Just watched the Video again, think the driver needs to collect his P45.

 

Thrashing a Cold car, driving without a set belt, speeding.  How many other Customers cars has he thrashed

I have had to roadtest a customers car after balancing the wheels to check the car is ok  but only if they had complained about the steering wheel shaking at a certain speed & i would certainly never drive somebody else's car like that tool drove yours,when i worked for a dealer one of the lads got a written warning for driving a customers car badly (the customer saw him!) no need for driving like that,id sack him if he worked for me....end of!.  How the manager handles this will say a lot about the company.  On a funny note.......you should be grateful the little sod didnt handbrake turn it at that turn around point! 

Hi all,

 

So today i had all of my wheels balanced at my local tyre place and got a good price £16 to check and balance all my wheels. Out of curiosity I have just looked at the footage and as soon as the job was done he took the car down the road and back. It wasn't exactly a gently drive as he had his foot flat out to test the acceleration. Strangely this has not made me mad but am unsure of what to think as it was just a very short drive. Without showing the footage what is your opinions?

 

Thanks

 

Gary

He wasn't testing the acceleration.  He was getting up to speed so that he could feel what the balance was like.  

 

I used to do it all the time & as there are only so many hours in a day there isn't time to find a quiet street or drive out of the customers line of sight.  I must admit, I did get in trouble from the Local Area Commander of the HWP because I did 130kph in a 60kph zone outside our workshop in a police car once.  Apparently it wasn't the speed, it was because I put the flashing lights on. woops!

Never had the car 'test driven' after tyres or tyre work.

 

I've no doubt mechanics go out and 'test' interesting cars.

 

I've heard more than one story of young mechanics crashing customers cars (a V6 Clio being one of the more expensive balls ups by my then girlfriend's cousin, resulted in a ban), mechanics being spotted by customers whilst 'testing' cars and extended joy rides in customers cars.

 

I've not heard of any customers that were all right with this.

Edited 1 June, 201511 yr by Aspman

The guy is clearly an idiot, driving in such a reckless manner is just unacceptable. I sure as hell wouldn't accept any "getting up to speed" or "test drive" excuses if the prat mowed down my child.

Ive been to a place before that does tires and brakes etc and the only time they drove my car was to check the brakes after the pads had been done, tracking and balance can be checked by you when you pick the car up, after all its what it went there for in the first place!!! 

 

As for what the cam footage shows, id be ****ing LIvid if some spotty little prat drove my car like that with permission let alone without it!! id want his insides spilt on the workshop floor, but would settle for him being in the ****e with his boss... Bottom line, never leave your car alone with them and if they need to test drive it go with them..

 

Let us know how you get on and where this goes, and on another note thanks for confirming I need one of those cameras, was on the fence but will invest now..

I would go mental. be straight back down there with the footage on the laptop or phone.

 

As others have said, how many others have been thrashed like this, possibly damaged and covered up etc, makes you wonder........

After getting my laser alignment done the mechanic took it for a test drive, which I watched later on the dashcam.

 

I was fine with it - I wanted a vibration-free car - and he drove responsibly.

Like the majority of the others I would wholeheartedly agree with them. Report the footage to the manager. I would also have an email all prepped up, ready to go to his and also the HQ for you to send as soon as you walk out of the door should you not be totally satisfied. There is no reason for them to thrash your pride and joy. No excuse can excuse their behaviour.

 

Before I entered into the World of Skoda's (6months ago) I had my old car booked in a few years back to get a few things done. One of the mechanics stayed up near me so to save me taking it to the other side of town then back I said if they could pick it up then great but to go straight to his home then directly into work and made it clear it was not to be used for any other purposes. As I was walking home what went passed me in the opposite direction, my car with a female passenger. I called the garage as I wondered home and reiterated that it was just to be picked up, to mechanics house, to the garage and back to mine, they agreed and said it wouldn't be a problem...a total mileage of about 10miles tops...it came back with 35+ on it! Not happy and garage denied all knowledge of it. Same garage, I'd heard of someone my Dad knew they used his car to go and pick parts etc up...200+ miles on it! Some garages are a law into themselves. Suffice to say I never used that garage before and anyone who talks about it I warn them well clear.

 

I used to work for a well known car hire company and never thrashed one of the cars, yes I might have pushed it at times but only when fully warmed up. I delivered a car to a garage which had 0.8! miles on the clock...I knew that it was going to be ragged. In all my years there they knew I wasn't one who booted it but took care and respected the cars...no need not to!

 

Respect others and their property as how you would want people to respect you and yours.

OP, I wish you well with this. I would be extremely peed off if that were my vRS, from cold.

Up to you whether you involve the police. Personally, I'd be satisfied with the miscreant (and his passenger) losing their jobs.

Otherwise, next time, a child or someone else might well get mown down.

Good luck with it.

Cheers.

If it was my car I think I would be looking at what I wanted from this company.  Revenge is sweet but compensation more useful.  I would give them the opportunity to offer either a reduction or refund of the cost of the tyres and if they refused name and shame them.  Your evidence should preclude any defamation action. 

Things need to be done, no point harping on Briskoda about it

 

Get on with it, don't forget to tell us what the out come is though, I'd go for the Sack, screw 'em

And therein lies the difference -- yours took it for a drive, obviously to check all was well. And they drove RESPONSIBLY,

 

Yup, totally agree - was posting in response to Aspman at the bottom of the first page, but failed to realise there was another page of posts which kind of turned my response into a bit of a non-sequitur

 

My point (and yours I think) was that I don't have a problem with test drives - as long as they are done responsibly.

The guy is clearly an idiot, driving in such a reckless manner is just unacceptable. I sure as hell wouldn't accept any "getting up to speed" or "test drive" excuses if the prat mowed down my child.

Why is your child hanging around an industrial estate?

One of my kids is 20 so maybe she works on an industrial estate. Substitute child for spouse, Granny or dog if it makes my point easier to digest.

Unfortunately, you've got nothing unless you can prove who was driving. Don't waste your time reporting this to the police unless you know exactly who was driving or think the garage would give evidence against their own staff member that he/she took the car. These idiots could have ran someone over but unless it can be proved which one was the driver it's not going any where, regardless of what the footage shows.

 

The police could issue a Sec 172 notice to the directors or company secretary to ascertain the name of the person driving at the time

 

Most responsible companies will probably have record of who does a particular job, and the availability of the video showing the driver should be pretty conclusive if they try "we've asked all the workers and none of them will own up" get-out

 

Some people don't deserve to stay in employment if that's how they act so there's no sympathy from here for the driver

I suspect the garage owner/manager will be rather cooperative when he finds out the footage is on the web and you have the rights to remove it or label it with his business.

 

I know one guy I used to work with caught mechanics taking his Astra GTE out for a burn (was some time ago). He visited the garage and conversation was basically, "I won't mention your guys hooning around in my car if you don't mention the bill". It's almost a shame you weren't getting a lot of work done.

I would be taking that to the Police.

Things need to be done, no point harping on Briskoda about it

 

Get on with it, don't forget to tell us what the out come is though, I'd go for the Sack, screw 'em

This is the point really.  Unless the OP has done something about it already any delay in reporting it to whoever just serves to dilute the seriousness of it and how incensed the OP is.  Unless he has agreed that it could be roadtested then the driver has committed the offence of Taking without the owners consent (TWOC)  and unless covered by the Company Insurance are not insured to drive it.  Decision is to report to who?  If it is a fly by night Company I doubt you would receive much joy.  Whichever way the OP goes with it there should be no delay and whatever the result I would be naming, shaming and taking my business elsewhere in future.

 

Oh and for those that think the Police won't be interested, they will because it will be a detected crime which is good for the figures.

There may be a term in the garages work on your car that you're allowing them to test drive, iirc we used to have that, I took a few cars out after tyre and wheel balance jobs, just straight out and up the dual up to 70, check the wobbling has gone, if not it could be suspect driveshafts or braking issue

Edit - but not once did any of the cars I drove to above 3.5k RPM or exceed speed limits, treat the car as I would my own as at the end of the day we all work hard for everything we have.

I have similar footage of a mechanic driving my VRS after the thermostat was replaced and driving it at speed (camera doesn't show speed but can tell it's clearly over the limit) and to a local Ford dealer for 5 minutes. The garage owner partially refunded me for the work but I am still tempted to upload the footage and name and shame them! They also had my Clio and my girlfriend's MR2 in for work but neither of those have dash cams in, wouldn't surprise me if the same monkey had taken them for a little joyride around the bypass too.

I cannot say I am shocked to see this - I think this confirms a lot of suspicion in regards to leaving our cars with garages. Mine has been in for a DPF, and was with them for 4 days... I don't have a dashcam yet, but I would love to know what they got up to with it, as all the dials and logs were reset prior to handing it back to me.

 

A random question OP, and I do apologise for not entirely relating to your post, but what camera are you using? There is so many to choose from, and reading the forums on here don't exactly help with my decision making process. But I like your footage, and the fact the registration is shown in the corner. :yes:

2 minutes on Google maps reveals this to be Tyre Spot Express, McMullen Rd, Darlington. 01325 4880077

http://www.cylex-uk.co.uk/reviews/viewcompanywebsite.aspx?firmaName=tyre-spot-ltd-darlington&companyId=13205829

Of course I may be wrong but a quick Google of any of the surroundings my company names gives you this....

Any update from the OP?

Sent from my Galaxy S5

Any update from the OP?

Sent from my Galaxy S5

:no: