TECHNOSTAR THE WORST

I had a minor accident and referred my car to Technostar for repairs via my insurance company. Quote for repairs amounted to about 38000.00 excl excess of R2500. I was told my car would be ready on 7 October 2019.

1. My vehicle , Hyundai grand i10 ND 813392 was taken from my residence on 25 October 2019, to Technostar to undergo repairs. This was a claim approved by my insurance company. (I opted to use Technostar. They came highly recommended by a colleague).

2. The repairs to be undertaken was to the vehicle boot lid, back bumper and vallance.

3. Kevin, from Technostar, was assigned to deal with my matter. He got in contact with me and I received regular emails and smses updating me on the progress. I was quite pleased with the level of service to that point.

4. On 1 October 2019 I contacted Kevin to establish when my vehicle would be ready for collection. He advised that he will try for this week or early next week.

5. On 7 October 2019 I called Kevin regarding pick up as we had discussed on the past Friday. He said that a fault was picked up at QC and he promised to call me before 12pm to let me know about collection. He never called me back.

6. I called Kevin at 13pm and left a message to call me as he was unavailable. He didn't call me back. At 2pm I called again and again he was busy. I told the reception that I'm not pleased with this and I was put through to Kevin. He advised me that the vehicle us being 'touched up' and should be ready the following day for collection. He said he will call me in the morning.

7. I informed Kevin that I had to make arrangements with my workplace as I also dont have transport and it's been a real inconvenience so long. I needed to fetch my car by tomorrow. He agreed.

8. Kevin called me on 8 October 2019 to inform me that the car will be ready for pick up today. I asked if I could come through at aboutt 14.30pm, to make payments and possibly avoid peak traffic. He said he will confirm with me at 12pm.

9. Kevin called me at 12.45pm and confirmed that their driver will fetch me around 15.00pm as the car will only be ready by then.

10. I got to the dealership at 15.30 and waited as Kevin was not available. Finally got to sit down with him. He informed me of the repairs and showed me the vehicle. He said that there was an overspray on the inner boot lid which he asked them to sort out hence the delay.

11. I'm no car expert but I have a fair amount of knowledge with regards to repair work. I ran my hand on the boot lid and found that it was not polished. He sent the car back to the workshop for polishing. I also noticed that the smash and grab tint was torn on the back glass.

12. Kevin assured me that they will sort the tint out. I was abit frazzled by the polishing that wasn't done. He went on further to ask if I could take my car to the tint place on another day. The audacity. I refused. He made a call and arranged for someone to come out to me the next day.

13. By now, I had paid the excess of R2500 and signed a document.

14. The car came back from polishing. I inspected again and ran my hand on the boot lid and got paint all over my hand. Wet paint on the boot lid! How disappointing.

15. There was a slight kink on the edge of the rear right hand door. The back lights were wiped with something, I assume was thinners, and had a dull finish.

16. I was flabbergasted. I was upset. I asked Kevin to explain. He had no explanation except an apology. I addressed the Manager. He also had only an apology.

17. I left extremely disappointed and unhappy with the level of service and workmanship. I advised the Manager that it is not my job to QC the vehicle and being a reputable Mercedes Benz repairer, an i10 would have been easy to repair, in comparison. This wasn't a complicated process. Why was the vehicle not quality checked before releasing it and if it was checked, why wasn't the errors picked up before it got to me?

18. The matter was addressed with Kevin and Brian Chetty (Manager) who promised that they will sort this out.

19. On 9 October 2019, I received a call from Kevin at about 11am confirming that my car will be ready for pick up today. He will call me at about 12 to arrange transport for me to be fetched.

20. At 12.30pm, Brian called me to apologise, saying that my vehicle is still not ready as they picked up a fault AGAIN. it was the spray job again. I asked for a courtesy vehicle to be supp**** to me due to their negligence and time delay and was informed that no vehicle was available.I called Kevin and he handed the phone to Wayne Maharaj (Workshop Manager) who also offered an apology. but still no courtesy vehicle, for their incompetence.

I would like this matter addressed with the relevant people at Technostar and for this job to be redone. Redone by a qualified person and not any apprentice! No shortcuts and quick fixes. what this means is that I want the boot stripped and repainted.

I made it explicitly clear that the repair should result in the car looking brand new as new parts were installed and this vehicle is virtually new. The inconvenience that I have now incurred because of the shoddy workmanship, should be carried out by Technostar. Whilst the repairs are being redone, a courtesy vehicle should be provided to me as a means of transportation until the work is complete. The tint must be sorted and the kink on my back door as well. The back lights to be polished to its original condition.

I haven't viewed the interior of my car as yet. I was too disappointed to look further. But I must assure you that if it is found that the interior or electronics of my car has been tampered with, I won't take it lightly.

I need a time frame as to when this work will be completed. Upon completion I would like a written report which is to be submitted to the assessor as well. This is to be done prior to me viewing The car again. The damaged boot lid and bumper must be made available for me to view and pick up. The payment I have made so far, I want it refunded into my bank account immediately as you are not legally entitled to the payment when I haven't taken delivery of my car as yet. I requested a courtesy vehicle, as I had no means of transport so long, I was turned down. On 10 October 2019, after being pushed from Kevin to Brian to Wayne to Karthy, I called my assessor Jarryd to intervene. I went to the repair shop to get the excess refunded. Instead of doing that, Kevin swiped for another R2500. R5000 in total, was taken off my account. To reverse the amounts it would take 10 working days. I had had enough at this stage and decided that I cannot do this anymore. I had reached my breaking point by now. I informed all parties that my car will be sent for an assessment as my insurance company instructed and the deductions made on my account is to be reversed. I left there thoroughly disappointed and embarrassed. The repair work was also not up to standard but I will have to take it elsewhere to have it sorted out. I must reiterate, initially I had only good things to say about Technostar until yesterday and today. I don't think I will ever recommend your services to anyone in future.

Disappointed customer