ACEMonkey
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- Feb 25, 2008
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- Members Ride
- 1998 VT Acclaim S1
For the people who take their cars to a Holden Servicing for servicing and getting your log books stamped, how many of you are aware of what work has been done to your car? Do you believe the reports on the receipt given to you at the end of the service to be reliable and reflective of the work that was actually done to your car?
I think it is time that somebody investigates this industry. I am not sure how widespread the problem is, but it certainly should stop because people are getting ripped off. I will be mentioning branches here and I will make no apologies for exposing names because I was a victim here and I believe the sooner this sort of practice is stamped out, the better for all of us.
i. I was charged $37.30 to replace wiper blades. The wiper blades were replaced by myself at my own expense prior to the servicing. The wiper blades were never replaced during servicing nor was there any indication they were changed at all.
ii. I was charged $32.70 to rotate and balance tyres. The tyres were never rotated nor should I believe they were balanced during servicing either.
i. I was told that it would cost nearly $700 to replace the engine mounts when I took my car in for a 110,000km servicing. The only explanation was the mounts sag for a car at this age (10 years). I have told them not to replace the mounts. I will be taking this issue to an independent mechanic for the second verdict.
ii. I was told it would cost me $240 to machine my disc brake rotors. The explanation given here was there were groove marks on the surface on my disc rotors. This would not be possible because I don't drive my car aggressively all the time and my car has never been off-road. I have told them not the machine my rotors and again I will be taking this issue to another mechanic for their verdict.
iii. Part of the cost of servicing included checking all the lights. The driver side front low beam was not working when I picked my car up. I rang them up as soon as I could and I mentioned to them that I believe the service technician probably did not check the lights as required. Thankfully I will be having this light bulb replaced for just the cost of the bulb only $26.
iv. What was supposed to be a regular servicing that I expect to cost me at most $700 was going to blow out to $2400 if I proceeded with the "repairs". As you would expect, I was not impressed.
How many of you have experienced problems with Holden Servicing? Do you notice that you're getting charged for brake fluid flush or a radiator flush at every servicing when it is not actually required? Or perhaps being charged for hoses or clamps or other miscellaneous items that you may have noticed was not actually put into your car? Or maybe even items removed from your car, never replaced or even stolen?
I will be launching a complaint to Consumer Protection here in WA about my case. If we have enough complaints or cases listed here, we could take it up to Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) to investigate the industry.
If we all highlight this issues and we can stop this happening everywhere else, then we all will benefit. Just keep in mind though, I am not referring to rogue mechanics, backyard mechanics, third parties etc. The issue here is Holden Service Department itself.
I think it is time that somebody investigates this industry. I am not sure how widespread the problem is, but it certainly should stop because people are getting ripped off. I will be mentioning branches here and I will make no apologies for exposing names because I was a victim here and I believe the sooner this sort of practice is stamped out, the better for all of us.
i. I was charged $37.30 to replace wiper blades. The wiper blades were replaced by myself at my own expense prior to the servicing. The wiper blades were never replaced during servicing nor was there any indication they were changed at all.
ii. I was charged $32.70 to rotate and balance tyres. The tyres were never rotated nor should I believe they were balanced during servicing either.
i. I was told that it would cost nearly $700 to replace the engine mounts when I took my car in for a 110,000km servicing. The only explanation was the mounts sag for a car at this age (10 years). I have told them not to replace the mounts. I will be taking this issue to an independent mechanic for the second verdict.
ii. I was told it would cost me $240 to machine my disc brake rotors. The explanation given here was there were groove marks on the surface on my disc rotors. This would not be possible because I don't drive my car aggressively all the time and my car has never been off-road. I have told them not the machine my rotors and again I will be taking this issue to another mechanic for their verdict.
iii. Part of the cost of servicing included checking all the lights. The driver side front low beam was not working when I picked my car up. I rang them up as soon as I could and I mentioned to them that I believe the service technician probably did not check the lights as required. Thankfully I will be having this light bulb replaced for just the cost of the bulb only $26.
iv. What was supposed to be a regular servicing that I expect to cost me at most $700 was going to blow out to $2400 if I proceeded with the "repairs". As you would expect, I was not impressed.
How many of you have experienced problems with Holden Servicing? Do you notice that you're getting charged for brake fluid flush or a radiator flush at every servicing when it is not actually required? Or perhaps being charged for hoses or clamps or other miscellaneous items that you may have noticed was not actually put into your car? Or maybe even items removed from your car, never replaced or even stolen?
I will be launching a complaint to Consumer Protection here in WA about my case. If we have enough complaints or cases listed here, we could take it up to Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) to investigate the industry.
If we all highlight this issues and we can stop this happening everywhere else, then we all will benefit. Just keep in mind though, I am not referring to rogue mechanics, backyard mechanics, third parties etc. The issue here is Holden Service Department itself.
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