u/SupremeHumanBeing

After 6 very long years, I am finally in a place where I can start to settle my debt and clear my name. I've contacted a few lawyers that chatgpt recommended but none has gotten back to me and some only deal with companies, not individuals.

I need a lawyer to contact the two companies I am in debt with to negotiate a settlement and lift any travel bans of I even have any.

I've been living in constant anxiety and stress for the last 6 years.

Long story short, when COVID hit I lost everything and have been scraping by until a few months ago. I feel like I've picked myself up from out of a gutter and I'd really like to clear everything and start over as cleanly as I can.

This is in England.

TLDR:
I took my car to a warranty-approved garage for repairs. They repaired a whole bunch of stuff without my authorisation. These were "preventative repairs" and had nothing to do with the actual reason the car was sent to them. I refuse to pay for anything I didn't ask for or approve the go ahead. They refuse to release my car and threatened storage fees now.

The long(er) version:
On the 8th of June I instructed the garage in writing to carry out only the warranty-covered repair on my car. They sent me an estimate for ~£3k of extra work ten days later. I never approved it. They did it anyway, and completed it while I was still disputing the quote.

I've since obtained the insurer's written claim records, which contradict what the garage told me about what was approved, and show the labour hours billed to me exactly match hours the insurer declined. Independent garages quote the whole job under £1,000.

I sent a formal dispute citing the Consumer Rights Act (unauthorised work), gave 7 days to release the car, and rejected any storage charges in writing. Their reply today: no release until paid in full, £30/day storage from tomorrow.

Questions:

1. Can a garage assert a lien over work the customer expressly declined in writing beforehand?
2. Are unilateral storage fees enforceable in these circumstances?
3. I plan to file an N1 for delivery of the vehicle plus a declaration nothing is owed. Realistic on small claims track?
4. Anything I'm missing before filing? Is there another route I can/should take?

Everything is in writing, including their refusal to answer whether they'll use ADR.

For the mods: I've shown some cost in my post, but the post is not about cost of the items

Hi all. I feel like I'm being screwed over by the shop that has my car for repairs.

>TLDR: Sent car for oilpump/wet belt repair, got a bill for nearly $7k/£5k.

Over a month ago, my car starting showing "Oil Pump Pressure Issue. Stop Vehicle" when the vehicle exceeded 4000rpm. I stop. Switch off the engine. Start the engine. Error is gone, car drives like normal, until I exceed 4000rpm again (like overtaking on the motorway). I very rarely go over 4000rpm, unless on the motorway. I initially thought it was a sensor going haywire, because I can perfectly recreate the issue.

I started to Google symptoms to get an idea of what could cause this, very specific conditions for the issue. Turns out it's a known issue with the Peugeot 5008. The wet belt deteriorates, bits fall into the oil and then gets stuck in the pump. This issue should not have happened at the current milage (30k) but is expected around 60k and with the major service, changing the belt and oil etc in included in my service plan.

However, since this is too soon for an issue like this to happen, my warranty would cover repairs up to ~$2.5k/£2k. Coordinated with insurance and they sent me to this shop.

Once there, I had to pay nearly $700/£500 for the inspection (oil drain, oil filter replacement, regardless of their findings etc). I agreed to this.

They then told me it's the oil pump (which I expected, but wasn't sure) but the reason for this was that the little filter (metal grid like sheet) in the sump somehow broke off (not sure how) and this caused the particles and bits to fall into the oil circulation, which then got into the oil pump.

Then, I get an email from them stating it will cost about another ~$3.3k/£2.5k to repair all sorts of other things the insurance didnt cover. They were adamant that these are directly related (quoting them verbatim) to the oil pump.

Now, all my childhood, I helped my dad repair our cars, service them etc. I understand that cars have changed a lot, but as far as I know, sparkplugs have nothing to do with the oil pump. (Among other things.) Ive pasted a screenshot of the quote he sent me below.

https://preview.redd.it/br1263wfaubh1.png?width=722&format=png&auto=webp&s=1d53fcbc85fbecd1512fcd3fa98e8a23d048ab4f

I have been going back and forth via email with them about this, calling them out on parts they are replacing, instead of fixing. The cost is another matter, but that's because they are using OG Peugeot parts.

My uncle, who is head of ops at Volvo says I'm being screwed over. My dad obviously agrees, but he's not a professional.

Now the shop says all the work is already done and everything in this quote is absolutely necessary for the job.

I want to make it clear that I didn't approve this cost. I didn't request OG Peugeot parts. I brought the car to them to fix the oil pump which the insurance covered (they refuse to share the job details of what they charged the insurance company also).

Am I being a tool here or am I really being shafted with no lube. The car is a 2022 model and the total repairs from this shop is about 25% of the value of the car itself.

Hi all

I am curious on your opinions about trials.

I've been going back and forth about this. I have a few goals:

• Give the user enough time to explore the platform
• Don't pressure the user to sign up (i hate it when platforms do this to me)
• User has full use of the entire platform, but cannot publish until a subscription is created

Currently, I have a 2 week trial, which then softlocks the platform until the user decides to upgrade to a subscription.

The trial allows the user to test and use every feature of the platform with the only limit being they can't publish from draft (the platform uses states). This is not a "freemium" model. The draft state allows the user to input real world data and configure the platform to their liking etc, but they can't "use" it in the real world. This draft state is almost like when you draft a document. Once the draft is done, you "publish" it by sharing the document with whomever is the recipient.

I have many times locked myself out of a trial because I didnt find the time to invest in testing it out in this 2 week window. I know this is a pain for some people so I want them to spend as much time as they need to come to a decision. During this time, I can also provide some support, guidance etc if needed.

I am wondering what your opinions are about a time limited trial vs an open trial period, soft locked so the user needs to commit before they can actually use the platform in the real world.

I am not in a rush to make as much money as possible, so I am not pushing for maximum conversion by putting my potential customers under pressure to make a decision.

The cost of running trials is benign, so I am not driven by a cost of having users run trials. I can comfortably run thousands of trials on my current setup.

Solo founder. I've been slowly building for the last year, getting close to opening it up to the public.

I am not sure how to explain why the platform needs draft -> published -> archived state without it breaching the rules, but the states are needed even with a paid subscription.

Holy shit it's slow (using the fabricator)