Bad luck...skint....and thinking of quitting

[CJ CERAMICS]

Sorry guys and gals
this is not a very cheerful thread but after the week that i have had i dont feel very cheerful.

bad luck started on monday when my fein packed up (bought it 6 months ago) and the company i bought it from are stating that fein should fix it and fein are saying that the retailer is responsible.
On way home from work my van broke down and would not restart.
phoned a friend who owns a garage who kindly towed me to his garage and said that he would look at in the morning.

On wednesday he phoned to say that the computer system installed in the car was dead basically and would need replacing, but sadly he would have to send it to a specialist.....after a couple of phone calls back and forth this is what i have been quoted......

£575.00 +vat for computer
£75.00 + vat to set up computer before installation.
£75.00 +vat to fit sald comp per hour possibly 2 1/2 hours?

total of £1005.00 to fix, but due to the fact that they are in warrington somewhere they had to put the van on a low loader and transport it there

cost £125.00
i also needed a new fuel pump as well as this is now not working due to above problem. £150.00 plus vat and fitting total cost of £225.00


so all in all a Astra van which i bought for £2k has cost me £1355.00 to fix.

Got up this morning to go to work and guess what it broke down at the end of our road.:incazzato::incazzato::incazzato:

So i went home and borrowed the wifes car, now this is were i get really annoyed, nipped into B & Q as i needed a new blade for my jigsaw and it was on the way.........came out and drove to job.......after an hour or sowent for a smoke break with the plumber who is there and he went to get something from his van....and asked "when did you do that to your car" at which i jumped up to find that someone or something had driven down the side of my wifes car denting and scratching the back panel and rear passenger door and had then driven off, :incazzato::incazzato::incazzato:

so basically I am now skint, with a van which still does not work and i will have to find out how much it will cost for the wifes car.

Oh and to make things worse(in my head anyway) i only went to work because i got up early to watch the rugby and thought i can get ahead on the job lol

chris

 

[enduro]

Oh dear...we all have times like this, just keep your chin up and keep smiling. As long as you have your family and health sod everything else they can be fixed. Hope you have a better week.

 

[Colour Republic]

Astra vans are known to have faults with the ECU, my mates van had it.

I don't wish to rub salt in the wound but sometimes the ECU can be reset. Or you can get replacement non-genuine parts off ebay for a lot less. What is often the problem is the ECU messes up and injects the wrong amount of fuel. Which might have been why they said the pump had gone too – misdiagnosis? It could have been completely knackered but I know my mate fixed his for about £250 and most of that was 1) somebody with the software to diagnose and 2) somebody calibrating the new ECU to his van. Although to be fair he spent a long time reading up on astra forums and contacting various people.

On your wifes car I would get on to B&Q straight away and get copies of their security cameras and hopefully someones been caught on it.

Sorry to hear your bad luck. I know it won't help but 'Chin up'

 

[enduro]

Had the same fault on my wife's Toyota RAV4...my mechanic could get the ECU for £80.00 but could not get the codes from the dead ones from the Toyota. Only Toyota had the software to do this and they wanted £2,000 to fix it :incazzato:I phoned everybody i could find to see if the could remove the codes from the ECU and they all said Toyota were the only ones who could do it. So i scrapped the vehicle in the end.

 

[user123]

Chris, life like energy, travels in waves, you're obviously in a down one. Things will go up again, it's the nature of things. Look at things calmly and realistically as you would for your best friend, see how big these issues really are, take a deep breath and step by step work yourself out of this hole. Going further into it won't help. Remember the 'keep calm and carry one' ... all will be an interesting story by next year...

 

[DHTiling]

Chin up mate, i have had one of those vehicle weeks as well.

 

[user123]

Chin up mate, i have had one of those vehicle weeks as well.

So you did! See, Chris, Dave's still standing...

 

[CJ CERAMICS]

Astra vans are known to have faults with the ECU, my mates van had it.

I don't wish to rub salt in the wound but sometimes the ECU can be reset. Or you can get replacement non-genuine parts off ebay for a lot less. What is often the problem is the ECU messes up and injects the wrong amount of fuel. Which might have been why they said the pump had gone too – misdiagnosis? It could have been completely knackered but I know my mate fixed his for about £250 and most of that was 1) somebody with the software to diagnose and 2) somebody calibrating the new ECU to his van. Although to be fair he spent a long time reading up on astra forums and contacting various people.

On your wifes car I would get on to B&Q straight away and get copies of their security cameras and hopefully someones been caught on it.

Sorry to hear your bad luck. I know it won't help but 'Chin up'

Went into B &Q and spoke to the manager, it seems that the cctv cameras only operate on the first 2 lines of parking spaces and they dont have them over the rest of the car park, sadly i was parked further away than the cameras covered, also tbh it could also have happened at the job site as we have to park on the road/pavement as the customer wont allow us onto drive(newly laid block) and the road is a bit on the tight side.

 

[Colour Republic]

bugger

 

[Stewart]

Not good at all mate, especially with the hit and run scumbag!


Created on iPad.....

 

[Ian]

Lots of rough luck Chris but, that could happen at any time, don't give up a career you love due to a bit of bad luck. Keep going and remember there's loads of support on here for the crappy days.


Sent from iPhone using tapatalk

 

[Brinkley]

cj things will improve

 

[macten]

Feel for you bud!

With regards to the Fein - under sales of goods act it is the retailers responsibility to refund/replace
so get back on to them and quote that and they will sort it out - many companies rely on consumers
not knowing their rights.
The Sale of Goods Act makes reference to ‘the seller’, this is the shop, the retailer, or the individual you bought it from, and is who you made the contract with. It is not the manufacturer, and don’t let the shop tell you otherwise! If there is an obvious fault with the item at any time within the first 6 months and it has not been caused by wear and tear or misuse, your first port of call must be the shop you bought it from. They have the responsibility to put the matter right, and should not evade this responsibility by referring you to the manufacturer in the context of a guarantee or warranty. Even after this 6 month period, if the item breaks down prematurely , you should always go back to the shop or retailer in the first instance.
Your statutory rights under the Sale of Goods Act take precedence over and above any warranty or guarantee you may have with either the retailer or manufacturer. It is misleading for a shop to tell you they can do nothing simply because their warranty or guarantee has run out, because you will still have your statutory rights.

With regards to your van I would recommend www.breakeryard.com.
Just got a power steering pump for my van for £35 delivered next day - better than £300 for a new one (bearing in mind
the one that packed up was only 16months old!)

 

[jay]

They say it happens in threes so suggest you buy a lotto ticket now as your luck should now change ,good luck

 

[hillhead]

Hope your luck turns Chris, we all hit bad times but keep your head up.

 

[Mike]

we all hit bad times chris, just keep at it and i'm sure you'll get by. good luck mate

 

[CJ]

We have all had weeks/bad luck like this at sometime.

Its how you handle it that counts.............Me, after I have stopped crying I try and laugh it off. :lol:

Had similar a few weeks ago.

Sold a Pug scooter on ebay on the Tuesday for £600

Wednesday, the wife phoned me to say "her car had broken down" (Also a Pug)

Had to get dealer to come out and tow it back.............turned out, the clutch had gone. £681

Van got attacked by a large bush on the way home............scratches all down the side.

Boiler at home packed up on the Thursday as well.............luckily covered by Insurance.


So chin up..............it all comes out in the wash. Or at least after quite a few pints :8::8:

 

[White Room]

I know where your comimg from Chris, it seems everything is against you but it will improve....

 

[Dan]

Bad times Chris. But things can only get better, as the song says.

Vehicles are a nightmare, I've never made money on one. Bought a scooby before christmas, so far spent 1,500 on it, got to spend another 2,000+ on it now (gearbox, clutch, flywheel), it gets to a point where I have to say, right sod it, it's a new car again so I'm not selling it.

I think if your van was okay, the other things are minor.

Get onto the shop you bought your Fien from and insist that they sort it out. Get on the phone to Fien while you're in the shop and let them argue it out between them in front of you. I bet you get it sorted out in minutes.

Then the Mrs car, sod it, it's the Mrs' car. haha (Joke!)

 

[AMtek]

I had a few weeks like this a while ago and a mate sent me this:

"the only place were 'success' comes before 'work' is in the dictionary"

"Obsessed is the word the lazy use to describe the dedicated"
...
"If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse."

"Be proud, but never satisfied."

"If you always do what you have always done, then you will always get what you have always got."

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog" - Magic Johnson

"Pain is temporary, pride is forever" - Unknown

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Try and fail is the manner of losers; try and learn is the way of the strong."

"Failure will not overcome me so long as my will to succeed is stronger" - Micheal S. Kirby

"Fall down seven times, get up eight" -Chinese proverb

"Pain is only weakness leaving the body" - Unknown

"Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you" - Ovid

"It's about mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter" -Unknown

"Tough times don't last. Tough people do." - Unknown

"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." - Lena Horne, Singer

"A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
- Walter Gagehot

Its been the background on my laptop since and i find that a quick read gives me a bit of motivation