Charges for diagnostics and no fault found?

[TH3_WiLL]

Hi,

I recently had my car in for some issues I had found, in this case an electrical whistling noise, which I dont beleive to be the powersteeering as its intermittent and movement of the wheel does not change its tone or interrupt it, as well as what to me seemed like a flat spot in 4th and 5th as previously it didnt appear to be there as well as a rough idle when stationary or when pulling upto lights (intermittent).

Now I have been charged approx £100 from BMW for this even though my car is in warranty, as they found no issue. I have never previously been charged at other dealers both BMW and other manufacturers for checking my car for faults I beleive are there, should I have been charged, as I was not given prior knowledge that I would be charged, and as we know just because they say theres no fault does not necessarily mean there is not one there.

In this case the payment was taken from my companys CC as I was not in the country at the time so again had no knowledge or conscent being charged.

Should I just tell my company to reverse the charges or try and speak to the service adviser, I have tried to contact him several times today and he does not answer, should I ask to speak to the servicing manager?

Any helps much appreciated.

 

[mmm-five]

Is this your car or the company's?

If it's your's and they've charged the company card then just get the company card charged-back to the dealership as a fraudulent charge, as it's not been authorised by the card-holder.

If it's your company's car & they have an account with BMW then it may be more involved as their agreement may allow this.

Either way I'd be calling the dealership and:
1) Asking why they've put a charge on a credit card without your authorisation;
2) Asking how they got hold of your CC details;
3) Telling them that you'll be cancelling it with your CC company.

 

[srhutch]

Yes BMW dealers do charge to diagnose issue's if thay are not covered under warranty.

My dealer advised that if they removed the wheels to check for corrosion and didnt find any they would have to charge.

Did thay ask for the CC details when you dropped the car off?

 

[jamiez]

Yes BMW dealers do charge to diagnose issue's if thay are not covered under warranty.

My dealer advised that if they removed the wheels to check for corrosion and didnt find any they would have to charge.

Did thay ask for the CC details when you dropped the car off?

Interesting - i told them a whole bunch of stuff to look into and on some where they could not find anything - i didnt (and would not expect!) to be charged under warranty!

 

[srhutch]

Yes BMW dealers do charge to diagnose issue's if thay are not covered under warranty.

My dealer advised that if they removed the wheels to check for corrosion and didnt find any they would have to charge.

Did thay ask for the CC details when you dropped the car off?

Interesting - i told them a whole bunch of stuff to look into and on some where they could not find anything - i didnt (and would not expect!) to be charged under warranty!

to be fair in past times there have been things the dealer has checked and not found but not charged, so maybe it's new, I've never actually paid for any checks but you can see why dealers would try and charge if they can.

 

[TH3_WiLL]

Oki, so had a chat with the service manager yesterday, and he agreed with me that since no work was carried out as they could not find the faults I should not of been charged, but did explain that since they take it on the chin for non-fault diagnostics they cant do this all the time. In conclusion they have refunded my companys CC and all has ended well without me needing to get the company to do a charge-back which would of hurt the dealer.

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[klarky]

ive found out the hard way to always ask a dealer if there is going to be a charge, or at least to call me if there is a charge. i had a service agreement on my old ibiza that included mots, put the car in, the called to say their was a problem and are looking into it and will call me back, next day a call to say i can collect the car, get to the dealer to be told pre & post cat o2 sensors needed to be replaced - £500 bill!! at no point was i told of any cost, i was expecting something but not that much, was told due to emissions they could not allow me to take the car away once the found the problem. im sure for £500 i could have towed the car away and sourced the parts cheaper and had a local garage fit. after that i always say before leaving my keys that any cost over what i agreed to i wont pay unless they let me know before they do any work.