Aircon damaged: Where do I stand?

[Father Ted]

Hi All.
Need some advice.
I took my car to an ATS Euromaster branch today have the aircon re-gassed.
There wasn't much wrong with it, still cooling and visibly working, but , knowing that the gas has the lubricant for the system built in and knowing that this hasn't been changed for 10 years I thought I'd give it a treat.
What a wrong decision!
I left the car with them and went for a coffee. Came back an hour later and they were just finishing with it.
As the guy handed me the keys he said, "you've got a leak".
I told him that this was odd as it had been working up until now. He suggested I get an aircon health check at a local specialist.

Thinking that maybe it was a slight loss of pressure, I took the car and went shopping. I noticed that now there was no cooling from it.
When I got home I put VIDA on it and it reports that the pressure is 0.

I have complained (by email) and sent screenshots of error codes taken 3 weeks ago when I was working on the car and this afternoon, showing that the aircon issue is new.
Do I have any recourse with them? How can I prove that they did this?

And:
Assuming that I end up picking up the bill, how do I go about diagnosing this? (Never worked on aircon before).

in short...
HELP

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Father Ted

Hi All.
Need some advice.
I took my car to an ATS Euromaster branch today have the aircon re-gassed.
There wasn't much wrong with it, still cooling and visibly working, but , knowing that the gas has the lubricant for the system built in and knowing that this hasn't been changed for 10 years I thought I'd give it a treat.
What a wrong decision!
I left the car with them and went for a coffee. Came back an hour later and they were just finishing with it.
As the guy handed me the keys he said, "you've got a leak".
I told him that this was odd as it had been working up until now. He suggested I get an aircon health check at a local specialist.

Thinking that maybe it was a slight loss of pressure, I took the car and went shopping. I noticed that now there was no cooling from it.
When I got home I put VIDA on it and it reports that the pressure is 0.

I have complained (by email) and sent screenshots of error codes taken 3 weeks ago when I was working on the car and this afternoon, showing that the aircon issue is new.
Do I have any recourse with them? How can I prove that they did this?

And:
Assuming that I end up picking up the bill, how do I go about diagnosing this? (Never worked on aircon before).

in short...
HELP

well it was working when you took it in and it wasn't when you had it back. That says it all really.

Are they qualified AC Engineers ? Since 2010 It has been illegal for anyone to tamper with a Vehicle AC system unless they have done the Government training course and have the proper equipment and safety gear. If they discharge any AC gas into the atmosphere they can face a £40,000 fine. where did your gas go I wonder ?
Volvo AC Systems don't need any maintenance most are still going around with perfect AC systems 30 years later. ( except the ford based C30.V50/C70 ) which have poor condensers which rot . I would take it elsewhere to a professional to get put right and send them the bill. Ask to see their operating certificate too !

[MDS40]

So if they found a leak then they probably didn't refill it as that would be illegal.
Zero pressure in the system seems to back this up.
Hope they didn't charge you for the job.

[VOLVOBOY]

OP .
They are probably just trying to fleece you ...
Emptied the system . Told you there is a leak when there isn`t . Hoping to charge you for a repair that doesn`t need doing and just re-charging the system instead .
All kind of scams going on these days .
Take it elsewhere and ask for a pressure test . It will either be free or for a few pounds . If it is leak free go back to ATS with proof and demand a free re-charge . If it has a leak again with proof demand that they fix it .

[ITSv40]

I think the crux of the issue is: proving the system was working before ATS got their mucky paws on it. If the system was working, why would you take it to have a re-gas? Yes, I know Father Ted has explained the reasons and quite valid too. But, how do you convince the legal eagles in a court of law, because that is where this will end up. I would put it down to experience and go it a bona-fide specialist and have it sorted properly.

[Tannaton]

It's not unheard of....

The correct process is to remove the old gas from the system by vacuum and then hold that vacuum for 20 mins to check for leaks. That's not much of a test really as a vacuum is -14 psi but when running parts of the a/c system will be up to 200 psi. However what is does do is reverse the acting forces on all the seals in the system - i.e. those which have been fine under pressure are held under vacuum. Whilst 999 time out of 1000 that's no issue at all, sometimes it causes a weak seal to let go.

So I guess you will need to take it to a dealer or a/c specialist to get it fixed and then hopefully you will understand the problem and if you can pin it on ATS.

[Father Ted]

Thanks all.
To be fair, yesterday I was all doom and gloom.

I feared (still fear) that the evaporator might have leaked as this looks like a mahoosive job to take on.
But, anywhere else is accessible within the engine bay, with the spanner work being DIY-able.
I'm still hacked off, especially by the off-hand manner I was told.

I'm going to ring round specialists in the area to get a full diagnosis done and work from there.
I do have to bear in mind, though, the age and value of the car....

[Father Ted]

Originally Posted by ITSv40

I think the crux of the issue is: proving the system was working before ATS got their mucky paws on it.

I did email them screen shots from VIDA from 3 weeks ago showing no AC errors and yesterday afternoon showing an AC low pressure error.
In hindsight I should have taken a VIDA download just before taking the car in, but genuinely thought this would be a quick, half hour preventative measure.