End of the road for dodgy car engine repair firm
T.S. writes: My car’s engine developed a major fault in March 2015. I found Exchange Engines Limited online and it quoted £1,850 to rebuild the engine. Repairs took six weeks and when I collected the car there was a fault after just five miles of driving. I got no response from Exchange Engines so had the car repaired locally and sent it the bill. I received no reply so issued a county court summons and won £2,240, which was not paid. I have since received an email from JBA Advisory Limited, telling me Exchange Engines is in liquidation. I have requested more information but have yet to receive a reply. JBA Advisory is a private company that aims to trace assets of insolvent businesses on behalf of creditors. Its boss Lee Baker told me he believes independent practitioners can do a better job than the Government-run Insolvency Service at getting the directors of failed companies to pay up. That said, I doubt if he could squeeze a penny out of the people who ran Slough-based Exchange Engines. They set up the company after an earlier business they ran – First Choice Engines Limited – attracted hundreds of complaints. They were not just giving poor service to motorists, they were operating a scam. Customers complained that after the engine was taken out of their car, the price for repairs would skyrocket. If work was completed, it was shoddy.
Some motorists were told their cars were beyond repair, only to see the crooks riding round in them.
Anyone who complained was intimidated or threatened.
Last April, four men from the same family were convicted of fraud in relation to the car firms. Ringleader Paul Dockerill, 51, from Weybridge in Surrey, was jailed for four and a half years.
Two of his sons were also jailed, another received a suspended sentence.
Exchange Engines Limited was closed down by the High Court with no recorded assets.