Shocking!!!

Item: Dals Coachworks
Rating: 1

On 14 February 2017 I was involved in a fender-bender. My insurance sent me to Dals in Claremont for the repairs because they are the Jeep specialists. They have 3 branches and mainly work on Mercedes Benz and Jeep. Remember that name people; DALS CLAREMONT. The repairs were front bumper, nudge bar and indicator lens had to be replaced. I have 2 spotlights mounted on the nudge bar but they were not damaged at all. On Thursday, 30 March, I was finally told to collect my vehicle from Dals as it had "passed quality control". 6 and a half weeks after it had gone there!!! I understand that the assessor only gave approval the following week, but that is still a ridiculous amount of time. When I inspected the car, I found that the nudge bar was not correct. It is very different to the one I originally had on the car and the spotlights that were mounted onto the nudge bar, were missing. They first tried to deny that I ever had spotlights on the vehicle and only after I "performed" and insist that I speak to the consultant I had dealt with initially and after a search of their workshop, store, etc., they finally found both spotlights in the boot of my vehicle. I suspect the reason they had hidden my spotlights was because there is no place they would fit onto the this new nudge bar. On querying why the spotlights were not fitted, nobody at Dals could agree on where on the nudge bar they should go. The obvious place on the lower crossbar is not suitable because if the spotlights are mounted there, my number plate will be obscured. Also, very worryingly, the nudge bar was not straight. It was lopsided/skew and it took a while for them to finally acknowledge what was very obvious to me. They informed me that they could not find my original nudge bar at any of the suppliers. That may be the case, but as it stands right now, my vehicle has not been repaired to my satisfaction and the spotlights have not been reinstalled. So I left my car there on Thursday, told them to remove the ill fitting nudge bar and I would collect my car on Friday, use it for the weekend and return it on Monday to have the repairs completed. So I collected it on Friday, 31 March. However, I was very disturbed this morning when I reversed out of my garage and heard a very loud sound coming from the front of my vehicle. On closer inspection, I discovered that this occurs when reversing, while turning right and is caused by the front bumper rubbing against the front left tyre. The front bumper was replaced by Dals as part of my claim. Also, my air conditioner doesn't seem to be working properly. It definitely is not as cold as it used to be and there is a different smell coming through the vents. So to sum up the experience so far with Dals Claremont: Firstly, my vehicle has been with them since 14 February 2017. As I said earlier, I understand that the assessor took about a week to approve the repairs. Even taking that into account, this whole job has taken way too long. Secondly, the replacement nudge bar was not right for my vehicle. Thirdly, it was not even installed properly as it was lopsided. Fourthly, my spotlights were not installed on the ill fitting nudge bar. Fifthly, the bumper rubs against the tyres. It seems like the ONLY thing they MIGHT have done correctly, is replaced the indicator light that was cracked. And that I'm not 100% sure of that because I haven't checked to see if they are working (blinking) correctly. My vehicle has to go back to Dals so that they can hopefully sort out the nudge bar and spotlight issues. But now they will have to sort out the front bumper and rubbing tyre issue. So this coming Tuesday will be 7 weeks that I have been without a car and the job is still ongoing. I went to Towbars Cape today who apparently supp**** the nudge bar. I thought I would be proactive and choose one that is more suitable because my car would have to go back to them anyway. The owner said to me that Dals had only taken my vehicle to them on Thursday, 30 March and they were told that it was a rush job and they only had a very short period of time in which to install a nudge bar as I was collecting my vehicle from Dals on the same day. He said that my original nudge bar had been discontinued and because Dals had not given them enough time, they had not been able to source a more appropriate nudge bar and they were not told that spotlights were to be mounted. So I will return my vehicle to Dals on Monday, but will do so very reluctantly as I don't believe that they are competent. And I will definitely not be signing off on the job thereby blocking payment from my insurance company to Dals. So watch out for DALS. Don't use them..... EVER!!!!

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