According to recent survey with 62 garages by UK company “which?” 87 per cent of the garages missed or ignored at least one potentially dangerous fault while 39% charged for a product that wasn’t supplied. As part of its survey, investigators made four deliberate, easily-fixed faults a competent mechanic should spot such as a deflated spare tyre, low brake fluid or a blown bulb. The survey was conducted with garages affiliated to the Bosch Car Service scheme, Motor Codes scheme Good Garage Scheme in UK.
Everybody commented on survey that every garage at some point in a year must be thoroughly tested for quality of work, relevance of work and pricing, but some do not believe all those deliberate faults are serious. The only fault that actually affects the drivability is the low tyre pressure.
All affiliated car workshops carry out audits on all members annually and they must have regular audits.
Mechanics (D Bowall) who worked with some good workshops in UK commented on the report and listed possible reasons for problem with garages in common.
1/ many mechanics don’t have the education or the investment put into training to work on modern cars. The trade has always been a place to put school leavers who under achieved this was ok 20 years ago but not now.
2/ the person ripping you off is most likely to be the nice man who takes your keys than the oily mechanic you’d rather avoid. I’ve met more honest mechanics than I have receptionists.
3/ bonus schemes, they cause staff to rush as does pressure from above, It also stops co-operation between staff to fix faults.
4/ Explain a complex fault to most owners and they’ll stare at you like a dog that’s just been shown a card trick.
Above reasons applicable to all car workshops all over the world as these are common problem everywhere.
In India, servicing industry is un organized and many road side workshops. Corporate like Bosch Car Service, Mahindra First Choice Services are opening franchised based car workshops in India. With advancement of car technologies, there is a need to develop education system or manufacture supported program to train mechanics.
Source: news.sky.com
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