Those experts in automotive repair
Discussion
As there is a no naming and shaming policy on PH, they cannot be named. However, you may know who I am talking about if you caught a glimpse of my thread that got deleted earlier. For this thread, let's call them 
. I made the mistake of taking the car to in the first place, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
These experts in automotive repair, were given my Primera on Monday for an MOT, which it failed due to the Suspension Arm (drivers side). I was told that I could have the part fitted same day if I gave them permission over the phone. I was reluctant, but I needed the MOT and the car back ASAP, so allowed them to do the job.
I then get the car back the following day (they couldn't fit the part on that day, even though the part was next to the car just before 1pm). I drive off and there is a terrible whirring noise coming from the drivers side. I take the car back and advise them of the issue. I advised them that the noise was not there before, to be honest there wasn't actually any problem with the car prior to this apart from a squeaking from the dash. WD40 sorted that. As time was short, I told them I'd have to come back as I was due back to work. (*) I get a phone call later from :censdored: manager saying the wheel bearing has gone and it would cost an extra £170 on top of the £242 I had already paid for the part, labour, wheel alignment and MOT. And I should have to pay as it is my fault.
Fat chance.
I explained there was nothing wrong prior to me taking the car in for the MOT and that the noise was not there at all to begin with. After a full 20 minutes of haggling and losing my temper I was getting nowhere. I did not want the car back in that state. The manager then suggests that if I purchase the part (£46) then he would have it fitted free of charge. I see this as acceptance of a fault created by them. I also asked for this on paper.
The problem I now have is that the car drives like a dog. The steering is heavy, it doesn't corner/steer right and the whirring noise on the motorway journey home wasn't building any confidence either. I feel ripped off but I reckon to some extent deserve it for using them for the first (and hopefully last) time.
What can I do about this in regards to getting the car back to good shape. Ultimately, it's my word against theirs. Could this be escalated to their HO? Although, I don't think they will do much either.
(*) - This is where the previous thread got to.
ETA
No names, not even by association.
. I made the mistake of taking the car to in the first place, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.These experts in automotive repair, were given my Primera on Monday for an MOT, which it failed due to the Suspension Arm (drivers side). I was told that I could have the part fitted same day if I gave them permission over the phone. I was reluctant, but I needed the MOT and the car back ASAP, so allowed them to do the job.
I then get the car back the following day (they couldn't fit the part on that day, even though the part was next to the car just before 1pm). I drive off and there is a terrible whirring noise coming from the drivers side. I take the car back and advise them of the issue. I advised them that the noise was not there before, to be honest there wasn't actually any problem with the car prior to this apart from a squeaking from the dash. WD40 sorted that. As time was short, I told them I'd have to come back as I was due back to work. (*) I get a phone call later from :censdored: manager saying the wheel bearing has gone and it would cost an extra £170 on top of the £242 I had already paid for the part, labour, wheel alignment and MOT. And I should have to pay as it is my fault.
Fat chance.
I explained there was nothing wrong prior to me taking the car in for the MOT and that the noise was not there at all to begin with. After a full 20 minutes of haggling and losing my temper I was getting nowhere. I did not want the car back in that state. The manager then suggests that if I purchase the part (£46) then he would have it fitted free of charge. I see this as acceptance of a fault created by them. I also asked for this on paper.
The problem I now have is that the car drives like a dog. The steering is heavy, it doesn't corner/steer right and the whirring noise on the motorway journey home wasn't building any confidence either. I feel ripped off but I reckon to some extent deserve it for using them for the first (and hopefully last) time.
What can I do about this in regards to getting the car back to good shape. Ultimately, it's my word against theirs. Could this be escalated to their HO? Although, I don't think they will do much either.
(*) - This is where the previous thread got to.
ETA
No names, not even by association.
Edited by Big Al. on Wednesday 16th November 13:04
I would take it to someone else to make sure it's firstly safe and then exactly what has gone on under the corner of your car.
If you have a DVLA run MOT station near you, get it to them.
Armed with this knowledge and a written report (you will have to pay).
Next call to Trading Standards to see if they have a file on your local place.
I would then call the HQ of the those fine purveyors of motoring expertise and see what they have to say.
I would suggest their offer of taking it back to that branch to fix it be refused and pick either same further away if you are feeling brave or suggest a main agent to them.
If you have a DVLA run MOT station near you, get it to them.
Armed with this knowledge and a written report (you will have to pay).
Next call to Trading Standards to see if they have a file on your local place.
I would then call the HQ of the those fine purveyors of motoring expertise and see what they have to say.
I would suggest their offer of taking it back to that branch to fix it be refused and pick either same further away if you are feeling brave or suggest a main agent to them.
I had my BMW recovered to 'them' as my cat had collapsed & so the car wouldn't accelerate beyond about 15 mph!
Was told I needed the entire exhaust also replaced as it was the original & all one piece. Annoying as there was nothing wrong with that!
Anyway, £638 later I had my car back...except, I now had a banging under the transmission tunnel & another banging noise when driving on anything other than marble smooth roads, and a constant vibration also from the rear.
Took it back, adjustment(s) made...still there was banging, & the vibration at the rear caused by the exhaust being hard up against the rear valance was still there!
After one other attempt to fix, & failure to rectify I was told I would have to live with it as...'old car mate!
So...I then took it to an indie garage 2 minutes from my home. Sorted, quiet, no bangs, no vibration or humming noises.
Only advice is to keep complaining, if the car is not as it was ie worse than before 'they' touched it, then they have a duty to rectify.
Problem is...the old trust thing, once bitten twice shy!
Hope you get sorted.
Was told I needed the entire exhaust also replaced as it was the original & all one piece. Annoying as there was nothing wrong with that!
Anyway, £638 later I had my car back...except, I now had a banging under the transmission tunnel & another banging noise when driving on anything other than marble smooth roads, and a constant vibration also from the rear.
Took it back, adjustment(s) made...still there was banging, & the vibration at the rear caused by the exhaust being hard up against the rear valance was still there!
After one other attempt to fix, & failure to rectify I was told I would have to live with it as...'old car mate!
So...I then took it to an indie garage 2 minutes from my home. Sorted, quiet, no bangs, no vibration or humming noises.
Only advice is to keep complaining, if the car is not as it was ie worse than before 'they' touched it, then they have a duty to rectify.
Problem is...the old trust thing, once bitten twice shy!
Hope you get sorted.
Edited by Waynester on Wednesday 16th November 02:18
Never thought much of them but a while back I needed a puncture fixing. Surely they couldn't mess that up.
Phoned in advance and agreed a time (only a couple of hours later) to arrive. I think they quoted £20. Turned up, stood at the reception desk and the guy was on the phone. Seemed he wasn't in any hurry and I must have spent about 10 minutes standing there. Didn't acknowlege me once. Eventually gets off the phone and grunts at me.
Me: Hi, I've brought my car in for you to fix the puncutre as discussed.
Him: Sorry mate I ain't gonna be able to look at it for at least an hour.
I left. Drove out, quickly(!) literally straight across the road into a very shoddy looking tyre place.
Me: I've got a puncture, can you fix it?
Him: Yeh drive straight in
It was done in minutes and only cost me a tenner.
Phoned in advance and agreed a time (only a couple of hours later) to arrive. I think they quoted £20. Turned up, stood at the reception desk and the guy was on the phone. Seemed he wasn't in any hurry and I must have spent about 10 minutes standing there. Didn't acknowlege me once. Eventually gets off the phone and grunts at me.
Me: Hi, I've brought my car in for you to fix the puncutre as discussed.
Him: Sorry mate I ain't gonna be able to look at it for at least an hour.
I left. Drove out, quickly(!) literally straight across the road into a very shoddy looking tyre place.
Me: I've got a puncture, can you fix it?
Him: Yeh drive straight in
It was done in minutes and only cost me a tenner.
I want to know why all these fast fit places keep on flogging "tracking" and what have you - using some crappy bit of gear they've had stuffed round the back.
If they aren't doing it properly on a Hunter or Beissbarth machine then I wouldn't let the buggers near it.
I foolishly let a major UK tyre fitter place (red and yellow colour scheme, first letter N) balance my wheels a couple of months ago. Four attempts and it was dreadful - one trip I did over in Holland and the whole car was shuddering. They had 100 - 200g per wheel - often in different places around the circumference
. They then took a chunk out of my smoked chrome powdercoat 
which they've said they'll pay for the repair - it's been done and the bill sent. Yet to see the colour of their money. Their explanation for the inability to balance them was that my wheels were buckled.
Eventually took the car to Mercedes and said "please - just fix this vibration - don't care what it takes". An hour later I get a phone call - "Who on earth has done your wheel balancing?"
Got the car back - perfect. Like a magic carpet. Tiny 5g and 10g balance weights per wheel. Not only that but Mercedes main agent price for balancing my wheels was cheaper than any high street chain.
High street tyre places: never ever ever again.
ETA: oh - and according to Merc my wheels aren't buckled at all - they're fine.
If they aren't doing it properly on a Hunter or Beissbarth machine then I wouldn't let the buggers near it.
I foolishly let a major UK tyre fitter place (red and yellow colour scheme, first letter N) balance my wheels a couple of months ago. Four attempts and it was dreadful - one trip I did over in Holland and the whole car was shuddering. They had 100 - 200g per wheel - often in different places around the circumference
. They then took a chunk out of my smoked chrome powdercoat which they've said they'll pay for the repair - it's been done and the bill sent. Yet to see the colour of their money. Their explanation for the inability to balance them was that my wheels were buckled.Eventually took the car to Mercedes and said "please - just fix this vibration - don't care what it takes". An hour later I get a phone call - "Who on earth has done your wheel balancing?"
Got the car back - perfect. Like a magic carpet. Tiny 5g and 10g balance weights per wheel. Not only that but Mercedes main agent price for balancing my wheels was cheaper than any high street chain.
High street tyre places: never ever ever again.
ETA: oh - and according to Merc my wheels aren't buckled at all - they're fine.
I genuinely don't know how are still going- they have a terrible reputation with pretty much everyone you speak to. All the while, small, honest, often family-run indies are going out of business left right and center.
I urge you folks who use national chains and dealers to pop into a small, local independant next time you need some brakes or a track rod end. Generally the nature of their business requires them to take pride in their work and earn your repeat custom.
For what it's worth, a couple of years ago my dad was able to acheive a significant discount from, so I had one of their mobile tyre fitters put four new Michelins on my clio. He did an absolutely fine job- he even tightened the wheel nuts to the correct torque and inflated the tyres to the correct pressure!
are still going- they have a terrible reputation with pretty much everyone you speak to. All the while, small, honest, often family-run indies are going out of business left right and center. I urge you folks who use national chains and dealers to pop into a small, local independant next time you need some brakes or a track rod end. Generally the nature of their business requires them to take pride in their work and earn your repeat custom.
For what it's worth, a couple of years ago my dad was able to acheive a significant discount from
, so I had one of their mobile tyre fitters put four new Michelins on my clio. He did an absolutely fine job- he even tightened the wheel nuts to the correct torque and inflated the tyres to the correct pressure! Edited by Big Al. on Wednesday 16th November 13:10
Classic Grad 98 said:
I genuinely don't know how are still going- they have a terrible reputation with pretty much everyone you speak to. All the while, small, honest, often family-run indies are going out of business left right and center.
I urge you folks who use national chains and dealers to pop into a small, local independant next time you need some brakes or a track rod end. Generally the nature of their business requires them to take pride in their work and earn your repeat custom.
For what it's worth, a couple of years ago my dad was able to acheive a significant discount from, so I had one of their mobile tyre fitters put four new Michelins on my clio. He did an absolutely fine job- he even tightened the wheel nuts to the correct torque and inflated the tyres to the correct pressure!
I've tried using MB indies a few times. Three different ones. I'm sure there are good ones out there but I'd say that feeling utterly mugged 3 times out of 3 is enough. are still going- they have a terrible reputation with pretty much everyone you speak to. All the while, small, honest, often family-run indies are going out of business left right and center. I urge you folks who use national chains and dealers to pop into a small, local independant next time you need some brakes or a track rod end. Generally the nature of their business requires them to take pride in their work and earn your repeat custom.
For what it's worth, a couple of years ago my dad was able to acheive a significant discount from
, so I had one of their mobile tyre fitters put four new Michelins on my clio. He did an absolutely fine job- he even tightened the wheel nuts to the correct torque and inflated the tyres to the correct pressure! There are good, honest main dealer franchises out there too!
Edited by Big Al. on Wednesday 16th November 13:09
doogz said:
TBH, unless they decided to remove the bottom balljoint when they were taking the old wishbone off, with a sledge hammer, i really don't see how they could have caused your wheel bearing to fail. They're generally pretty tough things, and mostly tend to fail due to wear.
So tbh, i'd suck it up and get it repaired, asap, as opposed to driving about on a bearing you know is knackered, and could cause you an accident at any time.
I know what you mean doogz, but sucking it up is the hard bit. I'm cheap y'know... So tbh, i'd suck it up and get it repaired, asap, as opposed to driving about on a bearing you know is knackered, and could cause you an accident at any time.
Dave_ST220 said:
are on these forums BTW, after one such thread I had their customer services email me regarding the comments I made. After seeing one of their monkeys jack a car by a suspension anti roll bar I've not been back since.After one visit to get a new tyre (two in fact, run flats) they didn't inflate the front offside.
Unfortunately as I had reset the tyre monitoring system, it didn't tell me (works on rolling circumference, I told it it was correct ....)
They then tried to blame me, as the monitoring system didn't work .... WTF ...
They then replaced the tyre, oh, damaged the rims all the way round, put the tyre on the wrong way.
Took it to a different centre (same company) the next day to get the tyre put on correctly, and they found it was so badly damaged when fitted, they were amazed it held air ...
The really really aren't the words to describe that level of service....
Edited by Big Al. on Wednesday 16th November 13:05
On a positive, if anyone is in Yorkshire, Alba Tyres are excellent - small chain; no BS and have never heard a bad word against them.
The kind of place that if doing an MOT, do some basic checks first so that it doesn't fail on something small (eg a bulb) and don't charge you for the replacement.
The kind of place that when changing tyres will check your brakes but say "fronts are fine, rears are down to about 30% so you've got at least 10k left on them - no need to worry and no need to change them..."
Refreshing after the scare tactics and pressure sales of the bigger chains and main dealers.
The kind of place that if doing an MOT, do some basic checks first so that it doesn't fail on something small (eg a bulb) and don't charge you for the replacement.
The kind of place that when changing tyres will check your brakes but say "fronts are fine, rears are down to about 30% so you've got at least 10k left on them - no need to worry and no need to change them..."
Refreshing after the scare tactics and pressure sales of the bigger chains and main dealers.
I'd put money on them sledging a seized wheel off.
Sometimes wheels get stuck to the hub and are a PITA to get off. You can try heat/cool etc..etc.. - or you could probably hit it hard with something heavy. Of course, if you do that, you may damage the bearing surface. It's where my money would go, lack of care in removing a seized wheel.
Sometimes wheels get stuck to the hub and are a PITA to get off. You can try heat/cool etc..etc.. - or you could probably hit it hard with something heavy. Of course, if you do that, you may damage the bearing surface. It's where my money would go, lack of care in removing a seized wheel.
They survive because they appeal to the general public. You know, people who rely 100% on their cars but don't have the time to care about them... Big advertising campaigns, same day service, cheap MOTs and services, any car, any model etc.
What the general public don't realise is that pretty much every independant garage will beat their price, offer the same service and actually want their custom to the point that most will bend over backwards to get them in and out in a decent time.
It's far easier for the public to just ring these places as they saw their TV add with the black guy playing the piano and talking Japanese. Who cares about the indy at the end of the road who's been there for 20 years. He doesn't have a national ad campaign so must be a cowboy...
What the general public don't realise is that pretty much every independant garage will beat their price, offer the same service and actually want their custom to the point that most will bend over backwards to get them in and out in a decent time.
It's far easier for the public to just ring these places as they saw their TV add with the black guy playing the piano and talking Japanese. Who cares about the indy at the end of the road who's been there for 20 years. He doesn't have a national ad campaign so must be a cowboy...
Deluded said:
They survive because they appeal to the general public. You know, people who rely 100% on their cars but don't have the time to care about them... Big advertising campaigns, same day service, cheap MOTs and services, any car, any model etc.
What the general public don't realise is that pretty much every independant garage will beat their price, offer the same service and actually want their custom to the point that most will bend over backwards to get them in and out in a decent time.
It's far easier for the public to just ring these places as they saw their TV add with the black guy playing the piano and talking Japanese. Who cares about the indy at the end of the road who's been there for 20 years. He doesn't have a national ad campaign so must be a cowboy...
Yup.What the general public don't realise is that pretty much every independant garage will beat their price, offer the same service and actually want their custom to the point that most will bend over backwards to get them in and out in a decent time.
It's far easier for the public to just ring these places as they saw their TV add with the black guy playing the piano and talking Japanese. Who cares about the indy at the end of the road who's been there for 20 years. He doesn't have a national ad campaign so must be a cowboy...
Speak to the general public and they'll tell you that anyone without a TV ad budget is a backstreet scam merchant waiting to hold your car hostage while emptying your savings.
Seeing as it always costs them a fortune when they go to the known brands that they, incorrectly, trust then the fear of using what they perceive to be crooks is great.
The power of advertising.
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