Automotive Discussion

Post a Response

Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Tony Gould on January 21, 2010, 11:37 am
Message modified by board administrator January 21, 2010, 3:15 pm

We joined up to m/c through partco who said they wanted all car care centers to be members.
We only decided to join as partco were willing to pay the subscription fee of £75
Which we all presumed including Partco was all that the fee was
Now have received through the post from the RAC inspection service is a proforma invoice for £175
for a compliance check
Reading their letter it seems that the original check was just the first stage
I shall be making more inquires as will Partco so will keep you informed
Regards
Tony

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Steve Nicholas on January 21, 2010, 6:03 pm, in reply to "Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Stephen Nicholas

So is Motor Codes not practising what it preaches, namely, being up-front about charging?

Think I may continue to stand on the shore and watch this ship sink!

Regards,

Steve

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Mark Mcgrath on January 21, 2010, 6:18 pm, in reply to "Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Mark McGrath

It does say on their site a compliance check at 175£ plus vat "within 2 years" so are they doing it sooner than later

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Keith Simpson on January 21, 2010, 7:09 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"

You pay £175 and they will come within two years to do a compliance check. Was what I was told, if it's true it STINKS.

Keith

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Tony Sefton on January 21, 2010, 9:17 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Tony Sefton

And If you dont pay. You will get Booted out of Motor codes as a Non Compliant Garage.

So you would have been better off not being involved in the first place, ???????
Whats the point of paying to be in a scheme that has No Real Benefit and all they can do is take your money to check you out and if they or the customer is not happy with what you do, They then Kick you out of the Scheme that "YOU" paid to join. ?

Tony.

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Dave Harney on January 21, 2010, 10:42 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Dave Harney

Tell Motor Codes to pi*s off, have your compliance check done first then if you pass let them invoice you, otherwise don't give em another penny !!
Chris whathisname should be wearing a mask and riding a big black horse.

Regards
Dave

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Steph Savill on February 1, 2010, 9:30 pm, in reply to "Motor Codes - Through Partco #"

I have a copy of Motor Codes subscription costs for the Motor Industry Code of Practice, Service & Repair.

These are:
Annual subscription - £75 (inc free Welcome Visit if required and consumer survey)
Code and Brief Guide Starter Pack (first year only) - £30
Compliance check by RAC (within 24 months of registration and every 24 months thereafter) - £175
Arbitration (fee shared with subscriber and consumer) - £500
All the above prices are exclusive of VAT.

To summarise these costs...
Year 1 £75 + £30 plus VAT
Year 2 £75 plus £175 plus VAT
Year 3 £75 plus VAT
Year 4 as per Year 2
Year 5 as per Year 3
and so on.

As I understand it,the first RAC inspection is required by enough subscribers before Motor Codes is granted Stage Two sponsor approval by the OFT. Garage subscribers can then use the OFT Code of Practice logo in their marketing. Perhaps Motor Codes are nudging this stage along for this reason, although there is a limit to the number of visits that the RAC can do per quarter...

I hope this helps...

Kind regards

Steph Savill
FOXY Choice

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Phil Dunmore on February 2, 2010, 9:24 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Philip Dunmore

Interesting point about the RAC's capacity to perform inspections. From memory I belive Motor Codes has in excess of 6000 members. To inspect them all bi-annually will need at least 750 inspections per quarter.
Thats 12.5 a day based on 48 weeks of 5 days.
Assuming one inspector can do one a day, round up the half, add a bit for sickness, travelling, breakdowns

etc they must have about 20 inspectors on the job.
Be interesting to know the facts.
Also who trained the inspectors? Who inspects the inspectors?

I'm sure this has been mentioned before. Shouldn't membership come after inspection, not before? Oh yes, then it would take longer to collect fees......

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Andy Mason on February 3, 2010, 11:03 am, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Andy Mason

We had our inspection last Friday,
I found the RAC inspector polite, punctual,professional and efficient.
I know that might come as a shock to many on here.
We had previously had our free check after being signed up through Unipart.
The Inspector checked two completed jobs very thoroughly and was here for approx 2 hours. After which he went somewhere else locally, so could do more than one a day.
The politics aside, we have been Motor Code members for approx 6 months. and in that time we have had our free check and our full check, so that seems quite efficient.
On the Foxy Lady thing, we dont need to pay someone to say that we are female friendly, it almost seems last resort to have to specify what gender customers you are after.

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Steph Savill on February 3, 2010, 2:52 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"

Thank you for the opportunity to reply Andy.
FOXY Choice provides a package of marketing services to help female friendly garages promote themselves to women because (many) women find garages and dealerships unfriendly and often intimidating places where quality can be a lottery.

Sadly the garage industry has a poor image with many women and because it is so male oriented (80% of the workforce are men whereas c50% of customers are female) some garages don't realise that women are very different from men when it comes to shopping and expect to be treated accordingly...hence our different approach.

We are totally independent, make sure women know about quality signs like ATA, BSI and fully OFT approved code schemes, include things like location near shops and customer services like pick up and courtesy cars and expect garages to sign the FOXY Promise to never 'overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don't need or want'. Any problems afterwards and the women tell us of course!

Oh that all garages were scrupulous - many see a single woman and sell her things she doesn't need or want to buy - they wouldn't do this to a man.

Link: FOXY Choice female friendly garages

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Andy Mason on February 3, 2010, 4:11 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Andy Mason

I think you are doing most women an injustice, most of our female customers are far more switched on than their male counter parts, and are not worried about asking questions that most men, probably through pride, wouldnt.
Andy

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Tony Sefton on February 3, 2010, 9:44 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Tony Sefton

>>>>Oh that all garages were scrupulous - many see a single woman and sell her things she doesn't need or want to buy - they wouldn't do this to a man.<<<<<<

Ohh Yes They Would Steph. There Are Plenty of Garages that would sell unecessary items to any customer whether thet were Male or Female.

Most of these Garages are Main Dealers and Most will be Registered with Motor codes or other official bodies.

I Go out of my way to do a Good job at a Reasonable price which most people realise and appreciate, But there are also lots of people out there that dont realise what the difference is between getting a good job done at a fair price and having a bodge job for not much less,

These People Will Always Assume that they are getting Ripped off Because we are £20 Dearer than Billy bodgers garage using cheap and nasty parts.

This week i have had a Lady customer asking me to check out her BMW Mini as it went to the Main Dealers for a battery drain problem ( as we couldnt get it in during the heavy snow period )
They Fitted her a Wiper Motor to try to Rectify the problem, ( £350 ) 5 days later it was flat again, she took it back and they have now fitted her an immobiliser box ( £450 ) But they Insist that the wiper motor was definitely faulty ( but didnt give it back to her )
And they even had the cheek to tell her that they couldnt Guarrantee that it was fixed.
She Now wants us to check it out to prove whether the work that was done was necessary. But Either way. She will Never Go into a Main Dealers Ever again for Repairs.

We Have also Done some Repairs on a 57 plate car that was removed from a Main Dealers with an Estimate for £2350 to replace 2 x Harnesses, this must be half the value of the vehicle on a 3 year old vehicle. They were going to replace the harnesses due to a multiplug with about 6 corroded connections, Their Reasoning for this Extreme expense and work would be that no repair parts would be available from the manufacturer and that replacing the harnesses would be the only way that they could Guarrantee the job Fully. ???
We Cleaned up the multiplug and did another job that was necessary and sent it on its way.

Another Main Dealer wanted to charge £2000 to replace 3 x Air Suspension level sensors and a new rear harness on a vehicle as it was a Modification and fitting this Modified harness was the only way that they could guarrantee the repair. My Mate checked it out and replaced one faulty sensor and charged £200. He Cannot Guarrantee the whole system But Neither would the Dealers, Only the New parts fitted will be guarranteed but that should keep the customer happy. ( unless another component fails, then he will be Mr Grumpy and insist that he didnt do the job properly )

Whos Right and who's wrong. ? Whats a Reasonable price and whats a Rip off. ?

Should Parts be Repaired or should we cover our backs and fit Everything New like the Dealers. ?

Tony.

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by pete greenow on February 3, 2010, 9:59 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Peter Greenow

Hi All

Once again Tony I have to reply & say "very well said" the recurring theme from all these schemes is, if they've a big posh showroom, chrome & pot plants then you will be alright - when possibly the opposite is more true.

I can see the marketing potential of a ladies motoring club, but once again the true fact is that most garages who do a good & honest job have enough work through repeat customers & referrals that to advertise for more work would be unnecessary.

Regards Pete

Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #

Posted by Phil Dunmore on February 4, 2010, 10:10 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Philip Dunmore

Couldn't argue with any of the last three posts.

In additition to most main dealers insisting on fitting expensive parts rather than making more cost effective repairs, some attention should be paid to manufacturers practices.

In the last few days I have diagnosed a fault on a vehicle just out of 3 year warranty. The faulty £90 part is not availble until 20th Feb, a reconditioned parent part(including the required part)is available tomorrow for £530.
The very well known manufacturer of the part(not the vehicle)cannot supply at all.

I put myself out a bit and pressed local dealer to search other dealers for stock, three had stock, one of which was only 40 miles away. Result was a quick fix due to my efforts, not those of the vehicle or part manufacturer.
This part is a common failure, just a design variant that is not yet available to aftermarket.
The vehicle was a commercial and would not run without the part.

I often wonder if people would buy these products if they knew how poor later support could be.

Motor Codes - Slow down in complaints?

Posted by Peter Warman on February 5, 2010, 3:42 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Peter Warman - Administrator

The complaints to Consumer Direct has slowed

http://www.aftermarketnetwork.com/News/Industry+News/item26755/

Mr Mason says this is the result of 6,200 dealers signing up to the Motor Codes (along with a 750 Independents)

Alternatively the slow down in complaints could be due to consumers switching from dealers to the 22,250 Independent Garages that have not signed up to the code?

Peter

Re: Motor Codes - Slow down in complaints?

Posted by Dave Harney on February 5, 2010, 4:19 pm, in reply to "Motor Codes - Slow down in complaints?"
Dave Harney

"Mr Mason says this is the result of 6,200 dealers signing up to the Motor Codes (along with a 750 Independents)"

I think more like the dealers were dragged by there collars to "sign up" to this code - or did they really have a choice ??

Regards
Dave

Re: Motor Codes - Slow down in complaints?

Posted by Steve Nicholas on February 5, 2010, 6:35 pm, in reply to "Re: Motor Codes - Slow down in complaints?"

If this claimed slowdown in complaints has been achieved because a large number of dealerships (but a small proportion of the total number of garages)has signed up to Motor Codes it suggests that the main problems lay in that area, not with independents.

The article mentions the "free" conciliation and arbitration service - no mention of the exhorbitant cost to the member.

Still (very) not convinced. It's still all "smoke & mirrors".

As an independent independent I will make it quite clear to my customers that if they have a complaint then they must come to me first - they then should not need to go anywhere else!

The only plus as far as I can see is that if the threat of a "super complaint" goes away then it is a good thing for those of us who should never have been tarred with the same brush in the first place.

Regards,

Steve

Golden Garage

Posted by Peter Warman on February 11, 2010, 3:40 pm, in reply to "Motor Codes - Through Partco #"
Peter Warman - Administrator

Hi All

A little concerned about this

http://www.goldengarages.co.uk

I think they have jumped the gun by a mile here. With only 750 signed up to Motor Codes out of 22,000 Independents in the UK, will this competition be fair and unbiased?

What will happen if non Motor Codes Garages come out on top in every region? will votes for non Motor Code garages be filtered into the Junk folder?

Would not be good publicity if a non Motor Codes garage wins and still does not want to sign up to the Motor Codes (if they won whats the need?)

This competition is about 2 years to early. I think the Motor Codes publicity machine has gone straight into overdrive and missed all the other gears

They should wait until Motor Codes has full OFT approval, this will attract more garages, once 75% are onboard.........then start all the pointless Golden Garage Competitions

Peter

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Dave Harney on February 11, 2010, 5:09 pm, in reply to "Golden Garage"

Why do they need a judging panel ? if it's done with votes for the best garage !! surely the garage with the most votes should win ! and should Mr Mason be on the panel ?

Also, can someone (preferably Mr Mason) explain this.....
What is Motor Codes?
Motor Codes is a regulatory body created to oversee the standards of work in service and repair garages across the automotive industry. The Code means wherever you are, you can check out the Motor Codes’ Garage Finder to locate your nearest subscribing service and repair centre where you’re guaranteed good value and high quality service.

Motor Codes is supported by the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Motor Codes now covers 6,200 garages and so far has had an industry leading 91% satisfaction rate from customers visiting those garages.

For more information please click here.

How can they say that consumers are guaranteed good value when they only have a 91% satisfaction rate !!

Dave

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Peter Warman on February 11, 2010, 7:44 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Peter Warman - Administrator

Hi Dave

"Why do they need a judging panel ? if it's done with votes for the best garage !! surely the garage with the most votes should win ! and should Mr Mason be on the panel?"

That's a very interesting point

What next......."Strictly Motor Codes" or as it's winter "Fix My Car on Ice"

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Steve Nicholas on February 11, 2010, 11:03 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Stephen Nicholas

I notice that the voting form says "Motor Codes Golden Garage" so that will exclude any votes for non-Motor Codes establishments.

Am I right in thinking that this whole thing is getting up our noses a bit?

It seems to be like an out of control steamroller, where the man at the controls has failed to realise that he was supposed to be using a lawnmower!

Regards,

Steve

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Mark Banks on February 11, 2010, 11:26 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Mark Banks

WOW!!!!

Chris Mason is certainly on a mission! And you have to give him top marks for trying.

As I said to the Aftermarket magazine team last week while we were setting up for the Top Technician semi finals. I do see what Motor Codes are trying to do for the trade but I do not agree with the way they are constantly attacking the independents for not signing up. I do not like the negativity that comes out when ever Motor Codes is mentioned on a forum but you only have to read their advert in the trade magazines and basically the message is "Join up or else!"

Here are a couple of my initial thoughts about Golden Garages.

- 16 grand prize fund!! that's a lot of money. How is it being funded?? and what is the fee for VBH I wonder?? I think that sum of money could be put to far better use monitoring the standards of Motor Codes garages. Surely the prestige of winning such a national competition would be a valuable prize in itself?

- Deadline of March 8th.. That's only just over three weeks, doesn't seem very long to spread the word and get in a decent amount of legitimate votes.

Anyway, I hope the competition is a success and may the 'Best' garage win.... I can't wait to see.

Regards, Mark

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Stuart White on February 11, 2010, 11:47 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"

As soon as I received the Motor Codes New Letter, I emailed this list of questions, they emailed me back very quickly saying they were going to call today, but I didn’t get the call. If I do get the call back I will post their answers. Should be interesting!

"I have a couple of questions:-

1. I visited the site but there appears to be no links from it, so
there is no information and no way to vote? I will not be telling my customers until you I can be sure the site is working ok as they will not keep retuning to vote.

2. Are the winners to be decided purely by number of votes? If so
the size of the business and the use of its data base will be of great influence on the out come, the more customers you have the more potential votes!

3. Why are the skills and the investment made in the business not
of any significance? We have one of the most technically capable and well equipped workshops in the country, but are a rural independent garage how can we compete with the number of votes which the large dealer networks can generate They have many thousands of customers on their database and a marketing department who know how to, and have the time and money to promote “Golden Garage “to their customers.

4. How transparent will the voting be? Will you publish the
statists and the categories the votes are for?

5. Are you intending to monitor the source of the votes, i.e.
MAC/IP addresses, this may not be applicable as customers may make their vote from the garage. For example we have a pc in our reception and we will encourage customers to vote whilst they are on site, however this could be sent as multiply entries from the same address?

6. What are the criteria for a “Golden Garage”? I.e. it is far
easier to keep customers happy when you are only dealing with a specialist area of that market, such a just one brand, or excluding particular types of work."

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Peter Warman on March 25, 2010, 3:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Peter Warman - Administrator

Hi Stuart

Do you ever get a response?

I see the voting is now over

http://www.goldengarages.co.uk

Its looks like 0.03% of the UK motoring public has voted for the top 10 local garage in the UK

Peter

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Steve Nicholas on March 25, 2010, 10:09 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Stephen Nicholas

The winner will be announced on April 6th - why not the 1st?

Steve

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Pete Mutlow on March 25, 2010, 10:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Peter Mutlow

Because on 6th April is when the General Election will be announced - a good day to bury bad news

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Peter Warman on April 7, 2010, 2:54 pm, in reply to "Golden Garage"
Peter Warman - Administrator

Motor Industry Codes registered MAIN DEALER wins Golden Garage

Voted the Best Service & Repair Centre in the UK

http://www.aftermarketnetwork.com/News/Industry+News/item26871

http://www.goldengarages.co.uk

Can we now see a link for all the results and how many votes each garage polled?

Peter

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Pete Mutlow on April 7, 2010, 7:05 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Peter Mutlow

Congratulations must go to Kinghams to win this award against stiff opposition.........however, does this make them the best garage? No. There are members of UKAT for instance who can match their standards. This as we all know is a PR stunt to promote their association. Wonder why a "small garage" didn't win it?

Pete M

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Steve Nicholas on April 9, 2010, 8:51 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Stephen Nicholas

"The winner was selected through a combination of public votes and nomination’s (sic) from the competition’s panel of judges."

So, not at all contrived then!

Steve

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Sean Mc Gettigan on April 10, 2010, 8:54 am, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Sean McGettigan

Why not have our own 'UKAT Diamond Garage' award?

Throw the names in a hat and pick one out every week, or would you think that would be pointless and confuse an already dubious public

Regards
Sean

Ps I nomiate myself as one of the judges and as such I will win the award at least once every 2 months

Re: Golden Garage

Posted by Steve Nicholas on April 10, 2010, 12:23 pm, in reply to "Re: Golden Garage"
Stephen Nicholas

You deserve to win the Diamond Award, Sean!

Regards,

Steve

« Back to index

[ Automotive Discussion ]