Damage vehicle under your care

The complaint below was initially loaded on 24 October 2019 and your feedback was the matter was referred to your senior representative who hasn't bothered to get back to me. I am still waiting for resolution.

To whom this may concern

I trust this finds you well.

On 23-08-2019I booked my vehicle ( Chevrolet Captiva 2014) in to one of your stores in Somerset West for a wheel that felt a little wabbly , I was quoted with an amount less than R300.00 for wheel balancing . The sales agent advised me that one of my tyres had a cut and that I needed to replace the tyre which I did , he submitted a 65% claim to continental I had to pay the rest. All of this in total amounted to R1499.50. I left my vehicle shortly after 10:00 in the morning and I went to check up on it shortly after 15:00 in the afternoon. The new tyre had to be installed and the wheel balancing still needed to be done. I then went across the road for a little bit of shopping . I came back signed some forms and paid as I walked out TWT’s employee was pulling the vehicle out of the workshop.

When I walked out of the store he was pulling out the vehicle , he did not turn off the vehicle , he opened the door and I got in. I pressed down my handbrake getting ready to drive. I noticed that something was odd around the controls/pedals , I figured maybe it was the setting of the seat of which I tried to sit comfortably and I tried to control again , this is when I realised that the vehicle was not functional it was just rolling. I turned the vehicle off and attempted to start it again , it had a weird noise that it was making but it could not start. I then hooted for the guys attention asking what had happened to my car , they all came trying to see what went wrong , it was then clear to me that the vehicle would not move from that point . I called the insurance company for roadside assistance and I informed the manager Francois that I would be sending the vehicle to a workshop for repairs and that I would send him the invoice for damages as I had left my vehicle in a working order. What irks me the most is that the vehicle was given to me under false pretences as though it was in functional order when in fact it was not.

I could have sent my vehicle to any workshop in the township but because I thought your reputation precedes you I decided to trust you with my vehicle little did I know that I would leave my vehicle in a working condition and receive from you in a not working condition. Now I don’t know much about cars but to me fact of the matter is I left my vehicle in your parking so between taking my car into your workshop and handing it back to me something went wrong as when I presented with the car it was not in a working condition. Put yourself in my shoes and tell me what you would do if you were me. For over 2 months I have been without a vehicle as it took Westvaal that long to identify what the damage was in the car. I was advised that the timing chain had broken.

I gave Francois an opportunity to respond to my claim. He declined my claim and said they were not at fault. I don’t know how he could get to that conclusion because this is simple to me I left my vehicle in a working condition only to have it presented to me later under false pretences that it was in a working condition. All that I explained above happened right in front of your premises which goes to prove all that I am saying above.

Last year I bought a full set of tyres for the very same vehicle by your store and a month or two later I bought a full set of tyres for my Dad’s vehicle because I thought you were a reputable dealer.

I have a quotation and a document from Westvaal stating the damage on the vehicle. I can't seem to be able to attach it on this complaint , if it is required i am more than happy to provide it to you.

Regards Ntombozuko Kowa *** ***