Hi all! This is my first time ever creating a thread but I'm looking for some advice please! Basically, me and my partner booked our car in for a full service in our local Kwik Fit garage. We took the car there before 9am as requested and left it there. Around lunch time we had a phone call saying they had identified additional work that needed to be undertaken on the car - a replacement of 2 tyres and also the replacement of the exhaust box. In good faith my partner listened to the advice and agreed that the work could be carried out. We received a phone call a few hours later and dutifully went to collect the car as requested. We paid a whopping £377.10 in total for this, a huge struggle for us as I am being made redundant. But my partner works in a steel works in an industrial area without public transport and so relies heavily on his car to get to work. We understand the importance of this and so paid the £377 without complaint! Ever since we have had nothing but problems with the car. We have an engine warning light that keeps coming on and there is a strange noise coming from the back of the car and at one point I started the car and there was a loud clunking noise from the rear of the car. I was so concerned at this, that straight away I took leave from work and took the car into a local garage where I was at the time. They explained to us that in no way had a full service been undertaken on the car. All kinds of things that had been ticked on our Kwik Fit service sheet - such as the changing of air filters, the oil change, and the replacement of oil filter - had not been done. There was proof of this in the fact there were no marks where the oil filter had been changed and this is impossible to do without leaving evidence. Also the oil had not been changed and in fact the car was now overfull with oil - almost as if some one had just topped it up instead of changing it! The same with things such as checking and lubricating the bonnet catch. The catch was so stiff that it took the mechanic quite a while to be able to properly open and close the bonnet. So not only had they not checked and lubricated the catch, but this suggests that none of the "under the bonnet" work has been done either!! To top it all off they have not re-fitted the exhaust properly. So when undertaking their identified 'extra work needed' they had done such a bad job that my exhaust is now knocking and making clunking noises when I start the engine and we have an engine warning light on!! So we need our money back to pay another garage to undertake, not just the full service, but to fix the problems Kwik Fit caused with the exhaust and warning light! We are not driving the car because of the engine warning light and so now I am paying for trains back and forth to work and my partner is paying for trains and then taxis!! I originally called Kwik Fit about this over a week ago. They said the area manager needed to investigate as I want a refund. They quote three business days for him to contact us! IT HAS BEEN EIGHT DAYS!! We have heard nothing. I have made repeated phone calls and keep getting told that nothing can happen till the Area Manager contacts us. They have called him and left messages and also emailed him and still nothing. They tell me they cannot ask anyone else to look into this matter without him first responding! And yet I just keep waiting for a response! What can I do?? Do I really have to just sit here and keep racking up bigger public transport and taxi costs because I cannot afford to pay another garage to fix my car because kwik fit won't respond to me?! Does anyone know if there is a governing body or a regulatory body for the motor industry I can contact? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

So, today I had a puncture on the motorway, managed to get the spare on and drove straight to Kwik Fit at Manor Royal in Crawley, which is just a few yards from my work.. Several things happened that are obviously dubious, and repeated thousands of times all over the web where Kwik Fit is concerned. 1. The sales guy tried to quote for new tyres even before he inspected the flat one. 2. When he did look, he pointed out hairline cracks that were found to be superficial by the Mercedes garage. 3. He said both back tyres needed replacing 4. He then checked the front tyres, of which I had to let him down on a sale by telling him they had been replaced two days ago with its new MOT ! 5. The price quoted to replace was £384 , this is TWICE as much as any other garage, including Guy Salmon Jaguar just meters away. 6. The two rear tyres were subsequently inspected and found both to be repairable. So, its very probable that they wont take any notice of this complaint, or even respond, so, in one weeks time I will post this email to all 7000 employees of the company I work for, warning them, although, the ones I have spoken to already are well aware of just these issues first hand with Kwik Fit. Its no wonder Kwik Fit Crawley (Manor Royal) has no cars in for repair...

Hi, I had a new exhaust installed by kwik fit in May of last year. They used the wrong clamps and did a terrible job. I went back three times and had welding done but the exhaust was never truly fixed. I then moved and visited a different quick fit and once again they did some more welding (after telling me what a terrible job had been done). The problem was still not fixed. I then wrote a letter of complaint which resulted in them re fitting a new exhaust. However they could not get the old exhaust off due to the terrible job that had been done and after forcefully removing it they then had to drill new holes into the main frame of my car. However they did not have the correct drill bit and therefore I had to go back to have the bolts repeatedly tightened. In addition to this the exhaust was still not working properly and I had to go back repeatedly as bits kept cracking. I then phoned the area manager and he assured me that he would ask my local branch to fix it permanently. I feel I should add that throughout this, the staff were extremely rude and repeatedly lied to my face – at one point even refusing to do any further work and stating that it was not there problem. After turning me away I went to another mechanic and he assured me that it was under warranty and was a simple £4 part, not the manifold as the kwik fit employee had stated. So, by this stage I had been back at least 11 times and the problem was still not resolved. A non kwik fit mechanic told me that the exhaust was not sitting right, due to poor installation, and that was why parts kept cracking. They also informed me that the repeatedly replaced parts are as cheap as they come and that is partly why they keep cracking. In addition to this is my mot test at kwik fit which I recently had fail but only for the front suspension and the exhaust emissions. I fixed the suspension and then took my car to another mechanic (not kwik fit as they didnt know how to fix it) who fixed the exhaust issue and therefore said that they would pass the mot if I booked it in with them. However, they then found a number of problems that were not only an mot failure but that made it dangerous for me to continue driving my car. This included a crack in my steering rack gaitor and my head lights not working due to a falty switch. I am dumb struck by the lack of ability and knowledge that the kwik fit employees have and the amount of unnecessary time, effort and stress that they have cost me. With my repeated trips back to kwik fit and the additional petrol costs due to an inefficient exhaust, the lies and rudeness of the staff, and the stress and time this mess has cost me i asked for a refund and i was told i would get one. I then received a £25 voucher for kwik fit (doesnt even cover the MOT and i never want to use kwik fit again) and a rude letter telling me that my case has now been resolved. I have been repeated told by kiwk fit staff that this situation is appalling and yet they repeatedly laugh in my face. I am at my wits end and am hoping that you can help me to get some compensation from what i believe is a terrible company! Thank you. Kate

I have recently moved address and as a dutiful citizen advised car insurance company of change (Kwik-fit) I was informed that underwriter (Royal and Sun Alliance) were not prepared to insure that address (a little strange since More Than insurance will) Anyway was informed by KWIK-FIT that another underwriter Aviva would insure me for 3x times current premium £1500 (bear in mind i'm over 30 have never had an accident and 4 years no claims) and apparently I would need to sign up for a new 12 month renewal. If I decline and cancel then I have to £70 cancellation charge What rights do I have (if any) given that reason for cancellation is underwriter not me... Surely if I need to take out a full new policy then original is terminated and there is no cancellation fee?!? Or have I technically terminated the agreement by moving address therefore owe the cancellation fee? Technically who is the contract with is it Royal and Sun Alliance as the underwriter or Kwik-Fit as the broker Could someone give me some guidance

kwik fit payroll told me last week that i was owed 2 week pay as for some unkown reason i had not been paid for weeks 17 and 18 and i was also due some holiday pay and they would send me a letter explaining it all to me guess what no letter received so i tryed to contact payroll again only to be told that they do not owe me any more money no explaination given what a rip off kwik fit are a right rip off company

Here is a timeline of this issue: 09/05/2012: My car passed MOT 8:30AM, 17/05/2012: I sent my car to Kwit Fit Oldbury Centre near my company for full service 13:00PM, 17/05/2012 Oldbury centre called to tell me the job nearly done and a list of repair recommendation, I said thanks but no further action needs to be taken. 15:30PM, 17/05/2012 Oldbury centre called again to ask if I found any problem before. I had been happy with my car and carrying my colleagues occasionally(even a couple of days before service), and passed the MOT, I have not found or been reported any problem. Of course I said no. 16:00 PM, 17/05/2012 Oldbury centre called to report they found the ignition coil pack failed and the car is not advised to drive and I was told that I need to spend another £144.00 to replace it. I was told if I don’t fix it, I will feel bumps from engine. They stressed that this is just a COINCIDENCE and the coil pack would fail sooner or later but just right at service time. I felt a little bit confused and uncomfortable and called your customer service for advice, customer service supported Oldbury centre opinion and said the vehicle problem was my liability. I thought they might be right and called Oldbury centre back to allow the replacement of coil pack. 17:10PM, 17/05/2012: Job done for service and replacement of coil pack. Very funny, I started feeling the bumps they described, I thought it might be just occasional case and chose to give it a little bit longer to observe the problem further. 18-19/05/2012: Problem carried on 22/05/2012: Problem seems more serious and dangerous in motorway, I could not pickup power when overtaking and the engine light on the driver panel is on along with the engine bumps. 08:30AM, 23/05/2012: I felt frustrated about this and asked oldbury sentre to check again. They told me they will have a check the afternoon. 16:40PM 23/05/2012: At Oldbury centre, I was told the problem is because of the mechanical failure, again it is ALSO A COINCIDENCE happened during service. By the way, my car, 2001fort focus Ghia, has been through almost 120K. Do you think i should accept it peacefully? Is there any supervisory organization i can seek advice from? MAny thanks for your time and sorry for my poor spelling and grammer?