kwik fit robbers-or so they thought

Hello,

Now are you sure it was a puncture and that you didn't really need two shock absorbers, new brake pads, and a clutch - and not really a flat tyre! Kwik Fit charged me £5 for a puncture repair - without a receipt. I was happy with that as I needed it fixing and it was OK. I would never go back to Kwik Fit or MSF Ford for that matter. Kwik Fit because they tried to say an MOT certificate couldn't be right as they said my shock absorbers were knackered. (1 day after MOT) MSF because they charged for a rear oil seal and FORGOT to put the new one in which meant oil everywhere and a new clutch. Then two further visits for them to get it right. I hate YTS people being set free on my car. Real mechanics have died out now, I remember those! Now it's all "plug it into a computer". All they can do is change bits. Kwik Fit tried telling me my clutch had gone, they put the handbrake on and stalled the car to put on a show, then made excuses. I sat and waited and heard women coming in being told horror stories about brakes, it was quite annoying thinking people could have been lied to like I was. They backed down over the shock absorbers when I said I needed the old ones and something from them in writing so I could report the MOT test centre. My back lights on one side were also broken when the carpet was taken up in the boot and the holder left hanging off. The way some garages work is by SALES, each corner of a car is worth so much and they try to get it. Unfair targets and pressure for SALES are put on staff because when the prices gets too hgh for a customer a credit facility is offered. The people doing the work also get a bonus, so a lot are not going to be exactly honest and will sell you as much as they can lie about. It is always best to have some knowledge before going to a garage.

The only time a main dealer has been good is when I have not needed anything doing.

"tbm" wrote in message news:HK3Kb.607$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfep1-win.server.ntli.net...

in to my nearest kwik fit. i did not request a price before

proceeds to fix the puncture. he was just about to put the

ofcourse a short reach valve of no use to man nor beast. i

reach valve. so he gets the wheel back on the car and secures

he was on the till as much time as it took him to fix the

immeadiatly told him i was not paying it and told him to

new valve at £3 and a wheel balance at £5. total cost £8. i

valve and wheel balance is nessessary. to avoid wheel balance

when putting the tyre back on. i did not think it

TBM...comments invited please...rgds to all.

Hello,

So how about staff that will charge £5 and put it straight into their pocket!

Absolutely. The more customers you have, by the law of averages, the more complaints there will be. Especially with cars where *everyone* thinks they know more than the mechanic. And far more will complain than praise.

I've used Kwik Fit on a number of occasions for jobs I can't do myself - like punctures etc. And recently when I fitted a new steering rack to my old SD1 I got them to do the tracking. They were extremely helpful as I'd brought along the correct rack centralising bolt, and getting the tracking exactly right using that method isn't a five minute job, but they only charged their standard rate. And said to bring it back if I wasn't satisfied. I've got less complaints about them than my main dealer who charges over 100 quid an hour.

Halfords - well it's like a supermarket, you see the goods on display and buy them if you want to. True they're expensive for a packet of washers etc, but you're paying for a good location with a car park.

Nobody is forced to use either - there are plenty of alternatives.

Perhaps. I suppose with certain things you have in your mind that they'll be roughly a certain amount and not expensive enough to make a fuss over. I doubt I would be ringing around for puncture repair costs like I would for a new tyre. I would probably have done the same, expected no more than a tenner and been slightly taken aback at being asked for 16 quid, but paid it anyway.

He probably doesn't have much to complain about in the end, but it does wind me up when they inflate the charges for 'wheel balance' and 'valve' because it is actually their hidden labour costs.

I thought the saving grace was they were cheap? The branches vary immensely and the scams some of them used to pull - possibly still do?

- are well documented. I've had some adequate service from them, never been impressed, once got charged for a 'wheel balance' they had not actually performed and eventually did with *very* bad grace, once had a new front pipe come off because they'd sheared the studs off and not noticed. Also, that pipe was supposed to be stainless - I paid extra for it - and it was visibly rusty 6 months later while the back half fitted by the PO, also from Kwik Fit and stainless, was still shiny. I didn't make an issue because I wrote off the car. I would never go to them for an exhaust now even though I *hate* fitting exhausts and it's usually more expensive to buy just the part.

I rather like Halfords if you ignore all the "modding" shit they have now. They have an unmatched range of products at reasonable if not wonderful prices, especially if you buy when things are on offer. Fully synthetic oil for £15 per 5L last time I went in. I always buy Halfords tools if I can.

I wouldn't ring around about a puncture repair but I would ask before they start. Failing to ask really gives them (whoever they are) carte blanche to rip you off.

Well, I don't much care whether the itemised bill says "parrots £14.00" "wheel balance £1.99"

or, "tyre repair £ 0.15" "balance weight £ 0.25" "valve £ 0.25" "labour £ 3.00" "workshop equip depreciation £ 1.00" "opex £ 0.35" "profit £10.99"

The bit that matters is the total!

I can't say they've ever pulled a stunt on me and I've used them (almost) exclusively for about 5 years.

The professional tools are fantastic. Especially the ratcheting spanners... especially when you return them when they're four years old and get new ones!

WTF would you want some half-witted fast-fit to do a puncture repair anyway? Just get some new tyres and be done with it. They aren't /that/ expensive (unless you've got gay alloys in which case you can afford the more expensive tyres) and the saving just isn't worth the risk of a blowout, IMHO.

Because it's cheaper? I've had repairs done several times without blowouts.

44 quid for 15 minutes at my vet the other day (including some antibiotics for the cat) - 25 quid "consultation" fee...

My accountant might not like the bill for parrots being put on my car expenses.

I don't know. Do you have a wheel balancing machine at home? Would you know how to use it? ;)

Richard

Then you've had crap experience. Back to my gf's Scorpio estate.

She got this in September, paid £3K when most on Autotrader were £5K for the same model (98 2.3 Ultima Estate) - £3K was the asking price, we just didn't haggle. On purchase, headlight, front disks and pads, suspension bushes, number plate light replaced. (Headlights are £300 for this car, they made a handful of the facelift model with black lights).

When it went in for work on the dash/temp gauge, the sort of work which I /know/ many dealers would have said "It's a 110,000 mile car, you gotta expect some wear", I mentioned I could smell coolant. They checked the heater matrix (my biggest worry, so I wanted to confirm it was okay whilst the 3 month, required-by-law warranty was in place) and found nothing, and we decided to see how it went.

Over Christmas, I noticed the smell was bad again, but outside as well as inside. Found the leak was the thermostat housing, to everyone's apparent relief. Now, the warranty is expired, and I take it in.

It wasn't the thermostat housing. Oh rather, wasn't /just/ that. The inlet manifold had cracked at the same point.

Do you think they charged anything? No. All the work done, plus we paid £50 for them to change the ATF fluid, a job which on this car requires removing the gearbox sump (we'd already requested it before, but they got confused and changed the power steering fluid instead, which they didn't charge for). This is on top of changing the rear discs and pads previously to try and cure a vibration, re-greasing the auto box linkage, the work mentioned above and replacing the sensor and thermostat for the coolant (I told them the thermostat was stuck open, the mechanic said it was the sensor, I was right - and the coolant leak was present before the thermostat was changed, they didn't break the housing).

In all, I think the car has had work worth about £1,000 - maybe even £1,500, I don't know how much brake work costs on the Scorpio - at main dealer prices, from a main dealer, when it would perhaps have been worth as little as £1,500 trade when they got it in, and more likely nearer £2,200, given the prices on Autotrader. Never an argument, no need to be at all pushy, all the repairs have been offered and completed in good time, and because it's a Ford at a Ford dealer, I'm guessing that the work has been done /right/.

So there's a good main dealer experience. The dealer, btw, is David Harrison Ford (yes, their ads do say Harrison Ford on the local radio) in Galashiels, and I'd have no hesitation in sending any of my friends there.

Richard

Well you might have a Mini Metro with its strange metric sized tyres that cost more than the value of the car!

I reckon my friend has two left over - don't know what he's done with them. And two fitting machines. And yes, I can balance a wheel or fit a tyre. Not rocket science, although you do hear the stories of the fitters who stick the weight on, recheck, discover it's still out and fit another weight.

Vets, dentists and plumbers. You know you picked the wrong career when you have dealings with any of them.