HELP, i'm getting rorted by my mechanic!

[vq~gangsta]

I've just found out that in grand old South Australia, the Department of Fair Trading and the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs are one and the same, I guess i can thank Mike Rann for that one!

I've already complained to Consumer Affairs and they were bloody useless- They told me i had a good case, then they contacted the 'unnamed' mechanic in question on my behalf. Then he went in to see them, and then according to him they apparantly said that he has nothing to worry about, he fulfilled his obligation to me and he won't be hearing anything else about it. Meanwhile, i'm thinking that Consumer Affairs is investigating my claim, but they've actually told him not to worry about it and never contacted me at all even to say that they'd spoken to him.

A month later i called Consumer Affairs to chase it up, and i'm told "oh sorry, i meant to contact you about that..." I got the impression that my case officer (L. Bentley) kept getting me confused with some other cases she must have been investigating at the time.

In South Australia there is no Fair Trading comission to speak of, the automotive mechanics industry appears to be completely unregulated, and the only way to solve a grievance with a mechanic is to take them to court.

If anyone can tell me otherwise then PLEASE let me know so i can contact the appropriate agency... and no, mobsters don't count!

 

[180sc]

All i can advise is to front at court be honest with what has happened and what you have tried to do with tham to rectifiy the matter, take all recipts for work they have done and the report you got from the other company then see what happens its really all you can do its in the judges hands now, good luck with it and keeps us posted on the outcome.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Your day in court may not amount to much because the adjudicator isn't a qualified mechanic and he will find in favour of whoever presents the most convincing argument. Usually the customer wins unless there is written evidence that he did indeed fulfill his obligations. I've had a similar experience but the shoe was on the other foot. I did a repair on an engine, the paperwork that the customer received clearly stated the work done. Something else crapped itself in the engine 3 months later and he took me to small claims. He wasted his time because the receipt he had backed me up and the report he got from an independent mechanic clearly stated the reason for the engine failure. He (the customer) reckons I should have foreseen the problem and fixed it before it happened, but you cannot predict an oil pump failure when doing a head rebuild. In your case the problem has been ongoing since the original job so it shouldn't be too hard to win. Another thing to try is wait out the front of his business all day and ask the people that turn up why they are there. If a few people are come backs then see if they will back you up with written information on their problems. The more weight you can throw behind you the better.

 

[vq~gangsta]

Update...

Hi all,

I had my court hearing the other day, it was a absolute and total waste of time. All it was for was to establish that i actually had a case that was worthy of going to trial. Now i have to wait another 12 weeks before the trial.

I did some research on the internet, and i've found the exact sections of the fair trading act and trade practices act that my mechanic violated, i've attached a word document with the relevent sections for those that are interested.

He violated the fair trading act when he sent me some letters saying he'd contact me about me grievance, but he never did, and thus he engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in the running of his business. The fact that he tried to cheat me out of $750 to 'fix' the transmission, and that he continually refused to take responsibility for the trans by accusing me of sabotaging it also means that he engaged in 'unconscionable' (unethical) conduct.

The fact that he sold me goods that were not of merchantable quality (fit for the purpose or purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly bought) puts him in violation of the trade practices act, and therefore negates all terms of warranty, and makes him liable for the cost of aquiring equivilent goods and services elsewhere.

I contacted consumer affairs again to ask about who you would report such violations to, and essentially found out that there is no agency with any actual powers that you can report that kind of thing to. Mechanics, or any other merchant, are free to break as many laws in the fair trading and trade practices acts as they want, and the ONLY way for you to do ANYTHING about it, is to take them to court at your own expense.

Is is just me, or is the system totally f*#ked?????

 

[BeNoS]

m8 the system is ****ed there r so many dodgy mechenics and that out there the only way u r really gonna no it is done properly is learn how to do it urself i no it isnt easy to rebuild an auto and i am not saying go out and learn how to do it but its the only way u can really no it is rite
but yeah good luck with the next hearing if its going to the next hearing there must be some hope cause otherwse they would have passed it off at the first 1
gl again

 

[STEALTHY™]

Sounds like the trouble i've been having with gearboxes....

lets just say i don't buy from wreckers anymore, as 2 different ones have screwed me out of my money.


On a similar note to yours, I had my power steering rack replaced by profix (at pooraka for those playing at home) and when i picked it up, i got about 5 k's down the road and fluid started pissing out everywhere.

I rang the guy and he said no worries, bring it down and they'll fix it the next day. Sweet i thought.

Til i went to pick it up and he's waving a bill for $1100 in my face. He wouldn't release the car until i payed at least half, anyway i gave him 500 (which didn't even get recorded, they wouldn't give me a recipt, and it went missing, no coincidence the worker who took the money was living pretty good)


I took them to court for the $500, and won (partly because they didn't even show up). Long story short, he's cried bankruptcy, and i never saw a cent, even with the courts ruling. Hopefully you have better lick.

 

[NeilB]

I only just read this post and I had a similiar looking convertor to your picture. It was my fault though, when I rebuilt my motor and had my gearbox done I put the box on myself and not knowing I only put the convertor in and I thought it locked in place after 2 clicks, turns out you need 3 clicks (T700). Anyway when I was putting the box on the motor I had to pull the box up tight with the bolts and the box popped actually the convertor popped. I couldn't get gears and in trying to the pump also smashed. My shop told me this was common when guys doing it at home don't realise that the box shouldn't need to be pulled tight it should just bolt up without any resistance.

 

[jules]

I've already complained to Consumer Affairs and they were bloody useless- They told me i had a good case, then they contacted the 'unnamed' mechanic in question on my behalf. Then he went in to see them, and then according to him they apparantly said that he has nothing to worry about, he fulfilled his obligation to me and he won't be hearing anything else about it.

i'm surprised he didn't say Consumer Affairs asked you to buy him a couple of slabs of beer as well. i wouldn't take his word for what CA said if i were you.

when you go back to small claims court, don't try quoting the Fair Trading Act and such. the tribunal magistrate will be well aware of all the laws and there is no need for you to argue them. that's for lawyers in other types of court.

the point of SCC is that it's for consumers to submit their grievances. all you need to do is outline in clear, credible terms what happened and why you're feeling aggrieved. outline the facts, times, dates, receipts etc.

the magistrate (or whatever he's called) won't have a clue about transmission operation. he will be looking for evidence of right, or wrongdoing on either side's part. what were the terms of the warranty? when did it fail?

you need to come across as a reasonable, credible person. if the transmission repairer alleges mechanical abuse and you walk in with a SummerNats burnout comp t-shirt, you'll probably lose

 

[Xadous]

Lol this is a comon thing in the past few month at work we have been geting a few t700 coming in that were rebuilt less then 6 months ago by anouther company and they did the work but all the part that broke were not covered and the only reason is is wither the damage that was caused to the transmision was from anouther faulty part that they had nothing to do with but i have to say your converter does look like you had in reverese to redline then straight into park lol i would try and take them to court

 

[matt2950]

OH NO...
This happend to a mate of mines VP, 12 months after he bought it it started holding gear changes out way to long so he had the tranny fully rebuilt @ a cost of $900 (4 years ago), then about 2 years later the car was stolen and recovered, once again, it wouldnt change gears untill it was almost busting its neck. Fully rebuilt the transmission with new clutch packs, drive band & valve body / all the usual stuff & it lasted about a week so it was pulled down again & the drum was placed in the oven for a shape check, when they got it hot enough you could see the whole drum was egg shaped & was never going to be any good any more so the transmission was rebuilt AGAIN with a complete new drum & worked fine ever since. They said the person that stole the car had been shunting it from reverse to 1st while holding power on full, causing the drum to cook, not that common but it happens. Im sure you have not done this to your ride but maybe something bad had happened to the transmission before you owned the car & you have had a roo-ted tranny rebuilt, which is obviously NOT your fault, the autotrans people you took your car to should have done some simple checks on the drum before they rebuilt the trans as obviously not every trans is rebuildable as it sits. I think they owe you a new tranny..