rac bodge, all painted happy again

[coolrado 0]

booked the car in for a new screen last week and took it in today, dropped it off at 9 am this morning at the chester greyhound park branch of rac windscreens as they said they will probably spend most of the day doing it.

the guy said to me he had allways liked corrado's as one of the lads there used to have one and commented on how good the paint looked as most of the red ones he see's are pink, he said he was quite good at doing corrado screens as he had done quite a few before and said he could get me an original vw screen with a top tint if i waited until the afternoon so i said yes and left him the keys and went into chester for the day.

 

i didnt get any phone call to say it was ready so i went back at about 4pm with a mate of mine who had just picked up his new mk1 gti cabriolet and as we approached the door of the place one of the guys came running out and said "erm we had a bit of a problem with the bonnet stay" so i turned round and looked at the bonnet to find a bloody great dent in the middle of it !!!!

he said it slipped on the bonnet stay .........erm yeah right

after telling him he was talking bo**ocks i asked to speak to his boss who told me the real story, it seems the chimp who had tried to re-fit the bonnet had tried to do it on his own!! and only put it on one hinge and the other end on the bonnet stay and then let go of it so it span round and the bonnet stay twisted out of its hole and wrecked the bonnet.

after going completely mental and calling them every name under the sun i told them to give me the keys so i could check under the bonnet for any further damage only to find that the bonnet stay was missing and they had thrown it away, there was a bit pile of workshop wrags stuffed in the radiator fan and a rubber mallet wedged between the airbox and g-lader against the belt !!!

i nearly swung at him with the mallet but just threw it in the skip with all the old winscreens instead.

 

they said they would get thier bodyshop to sort it out for me so i said no you wont i will get my bodyshop to do it and you can pay whatever it costs to get done which he agreed to.

 

so it needs new bonnet, new under bonnet foam, new stay, new stay rubber thingy, and the bonnet and both wings painting as well.

 

also the screen isnt a genuine vw screen like he said, its a pilkington screen and the outer trim flew off on the way home and it doesnt sit level so they have to do that again as well.

 

i booked this week off work so i could spend time with my brother who i havnt seen for years as he is coming over from canada on wednesday, it now looks like im going to be spending all week sorting out someone elses cockup

 

i am extremely pi**ed off to say the least

[Jim 2]

Oh my GOD! Named and shamed! That is absolutely beyond belief!! :|

[Supercharged 2]

Thats appauling! - why on earth did they take the bonnet off!!!!

 

Yep, those Pilkington screens are New Zealand cack, the one on my TDI has a flat spot so the wipers miss part of the screen, It has a small crack so I'm looking at getting it changed soon (for a proper Securit one) but threads like this don't inspire much confidence!

[ZippyVR6 0]

Gutted for you mate. Get the best paintjob you can and go to town with the parts, F***ing cowboys.

[bix 0]

Yea that is very poor, mine needs doing too :| How come it looks a completely different colour in the 1st pic :?

[coolrado 0]

Yea that is very poor, mine needs doing too :| How come it looks a completely different colour in the 1st pic :?

 

its just taken from a different angle does look odd though :?

 

i am still seething now and just feel like driving the car through their workshop door :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

 

its really anoying as once the front end has been re-sprayed it will look like its had a front ender if i ever sell it and allthough the guy who im getting to do the work is a brilliant sprayer you can allways tell when somethings been painted, i cant afford to get the rest of it done as well yet though so i dont know whether its worth getting him to paint both sides of the car and get them to pay for all of it

 

any ideas how much a brand new bonnet is going to cost them and are early bonnets still availiable?, he said he called vw and they had 6 in the main wharehouse for a 1990 to 94 spec but im sure someone said on here they give you a vr style bonnet which i dont want.

[Supercharged 2]

coolrado, they are probably a franchise - I'd get a letter with photo's off to the RAC head office asking why the hell they removed the bonnet and demand a new screen and paint job or you'll go to which? etc... Let them paint the front end and if it doesn't match then demand the rest of the car is done to match!

[StormVR6 0]

If I were you I'd go for a complete respray, bill the feckers first though 'cos you could be waiting ages for the cheque. Also contact the highest person you can at RAC, far more likely to get a result that way.

 

I wasn't that impressed when the RAC fitted a screen for me a while back, way too much adhesive which I can see from the cabin and the wiper arm surround hasn't been replaced 100%.

 

Complete cowboys. I would have killed the bas*ard for even trying to bullsh*t me!

[Rick 0]

Tossers

[coolrado 0]

coolrado, they are probably a franchise - I'd get a letter with photo's off to the RAC head office asking why the hell they removed the bonnet and demand a new screen and paint job or you'll go to which? etc... Let them paint the front end and if it doesn't match then demand the rest of the car is done to match!

 

there isnt a chance in hell they are getting it done by their bodyshop it will be done by my choice of bodyshop but i dont know how much of it he will have to do to make the repair undetectable, they have said get the quote and they will hand me a cheque so thats what im going to do

[VEEDUBBED 0]

I've done that job 3 times by myself,no windscreen fitting companys here in Rome,i just went to my mates scrappy and cut out a screen off a scrapped corrado,i even used the old sreen surround and added a stick-on green tint.

Try doing it yourself?,the tools don't cost the earth, 1 special handle to pull the wire through the screen sealent,20 meters of special steel wire,tool for inserting the wire,pull and cut sealant,buy 2 sucker pads and lift off of car frame,when installing,the sealant's nozzle is already pre-cut so you don't over doit with sealant,pre cut the all important Vw rubber spacers,glue onto screen with super glue all 7 of them,insert screen back into frame of car,adjust gaps top and bottom of screen,apply sucker cups and tension belts for 5 hours without moving the car...i make it sound soooo easy.

[coolrado 0]

it gets done for 50 quid on the insurance and rado's are not easy to find in scrappies here anyway

[sciroccotune 0]

Bummer mate!!! My screen had been replaced in the past and isn't quite right, I have heard a lot of stories about rado screens. However yours takes the whole packet of biscuit !!

 

Photos with time and date index, digital and normal. Letter to head office and a letter from then saying they will pay for what ever work needs doing.

 

Another problem may be that I have recently heard that the older style bonnets are now obsolete from vw??

[coolrado 0]

Another problem may be that I have recently heard that the older style bonnets are now obsolete from vw??

can anyone confirm this????

the guy said he spoke to vw and they had stock at the main depot.

it will not be having a second hand bonnet as the original was one of the few unmarked panels with not a spot of rust on it

[andy 0]

That is dreadful mate. I thought my experience with Autoglass last week was bad....read it here > http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29520

[Jim 2]

Early style bonnets are obsolete.. I think lates are still stocked!!

[A20 LEE 0]

if your thinking about getting a windscreen replaced, ask a bodyshop for a recommendation :wink: They usually stick to a trusted fitter. I know that Jason called in specialist to remove and replace the glass on my car.

[coolrado 0]

i dont know what they are going to do then as they have said they can get one and i will not have a second hand bonnet

[sciroccotune 0]

vw probably just told them that they have one, meaning the new style one as the part number will have been superseded with the late style one. They do it all the time with other things. Gutted mate, and after all that polishing... Fingers crossed that VW had a surplus old one available ??

[Guest]

That is such bad bad news. I am gutted for you and don't know how I would have coped if it had happened to me and mine.

Good luck in getting it sorted.

 

Jude

[StormVR6 0]

it gets done for 50 quid on the insurance and rado's are not easy to find in scrappies here anyway

 

Thats the road I went down, I wonder if that's the reason why the overall service is so bad? Insurance companies do tend to pay these "recommended" places less than it would be privately, do the RAC treat it as an insurance job and give it less attention?

[Waz 0]

thats the same damage that was done to mine when it went for its mot FOOKERS!!!!! :bad-words: :bad-words: :bad-words: :bad-words: :bad-words: now i have the later style bonnet :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Bally 0]

BASTIDS..

[coolrado 0]

i found out this morning that they hadnt actually taken the bonnet off and the damage is the result of one of the chimps trying to close the bonnet without moving the prop, he thought it had hydraulic lifters ??????????

 

the cheeky tw*ts called me earlier to ask if i could find a bonnet pay for it then they will pay me back :mad: :mad: i dont think so somehow

 

so i have put a wanted ad on the wanted section but i dont hold out much hope

 

the bodyshop have said it will be 220 quid paint and 600 quid labour so this is turning out to be an expensive job for them but i honestly hope the ars* who did it gets the sack, its more than a simple mistake, it would take considerable force to cause the amount of damage he has

 

it actually makes me feel ill every time i see the damage and i really dont want to drive it anymore its just too depressing.

[StormVR6 0]

I do feel for you mate, when some twat in his Mini drove up my arse and fecked my bumper I couldn't drive the car until it was sorted, I didn't even want to look at it, let alone clean it!

 

Keep positive and everything will turn out great. It's unfortunate that customer service is sh*te these days, companies are more interested in annual profits than good quality service...shame.