Convicted by app St. Gallen man brings Jaguar to garage - garage owner drives 1000 kilometers with it
An IT specialist from St. Gallen used an app to monitor the movements of his Jaguar - and discovered that employees at his garage were using the car for private journeys. He just wanted to have it repaired.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- A Jaguar customer from St. Gallen discovered via an app that his car had been used privately during garage visits and driven over 950 kilometers.
- Despite damage and verifiable parking fees, the Emil Frey garage largely refused to comment, but referred to allegedly communicated test drives.
- The case raises questions about the transparency and legality of such garage trips, as according to the industry association, private use is only permitted with customer consent.
It all started with a push message: the app notified Martin Vetter* from St. Gallen that his Jaguar I-Pace HSE was not locked. No need to worry, thought the IT specialist, after all the car had just been in the garage for repairs. But another advertisement gave him pause: The car was around 60 kilometers away - a long way from the garage, as the "Beobachter" reports.
The Jaguar app records all of the vehicle's movements: start and destination locations, duration of parking, kilometers driven. Vetter began to track the data during the repair period. They show that his car was moved around a lot during the workshop visits.
204 days in the workshop
Vetter's relationship with his e-SUV is complicated. "I had nothing but problems with the car right from the start," says the 33-year-old. Error messages such as "Stop vehicle safely - battery error detected" or "Brake pedal sensitivity reduced" kept appearing. Since the purchase in July 2023, the Jaguar has been in for repairs a total of 20 times - for a total of 204 days.
Particularly striking: on several occasions, the vehicle was parked at the same private address on Lake Constance in the evening and driven back to St. Gallen the next morning. "Someone used my car for private purposes," suspects Vetter. The records also show stops at restaurants, a secondary school and even a lunch break at Burger King. In total, over 950 kilometers were added to the speedometer of his Jaguar - not by himself, but by garage owners.
Traces on the car
At first, Vetter kept quiet so as not to strain his relationship with the garage. But at some point, according to the "Beobachter", he found tangible evidence: Scratches on the car key, marks on the back seat, photos documenting the damage. During a collection, he also discovered parking damage.
His patience finally ran out when he followed live via his Twint app how his car was parked in the Einstein parking garage in St. Gallen at his expense. The vehicle is connected to Parkingpay, which automatically opens barriers and debits fees.
Only after he complained did the managing director of Emil Frey St. Gallen promise to refund the costs. Vetter got the money back - but the garage failed to provide any answers about the countless journeys.
Statement from Emil Frey
When asked by the "Beobachter", Peter Hug, Head of Corporate Services at Emil Frey, explained: "As is customary in the industry, customer vehicles can also be taken home by the responsible diagnostician or the workshop manager for extended test drives in the evening." These are important and are always communicated - as is the case at Vetter.
The parking fee was incurred because the test drive was combined with another appointment. The company did not comment on scratch marks, damage or possible loss of value.
*Name changed
