Request for Coverage of Seatbelt Repair Costs – Duty of Care

We are writing regarding an issue that arose after our vehicle (Citroen C3 Aircross) was with your workshop from approximately 08/10/2025 to 28/10/2025.

During this period, a rat appears to have entered the car likely while it was stationary and partially stripped at the workshop in Windsor. This caused significant damage to the seatbelts.

The car was brought in with all seatbelts fully intact and functional. We use the vehicle daily to transport our children to and from school, and the rear seatbelts are used constantly. Any damage would have been immediately noticeable and certainly would have been raised prior to handing the vehicle over. Therefore, the damage clearly occurred while the vehicle was in your care. We also have sensors attached to the seatbelts that would have also alerted us if the damage was in our care at home.

As a service provider, Bosch carries a legal duty of care to ensure that customers’ vehicles are kept safe from avoidable damage while on your premises. We were particularly disappointed that when we raised the issue, there appeared to be some shifting of blame toward us rather than a willingness to acknowledge the situation and assist. This was disheartening, especially given our long-standing relationship with your branch we have serviced our cars with Bosch Northcliff for many years, ever since moving to Johannesburg in 2017 whilst the branch was still in Northcliff.

We spent close to R20,000 on the initial service and subsequent repairs during this visit excluding the parts we had to buy. Given this level of investment and loyalty, we did not expect resistance over covering the cost of repairing the seatbelts, an amount of approximately R4,000. It is a relatively minor cost compared to the total work carried out, and one that we firmly believe should be absorbed by Bosch as the damage occurred under your care.

We kindly request that Bosch Northcliff take responsibility for the seatbelt repairs and cover the associated costs.

We value our relationship with your workshop and hope that this matter can be resolved quickly and amicably.