Car service collect and return by garage, is it wise to do?

gardner1

waynedance wrote: »

Nonsense I work at a garage and local collection is FREE on major servicing the price is the same either way.

Garages do get a poor reputation from coments as above, best one is telling all to go to council mot stations as garages will fail cars to get extra work.

Garage where I work fails cars only if its due a fail. In some cases garages may pass small items for good customers.

yes it may be advertised as free but its built into the price and yes i go to council mot centre because i dont trust most garages

pitkin2020

waynedance wrote: »

Nonsense I work at a garage and local collection is FREE on major servicing the price is the same either way.

Garages do get a poor reputation from coments as above, best one is telling all to go to council mot stations as garages will fail cars to get extra work.

Garage where I work fails cars only if its due a fail. In some cases garages may pass small items for good customers.

its still not free, the customer is still paying for a service which collection is offered as part of that service, its still built into the cost of the service. The garage has given up a slight amount of its profit margin to go that one step further in offering good customer service.

If it was truly free then your garage would be collecting the car informing the car owner what needed to be done and returning it without doing any further work or making any charges, thats FREE.

rev_henry

boots_babe wrote: »

A few times now I've used Servicing Stop for our cars to be serviced:

http://www.servicingstop.co.uk/

They collect from your home/work/wherever is convenient for you, and return in the same manner. They send 2 guys out so that no problem with them getting back to the garage after drop off.

Have found them to be cheaper than elsewhere, didn't really find any faults hence didn't charge any more than the initial quote, and they use manufacturer approved parts. Can't fault them.

The thing about those websites is they use a network of independent garages, and won't tell you before you book which one it'll be. Thus reviews are quite mixed.

in_the_Cotswolds

Lady_K wrote: »

It might sound a silly question but is it a good idea to have a car collected from home for an annual service and returned by the garage and are there any risks and anything to be aware of with this? they don't charge for it. Its the second year service

Every franchised garage I worked we had a collection and delivery service at no extra charge. It was normally a couple of retired people. They also collected and delivered parts during the day if they were needed urgently.

Also every car in for work was washed and vacuumed. Because I lived about 20 miles away from where I worked I sometimes collected customers cars on the way to work.

Obviously if you're not happy you can always take your car in yourself.

I notice a lot of people saying about franchise garages ripping you off and charging more for servicing and repairs, question, if they are really that bad why are they still in business? After all, you buy a brand new car from the franchised dealer unless for instance you have your new Lexus shipped directly to you from the factory in Japan, or your new Civic from the Swindon plant? Even Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin have franchised dealers.

in_the_Cotswolds

pitkin2020 wrote: »

If it was truly free then your garage would be collecting the car informing the car owner what needed to be done and returning it without doing any further work or making any charges, thats FREE.

Also have done that. Serviced or MOT'd car if it failed or needed extra work have returned car for customer to decide what they want to do.

Not every garage rips people off. As I said in a previous post there's nothing to stop you buying a Haynes manual, tool kit and doing it yourself!!

pitkin2020

mechanic wrote: »

Also have done that. Serviced or MOT'd car if it failed or needed extra work have returned car for customer to decide what they want to do.

Not every garage rips people off. As I said in a previous post there's nothing to stop you buying a Haynes manual, tool kit and doing it yourself!!

So you collected a customers car took for an MOT (or service) didn't charge them a single penny and returned it??

I also never said every garage rips people so please get off your soap box, clearly your just an employee not a business owner if you can't grasp the simple fact everything that you do in a business has a cost.

It would not be financially viable to offer your services completely for free. The offer of FREE collection/Return/wash/vac or even a FREE MOT with a service is built into the price of the service. I never said garages charge EXTRA but they just don't make as much profit as if someone drops the car into them, but they do because A) its not hugely expensive to offer the service, its a good way to offer a higher level of CS to the customer and C) spending that little extra money offering that service can in turn lead to a lot more work.

Its no different to buying something online with free P&P, that cost is built into the service. If a business fails to account for every single cost no matter how small it could see them out of business!!

in_the_Cotswolds

pitkin2020 wrote: »

I also never said every garage rips people so please get off your soap box, clearly your just an employee not a business owner if you can't grasp the simple fact everything that you do in a business has a cost.

Not on a soap box. No longer in the motor trade left over ten years ago. Have also ran two businesses, one a repair workshop and the other a tyre company. Both independents. And before you say it, yes I did make mistakes. Show me someone who hasn't. Correct everything has a cost, it depends how you implement the costs.

doningtonphil

I remember watching a recent 'police camera action' type programme where an audi TT was stopped doing well over 100mph. It turns out the driver worked at the local audi dealership and it was a customers car that he was 'delivering back to the customer' after a service.

Is that part of the road test I wonder?

rev_henry

doningtonphil wrote: »

I remember watching a recent 'police camera action' type programme where an audi TT was stopped doing well over 100mph. It turns out the driver worked at the local audi dealership and it was a customers car that he was 'delivering back to the customer' after a service.

Is that part of the road test I wonder?

I remember that too, quite recently as well iirc.

Lady_K

doningtonphil wrote: »

I remember watching a recent 'police camera action' type programme where an audi TT was stopped doing well over 100mph. It turns out the driver worked at the local audi dealership and it was a customers car that he was 'delivering back to the customer' after a service.

Is that part of the road test I wonder?

Cripes, good job the vw came back ok yesterday, everything looks ok no bumps or scratches but its not been driven yet

Who would have got charged for that then the driver from the audi garage or the car owner.
Come to think of it what would happen if they were caught speeding on a camera or talking on a mobile phone while driving the owners car or parking somewhere they shouldnt? After all they might not drive straight to the owners house when they return it