while in - 'ALFORDS

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Fri 8 Jan 2016 19:14
while in - 'ALFORDS - oldroverboy.

While in 'Alfords this morning for an emergency MOT for a friend who was confused about his mot date (sorted now)

I listened to the receptionist give some advice to a young couple with a 2003 fiesta that had failed the mot on emissions.

"put this additive in your tank and go and drive a bit on the A12 for a few miles and come back and we will retest it for you, if not it is going to be expensive."

At which point (perhaps i should not have) I asked the customer if the car had been serviced? (no not for more than a year)said the customer, so said in my humble opinion an oil and filter and air filter change might do the trick before going down the "expensive" route.

Cue black looks from said receptionist.

Then i saw the "person" fitting the wheels back on to a defender using the air wrench to tighten up the wheel nuts, not bothering to use a torque wrench.

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Fri 8 Jan 2016 20:32
while in - 'ALFORDS - Smileyman

sometimes it's best to stay stum, ignorance takes many facets and if the person is happy and not hurting anyone .... still the MOT technician could have made the same comment as you did, then got the job to do himself - I bet if they offered a bonus to any technician who upsales additonal work he would have done so!

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Fri 8 Jan 2016 21:14
while in - 'ALFORDS - hillman

My Volvo 340, which had single point fuel injection failed the MOT on emissions so I took it back to the dealer and asked them to fix the problem and retest. That was on Friday and the dealer asked me to bring the car in on Monday for a new MOT check. On Saturday I bombed down the motorway to vist my sister, 30 miles there 30 miles back. On Monday I took the car in and the emissions test was clear. When I was alot younger the afficionardos called that an 'Italian Tune-up'.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 08:34
while in - 'ALFORDS - jc2

While in 'Alfords this morning for an emergency MOT for a friend who was confused about his mot date (sorted now)

I listened to the receptionist give some advice to a young couple with a 2003 fiesta that had failed the mot on emissions.

"put this additive in your tank and go and drive a bit on the A12 for a few miles and come back and we will retest it for you, if not it is going to be expensive."

At which point (perhaps i should not have) I asked the customer if the car had been serviced? (no not for more than a year)said the customer, so said in my humble opinion an oil and filter and air filter change might do the trick before going down the "expensive" route.

Cue black looks from said receptionist.

Then i saw the "person" fitting the wheels back on to a defender using the air wrench to tighten up the wheel nuts, not bothering to use a torque wrench.

Don't see what you're complaining about;he could have booked their car in and charged them a lot more.He offered them a possible cheaper way out-not everyone knows anything about cars!

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 09:47
while in - 'ALFORDS - Engineer Andy

Saying all the above, I would even trust them to fit windscreen wipers (I don't even buy them [the decent Bosch ones] from there as they're double the price to Amazon and Co.) let alone conduct an MOT or service.

This guy may well have 'saved' them money (in the short term) by recommending the person to add the additive (which he may well [or not] have received a 'bonus' for doing so), but a competent (even professional) mechanic would've always recommended the car be properly serviced as per its schedule first so that the long-term health of the car was assured (in the best interests of his client, NOT himself or Halfords), whether the owner can 'afford' at the time to do so or not, then give the other option but giving the downsides (no sevicing = larger chance of problems generally -> higher cost to the owner).

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 10:28
while in - 'ALFORDS - Wackyracer

The deciding factor on either a service or fuel additive managing to clean up the emissions depends on what the cause is. Neither will work if the Cat itself is not working.

You'd like to think that the person doing the MOT would know by looking at the test results and being able to make sense of them but, I'd not hold my breath on that. My local MOT station jacked my car up on a parts of the car that is not suitable for jacking up on.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 11:40
while in - 'ALFORDS - jc2

As to Halfords,I bought a bike from them,not one of their own but a Peugeot and had trouble changing gear,turned out to be problems with chain and Halfords agreed and offered to change the chain.Couldn't do it that day as their cycle mechanic was not in.Took it in following day and I had to show the lad how to do it!

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 12:03
while in - 'ALFORDS - Avant

"....problems with chain...."

That says it all ! Halfords is a huge chain and, just as with car dealers who are part of a big group, it's very difficult to find people in there who really care about their job or their customers.

A benefit of living in a rural area is that there are more opportunities to support local, family-owned businesses (although sadly not many with car dealers).

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 12:26
while in - 'ALFORDS - Wackyracer
Just a thought ORB, You could have taken the car to the BT depot for an MOT. I've never used them myself but, I would consider them to be better than 'Alfords.
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Sat 9 Jan 2016 12:28
while in - 'ALFORDS - jc2

In the Colchester area,the Fire Brigade will do it.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 14:00
while in - 'ALFORDS - Falkirk Bairn

In the Colchester area,the Fire Brigade will do it.

In the Falkirk area, the Post Office will do it - they do not do servicing as they d have the wrong kind of a stamp for the service book.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 14:20
while in - 'ALFORDS - oldroverboy.

Don't see what you're complaining about;he could have booked their car in and charged them a lot more.He offered them a possible cheaper way out-not everyone knows anything about cars!

1. I was not complaining but commenting.

2.I do know a bit about cars, and when I was still working in the trade we often found that if the "italian tune up" didn't work a simple oil change and air filter change WOULD do the trick. My comment was about the pursed lips saying if the "tune up" didn't work it was going to be expensive......

3. If they didn't know much about cars they should be advised that regular servicing helps. But at the end of the day, nobody can make anybody service their car. AND when it happens that something expensive goes wrong in those cases I have little sympathy.

Same applies to Franchise servicing when in warranty and for the following 12 months. You want some goodwill from the dealer/manufacturer, at least show them the courtesy of using their services as it won't cost much more over the warranty period against the risk of perhaps a new engine.

Just read the forums about people who complain of no help after doing things outside dealer networks.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 14:41
while in - 'ALFORDS - hillman

Very often the person who owns the car can't really afford to. One of SWMBO's friends, a very nice girl indeed, relied on her car for work but never ever had it serviced. One of my late friends was out walking with his wife when they came across two women, mother and daughter, who could not start their car. When he passed them by his wife rounded on him and berated him because he could have at least tried to help them. He replied that they could not afford to keep the car but they could afford taxi fares. The sooner they learned that the better served they would be.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 14:50
while in - 'ALFORDS - Avant

When that man got to the pearly gates, no doubt St Peter tested him on the parable of the Good Samaritan.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 16:14
while in - 'ALFORDS - galileo

Very often the person who owns the car can't really afford to.

There are those who can afford to have their car serviced but through ignorance or plain stupidity just never have it done (until the car stops working).

It is seen as an inconvenience or unnecessary expense, they expect to use the car all day every day, like a fridge or TV set. After all, the things are often advertised and sold in the same way as white goods

A friend who has an independent garage (and 50 years experience in the business) has told me of a 3 year old Audi towed in which he found had about a pint of black sludge in the sump instead of oil - never been serviced even though the owner was in a well paid profession.

Not an isolated case, he told me, often sees cars with brake pads down to the metal "it squeals when I use the brakes", or cars with worn-out spark plugs "its hard to start and the engine doesn't run right"

The education system spends too much time on PC subjects and not enough time on practical knowledge for everyday life.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 16:30
while in - 'ALFORDS - gordonbennet

Who's to blame for the growing lack of basic common sense, it seems to have gone missing completely now.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 18:15
while in - 'ALFORDS - csgmart

Who's to blame for the growing lack of basic common sense, it seems to have gone missing completely now.

Personally I blame the Blair and Brown Governments. Too many kids have gone through a system which makes them rely too much on the state and that someone else has to be at fault when things go wrong (rather than them taking responsibility for their own lives).

The things my son tells me happen at the university he is studying at make me despair for the future of this country. I won't go into any detail as this isn't the correct place but it seems far too many young adults now find fault with the smallest of things and are too quick to blame others for absolutely anything they come across in their lives. Too much time on their hands I feel.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 20:54
while in - 'ALFORDS - gordonbennet

Personally I blame the Blair and Brown Governments.

I can only agree with you, though the clones that replaced Blair and Brown have managed to make even their borrowing look almost frugal, things will take a while to go full circle but full circle they will.

The ending of the present apprent economic miracle when interest rates finally rise, and the cooking of the nations books on ever more vast oceans of (still increasing) borrowed money over the last twenty years is revealed for all to see (and feel), when we as a country cannot service our now potentially catastrophic national debt, will be a lesson for many that they won't ever recover from.

Its a bit like political musical chairs, who's going to be the one left the year this house of cards (cads) finally collapses, young Gideon doesn't have the libs to point the finger at now and blaming the last lot, which they all do, isn't going to wear, they have all contributed to the mess we are in.

We don't have a manufacturing industry to physically work our way out of debt as has been the case before the 80's (and most of that is foreign owned anyway), the property bubble that our economy is relying on is stupidly fragile, only so many people can be employed by the state to service or rather manage the state and when the state can't pay? and don't get me started on the nanny state, a day of reckoning awaits.

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 16:56
while in - 'ALFORDS - RichT54
One of my neighbours told me that her car had suddenly stopped while she was driving it and now the engine was broken. Then she admitted that the oil light had been on for some time, but she hadn't gotten around to doing anything about it...


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Sat 9 Jan 2016 18:09
while in - 'ALFORDS - Bolt
One of my neighbours told me that her car had suddenly stopped while she was driving it and now the engine was broken. Then she admitted that the oil light had been on for some time, but she hadn't gotten around to doing anything about it...

Sounds like my sil, she asked what a light on the dash was, I told her,she said oh ok, and left it like it, twas the oil light, she later said no one would top it up for her

she had to buy another car after it siezed up

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Sat 9 Jan 2016 17:25
while in - 'ALFORDS - Smileyman

sometimes I wish this form offered the ability to 'like' a posting ...

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