Dodgy garage: advice needed urgently

[MacAoidh]

Some issues with my MoT... I went to the local, rural, get anything going again garage a few months ago for a test to see how things were. Main problems: brakes; rear wheel arch; steering gaiter.

The plan was to have the local guy sort the brakes, I fit the gaiter (replacement was ordered and paid for), then I get a well respected restoration guy to do a neat job on the bodywork - which is generally in pretty good nick.)

I talked to the garage, mentioned that I had a welder lined up. I made the various decisions, asked a friend to drop the keys in (van & I live 100m away), gave her a list of things to say, which she did. Basically: do the brakes, can the rust be done with a simple patch rather than a new panel?

A few days later I get a call asking me to drop by, I arrive and see that much more welding is being done. The guy explains that when they got into it they found a shed-load of filler, probably the result of a minor bash some time. They'd had to cut and cut before they reached clean metal. Which in turn meant fitting a new panel (the flare-out part of the wheel arch), plus a fair amount of plate. By the time I saw it, the welding was finished and they were filling in the gaps. I didn't say very much, am in a bit of a mess at the moment (major bereavement). I raised the issue of the gaiter, they said they'd gone ahead and done it. I said I hadn't wanted them to do it, they said "well it was up on the ramp". If I gave them the other gaiter, I wouldn't be charged for the (non-VW) one they'd fitted.

Here's the big deal: the weld job is a total bodge. There's a 6mm step, about 40cm long, where they stopped grinding off the filler. It's had a quick coat of primer, brushed on.

I don't grudge them a few quid for fitting the gaiter, but I don't like anyone taking grinder and welder to my van without a) my consent and b) an understanding that it's not an old banger. The welding job will be a pile of rust in a couple of years.

He's a nice bloke, was very sympathetic about my situation, was just trying to help. He's also very keen to convince me that vehicles that old should be scrapped. Period.

What can/should I do? I don't know how much money he's looking for...
He's got a spare set of copied keys, nothing else.
I'm benefitting from the fact that it's road legal, but the welding is a joke and I'm concerned it's going to make a proper repair harder.

Does anyone know the law on this? (Sorry it's been such a long post)

[Fritz]

IMHO,,,,,,,,,,,Ok the guy has carried on with the job with the aid of his angle grinder/welder/new panels etc etc.
He would have had to grind out the filler to give you an idea of how much was there in the first place and how much it was gunna cost to fix it.

By the sound of things he has misinterpreted what the first instruction was, and simply carried on with the job. I agree he should have contacted you sooner to disscuss the next move/price etc etc.

I don't really understand when you say the welding is a bodge , How would you know?, the guy hasn't been given the chance to finish what he has started, and you are looking at a half completed job.
If you are not happy ,then pay the first guy what you owe and then try to find someone else who you completely trust to complete the welding to your required standard .

Sorry to be blunt , but that is how I see it....

Regards

Fritz,,,,,

[MacAoidh]

[blunt is fine!]

It is being presented as a finished job, ready for spraying.

I reckon I'll pay him for what I asked for, a patch, and just hope that what they've done doesn't impede getting it done nice later.

[stevel]

You asked originally about the law....frankly if someone other than you gave the guy final verbal instructions it's pretty tricky. You can't even be 100% certain what the garage were actually told wanted doing.

I'd pay for the job that's been done (you should be able to negotiate a bit but the guy has done what he believed you wanted.....he should get paid). Next time if someone other than you is going to take your vehicle in to any garage, particularly for partial repairs, give them instructions IN WRITING to give to the garage, keeping a copy yourself. The instructions should include something like "No additional work to be performed without authorisation in advance" or what I usually do is agree a rough quote for the work, add about 10-20% for contingencies and insist on being phoned if the bill is going to exceed that amount.

Steve

[Arvi]

law is a bit iffy here depends on how much of a fuss you want to make

dont pay if the final result is not presentable

if it is haggle the price down and ask for a guarantee for at least a year against rust in writing

[ringo]

You have my sympathy thats for sure. I had a similiar problem earlier this year when a garage took 10 weeks to change a head gasket....

Trouble is, you can't weld a patch to filler. I've tried it lots of times on my MG. You can't really weld to rusty metal either. I can imagine your mechanic cutting a bit away, then another bit, then another just to find something decent to weld to. Its a shame he did a pants job after all that prep.

Least you have an mot!

My conclusion is to do it myself. If anyone is going to take ages or do a crap job it may aswell be me!

[MacAoidh]

Latest: I went round, with my messenger friend, spoke to the gaffer. Fairly convincingly explained that the welding was done on the understanding that the sprayer would also do some filling. Cheaper than more welding. I sort of agree, a bit... Couldn't really talk about it properly though, because he hasn't got round to making me up a bill yet!

But yes, thank you for the advice. I'll be printing out a neat job sheet in future. Partial repairs? A few more of those to come, I think.