Being happy with work you've paid to have done on your car
Discussion
Is this too much to ask?
Normal I'll tackle most jobs on my car myself, as I hate feeling unsatisfied with jobs I paid to have done on the car. Todays piss boiling run in was with a tyre fitter. This has just cemented in my mind, that it's a rare pleasure to walk away and think that was well worth the money.
I have a set of new tyres I need fitting to my alloys, so I go down to the tyre fitters with just the wheels and new tyres. I explain exactly what I need doing. I even put the right size tyre on the rim it needs fitting to, as they have different offsets and tyre sizes. So the tyre fitter takes all wheels and tyres out of the van and puts tyres in one pile and wheels in another. I stupidly think he obviously knows what he's doing and not wanting to tell him how to do his job I go and wait in the waiting room. 1 hour all done and I pay the £12+vat for each of the four wheels. I get home and start cleaning off the excessive amount of fitting grease the guy has used, to find that he's put a nice inch long scrap on one of the rims pulling the powder coat off. Not being too pedantic about these things, I get out some paint and just touch it up. He has also gone and fitted the balancing weights on top of each other. So I will see how long they will last before falling off. At this point I'm struggling think was it worth the money.
So I go to fit the wheels back on the car, to find the idiot has gone and put the wrong tyres on two of the rims. Phone them up to see if they'll swap them around to get told "well you never told me what tyres needed to go where". I argue a little but he's not taking any responsibility, I never told him as far as he's concerned. I need the tyres swapping so a agree to disagree. I get down there and the owner of said tyre place, just shrugs his shoulders and says mistakes happen. Granted they do... But after explaining and laying everything out in parrot fashion. it was a little difficult to make a mistake. So I waste another 45mins waiting for the tyres to be fitted properly.
It amazes me how little responsibility people take for there f
k ups. How are they ever going to learn if they don't admit there mistakes. I'm now on the hunt for a tyre and balancing machines, so I can just do the job myself.
Finding a good MOT garage is another experience. One failing the car as they weren't testing the emission for the right car. Another putting my Subaru on there 2WD MOT brake tester, which buggered up the centre diff.
Normal I'll tackle most jobs on my car myself, as I hate feeling unsatisfied with jobs I paid to have done on the car. Todays piss boiling run in was with a tyre fitter. This has just cemented in my mind, that it's a rare pleasure to walk away and think that was well worth the money.
I have a set of new tyres I need fitting to my alloys, so I go down to the tyre fitters with just the wheels and new tyres. I explain exactly what I need doing. I even put the right size tyre on the rim it needs fitting to, as they have different offsets and tyre sizes. So the tyre fitter takes all wheels and tyres out of the van and puts tyres in one pile and wheels in another. I stupidly think he obviously knows what he's doing and not wanting to tell him how to do his job I go and wait in the waiting room. 1 hour all done and I pay the £12+vat for each of the four wheels. I get home and start cleaning off the excessive amount of fitting grease the guy has used, to find that he's put a nice inch long scrap on one of the rims pulling the powder coat off. Not being too pedantic about these things, I get out some paint and just touch it up. He has also gone and fitted the balancing weights on top of each other. So I will see how long they will last before falling off. At this point I'm struggling think was it worth the money.
So I go to fit the wheels back on the car, to find the idiot has gone and put the wrong tyres on two of the rims. Phone them up to see if they'll swap them around to get told "well you never told me what tyres needed to go where". I argue a little but he's not taking any responsibility, I never told him as far as he's concerned. I need the tyres swapping so a agree to disagree. I get down there and the owner of said tyre place, just shrugs his shoulders and says mistakes happen. Granted they do... But after explaining and laying everything out in parrot fashion. it was a little difficult to make a mistake. So I waste another 45mins waiting for the tyres to be fitted properly.
It amazes me how little responsibility people take for there f
k ups. How are they ever going to learn if they don't admit there mistakes. I'm now on the hunt for a tyre and balancing machines, so I can just do the job myself.Finding a good MOT garage is another experience. One failing the car as they weren't testing the emission for the right car. Another putting my Subaru on there 2WD MOT brake tester, which buggered up the centre diff.
In fairness what do you expect? They sorted them out for free. OK the bloke messed up. But do you really expect the boss to blast him in front of you and tell you what a pathetic waste of space he is? Not exactly good for moral is it.
At the end of the day. You lost 45 mins, which is probably the time you have taken getting upset about this and writing this on here. And I'm not going to lie, it's really not the end of the world it is.
At the end of the day. You lost 45 mins, which is probably the time you have taken getting upset about this and writing this on here. And I'm not going to lie, it's really not the end of the world it is.
I had a similar experience recently getting my current tyres transferred to new rims and then refitted to the car. It's a well-regarded tyre specialist that I've used several times before, but I thought I'd help them out as much as I could.
Wanting the tyres replaced in the same positions I chalked OSR, OSF etc on them all. I put a Post-It with the correct pressures on the steering wheel, and another Post-It on one rim that I wanted to go on the front, and went through it with the receptionist.
You've guessed it - all the tyres swapped positions, the one rim went on the rear, and the pressures were all over the place. I also found out today that my mechanic (who is an absolute star) needed a long breaker bar to remove half (but not all) of the studs.
It can't be that difficult can it? The fking muppets.
Wanting the tyres replaced in the same positions I chalked OSR, OSF etc on them all. I put a Post-It with the correct pressures on the steering wheel, and another Post-It on one rim that I wanted to go on the front, and went through it with the receptionist.
You've guessed it - all the tyres swapped positions, the one rim went on the rear, and the pressures were all over the place. I also found out today that my mechanic (who is an absolute star) needed a long breaker bar to remove half (but not all) of the studs.
It can't be that difficult can it? The f
king muppets.It pays to find professionals who you are happy with. For instance, I have always got my car's MOT done at the same place. £25, always done quickly and never any of the 'have a go' stunts some testers pull to try and get some work out of you.
Much the same with my tyre fitter. I always call the same bloke. The first time I booked him through his company, but he left me a card then and said that if I ever needed tyres done again to call the number on the card, as there was a discount available. I've done so in the past, get a nice discount off the website price and the service is great. Tyres supplied, fitted and wheels properly balanced by a professional on my driveway. Taking it to Kwik Fit would cost just as much!
Much the same with my tyre fitter. I always call the same bloke. The first time I booked him through his company, but he left me a card then and said that if I ever needed tyres done again to call the number on the card, as there was a discount available. I've done so in the past, get a nice discount off the website price and the service is great. Tyres supplied, fitted and wheels properly balanced by a professional on my driveway. Taking it to Kwik Fit would cost just as much!
toosexyformycar said:
In fairness what do you expect? They sorted them out for free. OK the bloke messed up. But do you really expect the boss to blast him in front of you and tell you what a pathetic waste of space he is? Not exactly good for moral is it.
At the end of the day. You lost 45 mins, which is probably the time you have taken getting upset about this and writing this on here. And I'm not going to lie, it's really not the end of the world it is.
The point the OP was making was that the fitter marked his alloy, which he had to sort, put wheel weights on wrong and tyres were on wrong rims and he had to go back and get sorted. The OP did not expect the fitter to get the hairdryer treatment, just told the owner so it was brought to his attention..seeing that it is his garage. 'Pride in work' n all that.At the end of the day. You lost 45 mins, which is probably the time you have taken getting upset about this and writing this on here. And I'm not going to lie, it's really not the end of the world it is.
It's NOT the end of the world but it is a big effing pain. Can't see you being so relaxed about it if the same happened to you.....
With you all the way on this - jeep come back from MOT with wheel nuts swapped for something they had on the shelf, locking wheel nut key broke sir - try and get a new one - most likely the apprentice with the air gun trick!
I pick the R1 up from service (London Colney)and the mechanic tells me how fast it goes but doesn't tighten the fairing fastners.
These and many more bad experiences mean that unfortunately I need to work on the basis that all mechanics are retards who couldn't give a toss these days!
I pick the R1 up from service (London Colney)and the mechanic tells me how fast it goes but doesn't tighten the fairing fastners.
These and many more bad experiences mean that unfortunately I need to work on the basis that all mechanics are retards who couldn't give a toss these days!
I made it sound like I went and found the owner for a moan in my original post. I bumped into him when I turned up and he looked at me like why are you back. To put his confusion at ease I just said the tyres where put on the wrong rims. At that point I had decided I won't be using them again, so there was no real need to fly off the handle. I probably wasn't going to get much of a different response. But If I do something wrong in my job or someone I'm managing makes a mistake. I would apologise to the customer for there wasted time and get the job sorted out straight away. Usually they walk away a happy customer and I don't loose there repeat business. The guy that did the work put no pride into his work, I know it's only fitting some tyres hardly a difficult job. I also forgot to mention he was a miserable bugger.
I've tried about 6 tyre fitters over the years.. One place managed to fit 4 new tyres and 2 of them leaked from the off.
One problem with buying your tyres off the internet is going and get them fitted, as they either won't or they look at you like you have two heads. I know some of the internet tyre retailers are linked with fitters around the country. unfortunately the company I buy my tyres from don't. They're usually the cheapest and then I can get a bit more of a discount by phoning a contact that works there. I think I'll just get the equipment and start fitting my own tyres I might even be able to make the machines pay for themselves by offering some good customer service. Only problem is fitting the machines in the garage.
I've tried about 6 tyre fitters over the years.. One place managed to fit 4 new tyres and 2 of them leaked from the off.
One problem with buying your tyres off the internet is going and get them fitted, as they either won't or they look at you like you have two heads. I know some of the internet tyre retailers are linked with fitters around the country. unfortunately the company I buy my tyres from don't. They're usually the cheapest and then I can get a bit more of a discount by phoning a contact that works there. I think I'll just get the equipment and start fitting my own tyres I might even be able to make the machines pay for themselves by offering some good customer service. Only problem is fitting the machines in the garage.
I was in the body shop/restorer I use a while ago and noticed they had both a tyre fitting and balancing machine, I asked why. Turns out they were so fed up of completing a restoration to have the wheels scratched by poor tyre fitting, balance weights poorly placed etc, they bit the bullet and bought their own kit, even though by comparison to a tyre centre, it is hardly used.
So I asked them to fit my new wheels, they let me watch - the attention to detail was astonishing and I have completely unmarked, perfectly balanced wheels. They charge more than your local monkey (£15 per wheel including VAT), but I will never go anywhere else.
So I asked them to fit my new wheels, they let me watch - the attention to detail was astonishing and I have completely unmarked, perfectly balanced wheels. They charge more than your local monkey (£15 per wheel including VAT), but I will never go anywhere else.
I have paid people to do work on my cars 9 times. 7 of those were MOTs, 1 was tyres fitting and 1 was troubleshooting an electrical problem. Everything else in my motoring and race driving experience has been DIY. I'm not qualified but still feel I do a better (albeit slower) job 90% of the time.
HustleRussell said:
...I'm not qualified but still feel I do a better (albeit slower) job 90% of the time.
I think that's the key for me - I can do it how I want it done, not how quickly they want to do it.I've not had one occasion being completely happy with work done on my car, there's always something where I think "Hmmm... That's not good enough". Even something small like not putting the wheel weights on the inside of a steel wheel, despite asking, or filling a gearbox with automatic rather than manual fluid.
The chap who looks after my Landy does an absolutely fantastic job at a very reasonable price. As a result, he now looks after all the odd jobs on mine and my wife's main cars (apart from a main dealer stamped service).
His work is truly second to none.
As a thank you, I always drop a couple of crates of beer round for him at Christmas time.
His work is truly second to none.
As a thank you, I always drop a couple of crates of beer round for him at Christmas time.
Baryonyx said:
Taking it to Kwik Fit would cost just as much!
Kwik Fit wouldn't fit my tyres to my rims since I didn't buy them from Kwik Fit. Let's ignore the fact they don't actually have any tyres in the sizes I needed.I need to find a local guy who'll do it consistently well, I told the last guy I used that I'd be in at least once a month to get tyres changed, he shrugged. Presumably gets a lot more money out of gullible people driving in for MOTs etc.
HustleRussell said:
doogz said:
Jamie VTS said:
I would be fking apoplectic with rage.
Did someone recently buy you a thesaurus, or do you speak like that in real life?It has been one of my favourite ways to describe a bad mood for long enough that i reckon it predates New Top Gear. HTH
On topic, i am not very mechanical so tend to pay for most of the work done to my cars, there are a couple of people i trust and never worry about. However having had some work done on my old MR2 only to have it conk out as i was trying to pull out of the garage was a horrible and frustrating feeling to say i was
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