183 replies to this topic

[Mini Cheddars]

Right. Some fairly good news (for once!).

It turns out I've not been paid some overtime from work. At least not properly. Starting from the week ending 17th June. Essentially, I've worked out that I'm owed £696.39 before any deductions. This will greatly help me pay Minispeed, pay this fine and pay back the person who helped me out in the first place.

Now I may not get the money until the Friday after next or even the Friday after that but at least I'll have a bumper pay packet soon and will have a bit more coming in weekly anyway because I now know how to submit the timesheet properly.

I finally picked up my house key last Saturday as well. Left them on the bloody car keys!

Edited by Mini Cheddars, 07 October 2012 - 01:17 PM.

[Mini Cheddars]

My cousin's husband just mentioned something to me that he was speaking to one of his friends about...

He was saying that the vehicle-clamping agency acted outside the law when they pulled my car cover up to put their clamp on. Is this true? That was one of the reasons I stuck the car cover on. So it couldn't be moved and also in case any ANPR-equipped cameras tootled up my road.

Could there be any truth in that and if so, could I have any legal recourse? I know technically it shouldn't have been on the road anyway so I'm just as in the wrong but it's just something to ponder about.

Edited by Mini Cheddars, 07 October 2012 - 01:30 PM.

[AVV IT]

Possibly, but then by placing a cover over a car that was parked on a public road, weren't you committing all sorts of offences with regard to failure to display rear reflectors, number plates etc. Also if it could be proved that you placed the cover over the car to deliberately obscure your number plates, thereby attempting to avoid detection by ANPR cameras, then you might be looking at an even more serious offence.

I'm only thinking out loud here and you would really need to take legal advice to see where you actually stand on this, all I'm saying is it might be a can of worms that you really don't want to open.

Edited by AVV IT, 09 October 2012 - 11:23 AM.

[Mini Cheddars]

Well after your response and some deliberation, I've decided to just leave that matter. All my thoughts now are paying off Minispeed and the friendly club member who helped me out. Only have £150 left to pay him.

Minispeed on the other hand have given me another quote now they've done the MOT.

£1.034. Give or take a couple of bob.

Eep.

Anyone feeling grossly generous? *Puppy dog eyes*

So far I've paid Minispeed £150. £80 last week. £70 the week before. My wallet is stretched to the absolute limit throughout all of this. I'm determined though. I want to drive my car again. It may not be anything fancy but it's my car.

[minimarco]

After all this is over, it'll make the drive home that much better knowing what you've endured.

I'm rooting for ya buddy.

Unfortunately, only mentally.

Edit:
Fortunately I mean, for me.

Edited by minimarco, 16 October 2012 - 05:15 PM.

[Mini Cheddars]

Oh absolutely. That's the end goal for sure. It's just that everything in my life is costing a bomb right now. The plan was to save up £500 then take it to Minispeed and pay x amount on top of that. I was 12 days away. But of course the DVLA had to stick their nose in...

[twink]

I once got quoted something like that for an mot, I was miffed to say the least, went and asked them how much is essential to pass the mot and they said £150..... I clearly took my car to a bunch of charlatans, not saying by any means whatsoever that mini speed are, I've never heard anything bad at all about them, but it may be worth asking the question...

[AVV IT]

Yeah what is that £1,034 for exactly??

I've only had a few dealings with minispeed in the past and never had any issue with them, but have to say that I've never found them to be particularly cheap either. As twink suggests, in your situation I'd be asking what of that quote is absolutely essential, and what could be done at a later date. Also ask where you might be able to save a few quid by supplying parts you've sourced yourself/elsewhere, depending on what it needs, pattern, recon or used parts may be an option to keep costs down, and if you need tyres then you might want to consider part worns. Most places will do this and just charge you for the labour, on the understanding that they offer no warantee on the parts that you supply them to fit obviously.

Edited by AVV IT, 16 October 2012 - 08:07 PM.

[Jordie]

i dont understand.... they quote 700 after inspecting the car. a sort of pre mot.

then they mot the car and do the work and its 300 dearer?

surely they quoted in the event of any problems like been unable to seperate a component for example so shouldnt be any suprises?

id want an explanation....

[Mini Cheddars]

I'll have to be quick as my phones battery is almost dead but that cost also includes the fact that they had to supply and fit some hubs they had lying about which cost £80 in all for that little escapade.

I have trouble getting to speak to the guys face-to-face. I can only really go up there on a Saturday but the BHP side of Minispeed isn't open on weekends, so I can't walk around the car and get shown exactly what's occurred.

[Jordie]

fitting hubs isnt that much more labour as they would be removing old ones for bearings anyway. have they supplied n fitted new balljoints then?

[Scott@minispeed]

Hi all, just to clarify a few things as we seem to appear in a bad light here:

The car came into us needing a lot of work which included front wheel bearings among other things and was estimated at £750 + MOT + 1 Tyre.

When the front hubs were dismantled they were found to be knackered as were the drive flanges and the car was in bits on the ramp. We tried to phone the customer and left a message. He did not respond until 12 days later and the car had to be put back together so a decision was made to supply and fit some very good used hubs and drive flanges that came off a low mileage car. The parts were charged at £80+VAT. The alternative would have been to put his original hubs back on which would have left the job still needing to be done and obviously would have cost more. Bear in mind that we need our ramps to be able to work on cars and a dismantled car on a ramp that isn't being worked on costs us a lot in lost revenue, and with a customer that is impossible to contact sometimes decisions need to be made so that jobs can progress.

At the rear of the car, both the wheel cylinders were found to have broken bleed nipples and new ones were supplied and fitted.

These issues were not in the original estimate and have pushed up his bill slightly which has been authorised by the customer.

I hope that explains things from our side.

Edited by Minispeed, 17 October 2012 - 10:09 AM.

[twink]

I didn't mean to put anyone in a bad light, never heard anything bad about your business as I said, it's just worth asking to see what actually needs doing to get through the mot, because as I said, I've had places try to pull a fast one on me before.

No offence meant :)

[Cooperman]

Hi all, just to clarify a few things as we seem to appear in a bad light here:

The car came into us needing a lot of work which included front wheel bearings among other things and was estimated at £750 + MOT + 1 Tyre.

When the front hubs were dismantled they were found to be knackered as were the drive flanges and the car was in bits on the ramp. We tried to phone the customer and left a message. He did not respond until 12 days later and the car had to be put back together so a decision was made to supply and fit some very good used hubs and drive flanges that came off a low mileage car. The parts were charged at £80+VAT. The alternative would have been to put his original hubs back on which would have left the job still needing to be done and obviously would have cost more. Bear in mind that we need our ramps to be able to work on cars and a dismantled car on a ramp that isn't being worked on costs us a lot in lost revenue, and with a customer that is impossible to contact sometimes decisions need to be made so that jobs can progress.

At the rear of the car, both the wheel cylinders were found to have broken bleed nipples and new ones were supplied and fitted.

These issues were not in the original estimate and have pushed up his bill slightly which has been authorised by the customer.

I hope that explains things from our side.

That is a fairly common occurance with most older cars, Minis included.
It's surprising what emerges when a car begins to be stripped for a simple repair. It's sort-of 'we've started so we have to finish'. There can often be no option but to complete the work.

[Jordie]

Hi all, just to clarify a few things as we seem to appear in a bad light here:

The car came into us needing a lot of work which included front wheel bearings among other things and was estimated at £750 + MOT + 1 Tyre.

When the front hubs were dismantled they were found to be knackered as were the drive flanges and the car was in bits on the ramp. We tried to phone the customer and left a message. He did not respond until 12 days later and the car had to be put back together so a decision was made to supply and fit some very good used hubs and drive flanges that came off a low mileage car. The parts were charged at £80+VAT. The alternative would have been to put his original hubs back on which would have left the job still needing to be done and obviously would have cost more. Bear in mind that we need our ramps to be able to work on cars and a dismantled car on a ramp that isn't being worked on costs us a lot in lost revenue, and with a customer that is impossible to contact sometimes decisions need to be made so that jobs can progress.

At the rear of the car, both the wheel cylinders were found to have broken bleed nipples and new ones were supplied and fitted.

These issues were not in the original estimate and have pushed up his bill slightly which has been authorised by the customer.

I hope that explains things from our side.

Thats a fair enough reply and does explain things. I didnt mean to sound one sided, but obviously not knowing all the facts can make topics swing a certain way.

Jordie