f1 autocentre tyre balancing charges

When will people realise that cheap is not best, there will always be hidden costs when you get the cheapest price.

In the op case I would get onto the credit card and dispute the charge.

I think it was a mistake to pay it in the first place, they would have told you the extra charge before balancing the wheels, that would have been the time to walk/drive away, if they didn't tell you the extra charge then they have acted fraudulently and trading standards might be persuaded to talk to them.

What size of tyres did you get? and what was the final, per wheel fitted and balanced price?

You don't make clear if they told you about this charge before doing the work or not. If they told you before and you accepted there isn't much you can do.

If you read the small print it might say that you have to present the voucher *before* paying.

Had Peugeot 306's and a 206 with centreless wheels. Never been charged extra for using the special adaptor to balance the wheels at several different tyre places. At my usual place I used to go when it was quieter as changing the machine over did take them about 5 minutes or so each way.

If they didn't tell you it would be extra beforehand they can't charge extra. If they did, and you agreed IMO you've contracted with them under those terms. Try speaking to Consumer Direct (Trading Standards) on 08454

Youv'e been had mate - many places can balance wheels on the car, although IMO this is not as good as on a machine.

Fiat Pandas are currently being advertised on the telly for 5 grand (through the Government's scrappage scheme).

Of course, as you would expect, that is the basic price, no extras.

The basic price includes a choice of colour from the basic colour range.

The basic colour range consists of one colour - bright yellow.

Any other colour is from the extras colour range and is an extra three hundred and fifty quid - minimum.

That is an absurd statement. On what basis is any person to judge the best price, except on the price quoted?

go to citizens advice and get strongly worded letter written to local newspapers etc

By considering whether they are comparing two identical things. NOrmally when you find the cheapest you find it's not the same.

But I still ask, on what basis is a person to judge the difference? The OP thought, quite reasonably in my view, that the price he had been quoted was the full price for balancing. I mean he told them what car it was, and the size of his tyre. In what way could the OP have possibly been at fault in relying on the price he was told?

The real problem here is not the OP - as meek as he may be - it is the swinders who are F1 Autocentre. Even in my own experience, there are no places worse than major tyre garages for finding cowboys and swindlers, who will lie outright to your face.

They are just trying to balance their boks.

The actual best may not be the cheapest, particularly where a service is involved. Recommendation is often needed particularly where car repairs or building work and the like is involved. After care may also be a very important consideration when buying something, the place that sells something at a very low price may not be able to honour guarantees as easily as somewhere that takes more profit out of their sales.

No one has suggested the cheapest will necessarily be the best. But one does expect the cheapest to be the cheapest!

Indeed. The OP says he had used the garage before, and had been satisfied with the service provided.

Indeed. Yet I find it hard to say that the OP can draw any lessons from this experience. It seems to me the OP happened to come across dishonest cowboys who were perhaps not the same staff as he had dealt with on previous occasions, and who basically saw him coming! The OP can only be faulted insofar as he did not simply walk out without paying, or tell them to put the old tyres back on while he drove elsewhere.

I am certain you are far more experienced than anyone else in the world and are completely correct in everything you say.

And sharp practices aren't restricted to cheap outfits.

A franchised Ford dealer charged me £160 for a 12500 mile service which included £15 for a "fuel system lubricant". Now I already use Millers with every tankful so the charge was unnecessary and excessive (you can get 500ml of Millers for £10 which treats 500 litres of fuel).

I imagine they put an eggcup full of some cheaper fuel additive in, put the fuel cap back on and said "ker-ching, £15 on the bill".

And as I say, this is a fully fledged Ford dealership operating out of a brand new business park with a great big shiny building.

Like my sister when she took her Merc in to the merc dealer for a service (still under warranty) She was charged extra for environmental disposal of the old oil, plus 35 pounds for fan belt grease, there is a special stuff which is meant to be smeared onto the belts, but a 35 quid tub will do for hundreds of vehicles.

I met someone with a Hyundai that complained about being charged several quid for screen wash additive, it was completely full when it went in and had additive in, they claimed they had sucked some out, in order to put their stuff in !!

Err, no. Ryanair is one such example. Although the headline ticket price is the cheapest, once they've charged you for everything not included (charging for using the toilet in flight is now on the cards) plus the additional cost of travel to the end destination (James May once joked that flights to New York would land in Dublin) then the OVERALL COST is usually beaten by other airlines.

I bet it was a standard car.

Look at the overall cost, not just the headline grabbing one.

Your opinion carries a lot of (clip-on lead) weight.

How was the OP to know that the manufacturer-fit wheels were not "standard"?

He rang them up for god's sake, and *spoke* to one of the staff! He told them what make and model his car was, and he told them what tyres he had. Why am I the only person here who thinks that the OP was wholly blameless for relying on the quotation that he was given??

Indeed, why do I consistently seem to be in the minority here when I suggest that it is the retailers who are dishonest who *intentionally manipulate* consumer behaviour, whereas the majority opinion always seems to be that the customer is a fool for not knowing the intricacies of whatever service he is contracting for?

Ste gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

SOME PSA alloys are centreless. Most have a centre hole, though, as do steels - so saying "It's a C3" doesn't necessarily say "It's got no centrehole".

On my XM, I had three different sets of wheels - all standard factory-fit for various specs. One steel, two alloy. One set of alloys had no centre hole.

If you look at BlackCircles.co.uk's website, they say this...

"If you are the owner of a Peugeot or a Citroen vehicle and have centerless alloy wheels, please call our advice team on to locate a fitter who can carry out this specific type of fitting."

So - a good tyre place should have thought "Mmm. I wonder." - but, equally, it's not a common situation for them to be in. Many smaller tyre places just don't have the adapters available.