Possibly Taking Legal Action Againt Workshop Interstate

[V-Spec]

Hello,

Ive come to the conclusion of possibly taking legal action against a workshop in another state.

Got an item rebuilt at a reputable workshop interstate and there now is a problem with it according to my local reputable workshop. Labour in taking this item out, having it sent off and them put back in will be around $1000 dollars.

I dont feel obligated to pay for labour that had to be done for something that was not my fault or my local workshops fault.

Would it be out of line to request the interstate workshop pay for the labour if it is proven that the fault is theirs? (I can most likley get a written and signed document stating the cause of the fault and who is responsible)

Does anyone here have any suggestions, feelings or advice on the matter and want to know if this has this happened to anyone on here before?

Is there any ombudsman or government department that deals with disputes or requests such as these?

Thanks.

Edited October 26, 2009 by V-Spec

[Ruffels]

can i ask what the item is? ... im assuming turbo?

[V-Spec]

can i ask what the item is? ... im assuming turbo?

Cant say - Dont wanna give anyone a bad name + i think ill get banned if i do.

[Roy]

You are playing with cars. Sometimes peoples best efforts end up with mishaps. I suggest you speak to them, if nothing comes from a frank discussion then put it down to lessons learnt. Trying to chase interstate workshops for renumeration when there wasnt a clear warranty or custody of the part means it will be messy...but its your dime and if you have cheap legal representation?!?!?!

[33gtst]

Most places will w'tee only their item, not the R & R. IME tho, once in the ghey performance area of automotive, your lucky if you even get warranty at all. With many saying no warranty on performance parts. Gl with it. So many ppl threaten companies with legal action, I wonder how many actually even come close to running with it.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

lol.... i've never had any for of waranty on parts.... or tuners work.

turbo's break, engines break.... we're messing with things that are running past their factory intended tollerence... its all part of the game

[Turbz RB-25]

Mate, you made the first mistake of giving it to another shop to fix it.

If something is wrong, take it to the shop that did the work.

It will be very difficult to prove now that the shop that originally did the work was in fault.

Lesson learned I guess.

[Turbz RB-25]

lol.... i've never had any for of waranty on parts.... or tuners work.

turbo's break, engines break.... we're messing with things that are running past their factory intended tollerence... its all part of the game

There's always warranty mate, I don't know what shops you've been taking your car to?

If you install a $4,000 turbo, and it is tuned and installed properly, and the turbo breaks, you send that sh!t right back to where you bought it from.

[Psymon]

Nope. A lot of places will not offer any warranty on performance parts.

[Turbz RB-25]

Nope. A lot of places will not offer any warranty on performance parts.

If that's the case, then it's your fault for being a silly bugga and buying something with no warranty....

And it doesn't matter that they don't offer express warranty, there is also implied warranty in australian law...

Contact your local office of fair trading, see if they can assist you with anything.

That will surely give the shop a scare.

If that doesn't work, you can always take the shop the the small claims tribuneral.

[R31Nismoid]

^ i think you are badly misinformed about Warranty on performance.

Busting a turbo, as an example, totally depends on how it failed.

If it was lack of oil/pressure then the finger is pointed directly @ the owner to absorb the cost, and 9 times outta 10 that is what happens.

The only reason a turbo manufaturer will take the hit is

1. Wheel comes off due to balancing.

2. Core disintergrates with issues unrelated to oil supply.

[V-Spec]

Its not a turbo and its not "broken" nothing to do with power or how it was treated, it just wasnt done right resulting in some side affects that can be proven the design, rebuild is at fault.

It was an advertised performance service, rebuild so i dont think anyone was under the wrong impression.

im cirtain ill get the part repaired for free but its the labour cost i rather not incure.

just wanting to know what you guys would do, sometimes its easyier doing the labour yourself. gave that up with the r31. gtr is a whole different story and i thought it was safe to do research and take it to the best places.

Edited October 27, 2009 by V-Spec

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

There's always warranty mate, I don't know what shops you've been taking your car to?

If you install a $4,000 turbo, and it is tuned and installed properly, and the turbo breaks, you send that sh!t right back to where you bought it from.

here we go...

[Birds]

Hello,

Ive come to the conclusion of possibly taking legal action against a workshop in another state.

Got an item rebuilt at a reputable workshop interstate and there now is a problem with it according to my local reputable workshop. Labour in taking this item out, having it sent off and them put back in will be around $1000 dollars.

I dont feel obligated to pay for labour that had to be done for something that was not my fault or my local workshops fault.

Would it be out of line to request the interstate workshop pay for the labour if it is proven that the fault is theirs? (I can most likley get a written and signed document stating the cause of the fault and who is responsible)

Does anyone here have any suggestions, feelings or advice on the matter and want to know if this has this happened to anyone on here before?

Is there any ombudsman or government department that deals with disputes or requests such as these?

Thanks.

Yes it would be out of line, because it sounds like you carried out the R&R and gave (or plan on giving) the interstate workshop a bill without first consulting them on how they want to go about fixing your problem. It's like getting your car repaired at a panel beaters and then telling your insurance company they owe you this much without their assessor getting involved.

Take for example the warranty policy at one of the companies I work for - if we have sent out a faulty gearbox then we bring the vehicle back to our workshop and perform the R&R ourselves because we can do the R&R at cost price instead of some third party workshop profiting from it. But we would never let someone present us with a bill for R&R unless we agreed to it prior, e.g. in the case of interstate warranty. And most of the time we don't agree to it...at best we'll cover the postage for returning the item because industry standard is an onus on the customer to return the part for warranty reasons.

On the same note, warranties are very subjective. It is up to you as the customer to consult a workshop on their warranty policy before purchasing the product. If you don't agree to the terms, don't purchase it. Some warranties don't carry across interstate for the trouble they can cause...particularly when it comes to rebuilt or reconditioned items, as it is the nature of these to fail frequently due to use of old parts and the possibility the original problem may not be fixed with a reco. Some places choose not to warranty parts unless they carry out installation, not just because someone else's R&R can break the part, but also because with the vehicle on-site they have opportunity to test that the part is working 100% in the vehicle before giving it back to the customer - obviously you cannot do this interstate and therein lies a risk that the customer takes when they do business interstate.

I could write pages on the topic but my useful advice to you would be to try and reach a compromise with the workshop on how much they think they should cover you for (e.g. shipping only), if at all, because entering legal proceedings over $1000 worth of damage...I know it's alot to you but wait until you see the bills a solicitor can send you when you go deeper.

Judging by the cost of the item, the common prone-to-failure installation and your (smart) unwillingness to disclose the workshop on SAU...I am guessing this item is a clutch.

[Turbz RB-25]

^ i think you are badly misinformed about Warranty on performance.

Busting a turbo, as an example, totally depends on how it failed.

If it was lack of oil/pressure then the finger is pointed directly @ the owner to absorb the cost, and 9 times outta 10 that is what happens.

The only reason a turbo manufaturer will take the hit is

1. Wheel comes off due to balancing.

2. Core disintergrates with issues unrelated to oil supply.

Buddy, I am not getting into specifics, I was giving an example and making a general point as I am trying to help him out.

I recently built my RB25/30 front top to bottom, everything is brand new including the ECU I'm running.

I've got a 12 month warranty on the engine, the tune, the turbo, EVERYTHING.

If you want to buy and install your performance parts from shops that don't offer warranty, that's your problem.

As soon as I come across an issue, I take it to my mechanic/tuner, and he fixes it right away, no questions asked. He'll contact the supplier, and they send down a replacement product within 1 week (like when my wastegate screwed up).'

If my turbo fails due to the lack of oil pressure, I'll take my car to my mechanic and say fix it, and I'am not bearing any of the cost, and rightly so.

[Turbz RB-25]

here we go...

You love commenting on everything... you're worse than a girl.... Get outta town

HERE WE GO HERE WE GO HERE WE GOOOOO

[V-Spec]

Yes it would be out of line, because it sounds like you carried out the R&R and gave (or plan on giving) the interstate workshop a bill without first consulting them on how they want to go about fixing your problem. It's like getting your car repaired at a panel beaters and then telling your insurance company they owe you this much without their assessor getting involved.

Take for example the warranty policy at one of the companies I work for - if we have sent out a faulty gearbox then we bring the vehicle back to our workshop and perform the R&R ourselves because we can do the R&R at cost price instead of some third party workshop profiting from it. But we would never let someone present us with a bill for R&R unless we agreed to it prior, e.g. in the case of interstate warranty. And most of the time we don't agree to it...at best we'll cover the postage for returning the item because industry standard is an onus on the customer to return the part for warranty reasons.

On the same note, warranties are very subjective. It is up to you as the customer to consult a workshop on their warranty policy before purchasing the product. If you don't agree to the terms, don't purchase it. Some warranties don't carry across interstate for the trouble they can cause...particularly when it comes to rebuilt or reconditioned items, as it is the nature of these to fail frequently due to use of old parts and the possibility the original problem may not be fixed with a reco. Some places choose not to warranty parts unless they carry out installation, not just because someone else's R&R can break the part, but also because with the vehicle on-site they have opportunity to test that the part is working 100% in the vehicle before giving it back to the customer - obviously you cannot do this interstate and therein lies a risk that the customer takes when they do business interstate.

I could write pages on the topic but my useful advice to you would be to try and reach a compromise with the workshop on how much they think they should cover you for (e.g. shipping only), if at all, because entering legal proceedings over $1000 worth of damage...I know it's alot to you but wait until you see the bills a solicitor can send you when you go deeper.

Judging by the cost of the item, the common prone-to-failure installation and your (smart) unwillingness to disclose the workshop on SAU...I am guessing this item is a clutch.

Both workshops colaborated in getting this component working but not working properly.

Are you saying that because the the interstate workshop can claim that the work was not done correctly by the local workshop that theyre not responsible?

its a question of blame and im in the middle of it being out of pocket. I have no intetion of pitting one workshop against another, i just dont think its fair that i have to pay for expensive labour for something that is in no way my fault and out of my hands.

Hopefully local workshop will speak to intestate workshop to determine the nature of the problem. For me its a question of blame and who will take responsibility.

You talk about prone-to-failure installation. From doing similar work myself to a previous car, i cant see the labour being anything other than strait forward. I trust my local workshop and hope they value my continued buisness enough to tell me the truth about what has gone wrong in this situation.

Birds, thanks for an indepth reply, it is appreciated

[Ruffels]

i just wanna know what the "PART" is... dont have to name names

[V-Spec]

i just wanna know what the "PART" is... dont have to name names

if you know what part it is then its going to be quite obvious what workshops will be involved. Plus its not really relevent to the outcome or advice anyhow.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

You love commenting on everything... you're worse than a girl.... Get outta town

HERE WE GO HERE WE GO HERE WE GOOOOO

this is Mexico bud...

choo git outta my town mang