Customers should therefore insist on what they are entitled to: a complete and competent repair. This also includes a cost estimate. After all, larger sums are usually involved. What the exact repair looks like, on the other hand, is rarely transparent. Because a repair in the presence of the customer is usually not permitted due to accident prevention regulations. There are various reasons why there are often disputes about the work afterwards.
Workshop employees keep replacing components until the fault is found
One is the growing technical complexity of modern vehicles. “Even larger specialist workshops are often no longer able to properly identify and repair technical defects,” says attorney Dr. Christian Kotz from Kreuztal (NRW). The lawyer is increasingly observing a “trial and error principle” in which workshop employees swap components until the fault is found. Kotz: “This often leads to the replacement of parts that were not faulty or damaged. The client bears the labor costs for this.” Damage during the workshop visit can also become a nuisance. They are usually covered by business liability insurance.
Workshops have a right of lien
Explicitly request workshop to rectify
Arbitration boards provide support in the event of a dispute
The arbitration board system was established in Germany in 1970 to solve conflicts: around 100 of these mediators nationwide offer free arbitration procedures for out-of-court clarification of disputes between car owners and garages. Consumers can have their rights to services checked unbureaucratically and can usually enforce justified claims in this way. This avoids the risk of court and legal fees in the event of a lawsuit, which of course also remains possible.
