Sounding off: Ripped off? Stunned by good value? Write, text or blog your experience to us.

LAST year, while giving her VW Golf a quick once over ahead of its first NCT check, a Galway reader discovered that the centre seatbelt in the back was jammed.

"I was unaware that there was a problem as the seatbelt had never been used," she says. She brought it to Western Motors on the outskirts of the city, figuring it would cost around €80 to be repaired. She was taken aback, then, to be quoted €320 for the job.

They asked her for a deposit, which she paid. She collected the car and did the NCT, which it passed. A few days later however, she lowered the back seat to increase the boot size and when the seat was returned to the upright position, the seatbelt jammed again. She realised the belt had jammed simply because she put down the seat and rang Western Motors to complain.

"They told me to bring it and said that the repaired item was under warranty. On the day I was due to bring it in, I rang to check that they had the parts they needed to fix the car and was told they did. So I brought it back in, left it in for the day and when I came back to collect it several hours later, I was told that they didn't have the part, so they couldn't do the repair."

Our reader was less than impressed at this point, not least because she had checked in advance to see if the part was in stock and had paid for taxis to and from the garage and wasted a day waiting for the repairs to be done.

"I booked in the third time and when I went to collect it, it was ready, but the mechanic said that I would have to leave the seat belt locked into position as if I opened it then it would jam again. I pointed out that then it wasn't actually fixed. He hummed and hawed and told me that another cable would be needed and it would cost another €180 plus labour and VAT to get it fixed."

She pointed out she had already paid €320 to get the problem fixed and was told she could take it or leave it, so she left it. "I have been in communication with them ever since, but they refused to budge."

When we contacted the garage, a spokeswoman for Western Motors said she was "disappointed" that our reader was unhappy with the service she received.

"Customer satisfaction is very important to us and we continually strive to deliver a high standard in this area. We would ask all involved to acknowledge that a motor car is a complex piece of machinery with many parts interlinked." She said it was impossible to diagnose the fault with the cable until the first repair had been carried out and "even then this would not have been diagnosed until the seat was folded and the seat belt jammed again." She said that Western Motors was "contracted to replace a jammed seat belt and this was the work that was carried out." She added that the garage was "more than willing to repair the fault" and said that while they would do so with no labour charge "the part would be chargeable to the customer."

How to get through to the right person

Joe Hanahoe got in touch to share some tips for getting a response from customer service lines. "Do anything to get around the standard customer service line. Get an e-mail address from any employee and use its structure and the MD's name to get directly at him/her," he suggests.

He bought McAfee anti-virus software that prompted a licence renewal after a month and then made similar requests all the time. "The UK support line just gave me automated responses and literally nothing else, except murderous intent." When he started contacting people by playing around with e-mail addresses, "the whole of McAfee opened up and the most helpful customer service lady on the planet from the US of course got on the line and solved my problem.

"If this fails or you cannot be bothered, threaten to sue," he continues. "Tell customer service that you are suing and need the exact name of the legal entity that you are dealing with. If they do not know, ask to talk to their legal department and/or request the address of their head office. Go to the Small Claims Court's website, get the relevant documentation and forward to the head office."

He experienced poor service with his broadband provider and when his complaints were stonewalled, he sent a one-page Small Claims Court form to their legal department after which the company agreed to "a full refund of all rentals and initial set up along with [I joke not] the €11 cost of the Small Claims Court form. I would have accepted a refund of the set-up fee and walked away."