Hi All

Having just read the press release in the Financial section of the Mail on Sunday, i can only say that its enough to make your blood boil

Its headline is "Why are only three UK garages flying a Kite?". It then goes on to say that they have received less than a 100 applications

The Editor of What Car Magazine then asks "why are so few bothering to apply", probably meaning that the rest of us just want to carry on ripping customers off and doing shoddy work

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The 1st reason only a 100 applications have been received from 25,000 garages is because NOT EVERY garage owner knows about the "Kite Mark Scheme". I for one have never received any letters or documentation from "The British Standards Institute" to apply, i only heard about it from articles in trade mags that not every garage receives

The 2nd reason is that Garage Owners (such as myself) are sick to death of so called "Good Garage Schemes" that have failed miserably in the past or failed to impress the motoring public. These schemes are all voluntary and carry no credibility

The 3rd reason is that it is not Government backed, it is being highly promoted by a parts supplier that is trying to force all of their soft franchises to become "Kite Marked" approved. The soft franchise owners are all aware of the scheme and have all been wooed with special days out to win them over......so what about the other 23,500 garages?. The scheme will also cost an average of £700:00 per year to keep the kite mark

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I suggest that this scheme is pulled ASAP to save the credibility of the "Kite Mark". This should be handed over to an independent government body to see it through and make sure that all of the 25,000 garages are made aware of it.....NOT just a chosen few

I would also suggest that the editor of the "What Car Magazine" and Russell Bray from The "Mail on Sunday" come out from behing their desks and take the blinkers off......there are many Independent Garages out there that have some of the best trained technicians in the country, also investing heavily in the latest technology to keep some of the most mechanically and electronically sophisticated vehicles on the road

All this training and technology comes at a price (very high) and ultimateley must be passed onto the customer. The motoring public can no longer expect todays vehicles to be fixed cheaply, those days are gone

Peter