Mobile Tyre Fitting Time Slot

ElBartoni

Hi all,

Was wondering whether anybody could give me a little advice.

I punctured a tyre on Friday and booked a mobile tyre fitting the following day. The service allowed you to book a specific time slot, so I did because I knew I was going out and needed to get ready.

The time slot was between 12-2pm. The fitter turned up at 2.37pm when I was in the middle of getting ready to leave the house. He did the job and left, but it meant that I was late, missed a train and a reservation.

I decided for such an inconvenience that I should at least get the money back for the time slot I specifically booked and contacted the company customer service department.

They basically lied and said the Tyre fitter arrived at 13.37pm and therefore I wasn't entitled to a refund.

Does anybody know what options I have (if any) in this situation, given that the customer service department are lying to cover their own backs?

Thanks in advance

AdrianC

What proof do they say they have of his time of arrival? A job sheet you signed? A timestamped flag on his job recording system?

What do their Ts & Cs say about the timeslot?

Gotta admit, if the slot was until 2pm, and you were trying to leave the house just over half an hour later, that doesn't seem to leave much slack on your part.

Ebe_Scrooge

ElBartoni wrote: »

The fitter turned up at 2.37pm
...

They basically lied and said the Tyre fitter arrived at 13.37pm

Given the time difference appears to be exactly 1 hour, I wonder if they'd forgotten to put the clocks forward on their system ?

That aside, you'll have to check the T&C's to see what guarantee they offer in regards to time slots, as noted by AdrianC.

wgl2014

I would suggest not using them again....

As for compensation maybe fire a couple of emails off to their CEO or other head honcho and see what they come back with but for a few quid I'd maybe not bother....

Aylesbury_Duck

I too suspect that their logging system wasn't updated to BST.

Check the Ts and Cs. I suspect they don't cover consequential losses and as AdrianC pointed out, you didn't build in much contingency for your journey. At best I think you might get a partial refund or voucher towards another fitting but given the tyre was supplied and fitted, I think you're expecting too much for the whole lot to be refunded.

ElBartoni

I agree, the BST thing would seem to be the most likely scenario but the way customer service is being handled, I don't think they're even going to look into it.

They're so dismissive that even if they did find the system hadn't been updated to the right hours I don't think they'd admit it.

Sad really.

ElBartoni

AdrianC wrote: »

What proof do they say they have of his time of arrival? A job sheet you signed? A timestamped flag on his job recording system?

What do their Ts & Cs say about the timeslot?

Gotta admit, if the slot was until 2pm, and you were trying to leave the house just over half an hour later, that doesn't seem to leave much slack on your part.

Was in the middle of getting ready. was going to leave the house at 3pm, given they were supposed to be there at the latest 2pm and given i know it doesn't take an hour to do, thought I'd have plenty of time.

The proof they have sent me a screenshot of the times the fitter logged, but obviously that doesn't mean much.

Aylesbury_Duck

The trouble with any service like that is the unpredictability of the timings. To make any money out of it, the fitter needs back-to-back appointments (allowing for travel time). All it takes is for one of the earlier customers to arrive home late or not know where their locking wheel nut key is for example and the whole day is put back. You're not paying the overheads a garage has to cover and that's reflected in the price but with that comes a certain amount of impreciseness. I don't think 37 minutes beyond the end of the planned slot is unreasonable but it would have been better if the fitter had messaged or called to let you know he was running late.

If you've the energy for it, keep pushing them but just don't use them again.

System

I've just re-read this twice. You booked a train that required you to leave at around 2:40pm but booked a 12pm-2pm fitting slot? What would you have done if he turned up at 1:59pm and for whatever reason there was a problem and it took half an hour just to get your wheel off? And with something like this and other things involving repairs such as gas engineer and plumber callouts I treat bookings as a guide because earlier jobs can and do often go wrong taking longer than required and there can be traffic delays that also cause holdups.

The problem isn't they were late, the problem is you made the timings too tight for your schedule. You should have either booked an earlier slot or later train.

ElBartoni

Tarambor wrote: »

I've just re-read this twice. You booked a train that required you to leave at around 2:40pm but booked a 12pm-2pm fitting slot? What would you have done if he turned up at 1:59pm and for whatever reason there was a problem and it took half an hour just to get your wheel off? And with something like this and other things involving repairs such as gas engineer and plumber callouts I treat bookings as a guide because earlier jobs can and do often go wrong taking longer than required and there can be traffic delays that also cause holdups.

The problem isn't they were late, the problem is you made the timings too tight for your schedule. You should have either booked an earlier slot or later train.

I like how I'm being cross-examined her, but okay let's roll with it.

I said I was in the middle of leaving the house at 2:40. I expected to leave the house at around 3pm to go to the train station.

Given that the max time I expected them to arrive was 2pm and knowing how long it takes to change the tyre, was it really that unreasonable to expect to be able to leave the house at 3pm?

Aylesbury_Duck

You either move incredibly slowly or have an enormous house if it takes you 40 minutes to leave it