Scammed: paid for an MOT which was never done. Options?

Hoenir

SouthLondonUser said:

WellKnownSid said:

SouthLondonUser said:

"I suspect there is confusion in that she asked for a service - meaning an MoT - and got a service"

I wasn't there so I cannot be 100% sure, but it seems highly unlikely:

What does her invoice say?

She can't find an invoice / receipt

How can she be sure what work was performed? 

Always kept my invoices to provide a service hstory if needed when I sell the vehicle. 

oldagetraveller1

chrisw said:

They don't seem to hand out MOT certificates any more. I always check on the gov site whilst it's being done as I can't bear the suspense.

They do, but not as in the past. My car was MoT'd on the 13th and I was provided with a printout containing all the relevant information.

The MoT database had updated the same day.

born_again

Just had mine done. 
Printout of MOT & updated already online.
But when checking via "Check MOT" site.
There is a option to print out a copy as well.

SteveJW

Fair enough - the place I goes to provides them both without asking. But I still think taking the money and doing literally nothing in return sounds an odd model for a scam.

Totally agree it seems an odd scam

In the past seen many an MOT done without them even looking at the vehicle

There is a system where if the complete MOT system is down an MOT can be carried out without logging on, details are recorded on a dedicated form and uploaded when the system is available

Possibility of a mistake here

First time I didn't get a certificate I queried it, told I could have one if I wanted

WellKnownSid

Hoenir said:

SouthLondonUser said:

WellKnownSid said:

SouthLondonUser said:

"I suspect there is confusion in that she asked for a service - meaning an MoT - and got a service"

I wasn't there so I cannot be 100% sure, but it seems highly unlikely:

What does her invoice say?

She can't find an invoice / receipt

How can she be sure what work was performed? 

Always kept my invoices to provide a service hstory if needed when I sell the vehicle. 

Yes, this is now down to the realms of guesswork.  Suggest asking for a copy of the invoice but I suspect it won't show an MoT because one was never done.

Somewhere between 'the customer never asked for an MoT' and 'the garage deliberately scammed the customer by not carrying out the MoT they asked for' lies the truth of what actually happened here.

SouthLondonUser

Bigphil1474 said:

OP, why doesn't she get the MOT done at the dealers? - it won't cost any more and can be done on the same day as the service? (Unless they don't do MOT's of course). 

The two dates (MOT and annual servicing) used to be about 6 months apart. Now that she had to redo the MOOT, they are a month and a half apart and, indeed, next year it might be easier to do them at the same time.

SouthLondonUser

Hoenir said:

SouthLondonUser said:

WellKnownSid said:

SouthLondonUser said:

"I suspect there is confusion in that she asked for a service - meaning an MoT - and got a service"

I wasn't there so I cannot be 100% sure, but it seems highly unlikely:

What does her invoice say?

She can't find an invoice / receipt

How can she be sure what work was performed? 

Always kept my invoices to provide a service hstory if needed when I sell the vehicle. 

It was an MOT, not a service. The annual service had been carried about about 6 months before at a dealer. So keeping a receipt for the MOT would have done nothing for the second hand value of the vehicle, since MOT records are online for anyone to check

SouthLondonUser

"Somewhere between 'the customer never asked for an MoT' and 'the garage deliberately scammed the customer by not carrying out the MoT they asked for' lies the truth of what actually happened here."

Yes, I wasn't there myself so I totally understand what you are saying. I'd only add that keeping an MOT sign if you are not an MOT registered centre is dodgy to say the least.

400ixl

SouthLondonUser said:

I'd only add that keeping an MOT sign if you are not an MOT registered centre is dodgy to say the least.

Do they accept bookings for MOT's though? If not then its just laziness in not taking it down or at worst false advertising to get people in to sell other services.. If they don't have the rights to do MOT's and take bookings for them, then yes that would be dodgy and should be reported.

A large portion of the responsibility goes to the owner of the vehicle. You should always confirm what they are doing when dropping off the vehicle, then if it is an MOT, when collecting, confirm that the car passed or failed and get any proof the require, be that a printed document if not planning to check online, or to check online.

Personally you should always check online to make sure things like the mileage have been recored properly. Which you do on the history check rather than the status check.

Unfortunately without the invoice there is no way of knowing for sure if there was some sort of mix up and it was booked for a service, or the garage messed up, or they did something fraudulent.

I thought that the MOT had certain things that were now done live (emissions check) to avoid the practice of doing dodgy MOT's or multiple and catch up later.

One thing to consider is to get the MOT redone with the service, it doesn't have to wait a year and it is much easier if they are sync'd. Mine are currently a few months out and I will be doing the opposite and servicing it early next year to bring it back in line with the MOT.

letom

She can only claim for damages which appears to be £100, at that level it's not going to be worth going to small claims court, not to mention if she has no receipt of an MOT she's unlikely to win. She should report the garage and take this as a lesson and be thankful she wasn't stopped in that time, not ideal but these things happen unfortunately.