AC Explodes During VW Refill - Urgent!

Hello everyone,

Just now, the 'Friendly' guy called me to say that my air conditioning unit exploded while being filled with refrigerant.

Background:

I took the car to the air conditioning service because of insufficient cooling performance.
65% of the refrigerant was missing. The system was refilled with a leak detector.
During the inspection, it was observed that a significant amount of green residue was leaking from the connection point between the dryer and the condenser.

I then had the leak sealed, and at the same time, I had the dryer replaced. It should cost 160 euros.

Yes, and now 'Die' (presumably a company or organization) called me to tell me that during the refilling of the system, the connection part of the condenser had been punctured and torn off from the dryer.
Das Teil soll die Kleinigkeit von 350 Euro zzgl. Assembly costs money.

My questions:

That's clearly a manufacturing defect, right?
How should I behave now?
Do not pay under any circumstances or...?


I urgently need advice...

Sure, here's the translation:

'Thank you in advance.'

Hello,

"Let's examine this closely. If the fitting was already so corroded that it would come off with just a little pressure, wouldn't they have noticed it when they were loosening and tightening it?"

It is difficult to prove that the fault lies with your workshop, but with the argument mentioned above, at least you should be able to get your labor costs reimbursed.

Because if they are too clueless to recognize a cracked pipe, or, even worse, deliberately just tighten it (and the customer pays for another filling), then that is the workshop's own fault.

Best regards, Rainer.

Hello Rainer,

I just picked up the car.

Luckily, the guys gave me the capacitor.
It's not the connector that's leaking, but the outlet tube, which is bent 1 cm behind the connector. The bend is deformed inwards, and under pressure, the crack should actually be bent outwards.
To me, it clearly looks like a manufacturing defect, as if the Allen screw was overtightened, or the pipe was bent during disassembly.

The workshop foreman said that there was probably a hairline crack or a material defect.

Given that the leak (slight bubbling) was previously located between the dryer and the connection piece/condenser, and that the system was still cooling properly, the situation seems quite clear, especially considering that the system was only refilled two weeks ago (see previous history).

I was also offered to have the installation costs (~4 hours) covered, so that I would only have to pay 340 euros for the capacitor.

Luckily, I have a cost estimate and a purchase order confirmation according to the KoVo regulations.

Hello,

It's still annoying, but it's not that bad.

Best regards, Rainer.

Try having the capacitor repaired by a (stationary) cooling system company (check the Yellow Pages). It's usually much cheaper.