My bad experience at Camden GTI

[R36 DSG]

Seems pretty straight forward to me, if I asked someone to only do an oil & filter change that is what I would expect to be done. Work shop should have advised there and then if there would be any variations. If the workshops policy is to do the full inspection this should of been made clear to the customer. Just my 2 cents worth based on what was said here.

[Guest001]

Hi All,

I bought a used Skoda Octavia RS yesterday in Sydney, and flew up to drive it home to Melbourne.

I'd had a pre-purchase inspection which picked up that there wasn't a lot of oil registering on the dipstick. The seller hadn't driven the car much this year, and supposedly had the 45km service done earlier in the year, but it wasn't stamped in the book, so I figured I should get an oil change before driving it home to Melbourne. I then planned to get a dealer service done when I got home. Essentially I just wanted to make sure there was oil in the car so I didn't cook it driving home.

I rang Camden GTI on the basis that they seem well regarded on this forum. The woman I spoke to said they could do an oil change, and to just drop in. So I did drop in yesterday afternoon. The boss wasn't there, only the mechanics, and I explained the situation and that I just wanted an oil and filter change.

They didn't have a hoist free, so they jacked up the front and about 45-50 mins later they were done.

When it came to paying, the mechanic asked if I'd be given a quote, but I explained I'd only been told labour is $110 per hour plus the cost of the oil and filter etc. I figured I'd be up for $200 or so.

I was then told that their fixed price oil service is $315. I questioned this, and he phoned the boss who confirmed that's their fixed price.

So I was given an invoice for $315, which included the following items:

exhaust system inspection - not done
electric system inspection - not done
engine belt wear inspection - not sure if it was done
Engine oil flush - done
OEM filter replacement - done
VCDS on-board diagnostics - apparently done
air filter clean or replacement - not replaced, don't think they cleaned it either
service reminder reset - done
30 point safety check, including brake system, tyre inflation, suspension components, system fluid levels, lighting systems - not done

So not only did they charge me for work that I didn't want done, they didn't even do the work anyway! My instructions were clear, I just wanted an oil/filter change. But their attitude seemed to be that they only do a fixed price service, and if I only wanted half the service I was still going to pay for a full service. If they had explained this to me first I would have gone elsewhere.

As it turned out the sump plug wasn't tight, hence the low oil. But I now wish I'd just bought a litre or two of oil from the servo to get me home, and then had a full dealer service in Melbourne, as I would rather have put the $315 towards a proper dealer service.

You can draw your own conclusions about whether I was ripped-off blind and taken advantage of, and whether this is the sort of business you'd want to deal with. I know what I think!

If you were going to get a dealer service when you got back home, would it have not made sense to have it done when leaving Sydney and you would not have been charged any more and this thread would not have been necessary.

You got half of it done for the full price so why not get all of it for the same money.

How much were you then expecting to pay the dealer in Melbourne for the rest of the service??.

Some rather illogical thinking here methinks.

[Darks RS]

I'm not business bashing, and just giving my two cents!
Everyone would have done it differently, me personally I'd be questioning why the inspection didn't find the leaking oil!

Yes, I agree with you but without seeing the invoice and hearing from other party, I wouldn't be jumping to any conlclusions and wouldn't start bashing the business. As there are bad mechanics and workshops, there are bad customers as well. I'm not saying that's the OP's case.

[Transporter]

I'm not business bashing, and just giving my two cents!
Everyone would have done it differently, me personally I'd be questioning why the inspection didn't find the leaking oil!

Ah sorry mate, that applies to all those who blatantly post their first emotions not just the OP, without having a good thought about it or waiting for the explenation from the business owner, when dealing with their staff.

[shortshifter]

Oh, the 99% of my customers are of my age, are happy to pay the price I set and don't bargain with me.
They're the proud owners of the European cars and they would most likely see it as a kind of the weakness to ask, if they could pay less for my services. I don't mean to offend anyone with saying that.

I don't see how asking for a fair price on a minor task can be seen as a 'weakness'. Not everyone who buys a European car can afford to throw money at it and i don't think it's fair to make that assumption.

Question:
Do you pay list price on all the cars you buy? Would it be a weakness to ask for a better deal? 99% of people on this website won't pay list price- does that make them weak?

I'm not one to bargain on the price of a service, i never have, but i do like to know what i'm paying before i get it done so there aren't any nasty surprises at the end.

[noone]

Strange thread, odd experience. If it were me, I'd be upset. I own a Euro car, I don't expect to be charged as such or have my log book touched if all that's happening is an oil change (not really a service).

Sounds purely like a miss communication, what I read is that the initial phone all could have clarified the costs / expectations up front. Happens in all businesses unfortunately.

Lets let Matt sort this out, I highly doubt he's out to rip anyone off. Thanks for posting your experiences, I think it's important to see good and bad feedback on this forum.

[Damo105]

Thanks for all the various opinions.

Just to clarify a couple of things:

The pre-purchase inspection did pick up that the oil was low, and that the area around the sump plug was wet. And it was he who advised me to get the oil changed before driving to Melbourne.

The reason I didn't want to get a dealer service in Sydney before driving home was simply a time issue. I flew to Sydney in the morning, picked up the car, and didn't want to spend half the day at a dealer before hitting the road to Melbourne.

Hence my only concern was making sure the engine had oil in it. When I got home to Melbourne I was going to book a 45km service at Richmond Skoda.

Camden GTI did fit me in on the spot, and their service was good in this regard. I didn't have to wait very long at all while the mechanics finished a job and then slotted my car in. And it may be their policy that they only do fixed price servicing. That's their business decision and their right, the only problem is this wasn't communicated to me first. Otherwise I would have gone to another workshop.

[Transporter]

Did you ask them how much it will cost?

[Tim]

Having any service performed without asking "how much?" up front is always going to end in tears. Especially when dealing with a Euro mechanic. Learn from your experience and move on.

[golfcart]

damo105,
two ways to look at it,
however if you think of it this way; loose sump plug, hardly any oil, obvious leak and 1000k journey ahead of you, that was the best $315 you could have spent.