Why you don't use Halfords.

Concrete

Concrete

Concrete

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My father just called, pretty distraught. He took his Skoda Yeti to the local Halfords and paid 15 quid for the battery replacement service (normally the kind of thing I would do if it wasn't an emergency).

They connected the terminals round the wrong way, and now none of the electrics are working. Car starts, no lights/power steering/washers etc.

Sounds to me like they fried the ECU, but could it be a fuse(s)?

They are refusing to admit responsibility, he has a receipt with the service listed on it. He hasn't budged, its been 3 hours of them trying to fob him off now.

Idiots.
 
My Granda got a rear light bulb done there. He didn't find out till the next time the bulb blew, that they had smashed all the holder and glued the bulb in.

If the car starts, maybe he has been lucky, and it's blown some fuses.
 
Concrete said:
My father just called, pretty distraught. He took his Skoda Yeti to the local Halfords and paid 15 quid for the battery replacement service (normally the kind of thing I would do if it wasn't an emergency).

They connected the terminals round the wrong way, and now none of the electrics are working. Car starts, no lights/power steering/washers etc.

Sounds to me like they fried the ECU, but could it be a fuse(s)?

They are refusing to admit responsibility, he has a receipt with the service listed on it. He hasn't budged, its been 3 hours of them trying to fob him off now.

Idiots.
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Don't even get in the car. Photograph everything. This is exactly the kind of thing they do and then try get away with, it's ridiculous. I'd be going for the jugular if it was me.
 
Concrete said:
My father just called, pretty distraught. He took his Skoda Yeti to the local Halfords and paid 15 quid for the battery replacement service (normally the kind of thing I would do if it wasn't an emergency).

They connected the terminals round the wrong way, and now none of the electrics are working. Car starts, no lights/power steering/washers etc.

Sounds to me like they fried the ECU, but could it be a fuse(s)?

They are refusing to admit responsibility, he has a receipt with the service listed on it. He hasn't budged, its been 3 hours of them trying to fob him off now.

Idiots.
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How do you know they connected the terminals the wrong way?
 
You say the car tries to start, but no electrics....could the main fuse have been blown?
I had this happen to our X-Trail years ago. The car would turn over, but was otherwise 'dead'. Turns out the starter motor bypasses the main fuse, so it would crank, but nothing else worked.
 
You would have thought with the terminals been offset to one side, if you turned the battery round, the cables wouldn't stretch enough. Unless he used the wrong battery with the + and - the other way round.
 
Sounds like a bunch of fuses have blown. Ask Halfords for some new fuses :D.

Failing that call road side assistance and then sort the cost and complain with Halfords later.
 
vanpeebles said:
You would have thought with the terminals been offset to one side, if you turned the battery round, the cables wouldn't stretch enough. Unless he used the wrong battery with the + and - the other way round.
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I'm guess they did this. I've done it before, accidentally bought a battery with a different terminal layout - luckily I checked before attaching the clamps and took it back to swap for a different one.
 
Concrete said:
Apparently the results were quite dramatic, guy who did it admitted it while soaked from the windscreen/light washers activated.
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If the guy has admitted it and now the electrics don't work I don't see how they have a leg to stand on tbh.

If they won't rectify make sure he notes down everyone's name and position and emails or phones their head office to make an official complaint. If no reply to that then I would consult a lawyer.
 
Cheers guys, I have an update.

Eventually one of their mechanics (as opposed to the guy who “fitted” the battery) tested all the fuses which checked out. Then went “meh” and said that it would need to be investigated properly.

They agreed for our local indy (who my father should have used straight away) to tow it and diagnose it and then send them the bill for approval.

Will update as drama no doubt escalates.
 
Oh and the guy who hooked up the battery claimed that the terminals were the opposite of what they were labled.

The RAC guy who recovered the car the night before didnt mention this though...
 
https://www.youcanic.com/article/jump-started-installed-battery-wrong-way

When a car battery is connected backward a fuse designed to protect vehicle electronics should blow. If your vehicle doesn't have a fuse (almost all cars do) designed for this purpose, you will send electrical current backward through systems in your car including ECU, transmission control unit and more. If current flows backward through lights that's not a problem. The issue is when current flows backward through an electronics that have diodes such as the ECU / ECM (Engine Control Unit / Module).

It is not common to damage the Engine Control Unit / Module by connecting the battery cables incorrectly. Most of them are designed to withstand reverse polarity. In the worst case, the ECU/ECM can be removed and inspected if a diode has failed.
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Firestar_3x said:
https://www.youcanic.com/article/jump-started-installed-battery-wrong-way
Click to expand...

Yeah that was my understanding, its a no-brainer that someone will connect things backwards at some point.

Its also unfortunate that some vehicles are well know to have deficiencies in this area, the one that immediately springs to my mind is the Ferrari 360. Im definitely not a VAG guy (lol gay jokes), so the Yeti might fall into the at risk category. Will do research this evening when I get home.
 
A colleague of mine once had to use Halfords to change a headlight bulb, and they ended up breaking a couple of clips on the light unit and the bonnet latch (somehow), needless to say he wasn't happy. It then took him the best part of a month for him to get Halfords to admit liability and payout for the repairs.
 
I do work in Halfords Garages therefore you couldn’t pay me to take my works van there yet alone my own car.

The McDonald’s of the car trade.
 
In my motor business I used to find a lot of cars with a non-start condition after something like this had happened, particularly with people using jump leads.

Who was it who decided it was a good idea to have positive car wiring designated Black anyway...:/
 
Pretty sure that the cables of the three cars I've owned (Cavalier, Astra, Focus) would not reach the wrong terminals, even if the battery was installed the wrong way round.
 
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