UK169, Jack Wilkinson, ECU Solutions Brentwood Essex - i went and got my car it was untouched!

[Jacob88]

Hello, I've been following this thread

UK169, Jack Wilkinson, ECU Solutions Brentwood Essex - Page 2 - Garage services - Consumer Action Group

 

and have some experience to share...

 

Stand by for lots of words.

 

About 6 weeks ago, the engine seized on my car - 10 days before planning to use it for our 2 week trip around the UK! 

I searched the internet for companies who could replace/rebuild the engine and get it back to me in time... One company that came up was 169 UK.

 

I called the number and explained my predicament and the chap on the phone (who called himself Lee - I'm not convinced this was his real name) promised that if the vehicle got to him the next day or so, he'd have it done in time for our holiday!.

He gave all kinds of reassurances about the types of vehicles they work on, from Porsches etc, even people from Spain taking their cars to him.. All work came through 3rd party websites (how i'd found them too) so you generally wont find reviews. 

 

I was weary going into this, but you got to put your faith somewhere, right? so off it went on a trailer to Essex.

 

NOW... I'd already asked where it would be going and I also tracked it by leaving a mobile phone hidden in the car. Interestingly, the place i was told i'd be collecting it from was not the same place the recovery guy (called Patrick?) told me he was delivering it to.. 

 

they got the car and straight away told me that the sump is full of diesel and that my ECU is faulty and its locked open one bank of injectors - causing the failure.

 

All of this is feasible, but it meant that the car would not be ready in time for my holiday  

 

He also tells me the DPF's (i'm sure it only has one, but he referred to there being more) were also completely blocked solid and needed to be dealt with (in this case, drilled and mapped out - which is also illegal)

 

All of these little extras have now taken the cost from £3500 to nearly £5000  - as he was " putting together a special package for me"

 

I tell him ok, i'm now away for 2 weeks so you have a little more time, i'll collect it when i get back. 

I call him on the Friday before we travel home, asking how its going... he says "well, we haven't done it.. you said you were gonna be away for 2 weeks" apparently he marked to diary wrong

 

 i call him again on the Monday following, I say I want to collect it that Thursday... not unreasonable.

 

He then starts with the excuses that he has loads of guys off sick at the moment etc.. BUT, The car IS in the workshop and the boys ARE getting on with it. I say, OK.. but keep me updated daily as i need to make arrangements to come and get it.

 

Tuesday passes without a word,

 

Wednesday morning i txt him asking for an update. He called me back around and hour later to tell me that the ECU they sourced for me is also faulty (they tested it before fitting it as they're nice like that) and it has water damage so he has to get another one, but that isn't going to get to him until the following Tuesday - which brings us up to this week.

 

Everything up until this point has been feasible if not a little annoying, BUT here is where is gets good... 

 

On Sunday i happened to be in Essex on other business, decided to swing by Basildon and see if i could find my car.

 

Knowing where it had been dropped off before the tracking phone died, i had a good idea where to look. And i also had the address of the garage where i'd be picking it up from.

 

Hoping to not find it too easily - after all, it was being worked on on the Monday; Imagine my surprise to find it in the exact location it had been dropped off 4 weeks previously! 

 

I lifted the bonnet - nothing had been touched. 

 

The amount of dust on the bodywork and distinct lack of any hand prints etc strongly indicated that nothing had been touched and it certainly hadn't been moved in all that time.

 

He may well have taken the ECU out to test but put it back, that's easy to do - but there is now way to tell from there that the DPF is blocked without removing it, or having full access to the ECU - which is faulty, remember? 

It had all been LIES. 

Now i am annoyed, but informed and he doesn't know that i know he's been lying to me. 

I spent the next couple of days talking to various people i know and arranged my own recovery to get the car back - even if that meant effectively stealing it back.

Long story short, i had it collected and got it back to me last night. 

The guy who collected it went to the garage i'd been told i'd be collecting it from - Unit 28 Noble Square( Essex car and Commercial) and asked for Lee...

 

Low and behold no-one by that name works there and the car (and others parked in the same place) were nothing to do with them! but then one guy did say "oh hang on, i think i know who you mean, let me give him a call"... 10 minutes later, 'Lee' showed up. 

My man then had to endure conversation with this charlatan, but did glean some information that might be of interest. 

 

"LEE" doesn't directly do any of this work... he takes on jobs, maybe up to 30 at a time and then farms them out to local garages. This explains why nothing had been done and why so many others get stuck in this net.

 

I was surprised that he was calm and didn't get the hump about me taking the car back, i still don't really understand what the scam is, but there definitely is one. 

I think i've been very lucky that no money has been paid, i owe him nothing and i got out of there. 

The amount of mental anguish and anxiety this has caused me has been extreme. 

Now i'm back to square one, still with a broken car. But i'm only £500 out of pocket (for the recovery each way) and not £5k that it was supposedly going to cost... at some point, who knows when! 
 

 

[Jacob88]

I think i was very lucky that i was able to physically see for myself that nothing had been done. 

I'd suggest that if you haven't had to pay anything yet other than transport, you may find yours in in a similar situation. Do you know where it was taken to?

 

There were certainly no vans where mine was, only a Corsa and an Audi. 
I did consider just asking for it back, but couldn't be sure he'd be agreeable.

 

Maybe his scam is we report stolen, no-one bothers looking, insurance pays out and he gets vehicles to break and sell parts from? That's all i can think at the moment. So I arranged my own transport. 

[Gixermonkey]

I don’t suppose you noticed if it was a black Audi TTS?

[Jacob88]

Sorry, no.. it was a white A4/A5 or similar

 

ok, Thats definately the yard then as far as i can tell. 
Might be worth saying you've changed your mind and ask for it to be transported back? 

[Saints60]

Thanks for taking the time to write your posts, although it makes me feel physically sick (I’m sure that you read my story).

 

He’s undoubtedly a scam artist, everything that he has said to the others on here, he said to us.

 

£5k seems to be his magic number !

 

And he gets away with it by making people think that he’s doing everyone such a great favour!