Oil Filter is most certainly NOT NEW, it even has GM written on it, Vauxhall Serviced it last and used the original GM component a year ago. I called another one of 'these garages' and enquired if they use OEM parts and they said most certianly not, they use equivalents.
I pulled the dipstick out and rubbed it on some tissue and there were specs of black in it so I would conclude it was old oil.
The air filter was brand new but that only takes 10 seconds to replace so at least they lifted the bonnet at some point.
To L'Escargot, the car was running ok previously but when a car is serviced it always feels smoother - in my experience anyway.
To DP, yes I have an itemised bill, it was a full service, all fluids should have been checked & topped up, anto-freeze, filters, the whole lot. There are two signatures on the document, one from the mechanic and one from the garage supervisor to say he checked the work.
I'm going to ask for my money back for the service element, I need to get it serviced elsewhere, the car is 8 years old and needs to be looked after properly.
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If the oil is more or less clear with just a few specs of black in, then I'd say it has been changed. All the crud doesn't come out when you change it so a few bits will remain. They may also have sucked it out from above rather than take off the sump plug so an untouched plug isn't necessarily proof that the job hasn't been done.
Edited by nick on 13/11/2007 at 09:47
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Specs of black? If it was old oil you would expect it to be all black.
New oil is transparent/light brown... but if you run the dipstick on tissue you might well get "black specs".
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the car was running ok previously but when a car is serviced it always feels smoother - in my experience anyway.
Not always the case with modern cars. The ECU compensates to some degree and adjusts things accordingly to allow for dirty air filters, increased plug gaps and the like.
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I wonder how common that 2.2L petrol is, and therefore whether they would carry an oil filter for it?
Could be they didn't have one so didn't change it, ot maybe they sent out for a Vauxhall one.
It's tough to find a reliable place to get older cars serviced, but I'd be very reluctant to use a fast-fit type place.
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>>>I wonder how common that 2.2L petrol is, and therefore whether they would carry an >>oil filter for it?
>>Could be they didn't have one so didn't change it, ot maybe they sent out for a Vauxhall >>one.
The garage was heaving on Saturday, this is probably the real reason they didn't do the service properly. Can't imagine them having the time to send out for a Vauxhall one!
If it is the case they didn't change the filter due to not carrying the right stock it wouldn't have been so bad if they had deleted it from the bill and hadn't ticked the box to say it had been changed! Then had two signatures to say it had been verified as changed!
It's scandalous, in fact it's theft. If you went into a supermarket - (name generalised) and put a pint of milk on the conveyor belt and they tried to charge you for Milk, bread, 24 pack of Walkers Crisps and a bag of banana's you simply wouldn't pay. Why is that garages think they can get away with it?
I have e-mailed their customer care dept and have said if they refund me today I will say no more about it but on reflection that is immoral, I should take it to trading standards for the benefit of the other mugs who probably have their cars in there today!
Edited by Webmaster on 13/11/2007 at 12:34
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If it is the case they didn't change the filter due to not carrying the right stock it wouldn't have been so bad if they had deleted it from the bill and hadn't ticked the box to say it had been changed! Then had two signatures to say it had been verified as changed! It's scandalous in fact it's theft. >> I have e-mailed their customer care dept and have said if they refund me today I will say no more about it but on reflection that is immoral I should take it to trading standards for the benefit of the other mugs who probably have their cars in there today!
Large chain of Northern Ireland garages were fined £2,000 a few months back They charged for a new oil filter when they left the old one in place - the customer had marked the filter with a marker pen as he felt the previous service somewhere had omitted the filter change and he was not going to be conned again. A few weeks later another NI garage chain (different franchsie was caught for the same offence.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6903310.stm
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Fair play to Head Office, they agree it's disgraceful and have offered to refund me the entire invoice including the MOT & tracking and have offered to book me into their other garage which is 10 miles down the road and have the service done properly & for free.
The area manager is coming to my house this afternoon to look at the car then he's going to give us the refund, so it's not over yet but so far so good.
Thanks for everyone who gave advice! Much appreciated.
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Good result, keep us informed of what the area manager says about it all.
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Area Manager came to my house this afternoon and brought his branch manager with him from the garage.
It was dark but they popped the bonnet open, stuck their head in there with a torch and about 30 seconds later agreed that the car hadn't been serviced and the only thing changed was that air filter.
They have now offered for us to have the car serviced properly back at the original garage where the manager will conduct the work personally or we can have it done at the branch ten miles down the road. Whatever we choose they will collect the car etc.
The head office will be sending us a cheque refunding us for the service, the MOT & the tracking and the 'real' service will also be conducted free of charge.
The mechanics who had signed all the paper work have been disciplined, the manger explained he had a day off on the weekend and wasn't there to inspect the work.
The moral to the story is to mark serviceable components prior to the service. It's also worth complaining when things go wrong, hopefully by complaining i've saved other people getting stitched up.
It's a shame I can't name the garage because I think companies are always going to make mistakes but the measure of a good company is how they handle these issues and attempt to put things right. In fairness this has been dealt with swiftly and efficiently.
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Holy cow! Result! What chain is this? It's not name and shame anymore, this is good customer relations and should be shared.
I hope it is utterly obvious the filter is the old one. look for some rusting/corrosion around the rim.
If the cowboys were to not change the filter, you'd think they'd atleast have the sense to wipe clean the old filter to make it look like it was new.
Your oil should be light tan golden colour when wiped on a white tissue. Small flecks of black are normal. It helps to check the colour of your oil before a service so you know how dirty it is. And use a permanent marker to discreetly mark the filter, or scratch it with something. Spark plugs can also be marked with a permanent marker - discreetly. Take photographs of the marks before the service.
Edited by horatio on 14/11/2007 at 17:06
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It's not name and shame anymore
We'll be the judge of that - and it would be.
If the cowboys....
That is one reason why the name cannot be mentioned because of your views of their workmanship. They well may be cowboys, but at the end of the day we only have the OP's word for what's happened. That may well be absolutely true, but we do not know this, so therefore we *always* er on the side of caution.
DD.
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Not sure if they still do it but most of the well known centres used to pay their 'mechanics' (I use the term loosely) a very poor basic wage and then pay a bonus for each item fitted to the poor customer's car. I got them to refund me for a set of shock absorbers that they claimed my wife needed in her Mini years ago as I knew they were ok; I had changed them myself siw months or so before and the car had recently passed an MOT.
They were not able to argue as the broke their own rule of offering removed parts to the customer which they did not to my wife.
Similar thing happened to my brother's partner.
I have also heard of a colleague who many years ago drove his car away from the centre and noticed the oil light had not gone out. No wonder, they had refitted the sump plug but not put any oil back in.
New engine please! : o )
I'd like to think that you were not naming and shaming but by capitalizing the two relevant words you suggested that it was a branch of a well known chain so it was snipped
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 14/11/2007 at 20:43
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>>>>>I'd like to think that you were not naming and shaming but by capitalizing the two relevant words you suggested that it was a branch of a well known chain so it was snipped
PU The two words that I used were meant as a general term for these type of outlets.
It was not meant to imply that any one of them was any better or worse than another and it was not my intention to name and shame as I know that is against the rules of this site.
Hope this clears things up!
Stuart
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makes finding a really genuine independent that much important. There are good garages out there, but not always easy to find - word of mouth is the best. But many flok want a cheap job, even if that means a useless job.
Or get a Haynes manual of course
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 14/11/2007 at 22:00
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