[Snowball]

When collecting my vehicle after service, I noticed that both inner armrests of the front seats were in the ‘down’ position (we never use them), and the passenger front seat back rest was tilted back at an excessive degree. The vehicle had 2 miles added to the odometer reading.
I complained to management that I suspected the vehicle had been used for a joy-ride.
This was refuted by an explanation that the passenger seat would be moved to access components under the footwell, that the Technician never carries a passenger for a road test (no road test was indicated in the invoice details), and that the tilted seat would probably have been done during the post-service valeting.

I can imagine the seat being moved for access into the footwell, but this would be by shifting it backwards on its rails. And I cannot envisage a valet tilting the front passenger seat back or dropping the armrests.

Although remaining sceptical about what truly occurred,I did concede defeat to the service manager as I wish to move on from this argument, but I did advise him that, being retired, it would be no problem for me to bring a book and keep an eye on the situation - reception seats are quite comfortable, refreshments are freely available, and any movement in or out between the service dept and the public highway is visible through the reception window. The manager accepted that i could do this. What else can I do to tighten up discipline? Moving to another service garage is not a viable option.

[Hometune]

2 miles is quite a long 'road test' really as dealerships want their technicians working on cars, not swanning around. I'm very curious to know what is under the footwell that needs the seat moving right back other than replacing the pollen filter. Perhaps this was done? The valet at the VW dealer near me does the fastest clean ever and nothing in the car moves as speed is essential for him to keep up. A road test was not usually indicated on the invoice unless the customer has reported a running fault such as juddering, knocking, loss of performance etc but one would be done as a matter of course after a service and was a short run round the block. Many customers sit in the reception reading a book/kindle/tablet drinking the 'free' refreshments so maybe next time take War and Peace with you.

[Motman]

Maybe the tech had his dry cleaning to pick up or it was his turn to go and get the lunch from McDonald's........

[Hometune]

Originally Posted by Motman

Maybe the tech had his dry cleaning to pick up or it was his turn to go and get the lunch from McDonald's........

You've got food on the brain today.....

[Snowball]

First an apology - I did try to put this in Tech and maintenance, but it would not have it, so I put a post in Gen. Driving before Ifound my original post in Travel & Journey Questions, therefore there are some parallel posts on the same subject.
As per the post in Gen. Driving, the short answer is that the service Manager gave what I considered to be a poor explanation, but he was adamant and I could see that further argument was going nowhere.
But I have found details of a brilliant covert spy recorder, not much larger than a matchbox, that can easily be hidden in the vehicle. So, at any future service, any misdemeanour that needs to be addressed will be much harder to explain away.