Postby crackers » Mon Oct 24, 2022 10:52 pm
So sorry to hear of your dreadful experience. If this is the garage on Ritherdon Road, opposite the cafés, then I too had an unpleasant experience with them. Some years ago I also put my car in to have some work done and the main guy (Omar I think from memory) kept it for far too long, the problem wasn’t resolved and during the numerous times I called and visited to speak to him to be updated, he fibbed me off, gave every excuse and wasn’t transparent about the issue or what he was doing. He also openly admitted he’d been using my car for his own personal trips! It went from bad to worse as he was increasingly over-familiar, quite flirtatious and over-shared about all sorts to do with his life. At one point I remember he told me he had killed a man in his country of origin. Whether true or not, I ended up with the view he was mentally unstable, not somebody to argue with and took my car and ran. Luckily my car wasn’t damaged by them and I hadn’t paid him upfront for the whole job, so I was in a far better position than you. I’m amazed they are still going as it’s a completely shambolic cowboy operation. I also think he deliberately takes advantage of female customers - that old chestnut of mechanics and women but with knobs on. Given what’s happened with your car being not only not repaired but actually wrecked, plus the loss of the money you paid upfront and the parking tickets, definitely pursue this via reporting to the police, trading standards etc as others have advised, so you have proper support for this. Once again, so sorry you have been a victim of such unacceptable and shabby behaviour. Best of luck to you and hope you get some redress for the losses and stress this has caused you.