cowboy garage!!!

[Jake]

Originally posted by Syed Shah

It would be nice to perhaps have someone from JPS on here to give their 'side' though. As mentioned, there are always two sides to a story, so hopefully JPS pop in and give theirs.

Originally posted by dannyspeed

There is always two side to every story, so it would be interesting to see what Leon says.

Don't hold your breath. There's no way any company is going to air their laundry on this public BBS.

Besides, Leon has never made a single post here AFAIA

[Darren]

I had alot of work done @ JPS and my car was subsequently off the road for three months due directly to JPS and whoever manufactures his hybrid turbos.

 

Leon sacked the mechanic who worked on my car and put the work right FOC (Although we did have a few discussions on this subject!). I trust Leon and James (The other remaining mechanic) to do further work on my car.

 

Thats my 2 pennysworth on this subject.

[Green Peace]

Originally posted by CJ

 

If you think that is not the case, have a look on the traders areas. You will see "thank you's" all round but very rarely a negative comment. This is ridiculous as there must be members out there who have experienced bad service. By not giving the other side of the coin, it gives a false impression to newer members that all is well.

 

 

A very good point made by CJ.....I agree totally, I fell flat on my face when i first joined this forum I have been ripped off so many times and I'm fed up to the teeth with it, shoddy service, things that go wrong and are never put right, its appalling....surely having a bbs to represent owners of Supras could actually be on our side for a change....this whole site NEEDS to be restructured to ensure we put pressure on these people to deliver...please say if you agree. dont be scared to speak out!

 

Si

[matt]

Its not uncommon for new wheels to work loose even when torqued correctly. You should always recheck them .

 

I do, however, think you should have been told this.

 

 

What exactly was done for your 450? Did this include fitting the brakes?

[Gaz Walker]

Col,

 

No problem with the comments, we all make mistakes and that was one of them... I'll admit that.

 

Gaz.

[Green Peace]

Originally posted by Gaz Walker

Col,

 

No problem with the comments, we all make mistakes and that was one of them... I'll admit that.

 

Gaz.

 

Yeah Gaz...wheres my wheel and my antenna...?

I need to call ya actually....

[Gaz Walker]

Originally posted by Green Peace

Yeah Gaz...wheres my wheel and my antenna...?

I need to call ya actually....

 

Yeah you do - I left you a voicemail days ago and you've not phoned me back yet

 

Gaz.

[Green Peace]

Originally posted by Gaz Walker

Yeah you do - I left you a voicemail days ago and you've not phoned me back yet

 

Gaz.

 

Yep ya did try to call me a few times saw ya number....I'll give ya a call Monday...

 

I waz just stirring he he

[Gaz Walker]

Originally posted by Green Peace

I waz just stirring he he

 

Tut tut

 

Gaz.

[Clarkey]

Never used JPS ... so cannot comment. However, I do know how you feel about being ripped off.

 

My head gasket blew on old UK MR2 - ages ago - called a garage up called Storm Autos. They had a look at the car and said definintely a blown gasket. Will be along to pick up the car.

 

I assumed at this point - They'll tow it. Nope!

 

They picked up the car (I wasn't in - but was told they were picking it up) I later found out that the rad had blown completely, fluid & steam pissing out - as the car magically "broke" down 3 miles from their premises. Because a friend spotted the car and 2 jam rolls standing by it bending down and scratching their heads with that "What's goin' on here ?" look slapped all over their chevvy chases.

 

They then, after the car was fixed - tried to charge me £1300 for the bill. I told them to whistle dixie! Told them if they hadn't of driven it and gone for a joy-ride the damage to the car would be alot less. We finally agreed a price of £750. That was the last time I used that company & that was Aug 2000

 

Now, Since my MR2 Turbo & now my Supe - I use a diamond of a mechanic! He looks after 6/7 Supes inc mine and his own. He lives locally and picked up the car @ 10.30

He takes you under the ramps to tell you what exactly he's done. Diamond of a guy - An example today.

 

My Cambelt is due - but he couldn't get the pulley off - seized tight. He doesn't have one spare. And didn't want to force it and risk shearing it off - making the car off the road. So he returned the car. He spent 6hrs trying to get another faffing pulley today and working on the car preparing it for the Belt change.

 

Normally 6hrs would be £150 of labour. But he didn't charge me a thing!! Now, some garages may have charged you abit of cash.

I got him a bottle of Merlot & Jack Daniels as thank you.

 

I've been taking my car & the family's cars too him for about a year now and well happy with him. I even flew up with him to Scotland (my £) when it came to get my car. And he was happy to get up at 5am in the morning.

 

Imo - If you can find a mechanic who you get on with and are mates - knows his way around a Supra ... stick with that person. As mechanics that take you under the ramps and give you the guided tour of their work are few and far between and like gold-dust!

[Jake]

Seems we've all got stories of poor service from garages, here's mine. My GFs Vectra was in for it's MoT recently. She rang me at work at said it he failed the MoT test because both the front springs were broken, £200 odd to replace them they'd told her.

I thought this was odd because I'd given the car the once-over and didn't notice anything wrong.

I told her to not get the work done and to just bring the car home. When I checked the car myself I found nothing wrong with the springs. We took the car to another local garage and it went straight through it's MoT first time.

 

How bad is that? Blatently trying to rip off somebody, probably 'cos they're female.

 

Oh yeah, I asked my GF for the MoT Failure slip but sadly the garage had forgotten to give it to her, funny that.

[paulfurn]

Not sure how much use this will be but...

 

Give a solicitor a call and ask him where you stand regarding this - their advice is generally free - call his bluff if that is his attitude.

 

You may initially need to get an independent mechanic to give you a price on tow bar removal, and more importantly, the approximate time spent doing it. given there are only a few bolts to remove following bumper removal I dont think it will be very long.

 

Also, get another seperate independent mechanic to give you a price on a check-up - again the time spent is important.

 

This will give you an idea as to whether they have overcharged for a service, and whether you have any legal comeback.

 

If it was me, and we were talking that amount of money, and I had had the ignorance of having a phone slammed down on me, then Id be biting my lip not to retaliate physically to be honest mate. It would be interesting to see if he had that sort of bravado to someones face.

 

I hate reading stories like this - local garage did the CV boot for me, didnt put thte caliper back on properly (so it scored the disc) and didnt put circlip on the CV boot (so grease went everywhere). Fucking cunts didnt even offer to replace the discs but I think Ive lost them more business by circulating how crap/useless they were. Still winds me up now.......

[Paul]

Bit worrying, this thread.

I've got to say that I've used Leon/JPS towards the end of last year but just for supplying and fitting my Nurspec exhaust.

I have to say that they did that fine and have had no problems with it.

Most would say that fitting an exhaust is 'basic' so I can't really count on this as a true reflection on their mechanical abilities I suppose.

 

The problem this now throws up is whether to go to them for my gearbox oil seal that needs replacing as I had planned to do?

 

All I can do is watch this space and then make a judgement.

 

I have praised Leon/JPS in the past and stand by this as the work they carried out then was fine and the level of service was good. This isn't to say I'm not interested in what's been said on this thread, I'm keen to see more comments either way.

 

Paul

[Lewis]

I think a couple of things are worth noting from both points of view.....

 

You can of course consult a solicitor, I very much doubt however that the price will be anything that can be legally contested as you have already paid it.

 

It is always advisable that you seek and agree complete pricing beforehand and question anything unforeseen at the time.

 

Refuse to pay for any work that was conducted without your prior approval. You can also request that they remove any changes made to the car as you are not satisfied with the service.

 

After the event your choices are limited.

 

Basically, you have no proof that the work conducted by Leon had a direct effect.

 

There is no proof that the wheels were not loosened by some bored teenager at 3am. This (as no doubt you know) is near-impossible but in the eyes of the law you must prove accountability.

 

I would suggest the following;

Write to Leon at his business address and address it to the company.

 

State the date of the repairs and the work you expected to be conducted (include you warning light if you percieved that it would get done).

 

Explain the whole situation with regard to you waiting and that you are aware that this is beyond his control but that it is relevant to your claim.

 

State in the letter that you simply require that the work stated in your verbal agreement with him (which constituted a legal verbal contract) to be completed to your satisfaction. State what this would require (ie if bolts are shorn you need new bolts etc).

 

You wish this to be covered by your orignal payment as the service provided on these items was not to your satisfaction.

 

You would like to book the car in to have these items taken care of and in light of the previous events you wish Leon to make the repairs/alterations etc himself.

 

Let Leon know that you would be reluctant to take him to court based on a single issue caused by other members of his staff but that you will not hesitate to do so if these claims are not resolved.

 

 

 

Like I say, you are limited in what claims you could actually win on but I suspect that initially, any solicitor would want to sue for some of the things listed below:

Breach of contract (2+ counts, 1x verbal agreement on fitting of items, 1x verbal agreement on removal of items).

He may consider (depending on parts and services provided) to pursue under the sale of goods act, the supply of goods and services act is another option.

 

You may be interested to note that the Department of Trade and industry provide the following:

"I have had my car serviced or repaired and I do not believe the job has been done properly. The repairer is refusing to do anything about it, what are my rights?

 

Supply of Goods and Services legislation requires a trader to provide a service with reasonable care and skill. Any materials or parts supplied must be of satisfactory quality. If a trader fails to observe these requirements the law treats the matter as breach of contract and, if necessary, a consumer can pursue the matter through the courts.

A local Citizens' Advice Bureau will be able to advise on the procedure to be pursued. The small claims procedure provides a straightforward way to bring a claim for up to £5000 to court without the need for a solicitor."

 

There is the DTi and of course trading standards.

 

These are your avenues but I would strongly suggest (for both your sakes) that you attempt to reach an agreeable solution privately. It will serve you both best in the long run.

 

BTW - I have never spoken to either Leon, anyone at JPS or the person with the problem - I am therefore 100% unbiased (before the posts start).

 

Hope that helps a bit.

 

 

 

 

EDIT - The following link provides all the info on where you stand http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/cars.htm

 

 

Lewis

[Nick_TC]

A JPS slagging thread......must resist..............but it's water under the bridge.

 

However, I'm all for these sort of threads, IF, they are being handled properly, but

 

1. JPS isnt a forum user and therefore won't be able to reply, although Terry and JB are normally the voice of JPS

 

2. If it was about myself, I'd be pissed off that it had been titled 'Cowboy garage' I think a little more thought needs to be put in to the thread titles if your posting to try and resolve the problem

 

3. Too many people jump on the band wagon, adding their problems, views, opinions e.t.c and then the thread starts sliding

 

I think comments like, I've been happy about with the service I get at ****** but because of this thread I'm not sure I'll take it there again, is a crock of shit. (wasn't aimed directly at you Paul)

If you've been happy with the service you've recieved in the past, then there's no reason not to carry on going back. Mistakes happen, fact of life.

 

I think perhaps a trade rep needs appointing.

[Paul]

Originally posted by NWS25

I think comments like, I've been happy about with the service I get at ****** but because of this thread I'm not sure I'll take it there again, is a crock of shit. (wasn't aimed directly at you Paul)

 

aimed at me or not, what my thread stated was simple facts.

Firstly, I have used them ONCE, in the past and found the service to be good. My other point was that this was for a fairly straightforward thing, ie Nurspec fitting.

So, yes, I'm interested in what is being said on here as I don't consider what I've had done to be that complicated or involved to give me a good idea on it's own and others opinions and views are important for that reason.

I know it wasn't aimed at me but just to clear things up read my post again in full

 

Paul

[Gordon F]

Originally posted by NWS25

1. JPS isnt a forum user and therefore won't be able to reply, although Terry and JB are normally the voice of JPS

 

2. If it was about myself, I'd be pissed off that it had been titled 'Cowboy garage' I think a little more thought needs to be put in to the thread titles if your posting to try and resolve the problem

 

3. Too many people jump on the band wagon, adding their problems, views, opinions e.t.c and then the thread starts sliding

 

1. It's true that Leon doesn't use the boards, but he must have gained a lot of custom from discussions on here.

 

2. Agreed. Though sometimes it is hard to be subjective when feelings are running high.

 

3. There are people on here who have been ripped off over servicing and repairs, due to the fact that they are not technically minded. (This isn't aimed at JPS, but dealerships and tuners in general). Many of them will pay a bill, without argument, because they dont feel that they have the technical knowledge to dispute it, even though they know it is not fair.

It sometimes takes a thread such as this for them to voice their opinions.

 

I've worked with cars for 30 years now, with the Army and now in motorsport. Mistakes happen every day - it is the nature of the business. (Michael Schumacher broke his legs at Silverstone in 2001 because someone didn't tighten the brake bleed nipples - so if it can happen to Ferrari F1, it can happen to anyone)

What makes a company special is not the mistakes it makes (providing there are not too many!), but how it goes about resolving them.

[Clarkey]

I think in this situation ... I agree with PaulFurns & Stealth's comments. I've not gone to JPS (as it's too far away) so will not comment on their ability good or bad.

 

However, I remember when I got a cambelt done on my UK MR2 and at a "Toyota Specialist" garage in Abingdon. When I came to pick up the car at 4pm (dropped off the car at 10am) - that the engine didn't sound right - and the belt wasn't fitted correctly so it was missing teeth.

 

As it turns out the mechanic who did my belt was an inexperienced 17year old lad on his apprenticeship. The main mechanic - I guess either short staffed, busy or just over-estimated the lad's skills as a mechanic.

 

Perhaps this is kind of the thing has happend at JPS ?

 

This took 4 days to resolve. So as you can imagine not happy.

But with abit of patience I got a courtesy car ... my first drive in a MR2 Turbo. Probably gave me it instead of the escort - to shut me up.

 

However, I think imo in all of these situations ... (although understandable) - getting angry & having nuclear explosion go off doesn't help matters.

 

I've always tried to keep my cool, not to provoke the mechanic. As again imo it gets his/her backup - and they go on the defensive straightaway. And as the customer - it makes it harder to get what you want. IMHO. However, if I'm still not satisfied or I haven't got what I paid for etc - then you start being more firmer. I don't mean grab the nearest 2 by 4 and start hammering the shit out of him.

 

But you let it be known - you ain't gonna be fobbed off and you're not going to go away - you play firm but fair - and usually it works (for me anyway)

 

And if court action is the next step - then so be it.

 

What I would like to see in this thread is JPS to post a response of their side of events and explain what was exactly done to the car .. Synth Oil & Filter change, Plugs, Air Filter, Diff Oil, Disks & Pads, Toyota Red Coolant - (Though this probably documented in the receipt from JPS) etc.

 

At the end of the day - it is very easy to criticise and turn the thing upside down until we're blue in the face ... because lest we forget Leon of JPS has not had his say.

 

NWS25: I know what you mean about the thread sliding and going off on a tangent when other ppl start replying ... however imho - isn't that what a mod is for ?

 

Agreed - mistakes do happen. Christ! even the best mechanic in the world is not infallable.

 

However, I think when the mistake is on the company's (any company of any sort) side it is their responsibility to investigate & solve it. Inform the customer in a timely fashion, explain to the customer what is going to be done and do it.

[Green Peace]

Originally posted by NWS25

 

 

2. If it was about myself, I'd be pissed off that it had been titled 'Cowboy garage' I think a little more thought needs to be put in to the thread titles if your posting to try and resolve the problem

 

 

 

Enough is enough.

 

excuse me I have been drinking a lot tonight....but how many more people from this site have to drift helplessly over the waterfall before someone actually does something about it.

 

How many stories are there like this one????

 

Dont pretend you dont know!

 

Ok so some people might recieve favourble service from certain garages (friends of the tuner and such like)...this is where it should stop...not many were interested last year when I had similiar probs....I was purely just trying to prevent the same happening to other people, after being led by the Pied Pipers of the BBS into this cave.

 

ENOUGH.....time to do something about it now!

[Terminator]

Guys.

 

This is a public forum and what is being discussed my harm the BBS. It has happened before, it gets the legal guys involved and things get messy.

 

I have had issues with garages, none of the organisations concerned are mentioned on this BBS, as they are only as good as their least competent mechanic. I just don’t use any multi employee work shops now.

 

I understand the feelings of those aggrieved but airing it in a public place may not help anyone.

[Nick]

Editied to be more BBS friendly.

 

I still maintain that some sort of 1-10 scoring for customer service, quality of work etc is a good idea.

[Terminator]

Originally posted by Terminator

Guys.

 

This is a public forum and what is being discussed my harm the BBS. It has happened before, it gets the legal guys involved and things get messy.

 

I have had issues with garages, none of the organisations concerned are mentioned on this BBS, as they are only as good as their least competent mechanic. I just don’t use any multi employee work shops now.

 

I understand the feelings of those aggrieved but airing it in a public place may not help anyone.

[colsoop]

I think the idea of a section for good and bad garages is a good one.

providing it doesn't lead to legal action.

 

wouldn't it be possible to impliment some sort of feedback system like they use on e bay.

That way if some feels aggrieved by the standard of service they have received they can leave a comment and or score - then it could be left open for the trader / garage to add their side of the story.

 

the above all IMHO.

 

regards

 

colin

[carl0s]

Leon said i need clips for the pads and charged me £24 but they now click in reverse and not forward so all i think what he has done is just swapped the clips around.

 

Floating calipers. As I understand it they will always click one way or the other. Best to have them click in reverse.

[dude]

Not gonna get involved on this one guys just to say Leon has no PC access at home and will be addressing these issues on Monday when he gets to his work PC , all i'd say is let the guy have his say before you condemn anyone .

 

Dude:flame Dev