Garage trying to rip me off!
Discussion
I dusted my scooter off this week and decided after 8 months of it sitting in the garage it was time to use it. I've only done 1800 miles since collecting it from the franchise dealer I bought it from so didnt expect anything major to be wrong with it, but you never know.
Took it to a garage down the road I've not used before, mainly because I was short of time and it was easy. I waited with it and the guy come back to tell me it'd failed on front wheel bearing & headlight aim too low plus advisories of front pads on the minimum and front tyre close to minimum tread depth. They offered to quote for the work and offered to sort it all for just over £330 or £250 without the tyre. I was a bit surprised, especially about the tyre since I'm a bit picky about tyres and their condition and sure enough when I looked at it there didn't appear to be a whole lot wrong with it.
I decided to ring another local garage who quoted me for the pads, bearing & headlight adjustment, they gave me a price of £120 all in.
I had a chat with them about the situation and they offered to MOT it first to give me a second opinion. I took them up on the offer and the guy who runs the place said he'd not say anything to the tester so it was totally unbiased. Phone me up a couple of hours later and the bike passed without a single advisory. The pads have over 50% material left, the tyre is nowhere near needing to be replaced and the headlight beam was spot on, no issues with the bearing either.
First time I've had any issue like this, it's irked me tbh that someone thought they could take me for a mug, not only quoting a inflated price but putting faults down on the MOT that didnt exist.
Any thoughts? I know a lot of an MOT is down to the testers opinion but things like headlight aim and tyre tread depth should be pretty black or white shouldn't they?
I've emailed them to ask for their thoughts on the situation.
Took it to a garage down the road I've not used before, mainly because I was short of time and it was easy. I waited with it and the guy come back to tell me it'd failed on front wheel bearing & headlight aim too low plus advisories of front pads on the minimum and front tyre close to minimum tread depth. They offered to quote for the work and offered to sort it all for just over £330 or £250 without the tyre. I was a bit surprised, especially about the tyre since I'm a bit picky about tyres and their condition and sure enough when I looked at it there didn't appear to be a whole lot wrong with it.
I decided to ring another local garage who quoted me for the pads, bearing & headlight adjustment, they gave me a price of £120 all in.
I had a chat with them about the situation and they offered to MOT it first to give me a second opinion. I took them up on the offer and the guy who runs the place said he'd not say anything to the tester so it was totally unbiased. Phone me up a couple of hours later and the bike passed without a single advisory. The pads have over 50% material left, the tyre is nowhere near needing to be replaced and the headlight beam was spot on, no issues with the bearing either. First time I've had any issue like this, it's irked me tbh that someone thought they could take me for a mug, not only quoting a inflated price but putting faults down on the MOT that didnt exist.
Any thoughts? I know a lot of an MOT is down to the testers opinion but things like headlight aim and tyre tread depth should be pretty black or white shouldn't they?
I've emailed them to ask for their thoughts on the situation.
I know I know there's loads about that make a living out of ripping people off but I guess until now I've been lucky. I've used the same car garage for the past 10 years and have ended up becoming quite good mates with the owner so never need worry when the car needs work.
The bike I've not been riding all that long, tinkered a bit with my previous bikes so havent really got a choice garage but kinda (wrongly!) assumed there was that bit of biker community spirit knocking about but sadly not.
I should have given it a bit more of a once over but you know what it's like when you're busy. I barely used the bike and thought I'd have spotted an issue but you live and learn.
I'll see what their reply is like before going any further.
The bike I've not been riding all that long, tinkered a bit with my previous bikes so havent really got a choice garage but kinda (wrongly!) assumed there was that bit of biker community spirit knocking about but sadly not.
I should have given it a bit more of a once over but you know what it's like when you're busy. I barely used the bike and thought I'd have spotted an issue but you live and learn.
I'll see what their reply is like before going any further.
CaptainMorgan said:
I'll see what their reply is like before going any further.
I'll bet you £10 they ignore your email. You need to ring them up and tell them you want your test fee returned. Once you get it then report them: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/complai...Rubin215 said:
Sorry to say it, but scooter owners are often considered to be mugs when it comes to mot time and repairs.
Most scooterists know very little about them apart from where to put petrol and where to put the key so are seen as a soft-target.
Yeah, you're no doubt right there. The place sells small capacity Chinese bikes so they'll have a nice steady flow of mugs to rip off I fear.Most scooterists know very little about them apart from where to put petrol and where to put the key so are seen as a soft-target.
seveb said:
I'll bet you £10 they ignore your email. You need to ring them up and tell them you want your test fee returned. Once you get it then report them: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/complai...
We'll see, they seem very quick to reply to any bad press online so I hope they'll use it as a chance to keep me quiet and just refund me. This whole thread and many similar ones are the very reason i started doing my own maintenace on my bikes and cars.
Just a small example of my own two weeks ago with my car, took it to a garage to put it on their jiggle ramps to confirm my steering rack was shot on my Megane 225,yep,it was. Pokes away at his computer, labour was 7.5 hours to replace it, £380.Then ofcourse the steering rack £649 on top of that.
Took my old rack to my local motor factor, exchanged for new one, £110!Fitted it myself in 'two' hours, no labour costs! They are all at it, it's bloody shocking, and i'm just one customer with one visit to one garage, £919 saved!!
Just a small example of my own two weeks ago with my car, took it to a garage to put it on their jiggle ramps to confirm my steering rack was shot on my Megane 225,yep,it was. Pokes away at his computer, labour was 7.5 hours to replace it, £380.Then ofcourse the steering rack £649 on top of that.
Took my old rack to my local motor factor, exchanged for new one, £110!Fitted it myself in 'two' hours, no labour costs! They are all at it, it's bloody shocking, and i'm just one customer with one visit to one garage, £919 saved!!
robbocop33 said:
This whole thread and many similar ones are the very reason i started doing my own maintenace on my bikes and cars.
Just a small example of my own two weeks ago with my car, took it to a garage to put it on their jiggle ramps to confirm my steering rack was shot on my Megane 225,yep,it was. Pokes away at his computer, labour was 7.5 hours to replace it, £380.Then ofcourse the steering rack £649 on top of that.
Took my old rack to my local motor factor, exchanged for new one, £110!Fitted it myself in 'two' hours, no labour costs! They are all at it, it's bloody shocking, and i'm just one customer with one visit to one garage, £919 saved!!
Yeah I know what you mean. I'm lucky with the cars as I've got a fantastic garage that have looked after all my cars for about 10 years or so now. When I got a bike I said I would start working on them myself, which I did until the scooter. Might start DIYing it again, it's less of an issue if it all goes tits up with the bike as I dont need it for work each day like the car. Just a small example of my own two weeks ago with my car, took it to a garage to put it on their jiggle ramps to confirm my steering rack was shot on my Megane 225,yep,it was. Pokes away at his computer, labour was 7.5 hours to replace it, £380.Then ofcourse the steering rack £649 on top of that.
Took my old rack to my local motor factor, exchanged for new one, £110!Fitted it myself in 'two' hours, no labour costs! They are all at it, it's bloody shocking, and i'm just one customer with one visit to one garage, £919 saved!!
CaptainMorgan said:
I've used the same car garage for the past 10 years
This is the answer. For cars I have taken all mine (and I frequently have 4 running at any one time, plus MrsC's) to the same garage since about 1990. I know the guys there, they know me, they know the cars' quirks, and I get a decent service from them. IIRC I've had maybe two or three minor (but fully justified) fails in all that time, in what must be approaching 100 MOTs. Bikes likewise, probably used the same guy for the same period of time and I can only ever remember him failing me once, for a poor front brake on a 1960 bike (when it still needed an MOT). I dread the day he tells me he's retiring - which can't be far off.Motto is - use the same place and build up a relationship with them.
use a test centre that only does tests and has no repair garage affiliation.
if you get a fail chances are that its something you should have fixed already.
if you get a fail at garage that wants to charge for fixing and get a pass at a centre that dosnt care if you pass or fail.
go to the ministry and complain.
a rip off garage that depends on mot work to generate income will be very upset if they lose thier testing status.
if you get a fail chances are that its something you should have fixed already.
if you get a fail at garage that wants to charge for fixing and get a pass at a centre that dosnt care if you pass or fail.
go to the ministry and complain.
a rip off garage that depends on mot work to generate income will be very upset if they lose thier testing status.
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