in Summary I recommend you remain clear and keep to the main point in any discussions/letters of what you are complaining about, don't become side tracked. For me it was not being provided with the information needed to make a decision regarding necessary works, despite asking to do works needed for the car to pass its MOT. I was not provided with the information on the Brake test check that said much of the work was advisory, nor the electronic printout done at MOT. When told 11% efficient, I am unaware its 16% to pass the handbrake test, again this was information was not provided or explained. The only work needed to pass MOT was a front tyre, brake light switch and Rear discs.

Back to my original complaint re unnecessary work.... On Tuesday morning I had received no responses to either of my emails fromthe rep on here. Some weeks later I still haven’t had any contact from KwikfitsHead Office who I emailed via their website, or the Rep on this site. Whilst Iaccept a large company will have a back log, it would address much unnecessaryfrustration and additional work if they simply replied confirming they wereinvestigating the complaint, and give a timescale of expected response to thecomplaint the customer. This should be a simple common courtesy, is a good investmentto make in terms of customer relationships, and values the customer. I talkfrom professional experience; I dealt with complaints/investigations whenworking for a large trust company. Often complaints can be easily and quicklyresolved at this stage, well handled complaints are a learning opportunity toimprove practise. What I hoped for was a procedure or their complaints policy as manyorganizations have. For example who to put it into writing to, the next step ifyou feel it has not been resolved and so on. This is not given on theirwebsite, nor have I to date been advised if they have a process. I am happy giving positive feedback when a complaint has been resolved andit has been dealt with positively. Companies do get it right, which improvesales by instilling confidence in existing and new customers. After all word ofmouth is a powerful way of recommending restaurants, shops, and services and soon, we all do it..... companies that disregard this difficult to measure affectare naive in my opinion. After going through the bill I called the mechanic on the sameday who carried out the work, clarified a few things on the bill, and what'advisory' meant, he confirmed the customer has the choice to have that workcarried out. I asked if he had given me that choice, whereby he said no. Atthis point I said I am not sure what to exactly to do next, but I be making anofficial complaint, at this stage I was considering going to officer of fairtrading. When I was clear what I was complaining about, I paid less focus to a numberof other errors which included his lack of professionalism, sexist remarks(even though unintentional) ,I felt Kwikfit had taken advantage of my lack ofknowledge in all things mechanic and led me to believe this work wasessential for the car to pass its MOT. It was clear the work was advisory andnot required to pass its MOT. Kwik fit does not appear to have a dedicated customer services forcomplaints, or a process of steps they recommend you take before escalating thecomplaint to say an ombudsman. So I followed a standard set of steps. I first notified the mechanic work had been done that was unnecessary topass MOT. I called the branch manager on Tuesday, it was clear on the paperwork, that wasn't made available to me before workswere carried out, that the brake inspection recommended front discs, front andback pads and brake oil. I have to say the Manager (James) listened and acknowledged I had goodgrounds to complain. He ccepted this information had not been provided to me,and confirmed he was unhappy with the mechanics approach. I explained I wanteda refund for the work I did not need and they could take the car back in andput my old parts back on if that was possible. James confirmed he would refund me monies for what I asked however felt theback brake pads and discs were required to pass the MOT, again however thereplacing of back brake pads and discs is recommended when discs need renewing.James stated they will not guarantee discs if pads not renewed at the same time.However as I explained to James this is still a decision for the customer tomake, my alternative is take it elsewhere for the repairs. James needed authorization from his Area Manager (Mark) to agree to theamount of refund I was asking (£300). Later that day after another conversationwith James who wanted to refund me the amount Mark had agreed and make the restup out of his own pocket. I explained toJames I couldn’t do this, the refund in full needed to come from the company,it also felt a little like emotional blackmail, however I think James was beinggenuine and sought to rectify what he agreed to poor customer service. Markthen called me (area manager), he after some 20 minutes discussion agreed tothe amount I requested, and I have since received a cheque for the amount. Mark went onto say he is sorry I was unhappy and they are trying to improvetheir service, he said he prefers to do work on women’s cars as they don’tpretend to know about cars, like men do. He then gave an example of tellingwomen about how brakes work and the reduced braking and safety for not havingdiscs a certain thickness etc, this did concern me slightly as I wonderedwhether that played on women’s lack of knowledge and alongside that fear of nothaving the work done. So credit where credit is due, I have a refund for the amount Irequested

All women were defined as Mistress, Pre its lady Chatterley context.... although I should imagine if we surveyed its use today it would be synonymous with characters such as Lady Chatterley, its used in the press for a female in an affair amongst others implications. Interestingly there is not current equivalent for a Male....

There is little difference in asking to be called Robert and someone ignoring that and saying I prefer Bob so am going to call you that from now on. It does not respect the wishes of the person who's name it is. If you were to insist on calling them Bob even though they had made it clear they did not wish to be called it, they have no need to rationalise it, and for all we know it could be linked to a memory. To ignore their wishes is imposing your will onto them, essentially saying my view is more valid. Why I prefer Ms is not relevant, however like Mr it does not suggest a marital status or age. If the man in Kwik fit had said he was puzzled why women used Ms, I would have happily explained. I prefer to be called by my first name, however where its requested I use Ms - Mrs was used to denote marital status, and Miss unmarried as Scaniaman says. It was how he responded that was offensive, and his decision to ignore my preference and put Miss on my paperwork, then making an assumption that I would be flattered to be called Miss as it was nicer and made me sound younger! Terminology changes, as does the use of words people find offensive or acceptable, simpler is not always better.

Hi there Kwik Fit Customer Services My calculation is I have had unnecessary works carried out and require to be compensated for 84.22 brake pad set (BPAD583), 78.90 brake pad set (BPAD930), Brake fluid 29.96 (BFC BFDOT4), brake consumables 4.46 (BCONS), Brake discs either 127.50 or 112.64 (BDIS362,BDIS358), brake light switch 25.00 (SPESWITCH-464770020). Total either 350.04 or 335.18 (depending on which brake discs above are rear/front). The operative at Maidstone was also sexist, this I accept was probably unintentional, however when asking my name I gave my prefix as Ms, on my paperwork you can see he has written Miss, he states I'm going to put Miss its much nicer and makes you sound younger, its better than Mrs. I repeat I use Ms, I feel intimidated at this point he is imposing his view on me to then extent he has made a decision about how I should be known. Another Kwik fit employee says Ms is much nicer and its at this point he crosses out Miss and adds Ms. This mind set really concerns me, garages are male orientated work places, as a single woman, not mechanically minded I already feel out of my comfort zone, then to be faced with someone who has essentially decided to de-value my 'title' preference increases my discomfort is both intimidating and disrespectful. Later when I return to pick up my car he nods and winks several times I find this both perplexing and unnecessary. I suspect its designed to sweeten the bill! Could you confirm you have received my response, I have emailed however standard would be confirmation and I have received no reply to my read receipt. I do expect you could add a function that would send an automated response. Regards Tracy Wilson

I would be very interested to know whether Kwik fit customers services team have gotten back to you or whoever it has been passed onto. Perhaps if you have a reply and or think the complaint/problem is resolved you could post the response on here. Likewise if they offered you compensation or made further suggestions. I think replies/resolutions would be extremely useful

After taking my car to be MOT'd Friday 27/09/2013 in Maidstone, Kent. I was told the car had failed its MOT. I was aware the rear brakes would possibly need replacing, however I feel I was pressurized into having work done that was not necessary, mainly because they were aware I was away from home, and not familiar with the area. Firstly I was also told the rear brake efficiency on the hand brake was at 11% and this was due to the rear brakes and discs being worn, or possibly hand brake cable. They did a brake test and the rear brakes showed 11% on the test value, this was not shown to me until after work was done. However on the service brakes passed at 67% I also failed on one front tyre, which needed repairing, however the other front tyre was showing signs of wear, neither of which I thought to ask to see, for this I feel naïve. The operative said they were not sure if the rear brakes needed replacing, it could be a hand brake cable, the test value was 11%, the pass needs to be 16% However the service brakes showed a test value of 67%, before the brakes and discs were replaced, and 61% after! After all brakes and discs were changed front and back the test value for the parking brakes showed 21%. I was also told my brake light switch was likely damaged, and there were no back stop lights. Although at this stage they were not overly worried. I work late into the evening and can see my rear lights working when reversing into a parking space. I said I was very surprised this was the case, but again I was not confident to challenge what they are saying, one enters into a relationship of 'Trust' and expects the work being done is genuinely required. Neil a mechanic chipped in when I said what needs doing for it to pass, and before they had inspected my brakes visually (only test at this stage which could mean it was the cable, it did not advise were they were showing low percentages) he said I can do the brakes this afternoon. We can definitely get it through its MOT today, although the switch might be a problem if that needs doing. When I returned home I checked how easy and how cheap is was to get a brake light switch and were it was located on the car. Half an hour later, Neil called confirming the rear pads and discs need doing, and advised I have two new front tyres which I agreed, he said unfortunately we have noted your front discs and pads are also badly worn, and the brake test result doesn't always show them up until we get the tyres off. All your brakes and discs will need replacing. He quoted £662.00 all in. Which I assumed with tyres, alignment, brakes, discs, and labour. I asked about the switch and said I would need a price for that, could he confirm it would pass the MOT, he said yes and did not seem overly concerned about the brake switch which was not the case earlier, until I reminded him on the phone. I checked the price from Alfa, and Unipart a brake light switch is 15.00, on my car they are fitted inside the car. I was not convinced this needed doing as my brake lights worked a few days before. I was even less convinced this work had actually been done when I asked Neil where the switch was, which he said under the car, it was difficult to access and hard to get in and went on to explain in detail how he had to get under the car and twist it in, it was very difficult. The brake light switch is not under the car on my model its inside the car sitting along brake pedal shaft, it is released when you depress the brake pedal and the lights come on. This concerns me that either work has been done that is not necessary or not done at all. I called back KWIK FIT Maidstone on returning home asking them to explain the bill in more detail. I also explained to Neil my brake light switch was not under the car as he had said, he quickly said oh no not on your model its not. It is very easily accessible, not as you described I explained, I am concerned this was not replaced, he remained silent and then explained I had 25% discount on brake parts. This prompted me to ask why I was also charged for brake fluid that was not in need of changing, there is no fluid burn test result on brake test diagnostics, this was not explained to me by Neil. When I spoke to him after I picked up the car he explained why they change it, however I asked if that was my decision to replace it if it wasn't necessary and I had no evidence it needed replacing, not documented on brake report. He said they would recommend it but ultimately my choice. In summary I think I have been overcharged for works that were not necessary, the front brakes see above test report and a switch I do not think was changed or needed, and brake fluid. I don't know what to do, I feel that I have been taken advantage of, I have dyspraxia and in situations like this where I am under stress, I cannot think or articulate things how I want to. I think ultimately I will have to put this down to experience, but would like some advise Tracy