POOR SERVICE

I am writing to hopefully warn others about a recent service and MOT I had carried out on a 2013 Kia Sportage. I do not usually sign up for service packages as I have little faith in mainstream garages, but did so in this case in order to maintain the Kia warranty. I also see that current advertising by Kia stipulates they are giving away the first three services, so maybe they need to clarify what is involved with them.

I bought a three-year service package with the car last year which included a yearly service and MOT. Earlier this month, I dropped off the car in the early morning and picked it up again shortly after lunch.

I received a call about 10am stating that the rear brake pads were 80% worn and that they could be replaced for £105 while the brakes were stripped down, which I refused. I then received a call at midday to say the car was ready to be picked up. I arrived 30 minutes later.

The receipt showed that the service and MOT had been carried out, along with a wash and vacuum. The service guy admitted that they hadn’t actually washed and vacuumed the car yet, but if I could wait they would get on to it soon. I declined as I was busy, as well as annoyed that they had called to say everything had been completed when obviously it had not.

On getting the car home, I wanted to check if they had replaced the pollen filter, so popped it out from behind the glovebox – which takes seconds to access – only to find it in a terrible state. I immediately telephoned them about this, but they stated that all I was eligible for was a visual check service. I asked if the oil and filter had been changed, since car had done 13,000 miles since the last service, and they insisted the oil was capable of 20,000 miles. At this point, I said it wasn’t acceptable to not change the pollen filter, and it had obviously not even been checked given the amount of leaves, etc, that fell out on removal. I also asked if the oil would make it to the next service and MOT in a year, taking the oil change to 26,000 miles, and they said it would be OK.

I asked for a service check sheet, which they sent immediately, and also noticed that the dashcam had recorded the complete morning’s work. I say ‘work’ as the total time that the engineer was under the bonnet was less than a minute, during which time he painted grease on the bonnet catch, topped up the washer bottle and checked the oil level. Nothing else was looked at. The wheels were also dirty and, as the car was not cleaned, it was obvious they had not been removed as the dirt would have been disturbed. So the earlier offer to change the pads while the brakes were stripped down was a lie.

During the MOT they did check the emissions, lights and brake balance, but there was no evidence of suspension checks as the camera was steady throughout the MOT. Usually nowadays the car is run over plates that vibrate to check linkages, etc, for wear, but this was not done. So what else was not carried out?

I visited the service manger the following day, stating all of the above and offered him a copy of the video evidence, which he declined. He did offer an oil change and to personally supervise the remedial work, which I declined as I had lost confidence in the garage. I demanded he refund the service contract in full and cancel it, as it had been missold to me. I had expected an oil and filter change at the very least, and if it had been made clear to me that this wouldn’t happen then I would never had bought the plan in the first place. The service check sheet had been ticked on the various items the engineer should have carried out, one of which was checking the cabin filter, another for the specific gravity of radiator water, air inlet, etc, but none of these checks were carried out.

I plan to carry out any further servicing myself in the future – at least then I will have peace of mind that quality oil and filters were used and that the brakes were stripped and cleaned. Alan Barton