Garage messed up, course of action?

Richie said:
Or, rather than going way OTT to begin with, have a meeting with the Service Manager and/or DP of the garage as they may be totally unaware that they have a technician that's doing shoddy work for them like this.

But hey, this is the modern World where people would like to make an issue bigger than it needs to be and get all dramatic... no one died so do the appropriate thing is to speak to the management team of the dealership in the first instance like the OP suggests.
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It would seem a little extreme for a first reaction and would rule it out as an option for escalation later if the garage doesn't rectify the faults to Russinating's satisfaction. Asking them politely and calmly to fix the problem (preferably in writing - before or after the conversation is fine) with the video footage to back up the request/show them their position is not strong might well get them to fix the issues but there's nothing stopping recourse to the media/higher up the chain in the dealer network should it not sort things out.

As you say the dealer might not be aware of how badly their technicians are handling problems and may need to give more training and/or consider disciplinary sanctions against their employees but unless they're given an opportunity to fix it then it would seem a little heavy-handed to go straight for the nuclear option. Also worth considering that should it become necessary to go to court the reasonableness of your actions may be considered and while escalating through the correct channels may feel like a waste of time it does also mean you're not inadvertently giving them an option to say they didn't have a chance to put things right and so escape some liability in that way.
 
Housey said:
Go in, ask to speak with the DP and show him the video. Ensure you have a copy and say very little other than we can fix this my way to my satisfaction or we can get messy. I prefer we do it my way, which is put everything right at your cost and then we can forget about the video. Fight me and the problem goes to Kia and Youtube....though thinking about it I would probably do the latter and **** the dealer over. I HATE people treating customers as idiots.
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I would pretty much do this. If it were me I'd be fuming.
 
[TW]Fox;28753532 said:
It boggles the mind that they could hand the car over knowing the parking sensors no longer worked. Whats the point? You'd obviously notice.
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"When he hits something." :p

I'd escalate this straight away, calmly tell them everything about this whole situation, before/after the clowns (read: KIA Mechanics :p) and what video/audio you have of them. Then you'll find your problem gets sorted.
 
spoffle said:
Oh lawd, you've got footage? They've got to be dim if they know there's a dashcam but didn't turn it off.

I'd not let them know about the footage first and see where they go with just questioning them about it.
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I'd guess they did not know it has a sensor that activates under movement.

I would do what Housey say's tbh, pretty reasonable request.
 
Personnaly I wouldnt hand my car over for them to 'fix it' -- it's likely to be the same guy working on it, AFTER they had a serious bolocking -- do I want THESE guys approaching my car?
 
If I was you, in writing, detail everything that is wrong and what evidence you have and what you want as an end result.

Ask that the "technicians" who messed your car up last time go nowhere near it this time and ask the dealer to get a "Kia master technician" in to sort the car.

The reason for the master technician is my dad had some troubles with his Sportage. The problem was the battery was draining and none of the "technicians" could find a drain on the battery after having it a week.

The problem persisted so he took it in again, though this time the dealer brought in a master technician.

Within a day he found the fault. Turned out to be the boot sensor. Obviously when the car was locked, the sensor thought the boot was open and the boot light was lit, hence the draining of the battery.
 
Richie said:
Or, rather than going way OTT to begin with, have a meeting with the Service Manager and/or DP of the garage as they may be totally unaware that they have a technician that's doing shoddy work for them like this.

But hey, this is the modern World where people would like to make an issue bigger than it needs to be and get all dramatic... no one died so do the appropriate thing is to speak to the management team of the dealership in the first instance like the OP suggests.
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Oh please.

They will do everything do avoid liability. They will only care about their bottom line.

They will never go out of their way to see if this has happened to others. If this has happened to one person it is very likely this has happened to others. Especially as more than 1 employee is involved.

Allowing them just fix the car is letting them completely off the hook. The OP has had hours of their time wasted as well. Who knows what else doesn't work, airbags, automatic braking systems etc.
 
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Housey said:
Go in, ask to speak with the DP and show him the video. Ensure you have a copy and say very little other than we can fix this my way to my satisfaction or we can get messy. I prefer we do it my way, which is put everything right at your cost and then we can forget about the video. Fight me and the problem goes to Kia and Youtube....though thinking about it I would probably do the latter and **** the dealer over. I HATE people treating customers as idiots.
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Agreed, it sounds like they haven't just made a mistake, they've taken the mick.
I'm fine with companies making mistakes, people are human and it happens - but mugging people off is another story. Screw them.
 
Oh and regarding going back to the same place, completely agree, don't trust them with a barge pole. Unfortunately they're the only Kia dealership in Bristol so I'd need to go there for anything warranty related and I've got 3 years servicing anyway so would need to go back at one point or another.
 
Russinating said:
Ta folks. What does DP stand for?
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Dealer Principal, basically the guy in charge.

If it were a simple honest mistake then fair enough, it happens, take it back and let them sort it. However in this case they've blatantly broke the car and knowingly handed it back to you in this condition. Arrange an appointment with the DP, take the evidence with you and tell him this is completely unacceptable, especially from a main dealer, and if it's not fully sorted, by different technicians this time, at no cost, then you'll be publicising the case and taking the legal route.
 
Strange development! Drove the car this evening for the first time since Friday and realised the wipers work as they should apart from the rain sensor, so manual-down and intermediate, which didn't work before. Mind boggles!
 
Haven't read all the comments... But I had an issue where (in short story) a dealer / technician lied to me and was caught on a dashcam (which he turned off previously during the service/moving the car around).

I turned up there without any warning with the footage and spoke to the service manager.

Ended up getting the issue sorted (that was lied about), and getting all the labour on my service paid for.

Definitely go there with the video, speak to the service manager and see how it goes
 
Midway update.

Took car back on Monday, complained to manager, showed him video and got car back all fixed that afternoon. Not despite him still trying to claim they wouldn't replace the rain sensor because I broke it, and absolutely no offer of compensation etc. Was more worried that they'd said what they'd said and been caught than what they actually did.

Couldn't be bothered to moan much on site when I picked the car up because at the same time tweeted Kia PR, got an email from their Director of Corporate Communications a couple of hours later and have since spoken to a member of their team and sent them a link to the video. Currently awaiting to hear from them now.

Shame I missed the boat on tonight's Watchdog featuring the motor repair industry!
 
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