Took the jeep in for a oil change this morning. Towards the end of the service an advisor came out to review a few things on their standard check list. He asked me if I had any issues with the emergency brake holding and I said no since I've never had an issue. So I didn't think anything of it.

When the oil change was done I went out to the jeep to leave and see the emergency brake is completely vertical and not holding at all. I go back in to tell them. And they tried to say they advised me that there was an issue. I told them when I came in there wasn't an issue and I've never had an issue. I demanded they pay for everything and they refused. They said just because the emergency brake happened to break in their possession they aren't responsible.

We settled for me buying the part and they'd install for free. My blood is still boiling about the issue.

Who is right? Should they have paid for everything? If so, can I get them to reimburse me for the part?

Thanks.

 

Sorry for spelling mistake in title. Couldn't tell possession was misspelled because of crack in my screen. And I couldn't edit the title.

 

I think it depends on your perspective. Are people generally good? Or are they generally bad?

If you go with people are generally good human beings, it probably just broke in their possession. I would doubt that someone willingly/intentionally broke the emergency brake, or realized it had actually broken. It's a pretty simple device. Pull up to set, push button to release.

If you think people are generally bad; then yes, someone intentionally reefed on your emergency brake just to break it and ruin your day or gain extra revenue for the dealership, however, if they really wanted to make some money, they could have gone with a more expensive part.

I don't think the dealership owed to fix it; sometimes things just break. Just because it happened in the dealership's poesssion doesn't mean they're responsible for the fix. In fact, I think they were generous on providing the labor for free even though you had to buy the part. It could have cost you more.

If this was your girlfriend/wife/husband/boyrfiend/whomever close friend, and it happened under their care, would you make them pay for it out of pocket? Or would you chalk it up to the fact that sometimes things just break, and now it's one more thing that you have to fix?

Point is, sometimes life just sucks and is unfair; I hope without evidence that you didn't burn someone down at the dealership and if you did, an apology and "thank you" is probably in order.

 

I think I just had an angry yet zen moment? Peaceful yet pissed about it? Great post jk-sea

 

I definitely don't think anyone broke it on purpose but maybe they broke it unintentionally. Is it possible it could break if they tried to drive with it on or if they pulled it up with way too much force? It just seems fishy to me that out of the 10 million times I've done it I've had no issues then the one time they do it it breaks. I just think the guy that pulls it into the shop accidentally broke it then tried to cover his ass.

 

Are you under warranty? If so, warranty it. They are very well known for just snapping. It shouldn't cost you a dime.

 

Jk_sea's post hits the nail on the head. Being blamed by the customer for things that break while they are working on something else is probably the biggest complaint that mechanics have about their jobs. It certainly drove my brother, a professional mechanic, to change his career path to "smogging" vehicles only (California emissions). Now the only thing he has to deal with are customers upset that they have to pay for repairs before their vehicle passes the test.

 

There are people who try to get away with things but if a dealer breaks something when it is in their shop, I would think they are 100% responsible for fixing it. Doesn't matter if it is a. 50 cent clip or they smack it into the side of the building. They did the damage.

 

So, you borrow your buddy's pick-up that is so good he's kept it for over 200K miles to haul the washing machine that won't fit in your Jeep. While you are driving it in a perfectly normal fashion, it throws a rod. Of course you'll pay to rebuild the engine. Right?

 

What part of the emergency brake assembly broke?