GARAGES & FRAUD !!!!!!!!

Bob619

I have had an interesting few days bringing my car around about 6 newly opened garages which i recieved flyers in the doors for ! All are new in the area and all within about 3 miles of the 3 bigger established repair centres(NOT MAIN DEALERS) ? Priced up a few bits as most of them are offering full services for 80 euro ??? Was basically told that we only take cash for the work, no cards or cheques etc ? I asked about a invoice in all and was told, " yeah well i can give you a hand written list of stuff fitted but no company vat number or reg number etc ? All of these seem to be in little sheds or farm sheds or will pick up and collect the car ? Proceeded to talk to a local parts guy and he said none of them are garages or companies its just guys pocketing the money and doing very little to the cars or even leaving them damaged after work done and saying nothing. These guys are obviously doing the good tax, rate, eco charge and waste dispossal paying garges out of business and are committing tax and revenue fraud as well as costing us money if the mess the car up ? Who do i report these to regarding revenue and tax fraud and operating like this ! NAMES & NUMBERS AND KEEP THE COMMENTS COMING FROM EVERYONE !:eek::mad:

johnos1984

Bob619 wrote: »

Who do i report these to regarding revenue and tax fraud and operating like this !

I think you answered your own question.....................The REVENUE Commissioners. Anyone who pays tax will know who they are

There seems to be a bit of scare mongering in this thread or am I the only one who thinks so?

If you don't like/trust them don't use them

Anan1

johnos1984 wrote: »

There seems to be a bit of scare mongering in this thread or am I the only one who thinks so?

If you don't like/trust them don't use them

+1, simple really.

-Chris-

I don't see the problem either. If I hire a carpenter to build me a staircase but he refuses to give me any paper trail, any kind of "warranty", is significantly cheaper than everyone else and doesn't have a track record to prove that he can actually do the job.

I shouldn't really be surprised if I get what I pay for, and naming and shaming them because I'm a tight-arse.

everyday taxi

-Chris- wrote: »

I don't see the problem either. If I hire a carpenter to build me a staircase but he refuses to give me any paper trail, any kind of "warranty", is significantly cheaper than everyone else and doesn't have a track record to prove that he can actually do the job.

I shouldn't really be surprised if I get what I pay for, and naming and shaming them because I'm a tight-arse.

+ 1.

Bodhan

The phrase "If you pay peanuts you get Monkeys" springs to mind. You can't expect to get a good service on any car for 80 euro.

Ask people where they get their cars serviced and then find out if they are any good. A Main dealer is always the way to go if you're feeling unsure, I do a standard service my own cars for the price of the parts (70 odd euro) and a little time.

-Chris-

Recommendations are the best way, and I'd say most decent indy garages get most of their business through word-of-mouth.

Bob619

Im afraid i fail to see the scare mongering ? Nameing and shaming ? Or PAYING PEANUTS YOU GET MONKEYS ? As seen in the above posts ?
1. I personally would be delighted to be warned off such people.
2. I Dont see any names or locations ?
3. I Personally have seen some of the biggest merc , toyota , opel and ford main dealer garages in ireland offering services from 80 euro so the differences between these monkeys spoken on above to the main dealer is ????

Regarding the main dealer always the way to go ? why ? Is it parts ? Training ? Their equipment ? All these are available to any garage that wants to purchase them surely ? 400 euro for a full service with merc or 190 with non dealer ? Same main dealer parts fitted ? Same work carried out same diagnostics on car done ? Only difference i can see is paying for there big fancy garages or the notion thats its better some how ? Was chatting to a fas trainer for mech in bolton street and he reckons the non dealer kids are a far better mechanic as they have to learn more, as its all cars they are on not just the 3 or 4 models in a dealer and they dont just follow a repair manuals or scrren as dealer kids are trained up like they use there own knowledge and common sense and fault finding skills ? ANYWAY enough of that rant, back to these cowboy guys way out in sheds !! Anyone any more info on what can be done to protect our small community and our cars ??? Why should every decent Joe soap pay through the nose for everything here and these guys just laugh it up with a cash filled pocket ?

johnos1984

It seems from that rant your not happy for anyone to touch your car. I hardly think we need to protect our community from these people fiddling with our cars unless they are putting their jibbly bits in the exhaust pipe :eek:

May I recommend a Haynes manual and a visit to your local motor factor.....and the following advice

Anan1

Bob619 wrote: »

ANYWAY enough of that rant, back to these cowboy guys way out in sheds !! Anyone any more info on what can be done to protect our small community and our cars ??? Why should every decent Joe soap pay through the nose for everything here and these guys just laugh it up with a cash filled pocket ?

This has already been answered, more than once. Don't use them.

kildare.17hmr

Bob619 wrote: »

Im afraid i fail to see the scare mongering ? Nameing and shaming ? Or PAYING PEANUTS YOU GET MONKEYS ? As seen in the above posts ?
1. I personally would be delighted to be warned off such people.
2. I Dont see any names or locations ?
3. I Personally have seen some of the biggest merc , toyota , opel and ford main dealer garages in ireland offering services from 80 euro so the differences between these monkeys spoken on above to the main dealer is ????

Regarding the main dealer always the way to go ? why ? Is it parts ? Training ? Their equipment ? All these are available to any garage that wants to purchase them surely ? 400 euro for a full service with merc or 190 with non dealer ? Same main dealer parts fitted ? Same work carried out same diagnostics on car done ? Only difference i can see is paying for there big fancy garages or the notion thats its better some how ? Was chatting to a fas trainer for mech in bolton street and he reckons the non dealer kids are a far better mechanic as they have to learn more, as its all cars they are on not just the 3 or 4 models in a dealer and they dont just follow a repair manuals or scrren as dealer kids are trained up like they use there own knowledge and common sense and fault finding skills ? ANYWAY enough of that rant, back to these cowboy guys way out in sheds !! Anyone any more info on what can be done to protect our small community and our cars ??? Why should every decent Joe soap pay through the nose for everything here and these guys just laugh it up with a cash filled pocket ?

I think your goin a bit over board here, just dont use the fcukin garages! why report someone who has done nothing to you? has not damaged your car or ripped you off? these lads are probably mechanics who are out of work and trying to make a bit of a living for themselves! I used to sell tools, alot of my customers worked out of sheds like you mentioned and charged alot less for work than other garages but the work for the most part was fine and with little or no overheads could charge these rates.
a guy operating as a sole trader does not need a vat number if his income is below 25k and if he is working from home doing cheap servicing he prob falls well within that. but even so i dont see your problem.
Reporting them and tryin to cause trouble for them is just bein an d**k IMO

barochoc

So true. They're just lads who probably serviced a car one day & realized how easy it was. After servicing a few more cars you learn to do it in half the time.

I watched my car being serviced by a friend years ago & couldn't believe how straight forward & easy it was. I've been doing my own ever since.

My main concern on an €80 service is, what parts they're using? I'd be hard pushed to get a lot of change after buying (based on a 2.0L 4 cylinder engine) Spark plugs, oil filter, air filter & decent oil from GSF at trade prices!

The other concern would be. It's just a basic service! He's not going to check the car for any possible defects, brake wear, other fluids etc.....

You get what you pay for so you can't complain. Maybe some of these guys are getting the job done in 30-40 min. They possibly have a queue of cars to do & if they're making €20-30 quid a car then fair play to them. I'm not even going to do the math on the potential earnings in a day but people out there work harder for a lot less money.

I'm sure plenty of them are genuine but it's always best to go where your friends or family go. Ask who they use!

kildare.17hmr

barochoc wrote: »

My main concern on an €80 service is, what parts they're using? I'd be hard pushed to get a lot of change after buying (based on a 2.0L 4 cylinder engine) Spark plugs, oil filter, air filter & decent oil from GSF at trade prices! The other concern would be. It's just a basic service! He's not going to check the car for any possible defects, brake wear, other fluids etc.....QUOTE]


If you bought stuff in bulk you could easaly do a service for that use quality parts and make money a few quid, i did a service on a mates car last night,a 2004 dsl mondeo, 1 bulb, oil, 3 filters, front break pads and toped up all fluids. it cost €75 euro for parts and i didnt charge him anything for labour

johnos1984

MODS, as much as I hate threads being locked I do think an exception could be made here.

Original post was given reasonable answers and the attitude of the OP is alarmist without any basis

EDIT: Sorry if I come across as a back seat MOD, thats not my intention!

kildare.17hmr

yeah pretty much right there john, this is fun tho

-Chris-

Bob619 wrote: »

Im afraid i fail to see the scare mongering ? Nameing and shaming ? Or PAYING PEANUTS YOU GET MONKEYS ? As seen in the above posts ?

You called for the naming and shaming. I'm not sure what you're referring to/questioning here...

Bob619 wrote: »

1. I personally would be delighted to be warned off such people.

Choose a mechanic based on reputation rather than price and you won't encounter any of these people.

Bob619 wrote: »

2. I Dont see any names or locations ?

Good, and I ask that it would stay that way.

Bob619 wrote: »

3. I Personally have seen some of the biggest merc , toyota , opel and ford main dealer garages in ireland offering services from 80 euro so the differences between these monkeys spoken on above to the main dealer is ????

The main difference is that you have consumer protections when dealing with legitimate business, so if you can get the same service/price from an established company as you can from a back-lane guy, you'd be better to use the established business.

Bob619 wrote: »

Regarding the main dealer always the way to go ? why ? Is it parts ? Training ? Their equipment ? All these are available to any garage that wants to purchase them surely ? 400 euro for a full service with merc or 190 with non dealer ? Same main dealer parts fitted ? Same work carried out same diagnostics on car done ? Only difference i can see is paying for there big fancy garages or the notion thats its better some how ?

Did you not say above that you're seeing dealers matching back-lane prices? I'm confused now.
Also, you don't want to use back-lane guys because they might not be paying tax, but you don't want to use proper dealers because they're too expensive? You're not making much sense.
Choose a proper indy mechanic/garage based on recommendation & price, and don't worry about it.

Bob619 wrote: »

Was chatting to a fas trainer for mech in bolton street and he reckons the non dealer kids are a far better mechanic as they have to learn more, as its all cars they are on not just the 3 or 4 models in a dealer and they dont just follow a repair manuals or scrren as dealer kids are trained up like they use there own knowledge and common sense and fault finding skills ?

So now the non-dealer mechanics are better, so therefore you should use them even though they're possibly not paying tax?
You've completely lost me.

Also, if you only deal with one brand and have access to all their models, training, knowledgebase and equipment you would be considered a specialist. If you work on just about anything using your common sense to fill in the gaps, you're probably a generalist.

I think it's another discussion completely to decide whether specialists or generalists are better at their jobs.

Bob619 wrote: »

ANYWAY enough of that rant, back to these cowboy guys way out in sheds !! Anyone any more info on what can be done to protect our small community and our cars ??? Why should every decent Joe soap pay through the nose for everything here and these guys just laugh it up with a cash filled pocket ?

If you know someone's definitely evading tax, feel free to inform the Revenue Commissioners. Other than that you're just blowing hot air.

-Chris-

johnos1984 wrote: »

MODS, as much as I hate threads being locked I do think an exception could be made here.

Original post was given reasonable answers and the attitude of the OP is alarmist without any basis

EDIT: Sorry if I come across as a back seat MOD, thats not my intention!

I don't know what the other lads think of it, but I'm as happy seeing this rant pulled apart point-by-point and being shown for the very biased and narrow minded view that it is rather than locking the thread and allowing his points to stand (relatively) unchallenged.

Bob619

Johnos1984 , Is this what boards is about ? Once you dont agree with something you get rude and offensive and call for a thread to be closed ? You seem to be getting highly offended by the wording of your replies ? Are you one of these people or are you just an upset person in general ? Yes the revenue is the place to visit to sort out these people, also maybe you should calm your little self down before you damage your key board as i am posting on boards to find answers not read your rude and ignorent responces to posts ! As for the tool sales man is it your opinion..... that garages and companies all over ireland and the uk are closing due to the lack of work, amounts of rates, insurance costs, wage bills, local rates, tax, eco charges and waste disposal costs etc etc etc should be just left to crumble so as some guy in a shed can make money without paying these ? You should be in goverment not selling tools my friend you would fit in great. BAROCHOC thank you for the first useful post to this problem ! I was not aware of these being minor services and not checking cetain things. Is this not dangerous to drivers as i was told it was a full service ? I priced a service kit and oil for my car in a parts place 123+vat ..... main 219+vat ! Now all the smart answers from people... explain a full service for 80 ???? STRANGE ? I am 64 so a bit past it for diving under the bonnet and i am only living in my area for about 6 months and most of the people i am friends with either dont drive or are much better off than me so can afford to go for a snazzy garage ! AS for anan1 i didnt ask should i use them so maybe read the post ?

kingbrumak

-Chris- wrote: »

I don't know what the other lads think of it, but I'm as happy seeing this rant pulled apart point-by-point and being shown for the very biased and narrow minded view that it is rather than locking the thread and allowing his points to stand (relatively) unchallenged.

+1 Chris. This sounds like a load of scaremongering to me, by someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about. Have you considered that the "local parts guy" may just be ticked because the indie mechanics could be going elsewhere for their parts?

There's nothing wrong with a lot of these "mechanics". They're mostly just blokes trying to make a few quid on the side. They could be apprentice mechanics who didn't get a chance to finish their apprenticeships or professional mechanics who simply don't have a job anymore. I say if you can make a few quid on the side and get away with it, fair play!

If you do decide to go with an indie mechanic, just ask around and see what people are saying.

Ms Happy

Bob619 wrote: »

Johnos1984 , Is this what boards is about ? Once you dont agree with something you get rude and offensive and call for a thread to be closed ? You seem to be getting highly offended by the wording of your replies ? Are you one of these people or are you just an upset person in general ? Yes the revenue is the place to visit to sort out these people, also maybe you should calm your little self down before you damage your key board as i am posting on boards to find answers not read your rude and ignorent responces to posts ! As for the tool sales man is it your opinion..... that garages and companies all over ireland and the uk are closing due to the lack of work, amounts of rates, insurance costs, wage bills, local rates, tax, eco charges and waste disposal costs etc etc etc should be just left to crumble so as some guy in a shed can make money without paying these ? You should be in goverment not selling tools my friend you would fit in great. BAROCHOC thank you for the first useful post to this problem ! I was not aware of these being minor services and not checking cetain things. Is this not dangerous to drivers as i was told it was a full service ? I priced a service kit and oil for my car in a parts place 123+vat ..... main 219+vat ! Now all the smart answers from people... explain a full service for 80 ???? STRANGE ? I am 64 so a bit past it for diving under the bonnet and i am only living in my area for about 6 months and most of the people i am friends with either dont drive or are much better off than me so can afford to go for a snazzy garage ! AS for anan1 i didnt ask should i use them so maybe read the post ?

*runs away

Anan1

OP - You asked who to report this to and you've been told to report them to Revenue. The relevant phone numbers are freely available. What more do you want?

Bob619

-chris- you seem to be a bit livid in your responces ! Admittadly i would love to do the fancy responce with the quotes etc but i wont go to that trouble ? As you should be aware there is a big difference between a
1. dealership.....
2. non-francise.....
3. shed guy....
Fare comment ?
After looking into it all the stuff you mentioned regards specialist is available to not just the dealership.....
Another FARE comment ?
Consumer protection.... Eh rights in general my friend you dont need to be a company to get dragged to court ?
Boards is coming across a bit like a little boys club here with statements like ... HAPPY TO SEE IT RIPPED APART ? Is the something wrong with whats said or do you have any more HOT AIR ?? Moderator what a joke.

kingbrumak

Bob619 wrote: »

Moderator what a joke.

Smells like a ban to me

-Chris-

Bob619 wrote: »

-chris- you seem to be a bit livid in your responces !

I'm actually completely calm. To be honest, you're the most emotional person here based on language used.

Bob619 wrote: »

Admittadly i would love to do the fancy responce with the quotes etc but i wont go to that trouble ? As you should be aware there is a big difference between a
1. dealership.....
2. non-francise.....
3. shed guy....
Fare comment ?
After looking into it all the stuff you mentioned regards specialist is available to not just the dealership.....
Another FARE comment ?
Consumer protection.... Eh rights in general my friend you dont need to be a company to get dragged to court ?

I'm not sure how to respond to this bit.

Bob619 wrote: »

Boards is coming across a bit like a little boys club here with statements like ... HAPPY TO SEE IT RIPPED APART ? Is the something wrong with whats said or do you have any more HOT AIR ??

If you have a cogent argument to make, or if you can defend your assertions against the questioning, then work away. If you're just on screaming "won't somebody think of the children", then this should be clinically disassembled and shown for the hysteria it is.

Bob619 wrote: »

Moderator what a joke.

Take a deep breath at this point Bob, or your stay on boards.ie will be a short one.

djimi

Bob619 wrote: »

explain a full service for 80 ????

Regardless of whether you go to a main dealer or the smallest back street garage in Ireland you should always check what they intend to cover in a "full service". For €80 I would expect the plugs, oil and filter to be changed; nothing more. If they promise the sun moon and stars as part of a service and do nothing then that is one thing; they have lied to you, but if they only cover the oil, plugs and filters, and are upfront about this when asked, then I really dont see the problem.

The onus is on you, the paying customer, to know what you are getting for your money. If you dont ask then you cant be aggrieved when you dont get.

djimi

Bob619 wrote: »

As you should be aware there is a big difference between a
1. dealership.....
2. non-francise.....
3. shed guy....
Fare comment ?

Not really a fair comment, no. The best mechanic I have ever had was a guy I knew for years, worked out of his garden shed in the evenings when he came home from his day job, and did the best service I have ever seen for €120; I mean he spent 3 hours and covered everything. Just because someone is operating out of a shed does not mean that they are any less of a mechanic than someone who works for a main dealer.

cloneslad

Bob619 wrote: »

Johnos1984 , Is this what boards is about ? Once you dont agree with something you get rude and offensive and call for a thread to be closed ? You seem to be getting highly offended by the wording of your replies ? Are you one of these people or are you just an upset person in general ? Yes the revenue is the place to visit to sort out these people, also maybe you should calm your little self down before you damage your key board as i am posting on boards to find answers not read your rude and ignorent responces to posts ! As for the tool sales man is it your opinion..... that garages and companies all over ireland and the uk are closing due to the lack of work, amounts of rates, insurance costs, wage bills, local rates, tax, eco charges and waste disposal costs etc etc etc should be just left to crumble so as some guy in a shed can make money without paying these ? You should be in goverment not selling tools my friend you would fit in great. BAROCHOC thank you for the first useful post to this problem ! I was not aware of these being minor services and not checking cetain things. Is this not dangerous to drivers as i was told it was a full service ? I priced a service kit and oil for my car in a parts place 123+vat ..... main 219+vat ! Now all the smart answers from people... explain a full service for 80 ???? STRANGE ? I am 64 so a bit past it for diving under the bonnet and i am only living in my area for about 6 months and most of the people i am friends with either dont drive or are much better off than me so can afford to go for a snazzy garage ! AS for anan1 i didnt ask should i use them so maybe read the post ?

I got to the second question mark before I had to give up.

Is there any chance you could use paragraphs? It's way too hard to try and read such big blocks of text. It hurts my brain


I managed to read the other posts but had to stop. Anyway, my advice is to forget about this thread OP. It's obvious you aren't going to get the support you want and you may just end up with a ban for being offensive.

The other posters have provided you with the information you need and if you really feel the need to report these mechanics for offering a cheaper work than others and possibly not paying the correct tax then go ahead.

Just don't label them as being poor at their job when you haven't actually used their service before.

Oh and just to add to it. The guy who fixes my car has a garage in the back end of beyond and he does an amazing trade through word of mouth. He is very cheap and reliable too. In fact he service my car for free (I bought the plugs, filter, oil etc) when it failed the NCT on emissions because he had fixed up some other parts for it before it went in.

Some people either can't find a job now or they like the freedom of working for themselves. It does not make them a crook, con artist or terrible mechanic if they are not paying extorionate rent for a massive garage in the middle of a town.

kildare.17hmr

Bob619 wrote: »

As for the tool sales man is it your opinion..... that garages and companies all over ireland and the uk are closing due to the lack of work, amounts of rates, insurance costs, wage bills, local rates, tax, eco charges and waste disposal costs etc etc etc should be just left to crumble so as some guy in a shed can make money without paying these ? You should be in goverment not selling tools my friend you would fit in great

Bob the guy doing services out of his shead has nothing to do with any garages closing, the main reason for garages closing is huge overheads put in place from the building of big fancy showrooms which they, during the boom were made build to keep their franchises and now with the workload droped and car sales down they cannot afford it. indipendent garages like the one i work in who have a small showroom and very low overheads are doing just fine, your comparing these guys to main dealers which is ludacris!

I have a feeling you might be the type of person who keeps a kids ball if its kicked into your garden and sits looking out the window for something to happen so he can get involved. the guy next door to me is exactly the same, and coinsidently his name is bob 2 and he is about the same age!!

CRAZY:D is that you bob???

johnos1984

Bob619 wrote: »

Johnos1984 , Is this what boards is about ? Once you dont agree with something you get rude and offensive and call for a thread to be closed ? You seem to be getting highly offended by the wording of your replies ? Are you one of these people or are you just an upset person in general ? Yes the revenue is the place to visit to sort out these people, also maybe you should calm your little self down before you damage your key board as i am posting on boards to find answers not read your rude and ignorent responces to posts !

Bob I take issue with all you have said here and have not the chance to reply until now as I had to make a long trip today. I'm going to make it short though but feel free to reply.

I NEVER used offensive or rude language or agressive posts in reply to your thread anyone who reads back can see that. You seem to be taking what I'm saying in that vein.

You were given good advice by all, in fact nobody has come on here to fuel the flames which is normally what happens.

I asked for the thread to be closed as your points were answered and you started to ramble. I saw the whole thread becoming an arguement started about nothing and turning into a pointless thread of idle ramblings with no point or purpose.

My advice is that you open a new thread, be more specific and clear about what you were saying and people will advise accordingly.

Its nothing personnal here and I'm not trying to goad you into saying something to get you banned. I could but I'm not going to as thats not the kind of person/poster I am

-Chris-

On that note, I'm going to close the thread after all.