THE EDITOR, Sir:
I READ a letter to the editor some weeks ago about the difficulty which a young woman was having in getting a refund from a diving school which she had to abandon because of harassment and fondling from one of their instructors.
Recently I have observed that a Consumers Protection Act has been passed. I hope the Government will be having a massive media campaign so the public will be aware of the benefits that can be derived from the act.
I, like the young lady mentioned above, have experienced poor customer service many times and have been forced to pay for service not received, but none more blatant than the incident related below.
After servicing my car on July 18, 2005, it was still struggling in the mornings when cold. The mechanic advised that I do a diagnostic test to identify any electrical faults.
It was diagnosed with a faulty coil pack.
Later in the day the company called advising me to source the coil pack and plug wires also.
I went to the dealer to purchase the coil pack and plug wires, and the attendant there, remembering I had changed the coil pack less than a year ago, advised me to take the car into the dealers for assessment and repair.
I advised the mechanic to retrieve the car. He advised me that they were refusing to release the car unless a further payment of $1,500 was made (I had already paid $3,500 for the first day diagnostic). I refused to pay and he refused to release the car, so I had to relent.
I took the vehicle to Island Motors on July 28 and explained the problem and the mechanic promptly told me it could not be an electrical problem or it would not occur only in the morning when the engine was cold. He suggested that it might be the fuel injectors that needed changing.
The fuel injectors were cleaned and the charge was $4,424.67 including GCT and labour, instead of over $20,000 for parts alone as incorrectly diagnosed previously.
With the tight economic times, and increase in bus fares, electricity and gas prices, the Government needs to do all in its power to protect the poor consumer from unscrupulous service providers, as in most cases legal action is not a cost-beneficial alternative.
I am, etc.,
AINSWORTH DICK
Kingston
