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[feeutfo]

wim. do you sell tyres as well?

Yep and suspension, brakes, exhausts 

Ooh, just saying those words together makes me cringe. Good job Wim present to the public in a deferent way, don't want that association or to be seen even competing at that level IMO.

[Chris_H]

Never used them.  The name puts me off for a start.  If it's gonna be quick I might as well do it myself.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

I have always found KF to be a bunch of sharks, with the exception of the occasional decent centre, which sadly don't last long.  I only ever went to KF twice, first time they tried to sell me everything (tyres, shocks, exhaust), etc...  The second time was purely for an exhaust, but then they ordered the wrong one and what should have been a morning, ended up being all day...  Certainly left me feeling with the big avoid...  Then again, I avoid pretty much all of the main stream tyre/exhaust places anyway...

One of my sons actually had these cowboys fit the wrong exhaust to his Nova, which was confirmed by Vauxhall's after he got tired of the pipework banging on the underside of his car and KF arguing they had done a good job!!

[Richie London]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NroSVa0jHQU&feature=related[/media]

[TheBoy]

wim. do you sell tyres as well?

Yes they do (under the guise of sister company Blackboots).  I'm not sure WIM look at KwikFit as a competitor - the sort of people generally who use Kwikfit do so due to it being local and a 'known' brand (hence unlikely to rip off - yeah, right!).  There is not, as far as I can remember, one in Chesham - nearest I can think of is Berko, Hemel or Wycombe.


It may sound like a cliche, or that I am an employee/shareholder/commission/related (I'm not), but WIM do offer a different level of service to most other fastfit places I have used.  Every time I have been, I have been delighted with the service, not just to my car, but also to me (shame the free tea and coffee has gone ). Very different to the service I received at places such as KF/ATF/STS/Just Tyres/independents. Its not like its simply 'round the corner' for me, but I do continue to use them until I start receiving poor service (to the car).


I reserve judgement on how the other/franchised/expanded WIM centres will work, as they are existing tyre centres, possibly with the 'fastfit mentality'.  I have discussed these concerns with wheels-inmotion, I like what I hear back, but reserve judgement until we know how well it works in practice.  It seems wheels-inmotion is prepared to dump centres that are not up to scratch.




Back to KF - I suspect BBC, as is the new style, only mentioned/reported on the bad ones, and the good cars they put in were probably not mentioned at all.

Additionally, any large company will have good eggs and bad apples, be it Vauxhall dealer networks, fastfit, police, tinpot yankee computer firms...

When Mrs TB used to work for Ford, our company car had to have tyres/exhausts (at less than 2yrs old!!!) down at KF, as Ford was a part owner.  The local KF centre in Banbury knew this was a money spinner, and would quote for the most expense tyres, and do the routine about shocks (we only had car for 2yrs ) and brakes.  We always refused the Michelin tyres, and said we would get shocks/brakes done at dealer who'd used genuine parts (who said nought wrong).

I did hear from an ex-employee that they had a target (in the 1990s) of £40 per customer, if one customer just had a single cheap tyre, the next had to have extra work.


But the local ATS in Brackley seem to be more honest.  It seems to have an older workforce rather than kids.  Likewise with the ATS in Bletchley. Though other centres have not been so great.


Specifically for KF, I would imagine we all know somebody who has been poorly treated by a KF centre, yet they are always busy  :-/

[wheels-inmotion]

Thank you Theboy, that was a very commendable explanation of wim/BB.

We are not fast fit, in fact we're not fast anything, our focus is the customer and job in hand, 99% of the time the customer knows exactly what the bill will be before they even arrive.

Most of the suspension/ brake and other mods we install, including part from members here are "customers own parts", reason being we don't have the buying power for most parts so i advise owners to buy them direct and we fit.... I could buy cheap and nasty and be seen to be cheap but i won't.

My national network...... Well it's hard work!. First geometry calibration network in the world so if it's easy everyone would be doing it but it's not.

A few member here have used the network and i hope for them it's been problem free.

[Jimbob]

I am speaking as a 'network' customer...

I booked for the local centre, to be told they werent up to scratch, then redirected to the next nearest....

Annoying, Yes.  The right course of action for Tony and myself, Definately Yes, and proves his commitment to this idea.

I can't argue that its not more of a pain to drive 3/4 of an hour instead of 10 mins, but when you want / need / demand the WIM precision, then its the only course of action.

One of ours is booked in for Monday up in Bolton, and I have no reason to doubt the work will be as if Tony had done it himself, and I have made the long trip several times as I know that is worthwhile. 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Worst I heard was around 6 months ago.

A work college took his 2.2 Astra SRi there for front discs and pads.

He got the car back and the pad wear light was on so he took it back.

They told him they could not get the wear sesnor to fit but had this time modified the caliper so it would.

He asked me to look at it and the monkeys had fitted pads and discs for a 1.8 which are smaller and had taken an angle grinder to the brake caliper to get the wear sensor to clip into the pad!

Absolutely F-ing terrible.

So he called trading standards, took it to Vx, who fitted genuine pads, discs and new caliper at a cost of a grand and then billed Kwikfit who finaly paid up!

It beggers belief that a fitter can look at something that is clearly wrong and come to the conclusion that it must be the 6 year old caliper that has been made wrong and not the new parts just fitted.

[tunnie]

hence i always make the effort for a trip to you Tony 

Actually I will need an appointment for some geometry within next few days if you have any last minute ones available, as my shocks are well past their prime 

[Mysteryman]

Well. I know the manager of my local KF. He is a good bloke and has pride in his work. They are not all the same.

[hoofing it]

My father in law took his liana to kf and was told he needed discs+pads he said carry on the nice chap gave him a bill for £265.00 my father-in-law gave him a receipt for the life time warenty he got 5 months previous from another kf. he said the chaps face was pricless

[Mysteryman]

My father in law took his liana to kf and was told he needed discs+pads he said carry on the nice chap gave him a bill for £265.00 my father-in-law gave him a receipt for the life time warenty he got 5 months previous from another kf. he said the chaps face was pricless

Love it.

[Tony H]

My father in law took his liana to kf and was told he needed discs+pads he said carry on the nice chap gave him a bill for £265.00 my father-in-law gave him a receipt for the life time warenty he got 5 months previous from another kf. he said the chaps face was pricless

Poetic justice 8-)

[Psychoca]

My father in law took his liana to kf and was told he needed discs+pads he said carry on the nice chap gave him a bill for £265.00 my father-in-law gave him a receipt for the life time warenty he got 5 months previous from another kf. he said the chaps face was pricless

Poetic justice 8-)

rofl....   nearly spat my beer out my mouth through laughing...  I would love to have seen his face...

[Martin_1962]

Worst I heard was around 6 months ago.

A work college took his 2.2 Astra SRi there for front discs and pads.

He got the car back and the pad wear light was on so he took it back.

They told him they could not get the wear sesnor to fit but had this time modified the caliper so it would.

He asked me to look at it and the monkeys had fitted pads and discs for a 1.8 which are smaller and had taken an angle grinder to the brake caliper to get the wear sensor to clip into the pad!

Absolutely F-ing terrible.

So he called trading standards, took it to Vx, who fitted genuine pads, discs and new caliper at a cost of a grand and then billed Kwikfit who finaly paid up!

It beggers belief that a fitter can look at something that is clearly wrong and come to the conclusion that it must be the 6 year old caliper that has been made wrong and not the new parts just fitted.

That is just unbeleiveable