Bloody autoelectricians!
Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 5:10 pm
I took my polo to the autoelectrician down the road yesterday because half of my electrics seemed to have stopped working spontaneously.. turned out it was a switch behind the ignition that had died, so they charged me £20 for a new switch, then £45 for labour, then vat.. £76.62 total. Now, fair enough, lots of money but at least they fixed it, and I was happy enough to cough up even though it means I need a -lot- of overtime over the next few weeks to compensate..
However, first thing I noticed was that the steering was clonky. Called the guy out, he came and fixed it with the aid of a hammer and chisel... alright then, whatever gets it fixed..
Next, the guy told me to watch the trim under the steering column, because "obviously someone's had that off before and broken the lugs. I've glued it back on for you, should hold.". I was the last person to have it off, yesterday afternoon in attempting to fix it myself. It clipped back on perfectly.
Went away feeling a bit tired with all this but happy that the car seemed to be working.. then I got bored, and decided that I'd sand down and repaint my rocker cover. Opened the bonnet to be greeted by this:
Notice the screwdriver left lying on the rocker cover, the drip tray sprawled across the engine, and the fuse box cover missing, nowhere to be seen. When I first found it, the drip tray was actually lying right over the engine as well.. if I hadn't been the type to lift the bonnet every 5 minutes, that would have ended up with melted PVC everywhere, the fuse box shorting out every time it rains and various bits of damage from the screwdriver. I dread to think how many tools could have been left in there, I only discovered it after a trip to town and back, the road's probably littered with spanners by now..
I called up the autoelectricians to complain, and the guy casually told me "well, we're not going to be around from about 5 minutes time, drop it back in on monday"...
I've not had an experience like this with a mechanic before, really pissed me off.. £76 is half a months wages for me, and I really don't expect sloppy work like that in return for it.
However, first thing I noticed was that the steering was clonky. Called the guy out, he came and fixed it with the aid of a hammer and chisel... alright then, whatever gets it fixed..
Next, the guy told me to watch the trim under the steering column, because "obviously someone's had that off before and broken the lugs. I've glued it back on for you, should hold.". I was the last person to have it off, yesterday afternoon in attempting to fix it myself. It clipped back on perfectly.
Went away feeling a bit tired with all this but happy that the car seemed to be working.. then I got bored, and decided that I'd sand down and repaint my rocker cover. Opened the bonnet to be greeted by this:
Notice the screwdriver left lying on the rocker cover, the drip tray sprawled across the engine, and the fuse box cover missing, nowhere to be seen. When I first found it, the drip tray was actually lying right over the engine as well.. if I hadn't been the type to lift the bonnet every 5 minutes, that would have ended up with melted PVC everywhere, the fuse box shorting out every time it rains and various bits of damage from the screwdriver. I dread to think how many tools could have been left in there, I only discovered it after a trip to town and back, the road's probably littered with spanners by now..
I called up the autoelectricians to complain, and the guy casually told me "well, we're not going to be around from about 5 minutes time, drop it back in on monday"...
I've not had an experience like this with a mechanic before, really pissed me off.. £76 is half a months wages for me, and I really don't expect sloppy work like that in return for it.
