Service!?!?

[Gob]

A disgruntled Hyundai customer whose car servicing quote was inflated with unnecessary recommendations has received a formal apology from the manufacturer after venting her frustration on social media.

She was also refunded the full cost of the service after complaining to the dealership.



In a post on Hyundai Australia’s Facebook page last Friday, Mali Hannun accused the Bartons Hyundai dealership in Brisbane of “deliberate fraud” after being quoted an additional $700 in recommended repairs for a standard $300 service.

Hannun claimed the 105,000km service quote on her Hyundai i30 included about $400 in unnecessary repairs – including $83 for windscreen wiper inserts and $95 for a fluid flush. She said she confirmed the overcharging after contacting two separate mechanics for another opinion.

Hannun’s comments have attracted a fiery response on Facebook, with more than 35,000 people responding to her initial post.

“I went straight back to Hyundai and told the service manager the blatant rip off that had nearly occurred ... He squirmed in his seat for the duration of my rant and all he could offer me in way of explanation was that it may have been a 'typo' on the invoice,” Hannun wrote in the post.

Hyundai has accepted full responsibility over the incident, with a company spokesman telling Fairfax Media the inflated bill was a “genuine mistake”.

“The initial report from the dealer indicates that it was a … a communication breakdown between the service advisor and the technician,” the spokesman said.

“The franchise services up to 70 cars a day, so mistakes can happen. At this stage we're still working with the dealer to investigate how it happened.

“If there has been a breakdown in procedure or a failure of some sort, we'll work closely with the dealer to ensure nothing like it happens again.”

NSW Fair Trading has also encouraged Hannun to lodge a formal complaint over the incident, as there have been ongoing instances of overcharging at mechanical workshops.

Since January last year, the agency has received more than 1800 complaints relating to car servicing and repairs.

Last month, NSW Fair Trading detected eight non-compliant mechanical businesses during a raid of 16 premises in Kempsey. In three cases, fines totalling $1320 were issued to repairers due to an absence of tradesperson certificates or licences.

Hannun, who did not reply to Fairfax Media’s request for an interview, wrote in the post that she felt “completely outraged” and “extremely disappointed” over the incident.

“Overall, I am extremely disappointed with my experience and simply cannot believe this blatant attempt to deceive me,” she wrote.

“Hopefully many people will hear about this incident before their next car service and be more aware of this deliberate fraud.”

Hyundai has encouraged customers who feel they’ve been dealt an unfair bill to contact the company’s customer care line, on 1800 186 306.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Good for her. I never let my wife take the cars in unless I have talked to the mechanic ahead of time and even then, she only drops the car off and gives him a number where I can be reached.

[Long Run]

Sell the cars at low margins and try to make it up on the service end?

[oldr_n_wsr]

Sell the cars at low margins and try to make it up on the service end?

I guess so, we now are a service economy.

[Scooter]

It would drive me crazy when my car was newer and still under warranty, because even though you're allowed to take it elsewhere to get service, I was always afraid that they would find some excuse to void the warranty. So I would take it back to the dealer dutifully for scheduled service, always to find a few hundred dollars in additional repairs for things that never seemed to be under warranty. Not sure how much I was overcharged in total, but it was all for nought as I never did use the warranty, and I have yet to need any repair that cost more than $400 after 19 years. Perhaps those extra repairs served a purpose after all...

[dgs49]

It is becoming common around here for new car dealerships to offer "free" lifetime state inspections (which normally cost about $100, including a mandatory emissions check). Of course, nothing is "free," and they use these annual visits to drum up repair and maintenance business, which more than makes up for the "free" inspections.

I have written in this space before about my hypertension-inducing trips to my now-deservedly-defunct Saab dealer, who "suggested" $800 in maintenance and unnecessary repair work each time I had the misfortune of darkening the entrance to their service bay. And of course I wanted to avoid voiding the warranty by failing to maintain by the book.

While I do not begrudge any service business the right to promote itself by recommending justifiable services, I agree with the complainant above that when they recommend work that is not reasonably justifiable, it amounts to virtual fraud, and a pox on them for taking advantage of those are not mechanically sophisticated, many of whom have vaginas and boobs as standard, factory equipment.

[oldr_n_wsr]

A question to ask before agreeing to any service at a dealer.
What part of the warranty will be voided if I say no to this "recommended service"?
Second question
Show where it says that the proposed recommended service, if not performed, voids that part of the warranty.
Usually an oil change will stay at just an oil change.
Rotation of tires stops at the rotation of the tires.

[Scooter]

That is the lesson I learned for the next time I buy a car. But it will probably never be put into practice, because I plan to drive this one into the ground and then do without. For the amount that I drive now, I could rent a car whenever I need one and it wouldn't come to what I would pay for insurance, let alone purchase cost and maintenance.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I drive 70 miles round trip to/from work. Not having a car is not an option.

[Crackpot]

That's nothing the job it had before this one was 85 miles one way. (after I got laid off I got a net raise on unemployment)

[oldr_n_wsr]

Ouch

[Crackpot]

It's only saving grace was it was All expressway and against the flow of traffic

[dgs49]

There are many good reasons to do maintenance OTHER THAN that failing to do it will void the warranty. A well-maintained car lasts much longer. replacing transmission fluid and transfer case oil, changing out the anti-freeze, belts and hoses can prevent a breakdown.

Maintaining a car "by the book" is probably overkill, but it's prudent to fall somewhere between just changing the oil every 15k miles and maintaining by the book.

[Scooter]

No one is questioning the notion of maintaining a car "by the book". It's the addition of "extras" that dealer-associated mechanics always claim are necessary and which add hundreds of dollars to what is supposed to be routine maintenance that is being called into question, especially since it always seems to be stuff that is not covered by what is supposed to be a bumper-to-bumper warranty.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I do 3k to 5k on the oil changes, depending on how busy the weekends are when it's due. Belts are done usually at 50k. Brakes are checked every oil change and if needed done either that day or the next week. And I do brake pads and rotors all at once. Maybe a bleeding if I see rust/dark fluid, which means every brake job gets a bleed. the wife hates it as she has to come out and push on the brake peddle so I can bleed the system.

[oldr_n_wsr]

No one is questioning the notion of maintaining a car "by the book". It's the addition of "extras" that dealer-associated mechanics always claim are necessary and which add hundreds of dollars to what is supposed to be routine maintenance that is being called into question, especially since it always seems to be stuff that is not covered by what is supposed to be a bumper-to-bumper warranty.

I found if you just say "NO" they are more accomodating.

[dgs49]

As a general proposition, if the car manufacturer has done its planning properly, the warranty doesn't cover anything that actually breaks or wears out. The wearing stuff - brakes, wiper blades, light bulbs, hoses, belts, clutch - are all explicitly excluded. My wife and I buy a new car at least every other year, and I haven't had a significant repair under warranty since I sold my Cadillac Catera at the turn of the century.

As bit of information, most new car dealerships are set up as three separate profit centers: new cars, used cars, and service. All are required to be profitable, and to some extent they don't give a shit about the others. Hence, the used car manager and the new car manager often go head to head when a lowball trade allowance is threatening a sale. And the saleman really has no "power" to induce the service department to take care of his customer. It's just a matter of his personal relationship with the service manager, write-up guy, or mechanic. A "good" owner will make sure the three profit centers work productively together, but he has to constantly watch over them.

[dgs49]

My Mercedes dealer always made it a point to have a pretty young girl be the one who suggested that you do the "extra" service. It broke my heart to tell her that, with 2,000 miles on the car since my last oil change I would decline that particular service. She insisted that the $40/quart synthetic oil degraded over time, and had to be replaced, regardless.

[oldr_n_wsr]

You should have asked to see her boobs.