Your thoughts required on this!!!!!

[rob911]

Couple of weeks ago I had a 4-wheel alignment and balance carried out on my car.
I live near Edinburgh and the alignment was due to be carried out in Hull. However the bloke who was carrying out the alignment contacted me 2 days before the alignment to tell me the venue had changed to Middlesborough. Reason being had to drop off some equipment there for refurbishment.
Alignment went ok and car is driving slightly better.
However couple of days later I was contacted and told I would have to pay his expencies for him to get from Hull to Middlesborough (£66 & vat).
Since it was his idea to change the venue because his equipment needed the refurbishment, I'm pretty nipped after being hit with this extra bill.
Any thoughts?

 

[MRBILLYUK]

So i'm assuming he's a mobile guy ? Isn't there any garages in or around Edinburgh that do wheel alignment ?

Back to your question . Firstly i would contact the guy and ask him about the extra charge ( no guns blazin' for now ). Tell him that it was his idea that the venue was change and that you are unwilling the pay the extra charge . Phone him rather than e mail if you can , its easier to get an explanation by mouth than e mail .

Was the quote for the alignment verbal , or on paper . If its on paper and there is no small print with extra charges for venue change then your ok , if its on paper and there is some small print saying about extras charges for change of venue then i guess he could pursue you for the extra cash .

Do you have a receipt , is he VAT registered from a legitimate company ?

But it all sounds a little dodgy to me .

 

[cli0 172]

there's a place at Sighthill ,Edinburgh that is excellent for doing alignment ,i cant remember the name of it but will try & find it out for you for future .

As for this extra charge .... think MRBILLY says it all .

 

[cli0 172]

the name of the place at Edinburgh is CLCM Autotyre Ltd ,11 Bankhead Drive ,Sighthill

 

[rob911]

I was pretty fuming so posted this:-

>Chris,
>Further to our conversation tonight one thing is playing on my mind that
>requires clarification.
>The reasoning behind extra payment required.
>The idea of meeting at Mxxxxxxx was from yourself, the original planned
>location being changed from Hull at your instruction.
>This being of benefit to yourself allowing refurbishment of your trailer
>and
>Mxxxxxxx for their case study. At no time was this instruction from myself.
>If the original location was used, the extra fuel required by myself would
>not have amounted to £66 & vat and I had prepared to travel to Hull.
>It appears to me that I'm having to pay the cost for you to travel to
>Mxxxxxxx for the refurbishment of your trailer when this was planned
>anyway.
>Hope this can be cleared asap.
>Rob

Reply back was:-

Hi Rob,
Sorry for the late reply, as this is the first real time not under or about
a car in the last few days.
I can understand you view. The payment is the minimum expense we charge for
running of the vehicle. BTW - the starter motor had given-up!
You are right, we switched the venue. To be honest I wish we had stayed at
Hull, which. This was simply a honest old workshop with no benefits other
than up North and at friends. The organiser, Mxxxxxxx at Hull suggested
Middlesborough. I feel the day was spoiled by Middlesbrough's lack of
readiness. What's worse is the trailer wasn't refurbished in any form, just
some minor repairs. Finally, I was told it would be valeted and delivered to
me in Leicestershire. Reality, it wasn't valeted and I had to collect!
I realise that this would have been my benefit, however owing to no fault of
yours it was quite the opposite.
So in all I lost a day's work going back to Middlesbrough, plus fuel and one
of my Customers is not happy :0
So you are right. The best we look to recover is just the 112miles x 2 x 22p
per mile. That would be £44.98 plus £8.62 vat. As discussed I will pay your
vat on the work in lieu of the mistake in the final report and the not-so
hospitable host.
We still owe you the geometry and weight distribution reports, which I have
been working on. I will get these to you by end of day Tuesday. Let's see if
we can find agreement and I can also provide a correct sales invoice for
your records.
Again, I hope we can agree on the Hull cost and then plan to get on with a
new set of top mounts and shake-down testing at Croft.
Despite the venue we each did enjoy the day - hands on.
Warmest regards,
Chris

I've had to blank out company names - don't want legal hassle.

 

[cli0 172]

i would say sorry but it was them that wanted to carry this work out elsewhere & this additional cost should have been made aware to yourself from the very start .

only problem u have is getting ur paperwork ,so i would wait to get this before you reply .

but basically i would tell them were to shove it ,if u have no intention of ever going back to them .What are they gonna do to retrieve 66 quid ??

 

[rob911]

Since I had travelled 200 miles to get to Middlesborough, the extra 56 miles to get to Hull were no problem.
If I had driven to Hull, it would have cost me £17.50 in fuel for the extra 112 miles so I would be prepared to pay this £17.50 but thats all.
As for the paperwork, I've no intention of selling the car so it would be nice to have for the records but I'm not paying £66 & vat for them on top of the £280 I've already payed.

 

[TheCake]

Give him the finger. He changed the location and at the end of the day thats not your problem.