Last month, while I was out of the country my girlfriend, a shy kindly easily intimidated lady (who wouldn't say boo to a goose but would give her last penny to help somebody in need) had a flat tyre in her old but reliable Toyota Yaris. A work collegue fitted the space saver wheel and unfortunately told her she must go directly to the nearest tyre place (rather than her usual trusted garage) and have it fixed .She took the car K.F. Chesterfield branch on Lordsmill street expecting to pay up to £50 for a new tyre if it wasn't repairable. Without being asked they checked and found she had not noticed her MOT had run out and persuaded her to let them do the test. They issued a failure certificate claiming the NSF brake pads were showing less than 1.5mm. They told her it was a serious safety issue in a panic she agreed to let them do the work, expecting to be charged for a tyre and a set of pads. The resulting bill beggars belief When she got the bill for £608.07 and she was told she couldn't have the car back till she paid it. She was so shocked and upset that she spent the rest of the day in tears, she earns the minimum wage and doesn't have a credit card a bill like this means she can't even afford to buy groceries. The car is only worth £500! When I returned to the UK she showed me the bill still shaking. I was horrified, she didn't understand how it could be so much but having been connected with the motor trade and being an engineer I could. She went in for one flat tyre to be repaired there was no uneven tyre wear, she didn't report any judder or pulling. I had driven the car to the airport a few days before, it drove and handled fine. The other front tyre was only fitted and balanced (by a trusted garage we know well) a couple of weeks earlier and the tyre pressures checked (for free) then. why was she charged for balancing all 4 wheels? Why was she charged for 4 wheel inflation with nitrogen? Why was she charged for tracking? She never requested a fuel treatment and the MOT failure refusal sheet showed emissions 1/20th of the legal limit so why was she charged £20.00 plus VAT for fuel additive? The MOT refusal made no mention of broken springs. I live up a very rough farm track and she lives in Chesterfield in an area with many speed humps, if the springs were in any way weak they would have broken. Yet with no justification other than surface rust (and the employee's parts sold bonus) they replaced the rear springs and charged her £175.36 plus VAT There was no need to replace the brake fluid and she did not ask them to but they did it anyway and charged her £39.95 plus VAT Had the front disks been badly worn it would have been picked up on the MOT failure and the mechanic who fitted the other tyre 2 weeks earlier would have advised replacement but again they replaced the 2 front disks and charged 129.16 plus VAT It seems clear to me KF employees have seen a vulnerable mechanically illiterate woman and taken full advantage of the opportunity. I've sent them an email about all this but I wanted to warn others about this criminal behaviour and from what I've read on here I don't expect to get any response from them with just an email but you have to start somewhere. I feel they aught to be investigated by trading standards but looking at their own trumpet blowing web site it looks like they are too important to talk to ordinary people so just push people off to citizens advice. What have others found?