like there's a bit of frustration at not being able to find a simple problem to me.

And as for the fuse diagram being wrong, it's easy to that a fuse has blown. If you can't identify the right one take them all out one at a time and check them. Sounds like there's a bit of frustration at not being able to find a simple problem to me.

It may be easy but shouldn't have to be like that. When I removed electric windows fuse and reinserted it (trying to locate another fuse), windows don't auto close first time I use them which is a real pain in the hole! I have no idea what else can be affected in the same way of totally isolating its power source resetting etc, loosing settings on radio and things like that would be highly annoying all because Skoda failed to tell me correctly what is what in a simple fuse box lay out. It is so bad on their part as a manufacturer and they have been doing it to the UK market at least for years! Having to start pulling every fuse to check visually is something I would expect to have to do with a £300 15 year old run around I buy without the manual. There is a part No on the fuse box layout insert I have seen 3 different ones used in Octavia II FL's produced within a 14 month time period and all are wrong to the car they are in (and all wrong for my car too).

FUBAR, hear what you're saying, but losing a few settings is better than faffing about going to the dealer, not to mention being charged for the job.

I don't think the fact the dealer charged for changing the fuse is the problem. The fact they even plugged in a computer for a non working power socket is a joke, regardless what a customer told me when I started to train as a auto sparky when I left school the first place I would go is the fuse box for any problems like that. The dealer fitters will know the problem with the fuse location card on the box cover, so to go plugin in a computer is a joke.

My personal views too, or am I supposed to just turn over and have me tummy tickled in agreement with everything before me?

...and please, let's not start another arguement on ******* DRL's, PLEASE!

The whole point of this 'moan' as you so quaintly put it, :think: was to state my case regarding the mystery surrounding the fuse identification and the still unbelievable fact (IMO) that they had the cheek to charge me anything at all for a job that probably took them less than 60 seconds to rectify, a fuse that MAY have blown due to some sort of a fault within the electrical system of the car, a £20,000 car that's still under manufacturers warranty.

Regardless, they won't be getting my custom again becuase of their pettiness.

As a point of interest Mr Silver, I think you'll find that I have heaped plenty of praise on both the Octavia and Fabia since being a member in here, but I won't just sit back and be slagged off with sarcasm etc. for DARING to go against the general 'flow' sometimes. :evil:

Ironic that you 'won't be slagged off for daring to go against the flow' yet everyone who disagrees with you is 'picking on you' whereas those that have some sympathy 'have grasped the issue'

I'm afraid I'm in the former category of dimwits who can't grasp the concept that (regardless of how long it took to change the actual fuse) you think a garage (who it sounds like didn't even sell you the '£20,000 car') should not make a modest charge for their time spent in diagnosing and rectifying a fault for which you admit the "probable" cause was something you did.

Did you wait whilst they did it? If so how long between them getting in the car and parking it up fixed? In other words how long were they paying a member of staff to drive your car into the workshop, diagnose the fault, change the fuse, test, and drive it back round again?

In honesty I do have a little sympathy, as I'd expect many dealers might not charge anything here - but if they do choose to charge then I think the amount involved here is perfectly reasonable. Whinging about it is one thing - I might have done the same. Getting a cob on just because some (the majority of?) people disagree with you is a bit daft though.......

Edited 17 March, 201313 yr by mr_awol