Another unhappy Ripped off Kwik Fit customer ** Satisfied **

[drh1]

I have always used the Farnborough centre for a combined service and MOT and have always been happy in previous years as the regular manager Michael is one of the best in that business in my opinion. On this particular day however, he had a day off and was not around.

 

Around mid-morning, I received a call from the centre informing me that one of the brake pipes had burst during the MOT test and would need to be replaced. I was also told that some of the other brake pipes were corroded and needed replacing. I had no issue with us other than the figure quoted was £550 which seemed to be excessive. I agreed after I was reassured that I would not have to worry about MOT failure due to brake pipe corrosion next year. I was also invited to replace all four tyres for a further £220 which I declined as they had plenty of tread left.

 

I received a further call in the late afternoon to inform me that the work had been completed and that I could collect the car.

 

I expressed concern that the cost of replacing the brake pipes seemed excessive, but was reassured by the comment that all had been replaced 'right up to the master cylinder'.

 

I was happy with the combined MOT and service, change of brake fluid, replacement auxiliary belt and a new bulb for the MOT which amounted to £220.29. This is very good value and the work has always been completed with no problems.

 

The invoice included £44.95 for 'GEOALIGN' which was not agreed or required since the tracking had already been adjusted earlier this year during other work on the car.

 

The remaining sum of £454.10 was for the work carried out on the brakes including replacement brake pipes 'right up to the master cylinder'. However, when I later inspected the work, I found that only the two rear flexible hoses had been replaced along with the associated short lengths of pipe plus a length of pipe to the original offside front flexible hose. The new MOT shows an advisory item being the 'nearside front brake pipe corroded' so that item had not been touched.

 

One item on the invoice is shown as BRPIPE Brake Pipe(per ft) £350.00 Qty 1. with no itemised breakdown of cost.

 

I was disappointed as a regular customer, especially after many years of excellent service that:-

 

I paid for work that was not requested, or agreed.

I paid for replacement brakes pipes but one front pipe remains an advisory item on the new MOT.

These lengths of pipe appear on the invoice with a price of £350 with no breakdown of costs. £350 seems a very high price.

 

I have lodged a complaint about my experience as a loyal customer and in fairness to the organisation, will have to give them time to respond.

 

The worst part about this episode is that I *know* I have received excellent service on every previous occasion at his branch over many years, and up to now they had my loyalty and my trust.

Edited May 17, 2013 by drh1

[Conniff]

You shouldn't 'feel' that you have been ripped off drh, you should instead start to cry as you have been deliberately lied to and ripped off.

 

You say the brake pipe were billed as all being changed but were not. You should write to this branch and request a 50% refund. If they don't, then sue them for it.

[drh1]

The worst part is that the work on my car over many years has been great and I've shown loyalty by going back. There is normal manager 'Michael' has *always* been absolutely brilliant... 100% genuine and honest in every respect. I've never had this problem before. It was his day off yesterday so there was a new manager instead.

Edited May 17, 2013 by drh1

[Conniff]

Bleddy big car you have seeing as it's about £1 per foot.

 

If the whole hasn't been replaced, then take pics of it especially the old stuff.

[drh1]

They could coil the pipe round and round underneath the car for 20-30 times and still not use up that much pipe.....

Edited May 17, 2013 by drh1

[Conniff]

Bit small in .jpg, can you do a pdf.

[drh1]

Bit small in .jpg, can you do a pdf.

 

Sorry... didn't realise that pdf was valid...... Done.

Edited May 16, 2013 by drh1

[drh1]

Ok, I'm waitng for a reply from Kwik Fit having completed the customer satisfaction form as a complaint and calling the head office this morning to back up my complaint.

The latter was totally disinterested, and the lady simply said that the matter would be passed to the Area Manager responsible for the Farnborough centre.

It would be unfair for me to comment further until I get a response from him.

 

I'm hoping that this was just a rogue manager standing in for the usual guy.

The problem for him now is that the stand-in manager has damaged the good reputation of that centre in my opinion.

 

Let's see what the area manager has to say.

I'll post on here to let you know of any progress.

Edited May 16, 2013 by drh1

[Conniff]

It says 'deposit paid' does that mean you have an outstanding bill and your car back ??

[drh1]

It says 'deposit paid' does that mean you have an outstanding bill and your car back ??

 

No, when you book a combine MOT and service online, you pay for this in advance. The prices are pretty good with a good discount - £35 for the MOT and £105 for the service. The optional brake fluid change adds another £30 to the bill so you will pay a total of £170 in total and nothing more assuming your car passes the MOT with no problems.

 

If it fails or you request extra work, then this is added to the invoice when you collect the car. Problem is the invoice is vague and misleading; some how they arrived at the total of £350.00 (exactly !) for brake pipe. I think the flexible hoses were reasonable at £46.10 each fitted and apart from 'Brake Consumables' as a mystery item plus the unwanted tracking adjustment for £44.95, everything else seems correct. I'm glad I declined the 'offer' of four new tyres for an additional £220. These were totally unnecessary. I only cover 6-8k miles a year and the 4-5mm left before the legal limit is reached will last for the rest of this year.

Edited May 17, 2013 by drh1

[drh1]

This morning, I was pleased to receive a call from Michael, the usual call centre manager, who said he wants to retain me as a customer and has offered to rectify a situation which was not his fault.

 

He has offered to refund the amount charged for tracking which was not requested or authorised and the amount for the unspecified items listed as Brake Consumables on the invoice.

 

He has offered to replace the remaining corroded piece of pipe at no charge.

 

He explained that the £350 charge on the invoice was for 5 x pieces of replacement brake pipe at £70 each. Ok, to me this seems a bit expensive but had it been shown as such rather than 350ft pipe x 1, then the charge would have been made clear and I could have queried it.

 

I will take the car back next week for the remaining corroded brake pipe to be changed free of charge and will post again once the work has been completed.

 

Kwik Fit, as a large company, are extremely fortunate in having Michael as the manager running the Farnborough branch for several years in my opinion. As an customer, I choose where I take my business and my perception of those in charge will affect that decision.

[drh1]

Just to put this one to bed......

 

True to his word, the manager Michael called me to arrange the car to be returned. He seemed genuinely concerned.

 

I was refunded the fee for the work that was not requested i.e. the tracking and also the cost of two unspecified 'consumables' which showed on the invoice.

Only the brake pipes to three of the wheels had been changed with the fourth showing as an advisory item on the new MOT.

This remaining sectioned was replaced free of charge, but the 'advisory' item could not be removed from MOT as I was told it was a VOSA issue.

 

The situation has been rectified on this occasion. However I remain concerned that the manager in charge of the centre when Michael was away lied to me by saying all the brake pipes had been replaced when this was clearly untrue. He also told me the tyres were worn and should be repalced, offering me a price of £220.

I've measured the treads with my tyre gauge and they are 5, 4.5, 4,5 and 4mm and they do not need replacing at the moment.

I'm not stupid and have worked in aeronautical engineering for longer than those fitters had lived on this earth.

 

Conclusion.... the centre is only as good as the manager. If you get a good one like Michael, then that's great.

I hope Kwit Fit realise this man recovered his centre from a diffcult situation which was not his making.

[Conniff]

Would you like your thread marked as 'satisfied' ?

[drh1]

Would you like your thread marked as 'satisfied' ?

 

 

Yes please and thank you.

Hope this helps others.

[Conniff]

I'm certain it will.