Warning - Bad Repairs at Audi Sinclair Bridgend South Wales

drmole

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hey all please be aware of this i dont want anyone going through what ive gone through

Any Mods/Admin anychance this could be made sticky in certain forums i will post it in few to create as much awareness as possible
here we go....
Bare with me a bit this is long but its needs to be sorry

Ok as some of you know from my previous thread my beloved A4 was hit by some inconsiderate so n so who didn’t care that I spent 6 hours the day before polishing it!

And then I was then faced with every OCD’s worst nightmare

Where to take my beloved car for the repair’s as I was not at fault I had the choice and chose to take it to Bridgend Audi being the closest main dealer to me. On arrival at the body shop first impressions was good very professional and organised.

However the repairs did not support their professional look. Upon receipt of the car I found a host of problems which were:
Ø Poorly fitted window trim
Ø Front door does not close as smoothly as before
Ø Front seatbelt ratchet mechanism was noisy not smooth as it should be
Ø Brushed aluminium trim inside was cleaned with chemical which left milky residue on surface (not sure if its damaged them as I had to leave it alone until it was reported to them)
Ø Starches on Bonnet, Roof and Boot were tools/parts had been put down on them
Ø Cutting/polishing compound splattered over scuttle panel under windscreen and left in panel gaps
NOW FOR PAINT ISSUES
Ø Burnishing marks were left from the buffing/mopping process
Ø Orange peal
Ø Paint was far too thin (found this out after the above issues made me investigate further)

Upon finding these problems I immediately got in contact with my local detailers to give the car a full inspection.

The detailers in question were Colin & Grant of PRD – Perfect Reflection Detailing
Upon the inspection they found all the problems listed above and then proceeded to check the depth of the paint while doing this they were shocked with the results the reading were in the low 80’s and 90’s for those who don’t know healthy paint should be well over 100 microns! The rest of the car was reading from 110 up to & over 200! When I took it back to the body shop he took his own readings with the industry approved meter and the reading ranged from low 60’s to low 90’s.

PRD then submitted a full report which I then produced to the body shop that didn’t seem at all concerned and said the paint was fine, I told him that two experts have stated in writing that it wasn’t and the average reading across the repaired panel work was far too thin and unacceptable and I would like it re-painted to co inside with the reading on the original paint at least. He said they weren’t prepared to it as it would cost then too much.




It was at this point I contacted Audi UK to lodge a complaint and find out their industry standards were with regards to paint depth. In all fairness the guy I first spoke didn’t have a clue but got back with in 10min after speaking to a technical advisor, who advised him that Audi say the paint should be a minimum of 90 to 100 microns. He then opened the case and contacted Bridgend Audi to investigate the matter further. The body shop then contacted to say they were now willing to do the work highlighted above and would give me ring when a slot become free in the body shop. The slot they gave me was the Monday before Easter and said it would take four days (bit concerning considering the amount of work) I agreed to pick the car up the following Tuesday as I was away for the Easter weekend. When I went on Tuesday I was accompanied by Colin (PRD) and we were shocked and pretty disgusted with what we found the one good thing was the paint was 100% better than before and was showing pretty good clean reflections. But the good work was not the case for the rest of the car! The new list of problems was now:-

¨ 2 new dents on front wing (free of charge)
¨ Over-spray on inner of back door
¨ Front door card was not fitted correctly and the window rubber had been twisted as a result
¨ Rear window seal was still miss-shaped (this was supposedly new)
¨ Surface scratches in paint from using incorrect drying technique (I did tell them not to wipe the car with anything jus hose/jet-wash the worst of it off)
¨ Paint run on the start of the back arch

As a result I left the car there and told them this was their last chance to sort the problems out if they didn’t I would be taking it to another body shop n sending them the bill! Funny enough the dents were done the same day even though they claim they were there before hand (not a chance!) a new rear rubber was ordered for the next day (rear rubber number 3!) the over-spray and the paint run would also be done they said by tomorrow and the front door card. Went down the following afternoon and all the problems were now done (yippee) although they had buffed the whole side of the car again n left holograms in the paint this time! At least this was nothing major and Colin and Grant (PRD) would remove these correctly for me. At this point I finally was able to drive my girl home not completely 100% perfect but it was close enough and the rest I’d sort out.

Below are some pics of the accident damage and the body shop damage

PLEASE ALL OF YOU TAKE NOTE IF YOU’RE EVER IN THIS SITUATION TAKE YOUR CAR TO SOMEONE YOU CAN TRUST AND HOPEFULLEY YOU WON’T HAVE THE SAME HEADACHES I HAD

Also id like to add that this case would not have been solved to quickly (even though it was the best part of 2 n half months) without the help and support of Colin & Grant – Perfect Reflection Detailing! Perfect Reflection Detailing

THANK YOU GUYS (also if there’s anything I missed out or you’d like to add please do)

pics pre accidident (day before infact)
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ok accident damage now still painfull
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pics from when me and Colin went to inspect on the Tues
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thanks for taking the time to read hope none of you have to go through this
reagards
Darren​
 
Sorry to hear of your woes but no surprise as I suspect that they are like most repairers and they get away with this 90% of the time.I think it takes too much effort and time to get it right and I have had many similar experiences
 
good on yer mate if more people were like you and demanded top quality work then perhaps these clowns in body shops across the country would take more care and have pride in there work . the trouble is most people just want to get back on the road as quick as possible . we should all demand TOP quality work from these people after all they call themselves profesionals thats what they do its all they do day in and day out so why dont they just do a quality job in the first place . we as a nation need to complain more and not accept what these so called profesionals tell us
 
glad you got your baby back darren i couldnt beleve the stait of the paintwork when i saw it at the south wales meet
 
Holy crap thats awful!

Good on ya mate for getting armed and going back!

I had a run in with my local Ford dealer and had to get 'outside help' to back up my case.

Cost me £400 quid but was able to claim it all back in the end but didn't ease the pain.

Name and shame these places!
 
Holy crap thats awful!

Good on ya mate for getting armed and going back!

I had a run in with my local Ford dealer and had to get 'outside help' to back up my case.

Cost me £400 quid but was able to claim it all back in the end but didn't ease the pain.

Name and shame these places!
 
Phew such a shame that we have to go through so many hoops nowadays to get some good customer service...glad you have more or less got it sorted now.