According to a survey carried out by Lloyds TSB’s Insurance Services www.insurance.co.uk comparison site some 50% of motorists, including women, believe that they have been ripped off by car mechanics. Allegedly these ‘scams’ cost the nation £8 billion in overcharged, unnecessary or poor quality work, claims the poll.
We aren’t told what sort of garages or where they are. Nor is there any mention of road safety implications when buying cheap and from a garage you don’t know.
A third of car owners questioned believe they have paid £100 more than they should have done for the car to be serviced while 1 in 2 estimate that they have been overcharged a massive £500.
A total of 12% say their bills have been stretched by an additional £1,000, but 3% put the figure at £3,000.
Asked if they felt they had been cheated by a mechanic, 48% of those polled said they had. I read this in the Daily Telegraph last week.
Forgive my cynicism (I am feeling sad for Kevin and my fellow Geordie fans tonight) but I find this sort of sensational reporting a tad hard to believe when there’s a total absence of support data.
I have racked my brains to think of people I know who would know what they should have paid and then paid £500 more…
Of course you could take your life in your hands, take a chance on an unknown back street garage and shave a £100 off a standard servicing bill but £500 – I am at a loss to figure that one.
And who are the c200 idiots claiming to have paid £1000 over the odds and a further 60, allegedly, who paid £3000 more than was necessary?
Probably an opportunity to plug the new Motor Industry Code of Practice. At least their subscribers sign up to ‘open and transparent prices’ and ‘invoices that match quoted prices’. It’s a start.
Failing that, a plug for FOXY Choice because businesses listed there have all signed our FOXY Promise which includes the statement ‘we will never knowingly overcharge, patronise or sell our customers services they neither need or want’.
Of course this won’t stop dealerships charging more than independents to reflect their overheads and amenities, much as Waitrose and M&S do compared to Tesco and Asda, but somehow we female shoppers seem to know what to expect.
Perhaps the motor trade can do more to help motorists understand the pricing differences too?
Why is it that good news rarely makes the news?
Which reminds me about Kevin and the certainty of another year without a trophy…
FOXY Steph
