Kwik Fit Warning -- wanted £405 for £30 repair

KwikStitch

This is a warning to others regarding Kwik Fit's dubious business practices/incompetence.

Went to my local branch for an MOT. Was told that there was a parking brake imbalance and it would have to go back in for a brake check.

While it was in, Kwik Fit phoned me, and after 5 minutes of explaining how brakes work and sounding plausible, I was told that it needed new discs and pads, at a cost of £405.

I declined the work and took it to a local independent garage who specialise in my make of car for a second opinion.

After inspecting it, they told me that:

--The brake discs were absolutely fine
--The pads had another 10,000 to 18,000 miles in them
--Alll it needed was a handbrake adjustment. This cost me just £30!!!!!! I also paid £48 for an MOT and it passed.

By trying to charge me £405 for work not needed, it's either incompetence on the part of Kwik Fit or they are deliberately trying to charge for work (and parts) that are not needed. Personally I think it's the latter.

I called head office to make a complaint. They took details and said that the branch ops manager would call me. 6 days later, I'm still waiting.

w50nky

It is well known on this forum that Kwik Theft will try to sell you parts that you do not need. You have been fortunate to escape.
Doubt you will hear anything from above, well not what you want to hear.

Horizon81

Nothing new here. They're 'fitters' not fixers. It's nice they tried to hook you in with a plausible reason for needing the parts. Lovely honest business practice.

Leave Kwik Fit to do their main job - looking after the Motability fleet. They're no good for fee paying customers.

worried_jim

They are famous for it. There are countless stories here on this forum of similar behavior, there is even video on youtube of the BBC getting the same service and an disguised employee confessing that this behavior is demanded of them by the managers.

Never, ever take your car to Kwik Fit. Ever.

Kwik-fit Car Rip-off Watchdog- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHYrn6F4_LI

ampersand

Horizon81 wrote: »

Nothing new here. They're 'fitters' not fixers. It's nice they tried to hook you in with a plausible reason for needing the parts. Lovely honest business practice.

Leave Kwik Fit to do their main job - looking after the Motability fleet. They're no good for fee paying customers.

###########
..but they do try it on as 'fixers':D;):p, don't they?

I'd pursue this, hard.
Local paper, letter to a broasheet's Consumer champion, if no response comes within a deadline.

ballyblack

as long as their fitters are on sales commission this will always happen

Ebe_Scrooge

I'm surprised this practise is not actually illegal. Surely there must be some law against "mis-selling of work / parts that are not required" ? I guess not, otherwise they'd have been prosecuted and closed down.

fivetide

Problem is Ebe some of it can be put down to opinion. It was in the fitter's opion that they needed to be replaced. Someone else had a different opinion.

Whilst it can be subjective it is difficult to prove deliberate attempts to do work that isn't needed. All you can do is look at the number of similar stories, ask if it is coincidence and then draw your own conclusions....

Ebe_Scrooge

Yes, I suppose you're right. I'm lucky in that I've a got a small independant guy in my village who's an absolute diamond, so I never have the need to visit these big chains anyway. I can imagine that in larger cities these "local guys" are harder to come by, so many folk end up being duped by the big boys

ilikewatch

In my youger and more stupid days I used Kwik Fit on a few occasions and always ended up paying through the nose to sort out problems that I wasn't even aware existed.

It was therefore a revelation when I had a company car leased from Inchcape which had to go to Kwik Fit for tyres - I was always in and out within a few minutes, and they never bothered to comment on anything other than the tyres as they were well aware that Inchcape insisted that all other work was done by the main dealer.

cootuk

10,000 miles could be under a years mileage for some people