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Comments:
i took my car for the mot to find out they had failed it on my rear indictor bulbs as they swore they where white and they also failed it on my exhaust but bottom line is it still passed the emissions test and i took it to another garage and they passed it. how can it fail on exhaust if it pass the emissions test and the bulbs were orange like there mment 2 be so i wood not rate them 2 any 1 they r rubbish n very rude
I went down to our local KWIK FIT (Whitehaven) and asked for a tyer check, which was promptly carried out, and to my joy "they are all good, a few month left in thoses tyer's" and was told if a book an MOT on line it was only £35 , so i did two days later, so dropped the car off, and then a phone call, "you have two tyers that need changing" what was my reply you have just checked them and said they were good, yes but we have a different method of measuring tred for MOT's !!! so they must have sent me back on the highway ileagley ?? or is this new method so special only when you get an MOT can they force you to buy new tyers off them,or risk being fined by driving your car on the roads, very strange and will never trust the name KWIK FIT again, and nor should you
I recently had MOT with Kwik Fit which failed on the centre peice exhaust.They told me to call following day for prices as it was a V6, which i did,i was told i had to bring the car back even though they just done a MOT as they were not sure which part it failed on (how ridiculous).
I reluctantely took the car back as they said they can order the part and fit same day, once there they then said they dont know if they could do it which was not what i wanted to hear.Very poor service and i will never use Kwik Fit again, i now have to pay for another MOT elsewhere as these incapable morons cant do a simple job. I suggest you do not waste your time or money with these incapable idiots.
i went to kwikfit with my old style mini cooper with what i thought was a brake problem...they did the free brake check on my car and were at it for about 2 hours...then they said my whole braking system was shot to hell and needed replacing,despite the fact that only a few months hence i had had brakes replaced....anyway,they said the cost for the work would be £735.85....i said "HELL NO!"...."I DIDNT ASK FOR YOUR PHONE NUMBER!".......so i took my mini to a garage who said my brakes were fine,and what was actually wrong with my car was the return spring on the brake peddle which was broken,which gave the impression the brakes did not work.....i got it fixed for fifty quid!!!
they wanted to charge me £735.85 ,i could rebuild the car for that!!.....they thought they could get one over on this little lady,but no chance!
Not happy with the service that I received from Kwik-fit Acton.
I took my car there for a mot 2 weeks ago, it failed, and I was quoted âÂ?¤229.26 for repairs; I fixed some of the issue’s, myself for a tiny fraction of the cost.
I returned the car for the mot retest & for 2 entirely new shocks to be replaced, although only the bushes were worn re: mot assessment.
I left the car there on Monday, collected on Tuesday morning and received a bill for �196.30. Surprise, surprise apparently while replacing the shocks, they discovered a coil was snapped.
So, �59.61 for the coil and �55 for the top mount kit. ??
Suspiciously I was the first time quoted âÂ?¤139 for a set of shock absorbers and then charged âÂ?¤78 for a set the second time around. Do they make the price’s up as they go along?
I received no courtesy call telling me the extra work had to be done and no explanation what so ever.
I paid, but shouldn’t have!
Terrible customer service!
Unsatisfied!
I will never go back there, or use Kwik-fit again.
While these are all horror stories about Kwik Fit, by the same token I can't understand why anyone would take their car there in the first place?! I often get quotes from them for the entertainment value! As an example, I took my Subaru in for them to price a new exhaust (back pipe only). The guy looked in a book and said, "I'm not sure but it looks like that one, it's £235.00" Not only was this horrendously expensive (had it done for £120 elsewhere) but "I'm not sure but it looks like that one" is not a statement that is going to give me enough confidence in the company to let that particular wrench monkey anywhere near my car!!!
My experience has led me to conclude that they really lack full mechanical knowledge and do not pay due care and attention. My alternator went and I had it fixed at Barnes Hill Kwik Fit, Birmingham. After the work my battery started to go flat and when the RAC looked at the car it was discovered that Kwik Fit had not tightened any of the bolts securing the alternator, one was missing and the rest were holding it on by a wing and a prayer. The alternator was leaning, the fan belt was slack and it could've fallen out at any moment. Then just 13 months after it was fitted (just outside of the guarantee period) the battery started to drain and I again broke down. Turned out the alternator was broken and I needed another new one despite the fact I had only travelled 9,000 miles on it. Kwik Fit were uninterested and not the slightest bit apologetic, they also did not think it unusual that my alternator had a life span of just one year! During this time I had also been through an MOT at the Kwik Fit centre in Bridgwater, Somerset. Got a shoddy fail certificate with the details of my vehicle but headed with the name and address of some unknown person, crossings out where advisory note items had accidentally been entered on the failure note and typos. It failed on the brake pipes but as I was temporarily working in Birmingham they called the Barnes Hill Kwik Fit centre and referred me there for the work needed. When I arrived at Barnes Hill I was told they would have to remove my fuel tank for that and Kwik Fit did not have the insurance to do that type of job. I was forced to take it to another garage who were quite alarmed they had said that because they did not need to remove the fuel tank at all to replace the pipes. Took it back to Kwik Fit in Bridgwater for a retest who also agreed with the other garage that the fuel tank certainly did not need to be removed. Incidentally... at the time I arrived for the retest I was stood behind a customer complaining of oils stains left all over their car seats. A couple of years prior I had also taken a car for an MOT at Kwik Fit in Worle, Somerset and they advised me the vehicle had an oil leak. I later asked for this to be checked out when I was at another garage for a service. They searched all over and could find no leak and no garage has ever found one since. Mistakes happen but the only thing Kwik Fit seem capable of doing is tyres. Maybe it should've been obvious to me from the beginning but for anything that is more complex that a tyre, for your own safety, please take it to a proper garage!
On the 28/12/07, I went to Kwik-Fit Surbiton Branch to have 2 new tyres fitted and the 2 from the back put at the front and the new ones at the back, service was fairly quick and pleasant - Cost: £173.00. Did not use my car much until New Years Eve, when I drove to London and back. Did not notice anything odd then and was quite happy in the knowledge of having brand new tyres instead of 2 near illegal ones. But, a couple of days after New Year, when I used my car again, a fairly regular knocking noise started to develop, it was hard to tell where it was coming from, other than it was from somewhere under the car, quite mild at first, it would get louder as I changed gear, sometimes disappearing but always coming back. As my exhaust is slightly damaged, I thought it was coming from it wobbling about maybe due to having lost one of the backets holding it in place. Anyway, I did ignore the noise for a while, partly hoping it would go away I admit, not really having any money for any further repairs for the time being. I had a friend who knows a bit about cars look underneath and he noticed my slightly wobbly exhaust and said it may well be the cause. After a couple of weeks putting up with the constant knocking I decided to bite the bullet and took my car back to Kwik-Fit, mentioning that it had started knocking soon after they'd done the tyres and could they have a look. One of the young guys who work there drove my car to the back of the building and back and said it sounded like the exhaust knocking underneath (remember that I said to them it started after they'd changed the TYRES). He put my car on the ramp and proceeded to shake my exhaust about to prove the fact that it was a bit loose and would knock against the chassis stengthening cross- frame when VIOLENTLY shaken. The thing is, I would not expect for the knocking to be as regular as it was, if it was due to the exhaust moving, which I'd expect would move more or less depending mostly on the state of the road surface or maybe in corners. Anyway, the guy spent quite a while shaking and hanging on my exhaust (still no mention of maybe checking the wheels - as the noise had started after they'd done the tyres!!!) before offering to try and pad the place where the exhaust appeared to be getting in contact with the frame by sticking a bit of rubber around the exhaust pipe, held in place with cable ties - Fair dos as I could not afford any kind of proper repairs at the time and taking his word that this was the cause of the noise and he did that for free. I drove off and for a few seconds, there was no knocking but it returned with a vengeance 2 minutes down the road.
Having lost my job at the start of January, I have not used my car daily as I would to go to work but I did drive it a few times to attend interviews at various locations and distances. Always the knocking noise was there and then I also noticed that a new noise had developped by way of a grinding/metal rubbing against metal type of noise when I was breaking/manoeuvering to park for example. Again, due to financial reasons, I adopted the policy of the Ostrich by burying my head in the sand and making do with the noise slowing getting worse. Slowly, I noticed what felt like vibrations accompanying the knocking, in the footwell when driving and the steering-wheel also started to judder, convincing me more and more that it was something more serious than my exhaust tapping in the frame under the car. Finally today 08/02, having to drive to a job interview, the knocking and grinding got much much worse and I got very scared driving along. As I parked my car, I looked at my front left wheel and noticed that not only had all the little chrome bolt covers had obviously come off as I drove but my wheel was actually held on by only 2 bolts, side by side and including the locking safety one, I was horrified. After my interview, I drove back home, luckily only 5 odd miles away, with the warning lights on and went straight into Kwik-Fit. The manager, having dealt with me originally and when I came back about the noise the first time, remembered me and I proceeded to tell him that my wheel was hanging on by 2 nuts and that the noise that had started 2 days after they did my tyres was obviously coming from the fact that my wheel was never tightened on properly and that I'd been slowly loosing my bolts one by one as I was driving the car. He told me to give him 5 minutes as he dealt with a couple of other customers. Whilst I was waiting for him inside, I duely noticed one of the Kwik-Fit "Fitters" being busy putting a wheel on a person's van whilst, at the same time, being heavily involved in a conversation on his mobile phone which he was holding to his ear with his shoulder! I should have taken a picture of this but in such moments, you never think. How could he give his full attention to fitting a tyre properly onto a car when 1: he's half concentating on the job in "hand" by gassing on the phone to his mate and 2: There is no way, with a shoulder holding the mobile to his head, he could have full use of his arms and hands as you would expect to be needed to lift a wheel into place and hold it there as the bolts are fitted and tightened!! Still, I was glad I saw this take place, it was perfect timing for proving them not to be giving such an important/vital job their full attention.
Anyway, the manager finally came out to look at my wheel. No need to say he was fairly dismissive, trying to convince me that it was more likely someone had tried to steal my wheel and given up when they noticed the locking bolt (usually a standard part to be found on alloy wheels, I always thought). Still, nowadays, in the world we live in, possible, you could tell me, but on this occasion = unlikely, as the knocking coming from the loose wheel started only a couple of days after the new tyres were fitted, a bit too much of a coincidence, or a very slow TEA-LEAF, who started unscrewing my bolts, thread by tread on the 2nd of January and returned every night since to unscrew them a little more each time, until, they had a closer look and realised one of the bolts was a safety one and gave up on the idea but still took with them the 2 bolts they had taken sooooo long and worked soooo hard to completely remove over an entire month. Come on!!
I did insist on this being improbable, but he would not accept the fact that the fault could be theirs, insisting that Kwik-Fit work to very high standards and guidelines and always have a third person check wheel-nuts have been tightened properly by the guy doing the work... I did try to explain that no one is ever infailable and that mistakes can be made, concentration lost... politely pointing out seeing one of his guys fitting a tyre whilst holding his mobile phone with his shoulder, hoping he would admit that it could be the case but no chance. He looked at me (what would a "little lady" know about anything hey! type of look) and asked what I expected him to do about the state of my wheel. I said I wanted the missing nuts replaced upon which he said he couldn't do that as they didn't have/stock wheel nuts. We went backwards and forwards on the subject and all I got was him telling me that I had to take my car to the nearest Peugeot garage to get the nuts then come back to Kwik-Fit and they would put them on for me (at that tought, I felt safer already!!) and they would pay the cost of the parts (I also insisted on the little chrome covers as all 4 had obviously come off as the wheel wobbled on it's axis). This meant having to risk driving another 10 miles or so to the Peugeot garage and back. All he offered to do to make my loose wheel a bit "safer" to drive with was to move one of the remaining 2 bolts so that they would be across from each other rather than next to each other. Already, after he'd done this and tightened them up, and although still totally dangerous, the knocking noise disappeared. I drove to the Peugeot garage, to the parts department and explained what I needed and why. Straight away, they said: Let us guess who did your tyres - Kwik-Fit? It is apparently a regular occurence and not just involving tyres but also damaged exhausts where K-F have replaced part of an exhaust and damaged the rest of it in the process.
One of the Peugeot men looked at my car, shook my wheel and said he refused to let me drive it away back to K-F as it was. They were kind enough to put it up on the ramp and fit/tightened all 4 bolts for me and only got me to pay £3.00 for the bolts temselves. I also got an invoice for 4 wheel nuts, the chrome covers and adapters to get K-F to give me the money back. They were most helpfull and did not speak kindly of K-F and the standard of their work.
I went back to K-F with my little invoice of only 16.72 and got £20 out of them. Still with an attitude that looked like they were doing me a favour. As their waiting area was quite busy, I made a point of saying out loud that I could have died. Hoping it would make the waiting customers wonder.
No need to say that my car is no longer knocking, grinding or juddering but the thought of what could have happened to me and consequently other road users and even pedestrians is horrifying.
I'm delighted to have found this blog as I now know that I'm not the only victim of K-F's poor work ethics / standards and quality, let alone customer service when a complaint arises. I've had a good look in the branch itself, among all the posters and leaflets they have platered everywhere as well as on the leaflet they give you with their invoice and shockingly there is no where any mention of what to do in case of complaint, who to contact or anything. They are obviously not prepared to give people an easy opportunity to complain in any way.
My next step is to try and find some kind of contact details for their head office and I am also thinking of reporting this to Trading Standards and/or TV's Watchdog.
They are triffling with people's safety and it's unacceptable.
I apologise for the length of this rant, I am not good at summarizing!
took my primera into high wycombe branch last week for a brake check was told the rear brake pads needed changing so they were changed then took my car down around devon and cornwall approx 700 miles in total while on dartmoor the brakes started to squeal so took it to the nearest branch torquay in devon who then informed me after yet another brake check that all 4 discs needed changing and the front pads ive since taken this to the local branch again who stand by what they said in the first place but oh boy if i had found this site prior to last week i would never have gone there in the first place hindsight is a wonderful thing so at this precise point in time i actually have no idea wether my car is legal or not cos have now had three different brake checks by two different companies and they all say something different so where the hell do ya go from here
On the 14th March I took my Clio in to for a service & MOT. Was expecting some work to be done as the car is fairly old and has needed some work done since I got it (new radiator, ignition leads, etc). I received the call from Kwik Fit say8iing that to passd the MOT the car needed a new front suspension arm and there would be some work required on the rear brakes. In all, they replaced the front driver side suspension arm, both rear brake cylinders, both rear brake pads and the front and rear driver side wheel bearings. This came to the tune of £609, ut they passed it on the MOT and gave me my certificate. On leaving the centre as soon as the car hit 20mph it started shimmying quite badly, so I took it back where I was quoted £190 for a new wheel hub because they insisted I must have driven through a pothole. I took it back a few days later as I couldn;t have it done there and then, they didn;t have the parts and I was going on a trip. I brought it back after the weekend to have the hub replaced. On my return, they had not fixed the front wheel, it was still sitting at an angle, they had replaced the drive shaft as they said one of the bearings had come off. On leaving the centre agai, the car started shimmying, and when I tried to turn left there was a horrendous grinding noise and the car shuddered very badly. I took it back again only to be told there was nothing more they could do as it was 'obvious' that the chassis was damaged.
So I have car that has passd it's MOT from them and is now completely undriveable.
I had the middle and back section of my exhaust replaced in May. In the summer I had to return to KwikFit because the exhaust was hangin off. Apparently this was a "design fault with my car". Considering the car was 6 years old and had never had this problem before I couldn't believe this but they fixed it. 2 months later I was heading for a weekend away when there was no most awful noise coming from under my car. I called Green Flag as I was scared to continue driving the car. They said it was the exhaust again (never heard it that loud before).
In December it was blowing again. I took it to a different branch as how many chances should I give the original one? They told me it hadn't been fitted properly. It took them ages to redo it as the rubber seals were perished (I was told there was no way they were new when the exhaust was fitted). I got them to put in writing what they had to do.
Guess what? One month later my exhaust was blowing again. Oh joy another trip to KwikFit. I work hard all week and can't wait to waste my Saturdays at KwikFit. Took it to a different branch yet again and they had to replace a clamp.
After returning it 4 times I thought time to call head office.
Basically the warranty isn't worth the paper its written on. "There is nothing wrong with my exhaust"! It's just the workers in KwikFit that can't fit an exhaust properly. Once or twice at the most I would accept now I'm just wondering when my next joyous trip to KwikFit will be. I'll be running out of branches at this rate!
Left BMW 325i in for a puncture repair, KF Whetstone London N20. Left it with them and waited for the phone call - got it within half an hour, need a new tyre, price £220! asked why, told it was "out of shape, as it had been driven on. Said I would buy at my usual supplier as KF too expensive. took to Elite Tyres Rainham Essex. Puncture repaired £19.00, tyre fine. Do they think I'm a mug?
I'd suffered steering vibration at speed for a few weeks. I called in to Kwik-fit to get the front wheels balanced. Rather than wait I went across the road to do some shopping while the work was done. On returning to the branch I was shown a large screw (~3/4 inch head) embedded in the shoulder of one tyre. I had no option but to pay for that tyre to be replaced and both wheels balanced at a price of £57.75.
This car had a wheels-off service at the Ford main agent only 2 days previously. Such a large nail would certainly have been spotted then. We run 2 cars in the family, and the last puncture was 4 years ago. Thus I calculate 1500:1 odds against a puncture occuring in the period since the service. On disturbing the screw with my pliers, I could feel air escaping from the tyre. I concluded that I could not have driven more than a few miles without the tyre deflating. Of course none of the above is conclusive evidence that staff deliberately damaged the tyre. It is possible, if extremely unlikely, that I picked up the screw even in the last few yards before arriving a Kwik-fit. In retrospect, I should have fitted the spare and driven away with the evidence. However, this did not occur to me at the time, and it is very difficult to accuse people on whom you rely for the safety of your car.
To add insult to injury, on driving away I found that the steering vibration was worse than before.
The tone from customer complaints was in no way consiliatory, and seemed to be trying to bully me into changing my view.
To end on a positive note, the exhaust on my other car was replaced by another branch of Kwik-fit last week. The service was courteous, quick, efficient and economic.
I have just been to have my brakes checked, i was told that when the two back wheels were removed the brakes 'fell apart' and I would need the whole lot replaced, including the drums. I was quoted £500, not including fitting. I have since been told it will only cost half as much to have this done. (and the drums do not need to be replaced)
My car was nearing an mot so i took it down to my local kwik fit to get a couple of tyres and a brake test.After fitting the tyres they ran the brake test and found that i needed new discs and pads (quite true as i saw the test on the rolling road). These were ordered in and fitted within a couple of hours at a total cost of £300 including the tyres.
3 days later i returned to the same branch for the mot and shock of shocks the car failed on the front brakes, headlight load sensor not working and a fog light out.
I then informed the tester that they had only just been fitted so i stood and made sure that they completely stripped, and refitted new parts while i watched. They fixed the headlight load sensor and fitted a new bulb in the fog light.
I ended up only getting charged a total of £30 for the mot and nothing for the rest of the work (which actually took them 4 including the mot)
And this morning at 9.30 their regional operations manager phoned - apologised, accepted they were at fault, said it should have been resolved on the day - more than halved my bill to £90. Also acknowlegded that there was a need for staff training at the branch -clearly - and the manager would be informed (manager wasnt there when I took my car in). I wont use kwik Fit again, but their response was swift and effective - I emailed my complaint to them at 8.30 am through their website-others may want to try it.
Appauling! I was given a quote of £195 for front brakes and told my car would be ready at 5.30, having brought the car in at 2.15. At 5.30 I returned and I was told that
1. The Wrong parts had been delivered
2. Other parts had been tried but they needed to order a third set of parts
3. They couldnt get the parts that day - suppliers had closed
4.I had to leave my car - at the branchâÂ?Â?s INSI STENCE!!! overnight -
5 I was prevented from transporting family last night - resulting in considerable disruption and use public transport to my work - incurring extra cost for train fares. I had to cancel one meeting and may lose income as a result - they refused to compensate me for costs incurred-
7 I have been told the vehicle will be ready at 11.30 today meaning I have to pay for train fares to return to collect the car again - they refuse to compensate me for this.
8. I was told that the inability to provide the correct parts was not the responsibility of Kwik fit - funny I thought as they are charging me money for parts and labour then the contract for sale and sale of goods/services requirements DO apply! They had a real tale of how sometimes the manufacturers put a slightly different system on than the one they "should" - ah so it's the manufacturer's fault Kwik Fit cant supply the right parts then???
My initial thoughts are to speak to Trading Standards and I will do so.
I cant find an email for their CEO Ian Fraser or I would contact him directly. I have used their website to email a complaint to the company - I will report in what I receive from them but I have no faith and will use outside agencies instead.
bought two continental tyres from budget now company bought by kwik-fit ,one failed after less than 1500 miles (8 months time) and replaced by an identical new one at a cost of 60 pounds,the tyre sent for exam as the failure was it gave way from the side, however heard nothing about the examination of tyre-Was it really sent? when asked the manager at Stirling Branch scotland 3 months ago he said he definitly sent it!, then today 7 april 05 the replacement and new tyre failed again small crack on the side found,they did not want to take responsibility and offered the same service as before, i declined as i had enough with this company.
on a simmilar theme i replaced a silencer with them 3 months ago and still the sound less than satisfactory ,took it twice to them -no help or explanation.i believe something should be done about kwik-fit/budget as we can not continue on this type of service.
any other company recommended or are they all the same.
MARTIN/
portslade branch brighton
bmw 520 1996
well what can i say you should all move to the south then,my local branch must be one in a thousand then,an excellent manager,my exhaust rattled, took it in they were busy but booked me in for sure 3 hours later,well mannered fitter asked for my keys and ramped my car diagnosed the problem and quoted me £79 for the middle part of exhaust,didnt have it but could get it for an hours time fine i said and walked around the shops for an hour returned back to the centre and 20 mins later purring like a kitten,whilst waiting i noticed that when a fitter did a tracking he took the customer to the car and explained why it is out and what they had to do to correct it, then corrected it, then reshowed the customer that it had been adjusted,i would like to add that you cannot tar these centres with the same brush,the service you get is only as good as the manager running the centre,some may be layed back and others like my local manager will not tolerate incompatance,and this shows with a fast professional service.
well done from me....
I'm currently in the middle of having to deal with the poor work kwik fit did on my brakes. A year ago i noticed somthing was up with them and took my car to kwik fit to be told i needed a few new parts, total cost £200 flat if i paid in cash. The problem just didn't go away so i kept going back until they changed some of the work they did alas problem has not gone away. So i got on with it fed up of trying. Few days ago was in sheffield and my car started rolling back down a hill with my handbrake on. As soon as i got home i went to another mechanics where they said they would look at the problems.
5 minutes later i was told my back brakes were missing parts and my front left was not working at all because they had tied brake cable on it to hold it together. What makes the story even more scary is that i had my tracking and left side wheel baering done only a month ago again at kwik fit. Did they put this cable on then? If not why didn't they tell me that i mite aswell as stook my foot out of the door to stop the car rather than rely on my front left brake!
As the mechanic i last saw knew the manager at the Stockton branch of kwikfit i was told to bring the car in first thing monday morning to hav all the work replaced and done properly for free. It's now tuesday night and ive still got my car in the condition it was when the real mechanic looked at it on friday!
I'm really hacked off as brakes aren't exactly something minor and im considering legal action
We took our escort to Kwik Fit and was called later with a quote which we deemed too expensive. We would not authorise the quote and so returned to the garage to collect the car. Strangely enough, 6 brand new nails had appeared in our tyres (not mentioned in the initial diagnosis!!) and the handling was suddenly much worse, with the car veering heavily to the left. Customer Services refused to take the matter further. Appalling service and potentially very dangerous!
i went to kwik fit as i had a part of my exhaust fitted in may and it was still under warranty.
when i got there the guy told me it wasnt the new part fitted but the back box was corroded and had a hole in it. total cost £48.00 plus VAT
i took my car to another garage my dad uses and they said it was a small rubber seal that was missing. it fits around the exhaust to stop it banging against the underside of the car. Total cost £4.00
As an ex employee of kwik fit I would like to inform you as to some of the bad practices that go on. Trackings are very rarely done and re tracks are usually driven into the workshop and then parked in the car park before the customer returns. No adjustment required!
Brake inspections are usually estimated, not measured as required by company procedures. normally resulting in unrequired work being carried out.
Since Sir Tom Farmer left the company it has gone down hill and many of his own standards are no longer bothered about.
If you have any enquiries about this info then reply to smithjwest@aol.com.
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Comments:
I reluctantely took the car back as they said they can order the part and fit same day, once there they then said they dont know if they could do it which was not what i wanted to hear.Very poor service and i will never use Kwik Fit again, i now have to pay for another MOT elsewhere as these incapable morons cant do a simple job. I suggest you do not waste your time or money with these incapable idiots.
they wanted to charge me £735.85 ,i could rebuild the car for that!!.....they thought they could get one over on this little lady,but no chance!
I took my car there for a mot 2 weeks ago, it failed, and I was quoted âÂ?¤229.26 for repairs; I fixed some of the issue’s, myself for a tiny fraction of the cost.
I returned the car for the mot retest & for 2 entirely new shocks to be replaced, although only the bushes were worn re: mot assessment.
I left the car there on Monday, collected on Tuesday morning and received a bill for �196.30. Surprise, surprise apparently while replacing the shocks, they discovered a coil was snapped.
So, �59.61 for the coil and �55 for the top mount kit. ??
Suspiciously I was the first time quoted âÂ?¤139 for a set of shock absorbers and then charged âÂ?¤78 for a set the second time around. Do they make the price’s up as they go along?
I received no courtesy call telling me the extra work had to be done and no explanation what so ever.
I paid, but shouldn’t have!
Terrible customer service!
Unsatisfied!
I will never go back there, or use Kwik-fit again.
Having lost my job at the start of January, I have not used my car daily as I would to go to work but I did drive it a few times to attend interviews at various locations and distances. Always the knocking noise was there and then I also noticed that a new noise had developped by way of a grinding/metal rubbing against metal type of noise when I was breaking/manoeuvering to park for example. Again, due to financial reasons, I adopted the policy of the Ostrich by burying my head in the sand and making do with the noise slowing getting worse. Slowly, I noticed what felt like vibrations accompanying the knocking, in the footwell when driving and the steering-wheel also started to judder, convincing me more and more that it was something more serious than my exhaust tapping in the frame under the car. Finally today 08/02, having to drive to a job interview, the knocking and grinding got much much worse and I got very scared driving along. As I parked my car, I looked at my front left wheel and noticed that not only had all the little chrome bolt covers had obviously come off as I drove but my wheel was actually held on by only 2 bolts, side by side and including the locking safety one, I was horrified. After my interview, I drove back home, luckily only 5 odd miles away, with the warning lights on and went straight into Kwik-Fit. The manager, having dealt with me originally and when I came back about the noise the first time, remembered me and I proceeded to tell him that my wheel was hanging on by 2 nuts and that the noise that had started 2 days after they did my tyres was obviously coming from the fact that my wheel was never tightened on properly and that I'd been slowly loosing my bolts one by one as I was driving the car. He told me to give him 5 minutes as he dealt with a couple of other customers. Whilst I was waiting for him inside, I duely noticed one of the Kwik-Fit "Fitters" being busy putting a wheel on a person's van whilst, at the same time, being heavily involved in a conversation on his mobile phone which he was holding to his ear with his shoulder! I should have taken a picture of this but in such moments, you never think. How could he give his full attention to fitting a tyre properly onto a car when 1: he's half concentating on the job in "hand" by gassing on the phone to his mate and 2: There is no way, with a shoulder holding the mobile to his head, he could have full use of his arms and hands as you would expect to be needed to lift a wheel into place and hold it there as the bolts are fitted and tightened!! Still, I was glad I saw this take place, it was perfect timing for proving them not to be giving such an important/vital job their full attention.
Anyway, the manager finally came out to look at my wheel. No need to say he was fairly dismissive, trying to convince me that it was more likely someone had tried to steal my wheel and given up when they noticed the locking bolt (usually a standard part to be found on alloy wheels, I always thought). Still, nowadays, in the world we live in, possible, you could tell me, but on this occasion = unlikely, as the knocking coming from the loose wheel started only a couple of days after the new tyres were fitted, a bit too much of a coincidence, or a very slow TEA-LEAF, who started unscrewing my bolts, thread by tread on the 2nd of January and returned every night since to unscrew them a little more each time, until, they had a closer look and realised one of the bolts was a safety one and gave up on the idea but still took with them the 2 bolts they had taken sooooo long and worked soooo hard to completely remove over an entire month. Come on!!
I did insist on this being improbable, but he would not accept the fact that the fault could be theirs, insisting that Kwik-Fit work to very high standards and guidelines and always have a third person check wheel-nuts have been tightened properly by the guy doing the work... I did try to explain that no one is ever infailable and that mistakes can be made, concentration lost... politely pointing out seeing one of his guys fitting a tyre whilst holding his mobile phone with his shoulder, hoping he would admit that it could be the case but no chance. He looked at me (what would a "little lady" know about anything hey! type of look) and asked what I expected him to do about the state of my wheel. I said I wanted the missing nuts replaced upon which he said he couldn't do that as they didn't have/stock wheel nuts. We went backwards and forwards on the subject and all I got was him telling me that I had to take my car to the nearest Peugeot garage to get the nuts then come back to Kwik-Fit and they would put them on for me (at that tought, I felt safer already!!) and they would pay the cost of the parts (I also insisted on the little chrome covers as all 4 had obviously come off as the wheel wobbled on it's axis). This meant having to risk driving another 10 miles or so to the Peugeot garage and back. All he offered to do to make my loose wheel a bit "safer" to drive with was to move one of the remaining 2 bolts so that they would be across from each other rather than next to each other. Already, after he'd done this and tightened them up, and although still totally dangerous, the knocking noise disappeared. I drove to the Peugeot garage, to the parts department and explained what I needed and why. Straight away, they said: Let us guess who did your tyres - Kwik-Fit? It is apparently a regular occurence and not just involving tyres but also damaged exhausts where K-F have replaced part of an exhaust and damaged the rest of it in the process.
One of the Peugeot men looked at my car, shook my wheel and said he refused to let me drive it away back to K-F as it was. They were kind enough to put it up on the ramp and fit/tightened all 4 bolts for me and only got me to pay £3.00 for the bolts temselves. I also got an invoice for 4 wheel nuts, the chrome covers and adapters to get K-F to give me the money back. They were most helpfull and did not speak kindly of K-F and the standard of their work.
I went back to K-F with my little invoice of only 16.72 and got £20 out of them. Still with an attitude that looked like they were doing me a favour. As their waiting area was quite busy, I made a point of saying out loud that I could have died. Hoping it would make the waiting customers wonder.
No need to say that my car is no longer knocking, grinding or juddering but the thought of what could have happened to me and consequently other road users and even pedestrians is horrifying.
I'm delighted to have found this blog as I now know that I'm not the only victim of K-F's poor work ethics / standards and quality, let alone customer service when a complaint arises. I've had a good look in the branch itself, among all the posters and leaflets they have platered everywhere as well as on the leaflet they give you with their invoice and shockingly there is no where any mention of what to do in case of complaint, who to contact or anything. They are obviously not prepared to give people an easy opportunity to complain in any way.
My next step is to try and find some kind of contact details for their head office and I am also thinking of reporting this to Trading Standards and/or TV's Watchdog.
They are triffling with people's safety and it's unacceptable.
I apologise for the length of this rant, I am not good at summarizing!
So I have car that has passd it's MOT from them and is now completely undriveable.
In December it was blowing again. I took it to a different branch as how many chances should I give the original one? They told me it hadn't been fitted properly. It took them ages to redo it as the rubber seals were perished (I was told there was no way they were new when the exhaust was fitted). I got them to put in writing what they had to do.
Guess what? One month later my exhaust was blowing again. Oh joy another trip to KwikFit. I work hard all week and can't wait to waste my Saturdays at KwikFit. Took it to a different branch yet again and they had to replace a clamp.
After returning it 4 times I thought time to call head office.
Basically the warranty isn't worth the paper its written on. "There is nothing wrong with my exhaust"! It's just the workers in KwikFit that can't fit an exhaust properly. Once or twice at the most I would accept now I'm just wondering when my next joyous trip to KwikFit will be. I'll be running out of branches at this rate!
This car had a wheels-off service at the Ford main agent only 2 days previously. Such a large nail would certainly have been spotted then. We run 2 cars in the family, and the last puncture was 4 years ago. Thus I calculate 1500:1 odds against a puncture occuring in the period since the service. On disturbing the screw with my pliers, I could feel air escaping from the tyre. I concluded that I could not have driven more than a few miles without the tyre deflating. Of course none of the above is conclusive evidence that staff deliberately damaged the tyre. It is possible, if extremely unlikely, that I picked up the screw even in the last few yards before arriving a Kwik-fit. In retrospect, I should have fitted the spare and driven away with the evidence. However, this did not occur to me at the time, and it is very difficult to accuse people on whom you rely for the safety of your car.
To add insult to injury, on driving away I found that the steering vibration was worse than before.
The tone from customer complaints was in no way consiliatory, and seemed to be trying to bully me into changing my view.
To end on a positive note, the exhaust on my other car was replaced by another branch of Kwik-fit last week. The service was courteous, quick, efficient and economic.
3 days later i returned to the same branch for the mot and shock of shocks the car failed on the front brakes, headlight load sensor not working and a fog light out.
I then informed the tester that they had only just been fitted so i stood and made sure that they completely stripped, and refitted new parts while i watched. They fixed the headlight load sensor and fitted a new bulb in the fog light.
I ended up only getting charged a total of £30 for the mot and nothing for the rest of the work (which actually took them 4 including the mot)
1. The Wrong parts had been delivered
2. Other parts had been tried but they needed to order a third set of parts
3. They couldnt get the parts that day - suppliers had closed
4.I had to leave my car - at the branchâÂ?Â?s INSI STENCE!!! overnight -
5 I was prevented from transporting family last night - resulting in considerable disruption and use public transport to my work - incurring extra cost for train fares. I had to cancel one meeting and may lose income as a result - they refused to compensate me for costs incurred-
7 I have been told the vehicle will be ready at 11.30 today meaning I have to pay for train fares to return to collect the car again - they refuse to compensate me for this.
8. I was told that the inability to provide the correct parts was not the responsibility of Kwik fit - funny I thought as they are charging me money for parts and labour then the contract for sale and sale of goods/services requirements DO apply! They had a real tale of how sometimes the manufacturers put a slightly different system on than the one they "should" - ah so it's the manufacturer's fault Kwik Fit cant supply the right parts then???
My initial thoughts are to speak to Trading Standards and I will do so.
I cant find an email for their CEO Ian Fraser or I would contact him directly. I have used their website to email a complaint to the company - I will report in what I receive from them but I have no faith and will use outside agencies instead.
on a simmilar theme i replaced a silencer with them 3 months ago and still the sound less than satisfactory ,took it twice to them -no help or explanation.i believe something should be done about kwik-fit/budget as we can not continue on this type of service.
any other company recommended or are they all the same.
MARTIN/
bmw 520 1996
well what can i say you should all move to the south then,my local branch must be one in a thousand then,an excellent manager,my exhaust rattled, took it in they were busy but booked me in for sure 3 hours later,well mannered fitter asked for my keys and ramped my car diagnosed the problem and quoted me £79 for the middle part of exhaust,didnt have it but could get it for an hours time fine i said and walked around the shops for an hour returned back to the centre and 20 mins later purring like a kitten,whilst waiting i noticed that when a fitter did a tracking he took the customer to the car and explained why it is out and what they had to do to correct it, then corrected it, then reshowed the customer that it had been adjusted,i would like to add that you cannot tar these centres with the same brush,the service you get is only as good as the manager running the centre,some may be layed back and others like my local manager will not tolerate incompatance,and this shows with a fast professional service.
well done from me....
5 minutes later i was told my back brakes were missing parts and my front left was not working at all because they had tied brake cable on it to hold it together. What makes the story even more scary is that i had my tracking and left side wheel baering done only a month ago again at kwik fit. Did they put this cable on then? If not why didn't they tell me that i mite aswell as stook my foot out of the door to stop the car rather than rely on my front left brake!
As the mechanic i last saw knew the manager at the Stockton branch of kwikfit i was told to bring the car in first thing monday morning to hav all the work replaced and done properly for free. It's now tuesday night and ive still got my car in the condition it was when the real mechanic looked at it on friday!
I'm really hacked off as brakes aren't exactly something minor and im considering legal action
Please email me at nepoimages@hotmail.com
cheers
century21boy at 15th Oct 2004, 04:50PM
when i got there the guy told me it wasnt the new part fitted but the back box was corroded and had a hole in it. total cost £48.00 plus VAT
i took my car to another garage my dad uses and they said it was a small rubber seal that was missing. it fits around the exhaust to stop it banging against the underside of the car. Total cost £4.00
Brake inspections are usually estimated, not measured as required by company procedures. normally resulting in unrequired work being carried out.
Since Sir Tom Farmer left the company it has gone down hill and many of his own standards are no longer bothered about.
If you have any enquiries about this info then reply to smithjwest@aol.com.
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