[arbee]

How crooked are garages!

[RANT]
Missus took her ford ka (i know....) in to Formula 1 for a service, when she rung to book it in she used my mobile so they must've automaticlly stored it on their computer.

anyway, she takes it in in the morning and i get a call mid day ish about her car, they ask for her but explain who i am and that can talk to me about it.

blokey starts off:

F1:I've done the service but i'm afraid it needs a few things doin
me:yeah, go on
F1: well it needs new discs and pads
me: right.....
F1: 3 new wiper blades
me: ok.... (i knew about these)
F1: the tracking done
me: erm yeah....
F1: and when i was taking a wheel off, a weight fell off, i had a look and it looks like its got the wrong weights on it that are meant for alloys (its got steelies). So it needs all four wheels balencing
me: *cough* erm ok *almost wetting myself* ok can you give me the prices
F1: it all works out at ......
me: no i mean individually
F1 right, the discs are £50 each plus pads at £50 the pair
me:riiiight
F1:blades are erm......£9+£8+£8....actually you'd probably be better off getting these elsewhere
me: lol ok
F1:the tracking is £28 and the balencing is £8 per corner
me:lmao at this point....ok....how much ware on the discs and pads is there;
F1: erm about 1-2 mil on the discs (non vented) and the pads are almost at minimum
me: ok so there is plenty of ware left on the discs
F1: erm yeah
me: so they dont need replacing really
F1: erm.....no
me: ok so what are the pads like to replace
F1: quite easy really on that, just dont lose the spring
me: ok, i'll have a look at them myself then. The blades i'll do myself as you suggested, and the wheels....
F1: yeah
me: well you're telling me that the balencing has been fine for the last two years until you got your hands on them and you make a weight fall off
F1:erm yeah
me: well i think i'll trust my luck on the other 3 and you can balence the one wheel for free seeing as you caused it
F1: ok yeah thats no problem
me: and you say the tracking needs checking and adjusting, whys that? is there signs of iregular wear?
F1: well no, we jjust do it as a matter of course.
me: well you can leave that then!

lmao the missus picked the car up,, paid the normal charge, and nothing more was said! it disgusts me that they can try it on like that, dont know whether it was JUST because it was a females car but they 'kin thake the pee!

nipped into halfords on way home, picked up some blades, pads for a fraction of the price, did it all myself no problem, checked discs were ok (they were hardly worn) tyres were fine and there was even some material left on the pads for anothe 5k or so.replaced them anyway tho.

it just REALLY fuuks me off the way they behave and think they can get away with it![/RANT]

 

[Strick]

Yup, most fast-fit places are the same...........................

"Sorry Luv, that cars not safe, especially as you have kiddies in it" which basically means the spotted a child seat and a lone female and decided to pull her pants down and smack her arse.

 

[BENM]

Yup, most fast-fit places are the same...........................

a lone female and decided to pull her pants down and smack her arse.

lmao lmao lmao

 

[Ross Clarke]

There are some rather bad people out there. Trouble is it gives us genuine nice guys a bad name as we all get tarred with the same brush, we aint al crooks.

Fast fit boys are now finding it tough to compete with main dealers so they are struggling. Best bet take it to a main dealer, they are cheaper than what you think. We charge £55 per hour and customers are happy with our service as all cars get washed and vac'd no matter what you have had done. I also do engine bay cleans as part of any service as a courtesy touch

 

[Cavlad]

Still remember the best one was my old cav,before I fitted the 17"s(still on the original 14" alloys) I'd just lowered it(jamex springs) and replaced the shocks with some top notch quality Konis(yep thats right,the bright yellow feckers!!) Anyway,after I done the work, I was desperate to get the tracking done on a Sunday afternoon and so it had to be kwik-fit. Done the tracking,put it within tolerances(!?) and then proceded to tell me that my rear shocks were fooked. You can imagine my reply........
Needless to say,found a far superior place in Glos, who set the tracking up spot on(not just with in tolerances!!) and I'm happy. Of course I won't be going anywere near Kwik-crap again!

 

[super__dan]

I have utter contempt for garages unless they prove otherwise. I have on several occasions had exceptionally poor serive for one reason or another, and last autumn was tried to be ****ed over good and proper. With help from some people on here I wouldn't let them walk over me but still came out of it very much out of pocket and also the car now uses a lot of oil. Just got to live with it now.

I would howevre trust Dave and Tony at Dave Gillespie in Lancaster though, nothing but good service from a tiny little back street garage, and so have others i recommended them to.

Dan