Victim of an MOT scam?

alexm9 · October 29, 2012, 17:36

I've just this afternoon MOTed the Roadster at my local garage. I keep a keen eye on the maintenance of the car, and do most things myself (or with the help of a friend). I had planned on doing a quick run around the car to check for obvious failure points before taking it in, but as it happens I ran out of time and ended up in a rush. I took it to the garage immediately after a 200 mile drive home from Sheffield, which I'd driven to on Friday night (in the dark).

The garage owner called, told me the car was done, and that he'd had to replace a headlamp bulb. I did question this in my mind, but in relief at the car passing, I let it slide. Arrived at the garage to find a £24!! INC VAT bill for a new bulb and fitment, which I paid on the basis I couldn't be absolutely sure it hadn't suddenly failed. Now, I know garages aren't able to charge for work that hasn't been authorised by the customer, but quite honestly I didn't want to get into an argument with the guy.

As soon as I left the place, I felt like I'd let myself down at not questioning him further. I know it's not a lot of money, but the principle angers me. Does this sound like a con to you guys? It certainly does to me, particularly since the lights were working perfectly well on Friday night and this morning!

wotugonado · October 29, 2012, 17:56

Arent they a complete Pita to change ? I might be wrong it may be the sidelight that's a pain, but that may explain the labour charge. If it needed changing in the first place that is........

Wabbitkilla · October 29, 2012, 18:11

£24 to replace a headlight bulb us robbery, they are not hard to cone by and not hard to get to grrrrr

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dj2k21 · October 29, 2012, 18:44

They are a 2 minute job to do at most. That's an absolute joke. I would of refused to pay for it to be honest. Should of let him issue you a fail certificate. Go to the petrol station. Fit a bulb for £3 or whatever and gone back for your pass certificate. Utter robbery.

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roger · October 29, 2012, 18:49

£24 to include VAT would be about right, especially taking into account that garages tend to charge in units of 10 or 15 minutes. That's how it works, like it or not.

If you are a post 03, then fitting bulb is a lot more difficult than pre 03. The trade off is the sidelight s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

petej · October 29, 2012, 18:53

Quote from: "dj2k21"They are a 2 minute job to do at most.

Challenge!!

Not putting my money on you... LOL

Jay67 · October 29, 2012, 19:15

blimey, garage i take mine to just pop a new bulb in for you for free!

alexm9 · October 29, 2012, 19:30

As I mentioned, I think it's highly unlikely it actually needed a replacement bulb, since all lights have been working perfectly over the weekend and my journey back down south today. Retrospectively, I don't think there is much I can do, but I won't ever return my car to them. I'll use council testing stations in future.

mrzwei · October 29, 2012, 19:38

Out of interest, how much did they charge for the MOT?

alexm9 · October 29, 2012, 19:42

Quote from: "mrzwei"Out of interest, how much did they charge for the MOT?

£54.85.

Wabbitkilla · October 29, 2012, 19:55

Last week I drove to llanberis in the dark, the next day I set off in the dark to go home and the nearside low beam bulb blew as I was pulling out of the car park. So it can happen when least expected.

I say you should name and shame places like this, it's extremely bad for motorists and all mot garages to have scammers like this taking advantage of people.

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mrzwei · October 29, 2012, 20:18

Quote from: "alexm9"
Quote from: "mrzwei"Out of interest, how much did they charge for the MOT?

£54.85.

Yeah, that's the top rate I think. A lot of the garages around here (and I'm sure everywhere) discount it quite heavily just to 'hook' your trade, in which case the odd bulb or wiper blade is worth paying for for the ticket.
There are some good deals around eg standard service (oil and filter change!) plus MOT for say £130 which gives you a stamp in the book and the MOT Cert. ie a years motoring. In Bracknell there are a couple of garages that will garantee the pass or no fee (it doesn' say that the pass comes without further cost mind s:D

s:D ).

As said, bulbs just 'fail' usually as they are turned on or off and your long run could have been the last straw.

As you hinted, check it yourself first, but £23 is not that high a price to pay for a pass. Time is usually the issue, a Toyota dealer ripped me off for 300 plus quid on an 02 for discs that must have magically rusted overnight (and would have definitely have cleaned up) but I needed the car!

AckersMR2 · October 29, 2012, 22:55

Another thing to watch out for is when they try to charge a part re-test fee for a minor fail item, eg blown bulb when it should be free! something they usually try when you repair the item yourself.

Another great one is my local BMW dealer charge £35 for you to watch your MOT!

2 of the left · October 29, 2012, 23:10

With regard to refitting a front side-light - After 4 to 5 attempts to fit I've found that my hands are too big to do the job!! (On a pre-facelift) so waiting for it to be accomplished during annual service - So I'm riding with one upgraded side-light (o/s) and one normal (n/s) AFter all the swearing and loss of skin I would pay the £24 asked!! s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

alexm9 · October 30, 2012, 11:22

It wasn't a sidelight, but a headlight, and it almost certainly wasn't broken. What I'm after really is an idea of how I can retrospectively challenge this? Should I have been given the chance to decide myself if I want to have this repair carried out? It was not an option, they just did the work and billed me.

Jon_G · October 30, 2012, 11:54

I don't see what positive actions you can take, other than treating it as a "learning opportunity". If you want to keep on being negative, then I guess you could name & shame them every chance you get, but it's too late and it's your word against theirs for any real action. And - for all you know - the headlamp bulb could easily have blown when they switched it on to perform the test!

If they really wanted to rip you off, then there would have been other, more profitable things that they could have done (my father worked in the garage trade, so I've heard a few things). Put it behind you, it really wasn't that much of a ripping off, if at all. You're probably right to take it to the Local Authority place next time.

AckersMR2 · October 30, 2012, 12:39

So how much did the bulb cost? You have a facelift car don't you? so its a separate dip and main beam bulb, which with a quick look on halfords are about a tenner each. So the garage charged you £14 to fit it.
The alternative being, they tell you first, you go down, take the car away, go to halfords, buy a bulb, go home (I suppose you could take the front of your car apart in halfords car park if you have the tools?) Open the bonnet, take the frunk cover off, un clip the 18 plastic push rivets, hoping they don't break on you, lift off the cover, fit and test the bulb, put it all back together, drive back down to the test station for a partial re-test. I don't know your situation but for me i would have had to do all this on the drive, in the cold, in the dark and then theres possibly the need to take time off work for the retest?
All that to save £14?

If your still not happy then I would put it down to experience, move on and don't go back...... s:)

s:)

Pavett1990 · October 30, 2012, 13:11

Quote from: "alexm9"
Quote from: "mrzwei"Out of interest, how much did they charge for the MOT?

£54.85.

HOW MUCH??? An MOT by me is £24.99? I always go to them their a cracking garage.. They always give a discounted labor charge if you have work done through them.. But they also take you through to show you something is not working before asking you to fix it but they also give you a choice of them doing it, they get part and I do it, or just all me..

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mrzwei · October 30, 2012, 18:29

Quote from: "alexm9"It wasn't a sidelight, but a headlight, and it almost certainly wasn't broken. What I'm after really is an idea of how I can retrospectively challenge this? Should I have been given the chance to decide myself if I want to have this repair carried out? It was not an option, they just did the work and billed me.

How do you know that 'it almost certainly wasn't broken'? as said, the filliment will just 'break', bulbs don't last forever.
Most garages have a policy about contacting customers prior to a major cost.
When you went to collect the car they could have said 'It's failed because of a headlamp bulb not working'. What do you do then? I know what most people do.
As Roger said, at least 20 min labour @ £50 per hour = £17 plus the part at say a fiver plus vat @20% = whatever!

Fight the big battles not the little ones.

Markb · October 30, 2012, 19:00

Quote from: "Pavett1990"
Quote from: "alexm9"
Quote from: "mrzwei"Out of interest, how much did they charge for the MOT?

£54.85.

HOW MUCH??? An MOT by me is £24.99? I always go to them their a cracking garage.. They always give a discounted labor charge if you have work done through them.. But they also take you through to show you something is not working before asking you to fix it but they also give you a choice of them doing it, they get part and I do it, or just all me..

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£30.50 here...we have government test centres,no work is carried out on the car at these centres,you bring it prepared.We don't do advisories you pass or fail.....you may get away with a failed bulb or dodgy wiper but not much else.

£24.99 for a bulb....yes its expensive but what can you do,i wouldn't loose any sleep over it tbh.

ChrisGB · October 30, 2012, 19:27

The garage are within their rights to charge what they like, but also must advise you of any proposed work before doing it. The bulb could be anything between £5 and £10, five minute job to change the bulb, a garage could reasonably charge a quarter of an hour labour.

Two words that any business needs to remember "repeat business". Your garage choose to be very formal about billing you for something that they could have done for the cost of the bulb. One customer less for next year.

Chris

AckersMR2 · October 30, 2012, 19:47

Quote from: "ChrisGB"Two words that any business needs to remember "repeat business". Your garage choose to be very formal about billing you for something that they could have done for the cost of the bulb. One customer less for next year.

Chris

Agreed. I've not done this yet but does it really only take 5min to remove the frunk lid, un pop the 18 plastic popper rivet thingy's, remove the cover, skin five knuckles switching the bulbs (apparently?) and then put it all back together in 5mins?

Mightyquin · October 30, 2012, 20:03

BMW wanted £50 to fit a new side bulb in my 3 series company car. Although I wasn't paying the bill I thought that was a rip off so bought a bulb for £5 and did it myself.

I really doubt your garage made it up that your bulb had blown, I'm sure a dodgy garage would try something more daring than that.

They should have contacted you first but in fairness they probably thought they were giving you good service by just doing it as you'd be unlikely to refuse an MOT for the sake of a bulb replacement.

OK you may have saved £15 or so but would it be worth the time and hassle?

Bulbs just fail. I think you're being a bit harsh on the garage myself.

mrzwei · October 30, 2012, 20:16

Quote from: "Mightyquin"BMW wanted £50 to fit a new side bulb in my 3 series company car. Although I wasn't paying the bill I thought that was a rip off so bought a bulb for £5 and did it myself.

I hope that was in company time though s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

I couldn't believe some of the bills I signed off !

ChrisGB · October 30, 2012, 20:54

Quote from: "AckersMR2"
Quote from: "ChrisGB"Two words that any business needs to remember "repeat business". Your garage choose to be very formal about billing you for something that they could have done for the cost of the bulb. One customer less for next year.

Chris

Agreed. I've not done this yet but does it really only take 5min to remove the frunk lid, un pop the 18 plastic popper rivet thingy's, remove the cover, skin five knuckles switching the bulbs (apparently?) and then put it all back together in 5mins?

Forgot about the frunk plastics, don't run them on my car, so add 4/5 minutes more I guess. Still the kind of thing I would do at cost in the interest of repeat business. I don't have the smallest of hands and managed it without difficulty.

Chris