Halfords Autocentre fined for poor service

[Mojooo]

Garage fined after staff fail to find vehicle faults

http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/News/Garage-fined-a...

[MissChief]

I wonder if they managed to find anything that actually didn't need fixing? Makes you wonder how much training some of these 'fitters' get?

[Riknos]

It's good to hear something gets done about this. That, and the fact garages charge people to replace parts they never even bothered to remove are what is wrong with garages these days.

I once got charged £50 for an air con regas on a car that didn't have air con! As soon as they told me this I flipped st and they soon removed it from the bill.

[All that jazz]

Article said:

The business was slapped with a £3,000 fine

That'll make 'em buck up their ideas. Yep.

[14-7]

All that jazz said:

Article said:

The business was slapped with a £3,000 fine

That'll make 'em buck up their ideas. Yep.

And costs of £16k.

[bitwrx]

How much does the sub-editor get fined for this:

Article said:

He further stated that the companies’ quality control procedures had not been properly carried out and that no documentation had been provided to show that either of the individuals responsible for the service had undergone appropriate training on the companies’ systems and procedures.

[All that jazz]

14-7 said:

And costs of £16k.

I can read just fine thanks. The costs are not part of the fine/"punishment" for not the job people paid them to do. A £3k fine is a drop in the ocean for a company of that size and no deterrent whatsoever.

[spaximus]

With the exception of the tyre pressure none of those faults were dangerous. This seems to me a worrying trend.

There is a perception in the public and on here to be honest that all garages are run by pirates. Indeed reading the report from the CAB the top three reasons people come to then for advice, is used cars Furniture and garage repairs.

The trading standards are going for garages more and more and yet the vast majority of repairs in this country are done well and fairly priced. Marking things for example to see if wheels are removed, well on most cars the wheels are not removed on a standard service as per the manufacturers schedule.

One of the big issues is expectations. Someone who spends £10k on a used car expects it to be brand new, without any age related wear. Same with the service and repair, they expect a service to almost fully rebuild a vehicle. With repairs especially it is a distress purchase rarley budgeted for so people are angry when told that an expensive repair is needed. People don't always understand that repairing one item does not make that immune to other failures in the future.

Yes there are rouge garages but 99% are not crooks. To me it seems harsh that some staff have lost their jobs over not filling washer bottles.

[All that jazz]

spaximus said:

With the exception of the tyre pressure none of those faults were dangerous. This seems to me a worrying trend.

There is a perception in the public and on here to be honest that all garages are run by pirates. Indeed reading the report from the CAB the top three reasons people come to then for advice, is used cars Furniture and garage repairs.

The trading standards are going for garages more and more and yet the vast majority of repairs in this country are done well and fairly priced. Marking things for example to see if wheels are removed, well on most cars the wheels are not removed on a standard service as per the manufacturers schedule.

One of the big issues is expectations. Someone who spends £10k on a used car expects it to be brand new, without any age related wear. Same with the service and repair, they expect a service to almost fully rebuild a vehicle. With repairs especially it is a distress purchase rarley budgeted for so people are angry when told that an expensive repair is needed. People don't always understand that repairing one item does not make that immune to other failures in the future.

Yes there are rouge garages but 99% are not crooks. To me it seems harsh that some staff have lost their jobs over not filling washer bottles.

All that is irrelevant. Bottom line is joe bloggs has paid his £205 for a full service and hasn't had a lot of it done.

[spaximus]

All that jazz said:

All that is irrelevant. Bottom line is joe bloggs has paid his £205 for a full service and hasn't had a lot of it done.

There was seven items marked by the ooft and they did not do them. No where I have read, does it suggest the items were dangerous and that any of the other items that were supposed to be checked had not been done to a high level.

Yes there was a problem, however my points still stand that the vasy majority of repairs in this country are done to a high standard of competence and satisfaction. Where complaints are made they need dealing with, but I still think that it is unfair that the motor trade in general is always portrayed as being villans and in many cases where complaints are made they are due to expectations not equaling what has been paid for and provided.

There are several schemes to promote good practice which have raised standards across the industry.

I work in the motor trade so I declare an interest, however I know of more moans about builders than anything else but that does not justify ooft launching a witch hunt against the building trade.

[Sir Bagalot]

Absolutely fking shocking! No not the fact that the garage were ripping people off for a service they weren't getting but the fact that it took 26 months to get to court!

[SuperHangOn]

spaximus said:

Yes there are rouge garages but 99% are not crooks. To me it seems harsh that some staff have lost their jobs over not filling washer bottles.

Hmmm.

Our local council did a 'hidden shopper' survey to test the service of garages (covering 2 large towns). 1 garage provided an acceptable service. Yes 1! This garage had the councils letter framed on the wall and were very keen to point it out!

A lot of garages were charging for services which weren't actually done etc etc.

[SuperchargedVR6]

Makes me chuckle when companies rumbled for crap service always follow up with things like :-

Halfords said:

Halfords Autocentres has one of the most rigorous quality and training programmes in the UK garage industry and the vast majority of our highly qualified technicians perform an exemplary job

And it isn't the first time Halfords have pulled out the "Isolated case" card either.

[Marc p]

I thought if I was dropping the car off for a service, they would do an oil and filter change (with the possible addition of plugs and belts). So why the hell would they need to check alignment of washer jets and why would the wheels need to come off? Also, aren't the fluid and tyre pressure checks are down to the owner?

[maffski]

Marc p said:

I thought if I was dropping the car off for a service, they would do an oil and filter change (with the possible addition of plugs and belts). So why the hell would they need to check alignment of washer jets and why would the wheels need to come off? Also, aren't the fluid and tyre pressure checks are down to the owner?

Looks like they promise an inspection as well as just the oil service - http://www.halfordsautocentres.com/webapp/wcs/stor...

For example

Halfords Autocentre Website said:

Tyres and Wheels - Check and adjust tyre pressures (including spare)

News article said:

Workers at the Wheat Street-based garage failed to recognise that a VW Transporter had reduced fluid levels and tyre pressures

[richb77]

spaximus said:

There was seven items marked by the ooft and they did not do them. No where I have read, does it suggest the items were dangerous

I beg to differ. Tyre pressures can be dangerous if too low or too high. and blown bulbs can be a serious issue. Not to mention if the brake fluid is low.

[aka_kerrly]

I can't pretend to be surprised.

I haven't been anywhere near a halfords/national/kwik scam establishment in years since having a few incidents with them trying to do more work than was required.

Anyone taking advantage of the "FREE brake/tyre/battery/alignment check" should know full that nothing is free with these places and you can almost guarantee that for example if your battery is fine then your tyres/exhaust/brakes/suspension will need "some work"

[kayzee]

Yes I thought this story might be the other way round! That they were finding faults that weren't there... that's what happened to my mum at Mr Clutch.

[trickywoo]

Seems a bit harsh in light of a bike garage I went to that didn't bother to put the rear brake caliper back on correctly. It spun on the disk and locked the rear wheel when the hose got caught in the swingarm.

I wrote to trading standards and they couldn't even be bothered to reply.

[V6Alfisti]

I must admit that I tend to make the most of the big Auto Centres.

My specialist gets the car for servicing/repairs, unless it is something that they are occasionally competitive on e.g. exhaust component or tyre repair (with one of the online vouchers).

Also MOTs are usually scare mongered but I have used KwikFit/Halfords/Mr Clutch and they have all been fair/honest.

I think they must have improved considerably over the years, as I have been impressed with all of them for any work I have had done.

TVR Chimaera - KwikFit Oil Change - Half price deal, used 8 individual bottles of Mobil 1 to fill her up, sourced the right filter (as not always easy on TVRs) and it was fitted by an ex TVR mechanic who used to work at Webbs.

Audi A4 - KwikFit Winter Aircon top up, did it without any fuss.

Multiple MOTs using the half price deals - KwikFit/Mr Clutch/Halfords Auto Centre/National Auto Centre - All perfectly fair.

National Tyres - Puncture repair, quick, took care of the wheels...used a voucher to bring the cost down from a silly £17 balance/valve/fit to about £9/10 which is average for the local outfits.