What a rip off

Sirrel Squirrel

Sirrel Squirrel

Sirrel Squirrel

Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2003
Posts
8,537
Location
Essex
I got in my Mondeo this morning to find both sets of keys wouldn't start the car, I called the AA and they thought it was a fault with the transponder as the alarm light went crazy when trying to start it so they towed me to a Ford garage as they'd have the necessary tools for re-programming.

I left the car there and Ford have just called me saying the battery is dead and do I want to pay them £250 to supply and fit a new one, are they having a laugh, I told them I'd go and buy my own battery. Interestingly they also mentioned they could start the car with both sets of keys but one set wouldn't unlock or lock it so it needed re-programming at a cost of £150, so I told them not to bother with that one too.

I do have to pay £50 though as they spent half hour doing a diagnostic.

How the hell can they charge £250 to supply and fit a battery, the battery from Costco is around £80, Halfords will fit a battery for a fiver or I can do it myself!
 
They can charge it because lots of people will just accept that price, terrible way to do things but thats business :(
 
Thats an insane amount for a battery... when My Jag needed a new battery, the Main dealer (Charles Hurst) did it fitted for £80.
 
£150 for the battery and £100 fitting no doubt, pretty hard to reach those batteries, you have to remove the gearbox. :p

agw_01 said:
Surely the AA should cover the cost of the diagnostics as they misdiagnosed what should have been a simple fault.
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I would have thought that the AA would have checked the state of the battery!
 
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They can charge what they like, It's up to the individual to either accept the price or not & go elsewhere, Rocket science it's not.
 
4T5 said:
They can charge what they like, It's up to the individual to either accept the price or not & go elsewhere, Rocket science it's not.
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It might not be rocket science to you but to some people who have not got a clue they'll just go ahead with it. Con artists IMO.
 
sigma said:
£150 for the battery and £100 fitting no doubt, pretty hard to reach those batteries, you have to remove the gearbox. :p



I would have thought that the AA would have checked the state of the battery!
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Battery from Costco was 70 quid in the end. The keys had both lost the transponder and I think where we tried to start the car multiple times that finished the battery off, it was 7 years old afterall.
 
my battery died a couple of days ago as well.
Halfords wanted £115 for the same Bosch Silver battery that you can get online for around £70.


As I didn't want to wait 5 days I got an online quote from kwik fit (yes, I know) was £75 for a decent brand (calcium based, 3 years warranty) and they even did the complex task of fitting it as well. :D

I called the AA guy, after starting the car with a booster thinghie he confirmed the battery was dead, he even offered a battery on the spot for £85 but it was a brand I never heard of so I decided to got to kwick fit and get one of them Platinum Prestiges that did well in the AutoExpress review :).

£250 is just taking the mickey really.
 
Toyota tried to charge my sister £350 for changing front brake pads on her Yaris.

They still charged her something like £80 for taking the wheels off and checking the brakes then putting them back on when she refused to pay the price.

I changed the front pads and discs for £80.
 
Fraud wanted £120 for my front pads, which isn't that bad in comparison to above, lol. Anyways; £60 pads, and me working on the car for an hour at the most, equals £60 profit.
 
ZG002 said:
Toyota tried to charge my sister £350 for changing front brake pads on her Yaris.

They still charged her something like £80 for taking the wheels off and checking the brakes then putting them back on when she refused to pay the price.

I changed the front pads and discs for £80.
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Its amazing what some places charge :eek:

£350 for front discs on a Toyota Yaris??? I mean you have got to have some balls to expect someone to pay that and not expect them to point and laugh.

I guess they just try and prey on those that they think don't know much about cars.
 
Yeah my sister knows nothing, She actually called me with the price asking if it was ok?!

They refused to release her car till she paid the £80 or what ever it was. (I was at work and could do little at the time)

Pretty crazy really lol.
 
My sister took her Peugeot 207 into a dealer for its first MOT and they identified over £1000 of work that needed doing to the car. The only essential thing to pass the MOT was an exhaust bracket was broken and they wanted £250 to fit a new back box, they also tried to make it sound like the front brakes needed doing to pass when in fact they were an advisory, wanting £305 to change.

Her and her husband laughed at the quote and took the car to a local garage who welded the bracket back on and changed the front discs + pads all for £195. The car then was taken back to the dealer to check and pass it for the MOT.
 
Vauxhall wanted £55 for a new Key for my vectra and then £85+ Vat to program it.. When I said I did not need it programmed they said the key would be £100+Vat.. After an Argument I got the key for the original £55 and programming the key takes about 2 mins. So vauxhall wanted £85+Vat for 2 mins work..... I reckon thats dearer than Bugatti..:eek:
 
It's £200 for a key and program for mine from Suzuki (keyless entry rubbish)

They had lost the spare key when I bought the car, So made them replace it at their cost. They then found the key 3 days later :p. So I have 3 lol.
 
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