Female takes her car into a garage......

madmaz_2

Here's my tale, I'll try and keep it brief!

My old but extremely reliable car developed a funny scraping noise everytime i applied the brakes but after about 10 minutes of driving it went away. I had previously seen a local motoring centre advertise 'Free Brake Check' so i took my car in and left it with them:eek: About 15 minutes later my phone rang it was them telling me 'Hello Sweetheart, sorry but you have a big big problem:( Apparently my front pads were worn, discs were shot to pieces and my master cylinder was leaking so much so that the front pads were saturated!! The cost to put it right £230. I told them I would think about it and collected my car. I then took it to another garage for a second opinion not telling them what I had just been told. After about an hour the guy rang me and said the scraping noise was due to some small stones and other road debris being stuck between the discs and shield, so it was cleaned they had checked my pads and discs and they were all absolutely fine, brake fluid was at maximum level and NO Leaks anywhere, they charged me £10:T My car drove great.

Obviously I have no written proof of the first 'quote' and if I complained it could be my word against his has there was nobody else there apart from his young assistant but I'm hopping mad is there anything I can do. I feel angry at the thought of this sleazeball ripping innocent people off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

epz_2

not much to do really, i always assumed that places like that always make stuff up, quickfit are notorious for it round here

anewman

That's why the "check" is free. They get in concerned customers who can't check themselves and play on their concerns and make you feel like you're going to die and kill young children crossing the road if you don't pay whatever they ask.

You can check brake fluid level yourself, it should usually be a small plastic container under the bonnet with clear fluid in. Mine is difficult to see through being 14 years old. The fluid level can fall as the pads and shoes wear, but a big loss would be due to a leak. Most cars have an indicator on the dash to warn you if fluid falls dangerously low This would not normally be from the master cylinder directly, but somewhere along the brake pipe/near the wheels.

Hang on to the other garage, they'll earn money from being good to customers and doing jobs right, getting repeat customers, rather than scamming people.

I'd have loved to see the look on the face of the guy at the first place if you rolled up your sleeves and said, knowingly, "let's have a look then, show me".

butterfly72

A similar thing happened to me a few months ago. I took my car to Kwikfit as it was making a strange noise. After looking at my car for 30 seconds and bouncing it up and down on the ramp they told me I needed new shock absorbers and other stuff costing about £200+. I went for a second opinion and it turned out the exhaust had come loose and was scrapeing on something.... they fixed it there and then for free!! I didn't do anything about it... but posting my story on here lets people know how shifty KWikfit are! Spread the word. My revenge I guess!!

goldspanners

just another note to make,if the master cylinder was leaking this wouldnt cause the brake pads to be saturated in brake fluid,it would need to be a wheel cylinder that was leaking,or both wheel cylinders to cause both sets of brake pads to be saturated.the master cylinder is no where near the brake pads.

you could always take an add out in your local press warning others in your area about this guy.

goldspanners

butterfly72 wrote: »

A similar thing happened to me a few months ago. I took my car to Kwikfit as it was making a strange noise. After looking at my car for 30 seconds and bouncing it up and down on the ramp they told me I needed new shock absorbers and other stuff costing about £200+. I went for a second opinion and it turned out the exhaust had come loose and was scrapeing on something.... they fixed it there and then for free!! I didn't do anything about it... but posting my story on here lets people know how shifty KWikfit are! Spread the word. My revenge I guess!!

i think sometimes kwikfit mechanics are just poorly trained are wouldnt even know what a shock absorber actually looked like.
i dont think it is of any gain to the minimum wage tyre fitters to overcharge or falsely identify broken parts.
i used to know a kwikfit mechanic who thought changing brake pads was a massive job an nobody should do this job unless you were a kwikfit "brake expert".
he said to my mate who is a highly skilled mechanical engineer not to attempt doing the brakes on his car himself,kwikfit would do a much better job!

i think these guys are just brain washed.

anewman

goldspanners wrote: »

i dont think it is of any gain to the minimum wage tyre fitters to overcharge or falsely identify broken parts.

There is some gain in it somewhere in their business model. There's been stories of them spraying oil on shock absorbers, claiming they were leaking, and I know of someone who had a brake disc intentionally damaged and were caught in the act. It could be as simple as they have to meet sales targets or lose their jobs, or it could be comission based payment, in which case this time of year they'll be thinking of the christmas turkey on the table.

I recently replaced a severely rusted spring cup on my suspension and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to do, granted the spring compressors were tedious and annoying to use, but there was no real difficulties. Certainly not a job to do without a haynes manual and careful reading though. If you do work on your car yourself, you'll learn how to figure out what is and isn't wrong for yourself, and be able to take the car to a garage to get jobs you don't want to attempt done. I suppose most people don't have enough time though. I don't think being female need necessarily exclude you from getting out a trolley jack and a set of axle stands

brazilianwax

anewman wrote: »

If you do work on your car yourself, you'll learn how to figure out what is and isn't wrong for yourself, and be able to take the car to a garage to get jobs you don't want to attempt done. I suppose most people don't have enough time though. I don't think being female need necessarily exclude you from getting out a trolley jack and a set of axle stands

Absolutely!!! :T

My dad never let the fact I was a girl get in the way. At 3 I was making concrete, at 10 I could change spark plugs, oil, wheels, and I knew where all the different fluids went. At 13 I changed my first brake pads (supervised!).

It's such a benefit. I cannot thank my daddy enough for that.

geekgirl

brazilianwax wrote: »

Absolutely!!! :T

My dad never let the fact I was a girl get in the way. At 3 I was making concrete, at 10 I could change spark plugs, oil, wheels, and I knew where all the different fluids went. At 13 I changed my first brake pads (supervised!).

It's such a benefit. I cannot thank my daddy enough for that.

What a fantastic Dad. My dad also had me doing all kinds of fixing jobs with him. He found it useful cos I had smaller hands to fit in tricky places and I learnt loads along the way.

photome

To the Op

why not tell everyone the name of the first garage and location so we knoe where to avoid.

brazilianwax

geekgirl wrote: »

What a fantastic Dad. My dad also had me doing all kinds of fixing jobs with him. He found it useful cos I had smaller hands to fit in tricky places and I learnt loads along the way.

Me too!!! :rotfl:
And now I own more tools than my husband!