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Porsche Specialist

Boxsterooz

Boxsterooz

PCGB Member
Hi All,
I took my car to a Porsche Specialist in Bedford to have the Oxygen sensors replaced two weeks ago. The car never started ever since and the garage is just not interested at all in fixing it. The car was absolutely fine before. It was dumped in a corner and i was told he will look into it when he gets a chance. How am i suppose to deal with him? He is recommended by the Porsche GB Club? The carpets were left on the floor in the garage, everyone walking on them. I rescued them yesterday. The engine cover is somewhere and the car is outside sitting. He keeps saying he doesn't know what's wrong with it. He wants to take the ECU out to send it away for testing. All the wires and cables are out disconnected. He waited for another Porsche to be brought in for servicing so that he can take a sensor from it to check on mine. Is that practice right?
Any advice will be much appreciated.
 
Doesn't sound a very good garage to be honest. might be work getting to recovered to somewhere else. Speak to the 2 guys below as they might have the answers without seeing the car?!

I can recommend the following independent Porsche specialists that are good

http://www.jgcporsche.co.uk/ - James is a great guy and very passionate about his work! I'm off to see him after work with my Cayenne Turbo S!
https://www.facebook.com/jgcporscheltd/ (Facebook page)

http://www.dwperformance.co.uk/index.html - Kev again is a great guy and very passionate about his work
https://www.facebook.com/dwperformanceltd/ (facebook page)

Graham



 
Graham, thanks a lot. I am gutted. It's been there for two weeks, missed a trip to Croix two weeks ago, missed the Pirelli BBQ. He is just not interested and the way is talking to me is winding me up. I know is only a Boxster but it's still a Porsche.
i was advised by a friend to have it recovered to a Porsche Dealer to have it fixed. The one where the car is now should be getting the bill.
Apparently the ECU was spiked. Needs a new one! My car was mint before i took it to this muppet.
 
There are quite a few R31 members that use JGC in Brackley
Give either of them a call and see if they can advise/help, i'm sure they will be able too

Graham
 
Based on the description of your experience, they sound rather incompetent, possibly negligent and certainly lacking in basic customer relations skills. To my knowledge no garage is "Porsche Club Approved” and as far as I can see there’s currently no independent Porsche specialist included in the Porsche Post listings (May 2018) that’s located in Bedford, although there is a Bedford-based company who advertises under the Servicing/Repairs in the Trading Post section of the magazine.

If the garage is the same one (with the number 2000 in its name), someone needs to have a word with them as the copy on their website says they are ”...Porsche club approved specialists”, "...Porsche approved specialists” and "...registered as Porsche club approved”. Buying an ad in Porsche Post doesn’t give them the right to promote themselves as "Approved” in any way. I’m fairly certain therefore that their claims are unsubstantiated and are most likely misleading.

I have made Club HQ aware of this so they can follow it up.
 
Hi Boxsterrooz,

Sorry to hear about your experience.

Am keen to speak with you further so will call on Monday if convenient.

The Club doesn’t make endorsements and the wording highlighted in previous posts will need to be rectified by the company in question.

Look forward to speaking with you on Monday.

Thanks,

Chris


 
Hi Chris,

No problem at all. We can speak on Monday. Any help i can get in dealing with him would be much appreaciated. My car is wrecked now and i know it was perfectly fine when i took it in. All i wanted before my trip to France was to change the oxygen sensors. As i said in my previous post, never started again. It runs for a second and then it cuts off. There is a big sign in his office saying he is recommended by Porsche GB Club Hence the reason for my post And for BartyB, yes it is the 2000. Last week i went there on Monday at 11:20 and he could barely speak, he was that drank. I left the garage swearing and frustrated because i was unable to speak with him and get anywhere.

I don’t really know what to do. I made a few enquiries today to see if i can get it recovered to Porsche Cambridge for them to look at it. Will see what happens next week.

Regards

Boxsterooz
 
I suspect Porsche GB, Porsche Centre Cambridge, Porsche Centre Hatfield, the Advertising Standards Authority (all advertising, including online advertising, must be legal, decent, honest and truthful) and possibly Bedfordshire Trading Standards might have something to say about the paragraph on the company’s website:

"The team at [Company name] are a specialist Porsche approved specialists that are used exclusively by Porsche owners in Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, Hitchin, Stevenage, Cambridge, Peterborough, Kettering and Henlow, among other surrounding areas.”

Seems like someone’s been rumbled.
 
The way he is working i will make sure no one will ever use him again. Can’t treat people like that, you shouldn’t be drinking at work and you must have busine insurance. If you bugger someones car then you will fix it asap. I’m wasting this summer waiting for him to fix my car when he gets a chance. No phone call, nothing even today, Saturday. Monday i will ring him. I will give him till Wednesday to fix it otherwise i will recover the vehicle to Porsche Cambridge and he will have to cover the bill.
 
Yes i have but i wanted to take the car first. As soon as i contacted Trading Standards he will stop any contact and i will be the one to suffer. By Wednesday next week i will have them contacted. I want to give him the chance to fix it first. Hes had plenty of chances two and a half weeks and ignored them.
 
Silv, Geoff’s suggestion about contacting Trading Standards is a good one and most definitely worth following up. Make sure you document every interaction that has taken place with the garage, including any conversations (there are lots of Apps like Call Recorder that will enable you to automatically record two-way telephone conversations and Smart Recorder for face-to-face conversations) you have and photograph any ’work’ that has been carried out on your car. When you take your car the PC Cambridge ask them to report in writing preferably about their findings. You can then consider further action.

I suggest you also talk to your local Citizens Advice Centre with a view to pursuing a claim through the Small Claims Court: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/legal-system/taking-legal-action/small-claims/small-claims/

Please keep us posted on how you get on.
 
Great advice, thank you. I wanted to contact trading standard on Friday but i was afraid i will wind him up and i stopped. I thought i better take my car first from him and then i’ll start the action against him. And yes, a shame I haven’t recorded anything, neither phone calls or face to face interactions. Too late now. I will do it when i’ll speak with him on Monday. At least i’ll start it now. I have dealt with trading standards before and they were great. I hope they will help me again this time.
I just want my car the way it was. It was mint and i loved it.

Will keep you all posted. Thanks again for your support.
 
I find that getting 'Trading Standards' involves sharpens up the other party and makes them more amenable. Also informing them that you are recording the conversation also helps.
 
Cheers Jeff, i have to take it easy. I have no invoice, nothing at all. If i take the car away I won’t be able to prove anything. The repair will cost over a thousand. Will keep everyone posted.
 
Update

the ECU was damaged apparently by the faulty sensors. So, Bosch have supplied two faulty sensors which "spiked” the ECU. The cost to repair the ECU is £350 which according to the garage i have to pay otherwise i can’t have the car back.

I tried to tell him that the incident happened while the car was in his custody but he won’t have it. He is adamant that the sensors supplied by me were faulty and caused the issue.

Because he is a good guy apparentl, he will only charge me £50 plus he will throw in a pair of sensors for free. To me this is admitting liability more than being a good guy.

I have opened a claim with the supplier of the sensors and i’m waiting to see if they will pay for the damage including the refund for the faulty sensors.

All together this will cost me in a region of £1000.

Nothing’s been removed in the garage, still associated and recommended by Porsche GB Club.

Gutted, that i have to pay for something I didn’t do wrong.
 
Presuming I found the correct garage this seems ironic on their website:

"If you are the exclusive owner of a Porsche, then you will already probably be aware that servicing your Porsche at an un- approved centre can result in your Porsche being manhandled by amateurs. It is of vital that your Porsche is serviced by Porsche club approved specialists, with the knowledge and experience to give you peace of mind."

To say you can't have your car back unless you pay them to fix it seems at best wrong and verging on illegal.

Hope it all works out for you.
 
In my view that's exactly why the Club needs to write to the 'specialist' and tell them in no uncertain terms that the Club in no way endorses any business and requires them to remove all statements to that effect from their website, any digital or print media, or on any signage at their premises.

I think the Club needs to include a prominent statement in the Trading Post section of Porsche Post (and on the Club website) and make advertisers aware of this when buying space, to the effect that "accepting and publishing an advertisement does not imply PCGB endorses or approves the advertiser's business, product or service or that their offerings are fit for purpose" along with "Action will be taken against individuals or businesses promoting themselves, their business or their products as approved or in any way endorsed by the Club to customers, potential customers or third parties whether Club members or not." I'm sure the Club's legal advisor can come up with suitable words.

As I ponder this, it strikes me that there's an opportunity here for a Club initiative that provides an impartial dispute resolution service for members who use Porsche Post or website advertisers' services or products that do not meet their expectations. Advertisers who sign up to such a scheme could be identified as such in their ads. Another member benefit perhaps?

As Chris S is clearly aware of Silv's issue, I'm sure the Club has the matter in hand.

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