When I had a Mazda 6 serviced at the dealership in Doncaster, I knew what they had done the previous year, so I topped up the washer bottle like you did.
When I picked up the car I found a half empty bottle of washer fluid in the boot. The mechanic had (over) poured the fluid into the full tank and I was still charged for it!
It is the sort of thing that makes you want to shop around.
I’ve been charged for screen wash when I used not single spray in the 12 month prior lol
At least they gave you what you had paid for!
In some cases they charge you, and not a drop has gone in, and no bottle! I have previously negotiated refunds in such cases, after giving them the choice of the remainder in the bottle or a refund.
After all charging for nothing is dishonest. And that is my next line if they don’t cough up.
…I deliberately topped my bottle up to the brim just before it went in for the service and they still charged me “topping up”…and they didn’t leave any in the boot…or anywhere for that matter…
Yes, had one of those too lol
I can only think, given the well established truism that car dealerships are all about morality, compassion, care for the customer, altruism and all-round humanitarianism, the screen wash is ‘given’ by the benevolent dealership as part of the superb service, a kind of ‘thank you’, and even though it says a price on the invoice, it’s really a virtual charge 
I think you’re being a bit hard on them. Why didn’t you ask for it not to be topped up or ask for it to be taken off the bill?
Remember the average person doesn’t ever check their car, tyres, oil, lights or screenwash, so garages have to check it and top up.
Only car enthusiasts like us bother.
seems reasonable, but if they cannot put any fluid in the washer reservoir, they should make sure that they recognise that when doing the bill. Obviously requires the mechanic doing the service to report to the admin person and also a desire for them to acknowledge this…
100% true
A lot of main dealer invoicing is done by computer & needs a bit of human input to change. Just recently my dad had a big argument with a Mercedes dealership who charged twice quite a significant sum for taking the wheels off. Once for brakes & again for tyres. A job they did just the once obviously but nobody told the computer that.
Whether they can fill your screenwash bottle or not, they will still need to charge for the 45 seconds labour in taking the cap off and looking to see whether it needs topping up, then putting the cap back on…