Kwik Fit Have Rendered My Car Undriveable and Are Not Responding to Complaints

[Efficated]

Hi there

 

I took my (hitherto good condition) car into Kwik-Fit for a major service (£160) on the 6th of May. It is an older car, 2002 Ford Focus with 100k miles, so not worth a massive amount of money.

 

The service was carried out, and no issues were flagged up about the car's engine or performance (just some comments on the tires, a bit of rust on the exhaust, and one of the seatbelts), so I drove away quite happily.

 

Upon picking up the car, it seemed a little juddery to drive, but I thought this would smoothen out as I thought it may be the engine getting used to the new oil or sparkplugs. Since the service record specifically states that a test drive had been carried out, I assumed this had been observed by the staff and was therefore considered normal. Over the next few days the juddering got worse and then, come Monday the 11th of May, the car would barely drive (constant stalling, very little power when accelerating, constant juddering and lurching of the entire car).

 

First thing on Tuesday the 12th I took the car back in to the branch to be looked at and to be repaired as obviously they had caused these problems during the service. They had to call in their Master Technician to look at it as they could not pin down the issue. After a few hours I phoned to check in and I was informed that the car was basically a pile of rubbish and was throwing out error codes left, right and centre, and had potentially serious engine problems. And, lo and behold, since picking it up after work the car is performing *even* worse, still juddering constantly, but now also revving constantly between 2000 and 4000 revs even when idle.

 

The car was driving nicely before the service, and then completely failed after Kwik Fit staff had their hands on it. The car passed its MOT just a few weeks ago and the service report given to me on the day of the service gave it mechanically a clean bill of health. The report also specifically states that no diagnostic fault codes were found. That same day the terrible engine judder began and it all went downhill from there. Clearly something has gone very wrong during the service.

 

I sent a written complaint by both email and through the form on their website on the 12th of May and have, up to now, heard absolutely *nothing* back from Kwik Fit (not even a confirmation that it's being looked into). I find this utterly ridiculous as I am completely without a vehicle as a result of whatever they've done to the car. I really don't want to phone them as I want to keep everything, at least at the first point of contact, in writing.

 

I think it's only right that they repair my car to an acceptable, drivable condition considering the damage they have caused. I would also expect my service fee refunded however getting the car fixed and back on the road is more important.

 

Just don't know what to do next!

Edited May 26, 2015 by Efficated

[Bazooka Boo]

Send your complaint in writing to

Kwik-Fit (GB) Limited

ETEL House

Avenue One

Letchworth Garden City

Herts

SG6 2HU

http://www.kwik-fit.com/contact-us.asp

 

Inform them that you have already lodged a formal complaint with them via email and their online form, both have failed to be acknowledged.

 

You expect a response by them, either in writing or email acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 7 working days, failure of which will see the complaint escalated to trading standards for investigation.

 

In the meantime I would NOT touch the car, leave it as it is so they cannot claim that it is something you have done.

 

So within six days of them 'servicing' it, it has failed?

Does it have a FSH?

 

Just to get them to acknowledge you is the first issue!

[Efficated]

Send your complaint in writing to

Kwik-Fit (GB) Limited

ETEL House

Avenue One

Letchworth Garden City

Herts

SG6 2HU

http://www.kwik-fit.com/contact-us.asp

 

Inform them that you have already lodged a formal complaint with them via email and their online form, both have failed to be acknowledged.

 

You expect a response by them, either in writing or email acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 7 working days, failure of which will see the complaint escalated to trading standards for investigation.

 

In the meantime I would NOT touch the car, leave it as it is so they cannot claim that it is something you have done.

 

So within six days of them 'servicing' it, it has failed?

Does it have a FSH?

 

Just to get them to acknowledge you is the first issue!

 

Thanks for the speedy response! I will complain in writing this evening.

 

I haven't driven the car since the day I had it back in the garage (the 12th) as it's unsafe to do so.

 

Unfortunately I have no service history for the car, having just bought it a couple of months ago from a used car dealer. However it has been driving very well since purchase.

 

I think it's in my favour that none of these issues were flagged up in the service report (which I have emailed a copy of to kwik-fit) - it was for all intents and purposes given a clean bill of health - and then suddenly within a few days it's barely safe to drive. It also seems clear that the servicing was extremely negligent when, for example, they told me there were no fault code readings but a few days later when I took it back in, there were apparently several.

[Bazooka Boo]

Ah, if you bought it from a used car dealer, and only had it a couple of months, it may well be a lemon?

 

Did you check it over when you bought it? Can you remember what state the oil was in?

 

It could well be, that when you had it serviced, this was the first service for 50 odd thousand miles or so?

 

By the by really, as they gave it a clean bill of health, test drove it, or claimed to do so, and within 6 days it's become undriveable!

 

Get them communicating with you first, then you can thrash it out with them.

[Efficated]

When I bought it I checked all of the fluids etc - the levels were all good and I looked for all of the obvious signs of mistreatment. Everything looked good. Just decided to get it serviced to give it a bit of TLC, as I didn't know when it had last been done.

 

As I say, drove nicely up until the day it was in with kwik-fit (and I'm hoping my "all ticks" service record is evidence of that) so there's no doubt in my mind that they're responsible.

[Bazooka Boo]

Good, I wonder if you can have it independently inspected and have a report written to show what the issue is, and how caused?

 

Might be money well worth spent if it can be proved it was KF negligence?

[renegadeimp]

People really need to stop using a tyre dealership as a garage.

[Efficated]

People really need to stop using a tyre dealership as a garage.

 

I regret it with every fibre of my being. It was entirely the convenience factor of being able to book and pay it online that made me use them, as well as seeing a full, detailed list of everything which would (allegedly) be carried out.

 

Never again, and let this be a warning to anyone else who comes across this post!

[Conniff]

People really need to stop using a tyre dealership as a garage.

 

 

How I agree, but non mechanics can make a good job of a service with the help of a Haynes manual, so KF should be able to also.

 

 

You can drop the big boss an email complaint as well efficated - [email protected]

[silverfox1961]

In my younger (and fitter) days, I did all of my servicing and repairs and it passed every MOT. As Conniff says, any reasonably competent person can repair a car with the right instruction and tools.

Nowadays, cars have so much electronics built in that the most a person can do is the most basics of servicing and the fitting of parts. The rest has to be done by specialists and Kwik Fit are nowhere near that description.

[AndyOrch]

Disconnect the battery for half hour to reset the ECU..this will clear the fault codes and put it into learning mode.If that does not correct it...look at replacing the Coil and HT leads (100k prob the originals)....and finally take a look at the Throttle Position Sender for your revs problem.

[KwikFit Official Customer]

Good morning Efficated,

 

We are sorry to hear about your experience and apologise if you have not received an acknowledgement of your complaint. We would like to look into this further for you. Please can you email us at [email protected] with the following details to enable us to investigate further.

 

- Your full name

- Your vehicle registration

- The location of the Kwik Fit centre visited

 

Please mention this forum and your username in your email to help us identify you.

 

Thank you

 

Kwik Fit Customer Services Team

[Efficated]

Good morning Efficated,

 

We are sorry to hear about your experience and apologise if you have not received an acknowledgement of your complaint. We would like to look into this further for you. Please can you email us at [email protected] with the following details to enable us to investigate further.

 

- Your full name

- Your vehicle registration

- The location of the Kwik Fit centre visited

 

Please mention this forum and your username in your email to help us identify you.

 

Thank you

 

Kwik Fit Customer Services Team

 

Thank you, I have sent an email as requested.

[Bazooka Boo]

Let us know how they respond to your email please, if at all, I truly hope they do!

[renegadeimp]

Also be aware that they may try and get you to sign a non disclosure agreement, meaning you cant talk about it, nobody gets to know what happened and they carry on as normal. If they do this, REFUSE to sign it. Their antics are well known all over the country.

[Efficated]

Thanks folks, will definitely let you know how it goes.

[Bazooka Boo]

[ksel011]

Hi All,

 

New to the forums. Does the OP have anymore updates to add.

 

I am dealing with a similar situation with Kwik Fit Ealing. Only difference is I'm a mechanical engineer and work in machine maintenance and know exactly what they have done to my car to cause it to fail (I have pictures and eye witness accounts to back this up).

 

On top of this they have tried to get me to replace parts which clearly didn't need replacing, and have actually purposely damaged some minor consumables on my car.

 

I will provide more details tomorrow, I'm hoping they own up to their mistakes and fix what they have broken.

 

Hope you guys can provide some support.

[silverfox1961]

ksel now has his(?) own thread here

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?454153-Kwik-Fit-Have-Rendered-My-Car-Undriveable