Have I been "done"?

Homer_home

Gemm83 said:

Car went into Ford dealership for MOT and service today. Spoke to the lady on the counter yesterday when I dropped off and advised her that I would need to arrange childcare so I can pick car up, so was there any way she could tell me where I was in the running order so I could arrange something. She told me to call mid morning to check.
Called at 12.13pm to check and she told me MOT was done and that they were just finishing off the service. So I could prepare myself I asked if any work needed doing and she said it had passed with no advisories and that once service completed and paperwork done someone would call me to collect. 
Had a phonecall from a chap at 1.45pm who said MOT was passed with no advisories and that they carried out the service (after MOT as per my previous conversation). He said that brake pads would need changing before next service but no need to get them done today, but that they had found a broken retainer blub clip in my headlight which they HAD to repair at a cost of £41 Inc Vat otherwise they would have to fail the MOT. Paid. Collected. Done. 

The thing that is bothering me is that the car had passed the MOT prior to the service. It states on the service sheet under lamps/electrics "MOT fail. N/S Dip beam defective, fixings missing". How can it be a fail when the car has already passed? Surely this would havd been picked up on the MOT and failed at the time. Can they retrospectively fail a vehicle if something was picked up on service?
Ultimately its all paid and its £40 at the end of the day, but it just smacks a bit of "We ain't gonna make any money out of her today (pay for MOT and service through monthly plan), so let's find something, but we won't take the !!!!!! with the brakes, so let's just do the bulb"
Any thoughts would be appreciated 😊

Did you give them permission to do any work which would of been required to pass the mot?

They are not allowed to do work and charge you for it if you have not given them permission to do so, they should of phoned you before they did the work to ask your permission, you were well within your rights not to pay them and to tell them to put the original clip back in

and im not even going to mention a new bulb clip at £41 is a total rip off

sweetsand

Homer_home said:

Gemm83 said:

Car went into Ford dealership for MOT and service today. Spoke to the lady on the counter yesterday when I dropped off and advised her that I would need to arrange childcare so I can pick car up, so was there any way she could tell me where I was in the running order so I could arrange something. She told me to call mid morning to check.
Called at 12.13pm to check and she told me MOT was done and that they were just finishing off the service. So I could prepare myself I asked if any work needed doing and she said it had passed with no advisories and that once service completed and paperwork done someone would call me to collect. 
Had a phonecall from a chap at 1.45pm who said MOT was passed with no advisories and that they carried out the service (after MOT as per my previous conversation). He said that brake pads would need changing before next service but no need to get them done today, but that they had found a broken retainer blub clip in my headlight which they HAD to repair at a cost of £41 Inc Vat otherwise they would have to fail the MOT. Paid. Collected. Done. 

The thing that is bothering me is that the car had passed the MOT prior to the service. It states on the service sheet under lamps/electrics "MOT fail. N/S Dip beam defective, fixings missing". How can it be a fail when the car has already passed? Surely this would havd been picked up on the MOT and failed at the time. Can they retrospectively fail a vehicle if something was picked up on service?
Ultimately its all paid and its £40 at the end of the day, but it just smacks a bit of "We ain't gonna make any money out of her today (pay for MOT and service through monthly plan), so let's find something, but we won't take the !!!!!! with the brakes, so let's just do the bulb"
Any thoughts would be appreciated 😊

Did you give them permission to do any work which would of been required to pass the mot?

They are not allowed to do work and charge you for it if you have not given them permission to do so, they should of phoned you before they did the work to ask your permission, you were well within your rights not to pay them and to tell them to put the original clip back in

and im not even going to mention a new bulb clip at £41 is a total rip off

"rip off" really?  How much is the clip for that car and how easy is it to access the clip and replce it and have you seen main dealer prices?

Homer_home

sweetsand said:

Homer_home said:

Gemm83 said:

Car went into Ford dealership for MOT and service today. Spoke to the lady on the counter yesterday when I dropped off and advised her that I would need to arrange childcare so I can pick car up, so was there any way she could tell me where I was in the running order so I could arrange something. She told me to call mid morning to check.
Called at 12.13pm to check and she told me MOT was done and that they were just finishing off the service. So I could prepare myself I asked if any work needed doing and she said it had passed with no advisories and that once service completed and paperwork done someone would call me to collect. 
Had a phonecall from a chap at 1.45pm who said MOT was passed with no advisories and that they carried out the service (after MOT as per my previous conversation). He said that brake pads would need changing before next service but no need to get them done today, but that they had found a broken retainer blub clip in my headlight which they HAD to repair at a cost of £41 Inc Vat otherwise they would have to fail the MOT. Paid. Collected. Done. 

The thing that is bothering me is that the car had passed the MOT prior to the service. It states on the service sheet under lamps/electrics "MOT fail. N/S Dip beam defective, fixings missing". How can it be a fail when the car has already passed? Surely this would havd been picked up on the MOT and failed at the time. Can they retrospectively fail a vehicle if something was picked up on service?
Ultimately its all paid and its £40 at the end of the day, but it just smacks a bit of "We ain't gonna make any money out of her today (pay for MOT and service through monthly plan), so let's find something, but we won't take the !!!!!! with the brakes, so let's just do the bulb"
Any thoughts would be appreciated 😊

Did you give them permission to do any work which would of been required to pass the mot?

They are not allowed to do work and charge you for it if you have not given them permission to do so, they should of phoned you before they did the work to ask your permission, you were well within your rights not to pay them and to tell them to put the original clip back in

and im not even going to mention a new bulb clip at £41 is a total rip off

"rip off" really?  How much is the clip for that car and how easy is it to access the clip and replce it and have you seen main dealer prices?

yes rip off

Clips are no more than a fiver at retail prices , ford will be able to get them for pennies and yes I have seen main dealer prices hence why I called it a rip off

Scrapit

At 40 quid for a mot pass regardless of what part it is isnt getting done. 

Mercdriver

Homer_home said:

sweetsand said:

Homer_home said:

Gemm83 said:

Car went into Ford dealership for MOT and service today. Spoke to the lady on the counter yesterday when I dropped off and advised her that I would need to arrange childcare so I can pick car up, so was there any way she could tell me where I was in the running order so I could arrange something. She told me to call mid morning to check.
Called at 12.13pm to check and she told me MOT was done and that they were just finishing off the service. So I could prepare myself I asked if any work needed doing and she said it had passed with no advisories and that once service completed and paperwork done someone would call me to collect. 
Had a phonecall from a chap at 1.45pm who said MOT was passed with no advisories and that they carried out the service (after MOT as per my previous conversation). He said that brake pads would need changing before next service but no need to get them done today, but that they had found a broken retainer blub clip in my headlight which they HAD to repair at a cost of £41 Inc Vat otherwise they would have to fail the MOT. Paid. Collected. Done. 

The thing that is bothering me is that the car had passed the MOT prior to the service. It states on the service sheet under lamps/electrics "MOT fail. N/S Dip beam defective, fixings missing". How can it be a fail when the car has already passed? Surely this would havd been picked up on the MOT and failed at the time. Can they retrospectively fail a vehicle if something was picked up on service?
Ultimately its all paid and its £40 at the end of the day, but it just smacks a bit of "We ain't gonna make any money out of her today (pay for MOT and service through monthly plan), so let's find something, but we won't take the !!!!!! with the brakes, so let's just do the bulb"
Any thoughts would be appreciated 😊

Did you give them permission to do any work which would of been required to pass the mot?

They are not allowed to do work and charge you for it if you have not given them permission to do so, they should of phoned you before they did the work to ask your permission, you were well within your rights not to pay them and to tell them to put the original clip back in

and im not even going to mention a new bulb clip at £41 is a total rip off

"rip off" really?  How much is the clip for that car and how easy is it to access the clip and replce it and have you seen main dealer prices?

yes rip off

Clips are no more than a fiver at retail prices , ford will be able to get them for pennies and yes I have seen main dealer prices hence why I called it a rip off

So the alternative is allow the car to fail.  Go to parts shop, buy part - fit part or get someone else to fit it.  Retest, but have a failure show up on an MOT search which might effect future value.

Herzlos

Mercdriver said:

Homer_home said:

sweetsand said:

Homer_home said:

Gemm83 said:

Car went into Ford dealership for MOT and service today. Spoke to the lady on the counter yesterday when I dropped off and advised her that I would need to arrange childcare so I can pick car up, so was there any way she could tell me where I was in the running order so I could arrange something. She told me to call mid morning to check.
Called at 12.13pm to check and she told me MOT was done and that they were just finishing off the service. So I could prepare myself I asked if any work needed doing and she said it had passed with no advisories and that once service completed and paperwork done someone would call me to collect. 
Had a phonecall from a chap at 1.45pm who said MOT was passed with no advisories and that they carried out the service (after MOT as per my previous conversation). He said that brake pads would need changing before next service but no need to get them done today, but that they had found a broken retainer blub clip in my headlight which they HAD to repair at a cost of £41 Inc Vat otherwise they would have to fail the MOT. Paid. Collected. Done. 

The thing that is bothering me is that the car had passed the MOT prior to the service. It states on the service sheet under lamps/electrics "MOT fail. N/S Dip beam defective, fixings missing". How can it be a fail when the car has already passed? Surely this would havd been picked up on the MOT and failed at the time. Can they retrospectively fail a vehicle if something was picked up on service?
Ultimately its all paid and its £40 at the end of the day, but it just smacks a bit of "We ain't gonna make any money out of her today (pay for MOT and service through monthly plan), so let's find something, but we won't take the !!!!!! with the brakes, so let's just do the bulb"
Any thoughts would be appreciated 😊

Did you give them permission to do any work which would of been required to pass the mot?

They are not allowed to do work and charge you for it if you have not given them permission to do so, they should of phoned you before they did the work to ask your permission, you were well within your rights not to pay them and to tell them to put the original clip back in

and im not even going to mention a new bulb clip at £41 is a total rip off

"rip off" really?  How much is the clip for that car and how easy is it to access the clip and replce it and have you seen main dealer prices?

yes rip off

Clips are no more than a fiver at retail prices , ford will be able to get them for pennies and yes I have seen main dealer prices hence why I called it a rip off

So the alternative is allow the car to fail.  Go to parts shop, buy part - fit part or get someone else to fit it.  Retest, but have a failure show up on an MOT search which might effect future value.

Exactly. They should probably have called to check, but I'm sure you'd rather they did the fix than fail it.

My local garage usually does this - if it's a trivial thing they'll fix it during the MOT to avoid having to retest it. I've been using them for 20 years though so they know I'm fine with it and they only phone if it's going to be a big bill.

AdrianC

jack_pott said:

AdrianC said:

jack_pott said:

Once when I collected my car from a service I was told that it would soon need a suspension arm to get through the next MOT.

In other words, "it's still good now, but probably not for a lot longer."

He was trying to do you a favour, not con you.

Well, it passed the next time, and the next, and the next, I never had another MOT failure after I switched from the garage to the council VTS.
And it seems that most of the others who took my advice had much the same experience:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/119/save-on-mot-bills/p1

I took a car to the council test centre once.

It was made VERY apparent to me that they did not want me there, and that the only reason I was there was that they couldn't refuse the booking.

Then they handed me a spurious list of fails and advisories a mile long.

I can take a hint. So I took the car somewhere else the next day, and it passed.

sweetsand

Homer_home said:

sweetsand said:

Homer_home said:

Gemm83 said:

Car went into Ford dealership for MOT and service today. Spoke to the lady on the counter yesterday when I dropped off and advised her that I would need to arrange childcare so I can pick car up, so was there any way she could tell me where I was in the running order so I could arrange something. She told me to call mid morning to check.
Called at 12.13pm to check and she told me MOT was done and that they were just finishing off the service. So I could prepare myself I asked if any work needed doing and she said it had passed with no advisories and that once service completed and paperwork done someone would call me to collect. 
Had a phonecall from a chap at 1.45pm who said MOT was passed with no advisories and that they carried out the service (after MOT as per my previous conversation). He said that brake pads would need changing before next service but no need to get them done today, but that they had found a broken retainer blub clip in my headlight which they HAD to repair at a cost of £41 Inc Vat otherwise they would have to fail the MOT. Paid. Collected. Done. 

The thing that is bothering me is that the car had passed the MOT prior to the service. It states on the service sheet under lamps/electrics "MOT fail. N/S Dip beam defective, fixings missing". How can it be a fail when the car has already passed? Surely this would havd been picked up on the MOT and failed at the time. Can they retrospectively fail a vehicle if something was picked up on service?
Ultimately its all paid and its £40 at the end of the day, but it just smacks a bit of "We ain't gonna make any money out of her today (pay for MOT and service through monthly plan), so let's find something, but we won't take the !!!!!! with the brakes, so let's just do the bulb"
Any thoughts would be appreciated 😊

Did you give them permission to do any work which would of been required to pass the mot?

They are not allowed to do work and charge you for it if you have not given them permission to do so, they should of phoned you before they did the work to ask your permission, you were well within your rights not to pay them and to tell them to put the original clip back in

and im not even going to mention a new bulb clip at £41 is a total rip off

"rip off" really?  How much is the clip for that car and how easy is it to access the clip and replce it and have you seen main dealer prices?

yes rip off

Clips are no more than a fiver at retail prices , ford will be able to get them for pennies and yes I have seen main dealer prices hence why I called it a rip off

You've clearly not been to MB if you think Ford main dealer prices are a "rip off."  However, I did misread your contribution earlier and now I am seeing where you are coming from.

sweetsand

AdrianC said:

jack_pott said:

AdrianC said:

jack_pott said:

Once when I collected my car from a service I was told that it would soon need a suspension arm to get through the next MOT.

In other words, "it's still good now, but probably not for a lot longer."

He was trying to do you a favour, not con you.

Well, it passed the next time, and the next, and the next, I never had another MOT failure after I switched from the garage to the council VTS.
And it seems that most of the others who took my advice had much the same experience:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/119/save-on-mot-bills/p1

I took a car to the council test centre once.

It was made VERY apparent to me that they did not want me there, and that the only reason I was there was that they couldn't refuse the booking.

Then they handed me a spurious list of fails and advisories a mile long.

I can take a hint. So I took the car somewhere else the next day, and it passed.

I've heard similar stories, they are full of it some of them. A lot that work, worked in the coucil many years ago the only way you could get a job was nepotism, I glad that has been almost wiped out. Many years ago i was an officer in a local couil and the number of times I was asked "who got you the job, your dad, mum, realtives work here," none of family worked for the coucil I think they tohught i was very good having spiced up my cv.

[Deleted User]

AdrianC said:

jack_pott said:

AdrianC said:

jack_pott said:

Once when I collected my car from a service I was told that it would soon need a suspension arm to get through the next MOT.

In other words, "it's still good now, but probably not for a lot longer."

He was trying to do you a favour, not con you.

Well, it passed the next time, and the next, and the next, I never had another MOT failure after I switched from the garage to the council VTS.
And it seems that most of the others who took my advice had much the same experience:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/119/save-on-mot-bills/p1

I took a car to the council test centre once.

It was made VERY apparent to me that they did not want me there, and that the only reason I was there was that they couldn't refuse the booking.

Then they handed me a spurious list of fails and advisories a mile long.

I can take a hint. So I took the car somewhere else the next day, and it passed.

Well there are hundreds on that thread of mine that I linked who say the complete opposite, along with a few mechanics whining because they've been caught out. I always used to watch mine being done, and he was very helpful, calling me down into the pit to show me what to watch out for on occasion.