Cowboy Garage!

baz995

My mate went to a local garage in his village yesterday to get some tyres removed from a set of alloys he is selling. The appointment was all booked in, as he had, the day before asked if the garage could do the work, which they said they could at £5 per wheel. Imagine his shock when he went to pick the wheels up to see that 3 of them had been severely marked and damaged to the point where he cannot sell them. He asked to see the manager after getting nothing but a torrent of abuse form the workshop guys. The manager said thats what you expect on alloys and it shouldnt be a surprise to him, he said the wheels were corroded, they are not.

My mate asked why they didnt stop after the first one and phone him to let him know rather than pressing on with all the wheels, at this point the bloke went beserk, threw the tyres out onto the road and told him to F*** O** !

The other 3 workers there came out, all of whom are big old blokes and told him to F*** O** as well. Being very intimidated my mate didnt know what to do and left with the wheels.

I told him to contact the RMIF or consumer direct but he doesnt know what to do. any advice would be great please.

Flyboy152

baz995 wrote: »

My mate went to a local garage in his village yesterday to get some tyres removed from a set of alloys he is selling. The appointment was all booked in, as he had, the day before asked if the garage could do the work, which they said they could at £5 per wheel. Imagine his shock when he went to pick the wheels up to see that 3 of them had been severely marked and damaged to the point where he cannot sell them. He asked to see the manager after getting nothing but a torrent of abuse form the workshop guys. The manager said thats what you expect on alloys and it shouldnt be a surprise to him, he said the wheels were corroded, they are not.

My mate asked why they didnt stop after the first one and phone him to let him know rather than pressing on with all the wheels, at this point the bloke went beserk, threw the tyres out onto the road and told him to F*** O** !

The other 3 workers there came out, all of whom are big old blokes and told him to F*** O** as well. Being very intimidated my mate didnt know what to do and left with the wheels.

I told him to contact the RMIF or consumer direct but he doesnt know what to do. any advice would be great please.

The RMI won't do anything, they don't have a mandate to force traders to anything (that is even if the garage is a member of the RMI). The garage has a duty of care to carry out any work with skill and competence. If they haven't, they could be liable to provide the consumer with compensation for any losses.

jonnye_2

Unless they are part of something along the lines of Motorcodes or Unipart Car Car centers that offer an arbitration service the chances are not, if you want to post the garage name or PM it to me I can find out for you as I do work in the trade

Flyboy152

jonnye wrote: »

Unless they are part of something along the lines of Motorcodes or Unipart Car Car centers that offer an arbitration service the chances are not, if you want to post the garage name or PM it to me I can find out for you as I do work in the trade

RMI also have a mediation service, but they have no statutory powers to force either side to comply.

arcon5

Can you perhaps ask for a police officer to attend with you to discuss the problem with the manager?

Atleast then they're unlikely to get agressive or violent in anyway.