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I had an accident with my new Ford Fiesta Zetec S which I accidentally banged into a sheep (yes it was killed, instantly I might add). The car has been repaired by the Ford garage which took it away. When it came back, it had a different make tyre, the bonnet wasn't straight and there is silver paint on the inside of the door to let other people know that it's had an accident instantly. Also there are lots of paint chips in the bonnet paintwork now. Can you let me know if this is normal? and if not how to go about getting something done about it?
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i) No its not normal
ii) If complaining to dealer boss gets you nowhere then
a) write a letter to their managing director at head office threatening a summons for costs of repair if they dont fix/pay for fix in 10 days, cc Ford HQ, send it recorded delivery
b) give them 10 days, if no joy, have it fixed somewhere better!, get receipt, and issue a small claims summons in the local county court for recovery of money
iii) If talking to dealer other things to mention are talking to the press, putting up your own web site mentioning how bad they are etc
You may find they subcontracted the work to another bodyshop, and they never bothered to check it before handing back to you
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I tried talking to the garage, and I've sent a letter, but I reckon that as I'm female they think that they can fob me off. Also after numerous phone calls I also sent a letter to Ford complaining, they're no better - had a letter from them telling me that their engineer would be in touch, but again, numerous phone calls and still nothing - I think they hope that I will go away. I wouldn't mind so much, but it wasn't really my fault in the first place.
Also to make matters worse, I rang the insurance company to see if the claim had been settled by the farmer (£1200 of damage) and was told that the invoice was only sent at the end of March. The accident happened at the end of October. What are they playing at???
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Fight this Emma!
Don't let them get away with this.
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Who paid for the repairs? If it was an insurance job, then you have an extra hurdle to jump.
HJ
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The farmer was found (I made sure the the sheep was kept and the police found the farmer from this) who agreed that he was to blame. I in turn assumed that it would be sorted out asap, but I can't understand why the invoice for the repairs wasn't sent to the farmer until last month - I've also paid my excess of £200, and I've been told that until it's settled my ncb will be affected. The whole thing stinks really, to add to it, my insurance renewal is due at the end of June, and if it isn't sorted by then - what can I do?? I'm definitely thinking of getting rid of my Ford for a better company - any suggestions?!
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dont sell the car you'll loose a stack on it
however dont allow this garage to get away with such poor workmanship
stand outside next saturday wearing a board that says "service here is crap", im sure theyll start and see sense
yea you need to complain to your own insurance company if they paid the bill
however dont put up with this, go and see citizens advice solicitor for the low down on how to approach this...
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oh yea letter to trading standards dept of council of the area where the garage is should be added to the list of things to do
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You'll be needing a copy of '101 things you can do with lamb' then?
Sorry, I've just re-read your last post ? you didn't get to keep it!
Double sorry, I didn't mean to be flippant. I'm sure this is a very distressing time for you but did your carsserole over in the 'prang'?
Triple sorry ? I'm outta here...
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>>any suggestions?!
Yes, lots. Did you read your other thread ?
Contact me offline, use this e-mail address. I can give you only general advice on the car repairs bit, but I can surely sort out the excess and NCD issue for you.
Mark.
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Re the stone chips on the bonnet specifically, unfortunately it does seem that there is a generic problem with repainted areas. A colleague had a BMW which had the bonnet resprayed, but the paint remained soft and therefore liable to chipping. The bodyshop advised him that they cannot bake the car at such a high temperature to harden the paint once it is built. This doesn't help you, but it may mean you never achieve an "as new" paint.
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Ema,
My daughter then (20) had a similar problem, initially fobed off by the repairer, I entered the discussion and the matter was resolved. The body repair company was Diamond insurance preferred agent (cost cut to the bone i suspect) and Diamond was told by my daughter of the shoddy work in writing, she made her point at the next renewal by going somewhere else. If you have house insurance check the policy as you may be covered for legal assistance if you are get their opinion and hopefully rub the repaires nose in it.
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Ema
Information I've been given is that you are not bound to use one of your insurer's 'prefered repairers' - you are entitled to select your repair shop.
Normally that would mean going to a main dealer - the advantage on a newish car being that you won't lose any bodywork guarantees. Equally they can hardly admit any repairs are below standard at trade in time, but that won't stop them marking the car down.
In this case, though, you've had a bad job from just such a dealer. This sort of quality should not be tolerated, and I wonder if it's been farmed out to save costs. They do need chasing, hard, on this.
You're right, unfortunately, that the ladies can get a bad deal. I recall a friend a good few years back who asked me to check her car for defects towards the end of the year's warranty. There were a number of things that needed fixing, including leaky dampers. The dealers initial response to her was 'Did you find these problems' 'No', she said 'I got an enginer to look at it' 'Ok, we'll do them' Hmmmm!
Regards
John
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On my policy if you don't use the 'preferred repairer', you don't get the courtesy car.
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Chris M wrote:
>
> On my policy if you don't use the 'preferred repairer', you
> don't get the courtesy car.
On my policy if I use _my_ preferred repairer I do!
If I use theirs I don't.
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Thanks very much for all your help. I'll let you know how I get on, but I won't let them beat me!!
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Have you taken the car back to the repair shop to let the bodyshop manager look at your complaints? I find it hard to believe that any problems will not be resolved face to face, repair jobs always come with a warranty period usually 3 years. Having had two accidents in the last two years i know the hassle you are getting. but be realistic about repairs ,you never get the car back with perfect body panel fitment but this should only be noticed with very close inspection not a casual look. Regards the tyre providing it is of a match to the others(does not have to be the same make) there is not a lot you can do , indeed if you have a new tyre replacing a worn one then betterment payment is usually asked. Bonnet adjustment and further respray should sort the rest.
Insurance claims take a age to finalise and don't be surprised if problems are not encountered with repayment from the farmer.
You have made a claim so you will suffer a loss of your no claims (unless protected)refer to your policy to see what your discount will drop to.
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A few years ago a work friend of mine had some insurance-funded body repairs carried out on his car after an accident, and he was very unhappy with the end result. The standard of work was very poor.
However, his daughter is a solicitor!
She advised her father to have an AA or RAC vehicle inspection carried out on the car after it had been repaired and, if the report said that the repairs had been carried out to an inacceptable standard, then the insurance company would also pay for the cost of the inspection. This was, indeed, the case and, having received the report from the AA (or whoever) my friends insurance company then made arrangements for the repairs to be put right by another vehicle repairer.
I cannot say that this is what would happen in every singe case, but I do feel it's very important to obtain independent advice that the repairs are unsatisfactory. A suitable vehicle inspection will help to establish this fact. You should ask your insurance company whether they are prepared to pay for it under such circumstances before proceeding, though.
Good Luck!
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