RAC case study

This is an example of one of RAC's conciliation cases where the customer was unable to resolve his concerns with the RAC approved garage directly. The RAC's involvement helped him achieve resolution.

Mr B was visiting family members when his vehicle broke down. He was referred to one of our local approved garages and paid £1,290.00 for repairs. The morning after he collected his vehicle, none of the electrics were working. Mr B contacted RAC and his vehicle was recovered to a garage near to his home address at his request. 

Mr B’s local garage identified an issue with the wiring that had been caused by the RAC approved garage and he had to pay £58.80 for this to be rectified. They also informed him they could’ve completed the initial repair for £947.00 (a saving of £343.00 on what he’d just paid). 

Mr B complained directly to the approved garage and they offered to refund the additional costs he’d incurred totalling £58.80. Mr B was unhappy with their offer and approached RAC for conciliation. 

RAC reviewed the concerns raised and liaised with the approved garage on Mr B’s behalf. The garage were able to demonstrate that their labour rates were competitive within their local area and that the charges made to Mr B for the repairs they carried out were reasonable. However, the garage accepted more care should’ve been taken during repairs and that the subsequent repair costs were needed following an issue with their work. 

It was explained to Mr B that labour rates vary depending on the mechanical expertise and equipment each garage has at their disposal. It was also confirmed the charges applied by the garage were reasonable and that as Mr B agreed to their repair quote before any work was commenced, we can’t ask the garage to consider a refund of the difference between the amount quoted by his local repairer and the amount he paid. 

However, due to the additional inconvenience Mr B suffered as a result of the problems caused by the garage, we asked them to consider a goodwill gesture to Mr B in recognition of this. The garage appreciated the inconvenience the customer had been put through and agreed to make a goodwill gesture payment to cover both the additional costs he incurred, along with a payment of £343.00 to cover the difference in price. 

Mr B was happy to accept this offer as resolution to his complaint and RAC liaised with both Mr B and the approved garage to ensure the goodwill payment was processed and received by Mr B.