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Blamed for damaged car!


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My local BMW franchise range me up last week. They wanted 2 windows tinting on a brand new BMW M5. Simple enough right?

I told them it was a quick job but having not worked on one before I told them to get one of their mechanics to remove the door panels before I got there.

I arrived and as agreed the door panels were off lying in the corner of the showroom. I did the tint job, bringing the panels over to the car to plug in the electric windows to move the glass as needed.

I finished and left. Next morning I get a call from them saying there are a couple of bubbles in the tint. Unusual I thought but went to have a look. It turn out that whoever put the panels back on had caught the film and moved it while it was still wet. Air got underneath but fortunately it was still moist enough to push it out and it looked as good as it did when I finished it the day before. So all good right?

Not quite. The guy says before you go what do you know about that (pointing at a gouge in the door panel leather)? I said it didnt look good, bit of a problem for you. He said that his mechanic didnt do it so it must have been me! Its funny though because the only tool I used was a razor blade and there is a big gouge in the leather right next to the bolt cover in the side of the panel. Looks like a screwdriver slip to me I said.

He said he takes his mechanics word as gold and there is no way he did it. He says the only fair way to sort it is to get a new panel and split the cost between them and us.

Got the bill today. ?550, that like $800. Thats half the cost of the new panel fitted apparently.

Should I pay it? Has anyone had any similar experiences? What did you do?

Needless to say Im not happy but do I have a leg to stand on?

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Guest tintman AZ
My local BMW franchise range me up last week. They wanted 2 windows tinting on a brand new BMW M5. Simple enough right?

I told them it was a quick job but having not worked on one before I told them to get one of their mechanics to remove the door panels before I got there.

I arrived and as agreed the door panels were off lying in the corner of the showroom. I did the tint job, bringing the panels over to the car to plug in the electric windows to move the glass as needed.

I finished and left. Next morning I get a call from them saying there are a couple of bubbles in the tint. Unusual I thought but went to have a look. It turn out that whoever put the panels back on had caught the film and moved it while it was still wet. Air got underneath but fortunately it was still moist enough to push it out and it looked as good as it did when I finished it the day before. So all good right?

Not quite. The guy says before you go what do you know about that (pointing at a gouge in the door panel leather)? I said it didnt look good, bit of a problem for you. He said that his mechanic didnt do it so it must have been me! Its funny though because the only tool I used was a razor blade and there is a big gouge in the leather right next to the bolt cover in the side of the panel. Looks like a screwdriver slip to me I said.

He said he takes his mechanics word as gold and there is no way he did it. He says the only fair way to sort it is to get a new panel and split the cost between them and us.

Got the bill today. ?550, that like $800. Thats half the cost of the new panel fitted apparently.

Should I pay it? Has anyone had any similar experiences? What did you do?

Needless to say Im not happy but do I have a leg to stand on?

Personally I would probably get a bit of a 'tude, especially if I know I'm right, and tell them "hey, that's exactly why I asked you guys to take the panels off. But of course before that you have to be honest with yourself, and make sure you didn't do it by accident. Even if you didn't see it happen. That being said, just tell him hey if I did it I would let you know. And maybe get into the forensics of it, and go over some of the tools that could have done it. It sounds as if you already suspect the screwdriver. ( Been watching to much Court TV ).

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I would be sure that I didn't do it and tell them that very strongly. If they still argued then I would hand them to my insurance....only pay $150 a year for my liability and it has replaced 2 windshields and 1 mercedes laminated back glass.....of course my dad is my insurance agent and he has me listed as a "paper hanger". :lol6

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JP,

That's sucks mate but I'd try and handle it like this.

You got the panels pulled because you care about the car and that attitude means accidents don't just happen.

We all know the bloody mechanic arsehole did it and has let you be the fall guy.

He's saying nothing.

A vinyl repairer can fix it perfectly for about $40 US dollars.

Does the dealership owe you back pay money? If so they might hold that as a gun to your head.

Seems sus to me that they were very keen to goes halves in the new panel cost.

Devil

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They dont currently owe me for any jobs as they are quite quick to pay but Im going there today to do an X-5 and then next Thursday to do another X-5.

Im not sure if I should bring this up while Im there this afternoon. They are not major customers for us. Most of their vehicles come with factory privacy glass. It just tends to be the used vehicles they sell that get tinted but its no more than 5 cars a year typically, so I could afford to lose their business, but I worried that if I dont pay they will bad mouth me to other dealers, saying what they like.

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Depends, how important is the dealer work for you? Not much :hump fck'em If yes well then pay up!

:hump Just remember, if you dont have your prices written in stone, you can always add a little to each job and end up making more out of it. :lol6

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Guest tintdawg

Just explain to them that there is no way that you did it. (unless you really did) They took the door panel off right? By the sound of your story, something else happened to the door. If they continue to want you to pay, Politely decline doing buisness with them anymore. The shop manager has to answer to someone, sounds like he trying to protect himself.

If you did it, fix it.

If you didn't, potect yourself. This happens all the time.

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