To be upset that there are miles on my car after a service

[Octavon]

The garage took my car for a service and left me a courtesy car. They were supposed to bring my car back the same day but it needed new tyres and they couldn’t get them till the next day.

When my car came back it had an additional 60 miles on the clock and approx 60 miles of petrol used. The garage is 10 miles away. Also the dash cam had been unplugged, presumably so it couldn’t record where the car has been.

The garage is ignoring my questions about where my car has been and why the dash cam has been unplugged. I’m finding it very distressing thinking some stranger has taken my car on a joy ride. Also I can’t afford to lose the 50 miles of missing petrol.

AIBU to be upset? Or is this to be expected? Where has my car been!

If it’s a national chain that does MOT’s there’s probably a membership body you can also complain to.

Have you complained to the head office if it's a national chain or just the branch?

YANBU at all. We had a car that had a problem the garage couldn't properly identify, so they asked if they could use it for all of their driving for a few days (dropping off courtesy cars and the like) to see if they driving it helped, they cleared it with us in detail.

The attitude sounds awful from your latest post, I'd be escalating a complaint.

This is terrible. Would citizens advice/trading standard be able to help here?

I’d also be getting in touch with head office. That’s awful about the MOT and could have landed you in a lot of trouble.

I had the sales rep’s car as a courtesy car recently and if I kept his car overnight he was going to take my car only he wouldn’t have insurance for it, just third party cover!

Yep, that's what happened. They don't have a car park full of courtesy cars that stay there overnight. The "courtesy cars" will also be "demos" and will be "company cars" used by the salesmen, parts manager, service manager, accountant, general manager etc. They need "something" to go home in at night, and whoever's car you were using would probably have used yours to go home and back. Not saying it's right, but that's how it works.

A "test drive" as some people are suggesting is a couple of times round the block, not 50 miles.

Someone at the garage used your car for his own purposes while the garage had it. I've heard of this kind of thing before.

Nothing much you can do now because they'll deny it and you can't prove anything. They're obviously a crooked outfit judging by the way they said they did the MOT but hadn't. Just tell them you will find somewhere else next time (get personal recommendations), write to their head office describing everything you've said here, and write a factual review on Trustpilot.

Sometimes a dodgy looking local garage can be better than posh looking dealerships. It all depends who manages them and works there.

I know! It was booked in for MOT, I took it in, got it back, and I thought it was done till next July. They said they’d done it but there was no paperwork provided. So I checked on the DVLA website and the MOT was due to expire July 2024.

I told them this - they said they had MOTd it and the DVLA website just hadn’t updated yet. A week later they finally admitted they hadn’t MOTd it at all. I insisted they had to pick the car up and do it.

I can imagine their annoyance you had a tracker. 😂

You need to complain to the DVSA
https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/problems-with-your-test-result#:~:text=Fill%20in%20the%20complaint%20form,report%20listing%20any%20vehicle%20defects.

My friend has a garage and the DVSA take it all very seriously, they can lose their ability to offer MOTs permanently for this.

Being told your car has been MOT’d and then finding out it hasn’t is illegal and dangerous

I can understand them needing to drive it for a bit if it has had work done and they need to test it.

But 50 miles is taking the piss.

They have probably used it as a "convenience car". I would complain, report online and not use them again.

I would do a Google review for this company, they will be back to you in no time at all!

I think you need to box a bit clever here OP, send another message stating that unless you are reimbursed for the fuel they've used you will be contacting DVSA regarding the MOT, head office to report your experience and leaving reviews everywhere online. Then once you have your money do all those things anyway, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with the appalling level of service you've received.

I would phone up and ask to speak to the manager, tell them that unless they can offer you an explanation and reimburse you for the used fuel that you will be paying them a visit.
A family member was a service manager and they could basically fob people off over the phone but absolutely detested complaints in person because other customers could hear what was going on.

On more than one occasion I've told a retail manager that I will happily spend my day off sitting in front of their premises warning potential customers of their diabolical customer service, it's never failed to get results.

No advice but offering sympathy - I had a company car in for service and a few months later was sent a bill for an unpaid congestion charge by the leasing company. Seemed very odd and when I checked I spotted that it was for the day it was in for a service - in that case it was probably just a test drive but what idiots to take it into the zone.

The MOT thing is so bad

i can tell you for a fact, that the MOT website updates immediately. I had mine done back in June and I kept checking the website to see when it was done so I could go and pick it up. It updated about an hour and a half after I’d dropped it off.

Dont just phone them, you need to actually go in and make a fuss in the public area of the garage.

What happens if they got a speeding ticket when they were cruising around? Appalling!

For 50 miles? Surely they would have said this then straight away rather than 'we'll investigate it'

I was expecting someone being difficult over a few miles which is usual for a road test after a service. 60 miles is a huge distance for it to have been driven. I'd complain.

It's not great at all and I wouldn't use them again once the warranty is up but personally I would let it go. Is it really worth your time and blood pressure to pursue this?

I would ask they sign something to say the time /dates they had your car. Incase you get any fines through the post.... Sounds dodgy.

Is that such a big deal? He’ll be insured to drive any car and you did have a courtesy car and I guess your car doesn’t have any damage. I wouldn’t think twice about it myself.

You’d happily lose 50 miles of fuel? If you have a courtesy car you have to return it with the same amount of fuel as when you picked it up so if you use 50 miles, you top
it back up. Wish I could just write off 50 miles worth of my petrol!