Deposit to reserve service/repair slot for van. Thoughts.

Bigsidavies

Bigsidavies

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I have some preventative maintenance jobs that I want doing on the van, so I got in touch with Darkside Developments.

Inlet manifold replacement and a walnut shell blast of the inlet ports and at the same time having a timing belt/water pump kit fitted. Price was fine with me.

They are busy - very busy. First available slot is early October, which is 4 months away. Fine, it's preventative stuff.

Anyway, after a few email backwards and forwards to finalise the specific works I went to book the van in and got the email with payment link so that I could pay the NON-REFUNDABLE deposit of £720 to secure my booking slot (essentially 50% of the cost of the job upfront).

Obviously it's a no-go from me. Who knows where I'll be in 4 months? I might not even have the van. I'd understand if the slot was in the next couple of weeks, no probs, but 4 months away.
Now if it was refundable up to maybe 2 weeks before then I'd go with that. Gives them time to fill the slot easily.

So what's peoples' thoughts on a £720 non refundable deposit just to secure a garage booking slot?
 
It’s a take it or leave it situation, they have every right to have their specific terms and conditions as I’m sure they get enquiries, bookings and no shows.
They wouldn’t get away with it if demand were not so high so obviously there are enough customers who sign up to it.
I’d ask for a price guarantee that the rates will not increase in 4 months time.

Similar situation; I have a couple of friends who run pubs, every week they have no shows for pre-booked tables, sometimes they have ordered from the menu and the chef has ordered the ingredients in.
Turns out that people book multiple venues for the same date/time and see how they feel on the day.
 
I’ve never heard of that? Personally I would not pay a deposit for garage service. Once the work has been done and you are satisfied that all is good, then pay the bill before driving away. Generally a bonafide business will not give you the keys until the bill has been has been settled. The repair invoice should detail all parts and labour along with any warranty that may be part of the repair work. Good Luck
 
I wonder if theyve had a few no-shows that have prompted them to go down this road?

Whatever, I'd politely decline their kind offer to relieve me of a sheetload of cash and hope theyre still in business when the day rolls around.
 
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It would be a flat "no" from me, Si.

If Darkside are as busy as claim, then they'll have customer's biting their arm off for a cancellation slot, so I don't buy the "lost revenue opportunity" argument.
 
Hmm....

Out of interest what was the price for the inlet manifold and clean and timing belt and water pump?
 
Darkside aren’t far away from my parish and I looked at them when I recently decided to have my EGR swapped. Their website was particularly unfriendly, no phone calls, enquiries only through the website etc. it all just felt a bit unfriendly and unwelcoming. I know they have a reputation, but I can’t help but feel that they’re getting a bit too far up their own ar3e.
 
RobertO2023 said:
I’ve never heard of that? Personally I would not pay a deposit for garage service. Once the work has been done and you are satisfied that all is good, then pay the bill before driving away. Generally a bonafide business will not give you the keys until the bill has been has been settled. The repair invoice should detail all parts and labour along with any warranty that may be part of the repair work. Good Luck
Click to expand...
It’s not the full bill. Just their standard deposit for a 3 day garage slot. It’s the 4 month lead time that is the issue. Anything could happen in that time and you’re £720 out of pocket.
I’ll be looking elsewhere now.
 
Sasquatch said:
I wonder if theyve had a few no-shows that have prompted them to go down this road?

Whatever, I'd politely decline their kind offer to relieve me of a sheetload of cash and hope theyre still in business when the day rolls around.
Click to expand...
Undoubtedly they will still be in business. They are massive now. Have their own body shop, overland business, big on you tube, have a race team, built and own a whole industrial development. I’m pretty sure they will be going nowhere.
It’s me and the van that’s the uncertainty.
 
@Bigsidavies
I'm with you on this. Although they have a good reputation, to pay a non refundable large lump sum for work that is 4 months away is a no-go from me.
I certainly don't mind paying tradesmen their required / quoted rates for good service, but upfront / non refundable for such a long way away does not stand right with me.
Up their own ar3e, maybe not - but greedy, most certainly yes.
Even main Vw dealers don't do this.
 
It's a no from me, I don't mind paying a reservation fee if it's a few weeks out and parts need to be ordered in specifically. The lack of personal contact doesn't sit right with me either in this case, I like to have a discussion and understand that both parties are clear on objectives.
 
T32Rich said:
It's a no from me, I don't mind paying a reservation fee if it's a few weeks out and parts need to be ordered in specifically. The lack of personal contact doesn't sit right with me either in this case, I like to have a discussion and understand that both parties are clear on objectives.
Click to expand...
I think their problems arose from their large social media presence and the phone lines being blocked by idiots just ringing up to ask questions and chat shit. Hence they had to go to an email model. Sort of a victim of their own success.
I’ll add their email comms have been great and very thorough and detailed. Probably better than a conversation. At least you know what you are getting and what parts with a link to the parts to view them etc. and a good breakdown of the work involved and explanation of time required etc.
I can’t fault their comms and they have a very good rep. They even have quite a low hourly rate. And they know their way round these VW Cxeb engines like the back of their hand. I really wanted to use them for their knowledge and experience. But I can’t risk £720.
 
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