Car brakes not serviced properly

mrsyardbroom

Two weeks ago I went into Kwik Fit as my car brakes had started sounding noisy. I paid for a full brake inspection and they said the rear discs and pads needed replacing but the front brakes looked as if they had been recently replaced. They carried out the work and charged me £257. They said they had taken off the £24.99 I'd paid for the inspection which they didn't need to do. Yesterday I took the car into a local garage for a full service and they said the sliding bar on the front brakes was completely seized but they'd managed to free it up. This would affect the calipers on both front and back brakes. I was quite shocked as Kwik Fit claim their full brake inspection covers all parts of the braking system on a car but clearly this was something they'd missed. Not only that I've been driving a car with defective brakes for two weeks believing that it's safe. Have I got cause for complaint after two weeks? Can I claim any refund.

agrinnall

You can try, but I suspect that you'd need to be prepared to threaten (and possibly take) court action to stand much chance of getting money back.

You've learned the hard way what this board constantly says: don't ever use Kwik Fit.

Carrot007

mrsyardbroom wrote: »

I was quite shocked as Kwik Fit claim their full brake inspection covers all parts of the braking system on a car but clearly this was something they'd missed.

Kwit Fit's inspections find fault in anything they can repalce quickly regardless if it needs changing or not! Anything fiddley is ignored as they could be fleecing other customers.

This is not always true, I do actually know of a decent Kiwk Fit. But they are rare as I assume they are under pressure to meet unrealistic targets.

Since you have a trusted independant garage you use, why would you ever go to Kwik Fit. I mean maybe for a tyre on a sunday but otherwiseits just insanity!

sevenhills

mrsyardbroom wrote: »

Yesterday I took the car into a local garage for a full service and they said the sliding bar on the front brakes was completely seized but they'd managed to free it up. This would affect the calipers on both front and back brakes.

Either you have things a little mixed up, or your local garage are spinning you a line.

Each brake is independent of the other brakes.

mrsyardbroom

I went to Kwik Fit because the decent garages are all booked up for repairs and you have to wait a couple of weeks. I knew something was wrong with the brakes but I didn't know what. For all I knew they could have failed completely. My regular mechanic has retired and my husband can no longer cope with any of the jobs like looking after cars. I have had to take over completely. Forgive me if I don't know much about getting them repaired. I've put the cars in the hands of my trusted mechanic up until now. I did get a brake inspection at Kwik Fit on a Berlingo. It was free at the time. They cleaned and adjusted everything with no charge at all.

System

mrsyardbroom wrote: »

Yesterday I took the car into a local garage for a full service and they said the sliding bar on the front brakes was completely seized but they'd managed to free it up. This would affect the calipers on both front and back brakes. I was quite shocked as Kwik Fit claim their full brake inspection covers all parts of the braking system on a car but clearly this was something they'd missed.

I would find another garage to take your car to for servicing. What they have told you about the seized bar on the front brakes affecting the calipers on the rear is total and utter codswallop. In the light of this, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I would actually take Kwik-Fit over the garage especially as Kwik-Fit would take every opportunity to sting you had there been a problem on the front.

mrsyardbroom

This garage has been recommended to me by local people I've known for a very long time and who know the person who runs it. They seem much more competent than some other places I've been to.

arcon5

It's more likely op misunderstood what the mechanic was telling her than them spinning her a line.

wgl2014

Bear in mind that just because they missed or ignored the sticking front brake doesn't mean the rears were not in need of repair.

What exactly do you want refunding for?

custardy

mrsyardbroom wrote: »

Two weeks ago I went into Kwik Fit as my car brakes had started sounding noisy. I paid for a full brake inspection and they said the rear discs and pads needed replacing but the front brakes looked as if they had been recently replaced. They carried out the work and charged me £257. They said they had taken off the £24.99 I'd paid for the inspection which they didn't need to do. Yesterday I took the car into a local garage for a full service and they said the sliding bar on the front brakes was completely seized but they'd managed to free it up. This would affect the calipers on both front and back brakes. I was quite shocked as Kwik Fit claim their full brake inspection covers all parts of the braking system on a car but clearly this was something they'd missed. Not only that I've been driving a car with defective brakes for two weeks believing that it's safe. Have I got cause for complaint after two weeks? Can I claim any refund.

If you mean the caliper slider, then I would argue it would only really affect the caliper that needed freeing off.

Were both brakes recenty replaced on the front?

you went in with noisy brakes,they diagnosed worn rears and replaced. Did the noise go away?

Ganga

mrsyardbroom wrote: »

Two weeks ago I went into Kwik Fit as my car brakes had started sounding noisy. I paid for a full brake inspection and they said the rear discs and pads needed replacing but the front brakes looked as if they had been recently replaced. They carried out the work and charged me £257. They said they had taken off the £24.99 I'd paid for the inspection which they didn't need to do. Yesterday I took the car into a local garage for a full service and they said the sliding bar on the front brakes was completely seized but they'd managed to free it up. This would affect the calipers on both front and back brakes. I was quite shocked as Kwik Fit claim their full brake inspection covers all parts of the braking system on a car but clearly this was something they'd missed. Not only that I've been driving a car with defective brakes for two weeks believing that it's safe. Have I got cause for complaint after two weeks? Can I claim any refund.

I wonder if the garage meant that the fault on the caliper sliders stopped the the brakes working on the front and rear of one caliper and the customer has missunderstood.