Kwik Fit - Avoid at all costs - Watchdog BBC1 iplayer

rev_henry

Gutted I missed the programme. Anywhere I can watch it now?

dacouch

datostar wrote: »

Perhaps he was disabled? There's a young fellow with only one arm working on the checkout in my local Co-op. Copes admirably.

As a Kwik Fit employee he may have been a one armed bandit

broxiebear1

almillar wrote: »

Just for a bit of balance, I've used them several times for aircon refills, exhaust replacement, balancing wheels and puncture repair and they've been absolutely fine. Puncture repair was free, and they told me that I needed new front tyres. They were definitely still legal, but quite low on the insides, so I thought that was fair enough. Just got a price off them and drove off, no hard sell or anything.
What I want to know is - who's better? Dealers?!

the free puncture trick is to see what they can get from you ie new tyres (as they said to you) brakes exhaust etc,
i worked as a manager with a local tyre firm and recieved a call from a lady enquiring about price of a new tyre price was agreed i ordered tyre for her as i didnt have the one she wanted in stock when she arrived at depot the tyre she was replacing was in the boot of her car i went to get tyre and saw chalk mark in centre of tyre and tyre half off the wheel the tyre was nearly new i said to the lady where were you with puncture kwick fit .. she was amazed that i knew she was there i told her that i could repair puncture for her cost £11 inc balance she was over the moon and thanked me for my honesty ,i sent back the tyre she ordered would have cost her £84 , made £11 profit and gained some happy customers ie her and her family and friends .
yea other dealers have tricks to get you in to there depot half price mot is a good one car fails then they get repair work etc.
i have always been honest with customers mybee to honest i once told an old lady that came in for 4 new tyres they were like new that she didnt need any (guess where she was yea k f told her she needed them..
ps i am no longer manager of company all they were interested was targets ,profit .
i coulddnt rip people off like that .

MrSmartprice

I used to be a TSO and we regularly sent cars to various repair outlets for test servicing, similar to what Watchdog have done. I recall Kwik Fit have had this problem for many years. It used to be their 'trademark' to offer a loss-leader such as a cheap oil and filter change (costing less than buying the oil and filter at one time!) and then doing a free safety check which advised a load of work that needed doing.

They were also well known for failing to carry out all the jobs specified on the service schedule. Specific faults were put on every car we submitted. It could be a broken repeater bulb, over-inflated tyres, loose wheel nuts or whatever. They invariably skimped on the job, but were by no means the only offenders.

One of the problems the trade had (and probably still does) is that the people doing the work were only trainees, and their work was never properly checked.

cyclonebri1

I'll save that post for the next time the QF issue arises :beer:

Strider590

MrSmartprice wrote: »

One of the problems the trade had (and probably still does) is that the people doing the work were only trainees, and their work was never properly checked.

To be fair, this is also a problem at a lot of main dealerships.

They're cheaper than qualified mechanics and they're young enough that they don't have an opinion and don't question what the non-qualified admin staff tell them to do.
Where an experienced mechanic might say "these parts aren't good enough" or "we need XYZ to do this job properly" or "we can't find the problem we need more time".

When you have admin staff controlling technical staff, the result is NEVER good in ANY business.

When a job has a cost and time listed with it, any experienced engineer will tell you it's impossible to put times on jobs because literally anything can happen to slow you down. But admin staff don't see this, they just think everything takes a set time and if it takes longer then your obviously being lazy.

Go back to garage's and what you have is trainee's who find ways to rush jobs.

Example - say they're expected to do a service in 60mins, but the oil filter wouldn't come off and took 35mins to remove and clean up. They've still got the spark plugs, fuel, air and pollen filters to change AND the engine oil.... They can't run over on the job because they'll get a black mark against their record (and the experienced mechanic probably got fired for being too slow). So you end up with just a new oil filter, new engine oil for your £250+

King_Nothing

datostar wrote: »

Perhaps he was disabled? There's a young fellow with only one arm working on the checkout in my local Co-op. Copes admirably.

Still, fitting a tyre would be suited for two hands best if you ask me, especially if you through into the equation £1,400 alloy wheels, like the ones I'm going to purchase for my car. I wouldn't like someone coming along and half-arsing it, and taking a nice lovely gouge out of my wheel because he didn't adjust the tyre removal machine because he had his hands in his pocket.

usignuolo

Our car got a broken exhaust going over a ramp in the dump and the breakdown service towed us to Kwikfit as it was the only place nearby open on a sunday afternoon When we drove off I thought I could hear something rattling. It didn't go away and eventually I went round to the local ATS where I usually go, and Kwikfit had not screwed the underneath bracket holding the exhaust back on properly. It was trailing in the road. The ATS fitter said it looked like it had been done by someone guessing how to do it. They were all young boys in Kwikfit and obviously without proper training. Cowboys avoid at all costs.

cyclonebri1

Strider590 wrote: »

To be fair, this is also a problem at a lot of main dealerships.

They're cheaper than qualified mechanics and they're young enough that they don't have an opinion and don't question what the non-qualified admin staff tell them to do.
Where an experienced mechanic might say "these parts aren't good enough" or "we need XYZ to do this job properly" or "we can't find the problem we need more time".

When you have admin staff controlling technical staff, the result is NEVER good in ANY business.

When a job has a cost and time listed with it, any experienced engineer will tell you it's impossible to put times on jobs because literally anything can happen to slow you down. But admin staff don't see this, they just think everything takes a set time and if it takes longer then your obviously being lazy.

Go back to garage's and what you have is trainee's who find ways to rush jobs.

Example - say they're expected to do a service in 60mins, but the oil filter wouldn't come off and took 35mins to remove and clean up. They've still got the spark plugs, fuel, air and pollen filters to change AND the engine oil.... They can't run over on the job because they'll get a black mark against their record (and the experienced mechanic probably got fired for being too slow). So you end up with just a new oil filter, new engine oil for your £250+

There is a difference.

MainSdealerships allways have one person that does know what he/she is doing, QF don't, quite important,

Jone_smart

big problem know to kwik -fit they had recive 1000 of customers complains requesting refund and compensation, good news to whom use kwik-fit for the last 3years since new divisionl director took it over, every one need to complain to kwik-fit HR and Trading Standard, to get your (stoleen money from this kwik-fit theifs),
more to come, for more details how to get to them email or post, thanks