Watchdog tonight on bbc1 8pm

NaughtyAlan · Post by **NaughtyAlan** » Thu Sep 16, 10 3:11 pm

Its got Ripoff Quick fit at last

How they advertise MOT and servicing for £99.... BULUX

They change your oil for that, nothing else apart from your car failing on stuff that it doesn't need, shocks, brakes etc

I have lost custom from this and other Tyre ripoff Grrrrr

They Will come back i suppose

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Thu Sep 16, 10 3:25 pm

I've never used Quick Fit for anything after going in to see them once and finding out they didn't have the first idea what they were talking about...I use a local independent garage for my daily drivers and they are worth their weight in gold.

JohnR · Post by **JohnR** » Thu Sep 16, 10 3:55 pm

I use me !!!

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Thu Sep 16, 10 4:04 pm

So do I on "proper" cars but when it comes to computerised cobblers I let someone else do it!

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Sep 16, 10 4:13 pm

I took my Jeep to the local Kwik-Fit to get the air con charged up and decided to get them to center the steering and re-align the front wheels while they were on.

I couldn't believe the amount of BULL that came out of their mouths.

I picked the car up and at least the air con now worked. But the steering had not been touched despite a £30-odd quid charge for a front wheel alignment. So I took it straight back and said "hey I asked for the steering wheel to be centered. It hasn't moved so why have you charged me for a wheel alignment"?

They explained to me that although the front wheels were aligned correctly, they were not in line with the rear wheels.

But they did agree to center the steering at no extra cost.

I picked the car up again. Again no difference. So I booked it in again for the next saturday.
Meanwhile I fitted new shocks.
When I collected it again the next weekend I could see they had applied a bit of heat to the front tie rod. But I had marked it so I would be able to see if they had adjusted it and they hadn't.

They said because I had fitted new shocks they had had to re-align all the wheels again. Also they had found that one front bearing needed adjusting and so they had adjusted that for free.

I gave up then. It was not worth the hassle. I checked when I got home and the front wheel bearing is not adjustable. The steering was just the same too of course.

It smarts to be £30-odd quid out of pocket but can you imagine the hassle getting the money back? Plus I blamed myself to be so stupid as to trust that sort of place. Lesson learned.

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Thu Sep 16, 10 4:24 pm

I could tell you no end of stories about Quack Fat, I'm amazed they are still in business. They have been con artists since day one, I wouldn't even trust them to put air in the tyres....

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Thu Sep 16, 10 4:42 pm

The power of marketing

mad machs · Post by **mad machs** » Thu Sep 16, 10 5:31 pm

I used to work for another large fast fit chain, quite enjoyed the job until the stuffed suits took over, up until then it was a good honest company, that genuinely wanted its staff to do their best for the customer. I made a lot of friends in the 11 years that I worked for them, but felt I had to leave after we were actively encouraged to rip people off by selling unnecessary products & services, I was once threatened with a written warning because I hadn't sold my target number of shock absorbers that month, when I pointed out that I hadn't seen the 100 knackered ones that I was supposed to replace, I was reminded that if I underachieved the next month I would face disciplinary action.
But much like all dubious organisations (the SS springs to mind) they never write these "directives" down so they can deny any knowledge of these questionable practises if the spaghetti hits the fan, & the poor bloody fitter takes the kicking on their behalf. You just watch tonight, I bet they make a statement to Watchdog that the staff in question have been disciplined/dismissed as they will not tolerate these sharp selling practises in their branches.
Anyhow, it was about then I handed in my notice & left them to it.

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Thu Sep 16, 10 5:39 pm

Talking of lies .....

http://www.kwik-fit.com/about-air-conditioning.asp

NaughtyAlan · Post by **NaughtyAlan** » Thu Sep 16, 10 6:20 pm

They will also spray your shocks with oil free of charge, only to show you when you pick up your car it is in a Dangerous condition

Just services a car before i went on holiday for two weeks, she had a puncture while i was away and took it to the Bananarama! in question.
They fitted a new Tyre of course but told her her front brakes where in a dangerous condition and would not advise driving it, so new front discs and pads fitted.
Now this doesn't look good on me, but i damn well now there was Bananarama! all wrong with them.
She then told me she had brake judder and could i fix it, as she was scarred to take the car back.
Removed the crap that they fitted and redone the job properly with oe parts

JohnR · Post by **JohnR** » Thu Sep 16, 10 8:21 pm

I agree with Alan and Ivor I do not own any cars with computers in them !! Disco is a 94 with a 300 tdi mechanical inj pump !!!

Philth · Post by **Philth** » Thu Sep 16, 10 8:27 pm

Quit Fitting are very naughty with their scare tatics. They have been officially warned about this before by Trading Standards but alas it still goes on.

Had a crappy Mk2 Fiesta once. Needed a new pea-shooter exhaust and was quoted £104 plus fitting. "er, I'll think about it". Went to a self-sustained garage tucked away in the high street and got the job done for £25 fully fitted with new hangers, too.

latil · Post by **latil** » Thu Sep 16, 10 9:05 pm

Well,interesting show,nothing new there though sadly. They've been at it for years now as numerous forums and the like on the net will testify.
My lad Edd works at an independant garage right next door to a QF and they certainly get their fair share of upset customers coming to learn the (cheaper) truth.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Thu Sep 16, 10 9:18 pm

A good friend was an MOT tester for a company that got taken over by Kwik-fit. He resigned because he was put under pressure to recommend unnecessary work.

NaughtyAlan · Post by **NaughtyAlan** » Thu Sep 16, 10 11:49 pm

Adam wrote:A good friend was an MOT tester for a company that got taken over by Kwik-fit. He resigned because he was put under pressure to recommend unnecessary work.

How the Bananarama! can they get away with this?