Servicing Stop - Avoid at all costs!!
Comments
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Servicing Stop are shameless liars oit to rip prole off. I booked a service and MOT. I was called on the day to be told MOT passed but in order to do the service additional work was necessary. The handler seemed desperate for me to accept an increase of just shy of £300 and he didn't hide his irritation at my request for a writen breakdown. I'll not list it all but to give you an idea: £52 (plus VAT) to replace a pollen filter...I caled to query the figures but to my surprise there had been no error and he was sticking to them! I therefore requested my vehicle back and an invoice for the MOT. The hander: Gary, repeatedly told me I'm resposible for the MOT and service cost plus £24 for the 'high performance oil' . When I explained that as the service hadn't been done, I'll not be paying for anything but the MOT. He at first suggest the service had been done but later suggestex it was partially done and then repeatedly said that the car was 'sat on the ramp drained of oil' and so they'd have to refill it in order to return it and therefore I have to pay the MOT service and oil costs. This turned out to be a lie and a clear attempt to blackmail me to pay in order to get my vehicle back. The garage later confirmed that they had done no work except the MOT and quote the service. It also later transpired that Service Stop had inflated some items on the garages' quote by 300%0
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I had checked my car before having it taken for an MOT by Servicing Stop, so knew that it would fail and what items it would fail on. I received a long list of faults from them and I knew right away that some of the items they had listed as failures, were not. I didn't authorise the repair and asked for the car to be returned. The salesman initially told me that the car was too dangerous to drive and that I should collect it myself. They did agree to bring it back eventually, presumably because they realised that they had left their own car on my drive.
I inspected the car when it returned and it was as I had suspected. Faulty Hazard warning system - works absolutely fine. Windscreen wipers (recently replaced), no problem whatsoever. They did find all of the items that I knew would cause the car to fail, broken spring, suspension bushes etc, which was good.
It leads me to suspect that these extra items are added to customers bills simply to inflate the bill in order to cover their 'Low cost MOT with free Collection and Delivery'
I would never use them again.
I would not be able to trust them.0 -
If people aren't aware of how shady these guys are, then really it's to some degree their problem.0
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It leads me to suspect that these extra items are added to customers bills simply to inflate the bill in order to cover their 'Low cost MOT
Yup, just the same as every other place that offers cut-price MOTs. Personally I'm happy with my local mechanic who charges the full MOT fee as set out by the government, but never miraculously "finds" work that needs doing. Indeed, if there's something trivial like a bulb gone, he'll replace it and not charge me anything at all for it. OK, I know it's only pennies, but a lot of places would at least charge you a minimum of quarter of an hour's labour.0 -
What's the MOT fee these days? £50?0
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What's the MOT fee these days? £50?
£54.85 : https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/mot-test-fees
Sure, you see lots of garages offering an MOT for £20. But for that they've got to factor in half an hour's labour, the overheads of buying and maintaining the correct equipment to perform the test, and ( I'm guessing on this one, please correct me if I'm wrong ?? ), some sort of payment to the DVSA. So overall they probably make a loss on it. Guess what - a couple of hour's worth of fictitious labour charges will see them back in the black.
OK, it's not fair to tar all garages with the same brush - but it's worth being aware of what it actually costs the garage to do the test.0 -
Ebe_Scrooge wrote: ȣ54.85 : https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/mot-test-fees
Sure, you see lots of garages offering an MOT for £20. But for that they've got to factor in half an hour's labour, the overheads of buying and maintaining the correct equipment to perform the test, and ( I'm guessing on this one, please correct me if I'm wrong ?? ), some sort of payment to the DVSA. So overall they probably make a loss on it. Guess what - a couple of hour's worth of fictitious labour charges will see them back in the black.
OK, it's not fair to tar all garages with the same brush - but it's worth being aware of what it actually costs the garage to do the test.
There's also plenty of places who charge less than the official fee, don't offer any repair services (and stay completely neutral by refusing to even recommend a third party repairer), don't charge for a failed test, and still make their business model work.0 -
ilikewatch wrote: »There's also plenty of places who charge less than the official fee, don't offer any repair services (and stay completely neutral by refusing to even recommend a third party repairer), don't charge for a failed test, and still make their business model work.
Yup. Just got the banger MOT'd and it cost 40 quid which means he made a loss.....
Except thanks to his honesty, I'll be taking it back to him to do the clutch if it goes, or the cam belt when it needs doing, or the wheel alignment of the offer that service. I'll also recommend them to friends, family, and make sure I go back for my MOT next year.
Unlike the garage who did my partners car and tried to almost suggest the vehicle was a write off there was that much work. Those guys I won't be recommending..... As it was pretty much all lies.0 -
We have been ripped off by these people! Has anyone taken them to trading standards or small claims court?0
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We have been ripped off by these people! Has anyone taken them to trading standards or small claims court?
Next on the to-do list but the Trading Standards report is not that reassuring, time will tell. Full service booked with the specialist oil (£33) I wanted left on the passenger seat with the wheel nut and log book. I told them by email about the oil and said I wanted no extra work done. The car was returned with log book signed, servicing spanner no longer showing on the dash and oil not used. I've DIY serviced my cars for the last 48 years including 30 of them on diesels. I ran the dipstick oil over my fingers just before they picked it up and it was, as expected, black and acrid smelling. I did the same on the car's return with the same indicators. I took the oil (element not cartridge) and air filter off and they were the old ones. I've now replaced them and the oil. Servicing Stop say on their website they only use O.E. parts. I asked for the make of filters used on the service. They emailed these but they don't match the old parts which still clearly show the manufacturer's stamp. I've sent an oil sample off to The OilLab, report awaited. I'll continue to do my own servicing till I'm too old to sprawl under the car on ramps to remove the engine bay tray and sump plug. They say the car has to be checked under warranty. There are no new parts to warrant. Avoid.0
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