ALAN G Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 After a breakdown in France I have, for several months, being trying to get recompense from the garage that worked on my motor-caravan and caused the breakdown. They deny liability, despite the evidence against them being very strong. Bosch recommended I used the Retail Motor Industry National Conciliation Service to sort the problem. However, the slow response from the National Conciliation Service has now become less than conciliation but more like total support for the garage who just say "we didn't do anything wrong". Has anyone else used this service? Were the results favourable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeti Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Have you tried the Motor Agents Association? http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/nireland/consumer_ni/consumer_taking_action_e/consumer_making_a_complaint_e.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Does the Motor Agents Association still exist? The "Motor industry trade associations and useful contacts” section of the Citizens Advice Bureau http://tinyurl.com/lo8p48x just refers to the RMIF and its National Conciliation Service, which is what Alan G was asking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I suppose the garage will be saying that they did the servicing properly, or at least that they were not negligent, but servicing doesn't guarantee immunity from breakdowns. So the onus is very much on you to prove they did something negligent and that this led to the breakdown, which would not otherwise have occured. Ultimately, if they reject your claim, it will become a matter of suing the garage, so you will need expert engineering opinion to back up your view of things - which means you will have to pay for that, and for the costs of suing the garage. If you are right the garage might back down before you get to court and if you win you get your costs anyway, but you have to be willing to risk the cost of failure, including maybe paying the garage's costs. What is your evidence that the UK garage caused the breakdown abroad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeti Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-11-10 8:42 AM Does the Motor Agents Association still exist? The "Motor industry trade associations and useful contacts” section of the Citizens Advice Bureau http://tinyurl.com/lo8p48x just refers to the RMIF and its National Conciliation Service, which is what Alan G was asking about. You are probably correct,it is some years since I was involved with the trade. On the original issue,would an independent engineers report prove the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Alan mentioned vehicle problems in France within this late-2013 forum discussion: http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Bitter-bit-Holiday-Insurance/32985/ Assuming those were the problems he is still in dispute about, as a year has passed I’m doubtful that obtaining a useful engineer’s report at this stage would be practicable. I’m guessing too that Alan carried out research and received a good deal of advice (maybe he even obtained an engineer’s report) before contacting the Conciliation Service. Now, having got nowhere, he is trying to find out if anyone has done any better using that service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALAN G Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Derek, your memory is far better than mine. I had forgotten that I had written that note about the two breakdowns, one in France, the second in Sardinia. The latest breakdown was in France, just 70 miles from Cherbourg, on the first day of our trip. Basically the problem was a broken cam belt which failed because a bolt from one of the idler brackets had jammed in the water pump drive. As a professional engineer, and with many years experience of working on cars, it is quite obvious to me that the bolt became loose when the garage were renewing the heater plugs, refurbishing the injectors and resetting the pump timing. Of course, the garage denies any wrongdoing. I am still talking to the Conciliation Service but they seem to be giving increasing support to the garage. An independent report by a person recommended by the Conciliation Service, jointly funded by the garage and myself has been suggested. However the cost of this could well be greater than my claim on the garage. The item I wrote last year was really about Breakdown Insurance. This year the Camping and Caravanning Club Insurance through ARIA was great, despite the fact that it was the second event on the Multi Trip insurance that I had bought. Luckily we managed to coast into a layby and I phoned Aria immediately, who told me that I was on an A road and had to use the Yellow emergency phone in the Layby. Shortly after talking to a dis- embodied voice a breakdown truck arrived, loaded us and took us 15 miles to a garage in the depths of the country....and in the opposite direction to the campsite we intended to use. A quick investigation showed that the cam belt had failed. With a tripartite conversation with the driver the garage and the campsite we were put back on the breakdown truck for another long drive to the campsite with a promise for the 'van to be collected on Monday. By Saturday we had recovered sufficiently to get Aria to arrange for the repairs to be carried out at a Peugeot garage about a mile across town and to hire a mobile home on the campsite. Because the French had Saint's Days holidays in the following two weeks and Aria were unable to repatriate the 'van to the UK early enough, the repairs took three weeks. Aria kept us informed throughout and relayed messages to the garage in French that they could understand! Aria, besides paying for the rides on the breakdown truck, reimbursed us for part of the cost of the mobile home (which in itself was not excessive) That, of course, is only the bare-bones of our April 2014 trip. In September we managed, successfully, to drive the route we had intended to use in April which included Madrid and Calpe. In 2800 miles there was only one slight problem...the bottom fridge vent cover disappeared on a Spanish motorway! To summarise: Has anyone any experience of the RMI Conciliation Service? Talk to your insurers immediately you have a problem. I am pleased to say that Aria took us on again for another Multi Trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 ALAN G - 2014-11-10 5:36 PM ... a broken cam belt which failed because a bolt from one of the idler brackets had jammed in the water pump drive... So the garage would have undone the idler bracket bolt in order to reset the pump timing and you think they must therefore have failed to tighten it correctly, yes? Incidentally what was the root cause of the repeated failures to start which you suffered in 2013? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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