I spoke to Chis Mason yesterday at length about some of the posts on here

Rather than getting into a slagging match on this forum Chris was willing to set up a meeting for any members either at Motor Codes head office or a place of your choice to discuss any issues about Motor Codes, one of the Mechanex shows or Top Technician at MBW next year is also an option

Our workshop is Motor Codes Compliant and we have had the RAC visit and the comments made by the RAC are visible to the public plus customer reviews on our Motor Codes page. The RAC had me down as 95% compliant, this was because I did not have a customers terms and conditions on display or a complaints folder available (we do now)

The RAC report is quite comprehensive and would gives any potential customer an insight into our business and help make an informed decision to use us or not. A couple of weeks ago we bent over backwards to help a customer and get her vehicle sorted quickly, she then put an honest review on Motor Codes, our fist review but its good to get recognition when you do a good job

As for sorting out the cowboys, well I think the motoring public has to play their part, many customers now search Google to try and see any reviews of a garage they want to use (fact of life these days Google is KING), if the RAC or customers have given a bad review then hopefully the customers will stay away, this is the only way to stop them from trading, just starve them of business. Motor Codes does review any negative feedback before its posted, it's checked out to make sure its justified or not (we ALL know that some customers will never be completely satisfied as they have an inbuilt distrust of the motor trade)

We also discussed the Dealerships and that in my opinion they did seem to be targeted as they are obviously a big revenue stream. Chris did assure me that this was not the case and they will be working harder to get the message across to the Independents

As the Dealers are the biggest customer for Motor Codes often with many staff I would like to see more regular checks. On a recent visit to my BMW dealership there was a lack of Motor Codes signage and leaflets for the customers, are customers given the Motor Codes leaflet or info with their bill? (I think not) In the light of last nights BBC watchdog why are there not more complaints or rants about the cost of repairing their 2007 - 2009 timing chain failures? BMW would never want customers remarks to be posted on their Motor Codes feedback about this issue, but if customers are not made aware that they can give feedback via Motor Codes then how can they. So personally I think the dealership standard should be tightened and regulated more

Even though I am a Motor Codes subscriber these are just my personal opinions and how I see things from an Independent Garage owners view, We will probably never get a full blown Government Licences scheme but I do believe it is helping to raise our image and give customers an access point to choose who they would want to service their vehicle

We have since designed a Terms and Conditions form after our compliance check clearly stating prices and trading terms which we can email along with an inquiry or give them a copy when they pop in, should have done it a few years ago, certainly feels more professional . Also have a complaint folder which should remain empty

Peter