Mitsubishi service rip off

G'day olcoolone
Just stating it as it happens. No kicking at all. They push the snowball not the customer.
You have to wonder why many vehicle service people just keep on doing it to customers and absolutely squeal when they get caught out.
I have done a fairly comprehensive assessment/survey of the issue and you would be staggered at the level of "lack of service" had by trusting, unsuspecting and possibly not mechanically savvy customers.

If it didn't happen there would be no problem, ever.
Playing fair is what is needed in the motor trade.

I have worked for some years in a Ford dealership & some Dealers do need a Kick. Mainly conartist type Service managers whos job it is to baffle & bul bleep the customer. i worked in a small country dealership as the mechanic & service manager. with a small customer base you couldnt afford to loose customers.

The NT dealer or staff would have looked at the NSW number plate and thought to themselves, "easy pickins" cos he won't be back this way.
He can however drive around Darwin with an appropriate sign on his vehicle stating the trouble, he isn't lying or deceiving in doing so. He can talk to people in the Cvan park and relay his experience, He can talk on the UHF to all and sundry and make others aware.
Fairly naive of the service centre to think it won't be done.
He can lodge a complaint with Mitsubishi so everyone involved in the new vehicles welfare is in the know.

I know of a Colorado diff, only checked at Oldhen in Alice and they didn't tighten the diff plug, hardly even screwed it in. That was found by and observant traveller at the Rock and quite a bit of diff oil had gone. On checking the service had in Alice, most was not done. Same story NT and Vic involved there.

Oil and a filter would cost the dealer about$60 to $80 for good oil, so $110 profit there and the waste oil is usually picked up for nothing by the collectors and they make a profit because they sell to recyclers who pay him to collect it. Another $90 for the dealer. Ned Kelly was a gentleman compared to many of these so called service centre people.

G'day Rocco
I have looked at a lot of vehicles after a service from local and interstate and found they had a service but very often it wasn't done fully and sometimes practically nothing done. All makes and models.
Just because a dealer has a workshop of cars and customers waiting, in no way indicates proper servicing is happening.
In some places yes.
Stamped service books which those customers expect to see in no way proves it was done.
Just plain old decency and honesty is what the customers are relying on.

People don't usually mind paying for good servicing but it doesn't usually happen.

Remember. Lack of good servicing isn't the customers fault, it is another party who is being trusted and paid to do it.

Ross,
"I have looked at a lot of vehicles after a service from local and interstate and found they had a service but very often it wasn't done fully and sometimes practically nothing done".....

Mate, do you seriously go around checking people's cars at random? How would you know what they have or haven't paid for in their service? There are different types of services from a straight out oil change to a full driveline oil change, coolant change, tappet adjustment, brake adjustment etc etc etc. How can you honestly gauge the level of workmanship performed by just looking at the car.

Tell your story but don't stretch the truth. Yes, I'm a mechanic and I'll admit there are rouges out there. But I can also smell bull excrement from a mile away.

Fab.

Fab.
I have represented people, in Small claims Tribunals, who have been dudded and the observation ability which you challenge is apparently a skill many don't have.

Having been in the Automotive industry for years I know what happens and never surprised by what people experience with services.

By meeting people, discussion and checking of vehicles and what is supposed to happen at service time, (it is closely related to my job) it isn't hard to see if a filler or drain plug has never been removed in 20,000km. Valve adjustments leave a tell tale trace of someone being there. When there is no trace after the time it should have been done, then it is plain as daylight nothing was done.
If a grease at service interval never shows any grease "fling off" in over 20.000km then it hasn't ever been greased.
I would hope as a mechanic you should be able to do the same.

Ross,
You'd also then know that most dealerships use computer generated R/O's which come pre-populated with fields such as windscreen washer additives, waste oil disposal, consumables etc.

The above mentioned dealership's mistake was that they got caught out by one of their generic R/O's. What compounded the issue further was that they tried to lie their way around it rather than telling it how it is, refunding the difference and moving on. That boils down to poor customer service at the front counter not necessarily by poor service in the workshop.

It's funny you mention the "traces" of work having been done and maybe things were different when I went to trade school but back then I was taught not to leave traces of anything on a customers car, be it greasey finger prints, oil stains, grease dags...even right down to returning the mirrors and seats back to their original position.

Now if a customer is charged for say new brake pads, and they're clearly not fitted, then that falls into a different category....I'd say fraud.

Fab

Sure, the price is capped but the work done for that price is reduced.

I recently had my Triton in for 45000 service, 40 minutes work, well, 40 minutes in the service bay for $600 inc oil & filter.

I know this as my dash camera was running all the time.

Cheers Neil

$200 in parts. $150-$180 in oils. Labour on top, sounds about right to me.

Granted. its not possible to do a 45000 in 40 mins. Maybe you should have queried it at the time. No point complaining later. And yes i do work for a stealer. Some are better than others, some just have lazy half assed "mechanics". But you get that in any trade.

Steve

Interesting that you say that!

Anybody who has hung round Courts for a while will know that there are 3 sides to every story; what the accuser says, what the accused says and what can be proved in Court. Of course, the “truth” may have no connection with any of these!

I have problems with “name and shame” on internet forums for one simple reason; the reader never gets the opportunity to hear the other two stories and so make an informed decision; the OP is expecting us to take him on his word (whatever that is worth).

Paraphrased, the rules of natural justice require an accused to be informed of the allegations made and have the ability to defend these before an independent, unbiased judge.

So far, the accused has been informed of the existence of the complaint (via this poster), but other than this post has not had opportunity to respond. The comments so far on this thread indicate this forum is not unbiased.

The interesting (and fun) question now is whether the company can be bothered taking any action in regards to the OP. If there is any evidence to support this response, they may choose to do so. If they do, the third side of the story, what can be proved in Court, comes into play. Of course, they may decide that any possible damage to their reputation or business from the post is not worth the initial solicitor’s consultation fee. Comes purely down to a business decision; how many members of this forum are likely to contemplate using their services at some time in the future and what is the cost to them of the OP’s complaint.

At least, the company appears to know of the OP’s details, so they won’t have to subpoena these from David and Michelle in order to serve any documents.

Perhaps a forum rule should be put in place that stops this type of post.

I would suggest that if some one wants to post a complaint against a business, that before they do so they have to notify the business of their intent so as the business can give a right of reply.

Image Could Not Be FoundHi Allen T, You have been told a bunch of lies. First, the car had the 1500klm service form the dealer in Port Macquarie NSW from where I bought it, and I trust this dealer. The charge for the windscreen solution was on the 14/5/2012 but the bottle was not put on until 22/5/2012. So why are they sending me a satchel of windscreen solution if they already put it in? As for the bull bar it is an Iornman brand and the brackets that were missing where put back on by the NT Autogroup at a cost of $44.84 each, so the guards have somewhere to clip them to, when the new splash guards were fitted, by them. Please look at the photo and you can see that the clips were not put back properly. As for the oil they now say that it wasn't a litre of oil but can't tell me how much so they are sending me a litre of oil. Why would they send me a litre of oil if they have already put it in ????. Your mate has NOT told you the correct story so you should get your facts right first before defending him.
I don't write something that would hurt a business unless it was right.
Andy

I don't disagree as long as threads that recommend or praise service are also banned. There needs to be a balanced view because if only positive things are said then people may go to a company based on those recommendations which overall may prove to be not correct.

On another forum I visit bad reports on service are not permitted but positive responses are - as a result a particular service centre has all positive posts and on the basis of these recommendations people on the forum have been using the service centre and getting nasty surprises when they pick up there car - the few positive experiences get listed but the many bad reports do not.

So if the negatives cannot be posted then neither should the positives.

Garry

Oh I forgot to say the car has never been to BUNDABREG. So he know a lot about the problem, doesn't he. So he is not so HONEST with you at all.
Andy

"garrycol"
I agree both sides should be able to be aired.

Negatives experiences are common and all people really want is have a task done and pay a fair price nothing more. If at service time you get the full service and everything is correct then it isn't a positive, it is just normal and is what should happen.
A positive is they clearly went far and beyond to help with a problem, and some do, or unexpectedly offered 10% off the service at payment time, or topped up the tank.
These are positives.

Normal service is normal service and should be as such.