Why do car garages treat women so badly

[Boldernow]

Ok massive generalisation, but I’m currently waiting for my car to be checked and it’s yet again been such a frustrating and belittling experience. When my husband booked it they were super friendly to him, said it would take no time at all etc, I’ve arrived and dropped the car 2 hours ago, they wouldn’t give me a timeframe of when it would be done, spoke to me like I was an idiot, I just called them and they still haven’t looked at the car. It’s Halfords, this has happened to me at multiple locations so it’s not just one bad one. One time at another location I had an MOT booked, turned up and they said our MOT machine is broken so we can’t do it. By this time everywhere was booked up for MOTs for the next two weeks so I couldn’t get my car done before it ran out. I said to them, your machine has been broken for a week and you didn’t call your customers to let them know so they could book elsewhere? They didn’t even say the word sorry once. I just couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t have let me know earlier or even just that morning before I drove all the way there? Another time at a Farmers Autocare they massively overcharged me for work after an MOT - I was young and it was my first MOT so I think they took their chances, I realised in hindsight how I’d been taken for a massive fool, I had no money at the time so it was a massive blow, and to top it off they all hid in the office and sent out their apprentice to charge me the bill. I felt so humiliated and silly for not knowing better but didn’t feel like I could question it.

I would say I have only ever had 1 good experience at a car garage - Shout out to KJL Motors near Sawston, they were so kind, literally walked me under the car to show me exactly what was wrong with it before I agreed to the work, it was like a whole new world of being treated like a proper person as a customer, so I’ve never forgotten that standard of service that is possible.

Anyway, is it just me? Anyone else get this kind of treatment?

And if you’ve been somewhere in South Buckinghamshire that treated you well please let me know your recommendations!!

I've not experienced this either. Our local garage is excellent. Recently at a pre mot check I thought I needed 4 new tyres. They said you need 2, and the other ones are amber, so you've got at least 6 months left (depending on mileage). Just kind example and I've never felt ripped off.

Personally I think the overcharging is on you, if you don't know anything about cars get your DH to take your car in.
I know about cars and generally what things should cost - it was me that took my partner's car to the garage, until we found a nice garage that doesn't overcharge anyone.
It's not just cause your a woman it's cause you're going to shit garages that'll do that to anyone who doesn't know things about cars.

I'd wager it was a seal that popped on a wheel cylinder on the rear from a drum brake set up.

Ex had this & same v scary result, luckily no crash. I drove it to the garage afterwards & it was very scary, it's more like 5% of brakes still work.

That was a kwikfit mess up. Booked in for a brake issue & to check it all out. They did front pads & ignored the rears & this happened. Got head office involved & she got refunded but was terrible workmanship.

I've had a fractured brake line on a fully laden big van too, so yes in theory 50% of braking left but felt like 5% but I could still use handbrake on that as a rear caliper set up & separate drums for handbrake.

That was my thought as well, but it wouldn’t drain the whole system and would only take out that brake and the opposite front.

Worst experience was at Kwikfit- the man came out to look at my flat spare and when he put it on the ground he said Oh look it's only flat at the bottom! I replied in my best sarcastic tone Oh how original, I've never heard that joke before.
It put me off so I decided to go elsewhere to an independent place where the staff are nice and polite.
For servicing, luckily I have had fairly new cars for a good few years so I've paid upfront for servicing with the dealership.
Before that, I had a brilliant one-man garage nearby. He was a real gentleman and completely trustworthy. He's retired now though unfortunately.

The pedal went completely to the floor and there was no stopping at all. There was no brake fluid left.

Being told it's not possible is just as patronising as being told no-one could have known it was going to happen. Especially when you had been complaining about the brakes for weeks and it being made out it was all in your head.

It shouldn’t be possible, do you remember exactly what the issue was? I’m interested in what sounds like a very rare issue.

The rear wheel brake cylinder blew.

I swear if you say it shouldn't be possible again you'll hear parts of me implode and splatter off the wall. You sound like a man.

I am a man, and brake systems are designed so that this is impossible. It’s one of the fundamental principles of brake system design. A car will not be given type approval if the failure of one component (such as a wheel cylinder) can lead to a total loss of braking action.

If this happened as you say then this is a serious safety issue. You should probably make the manufacturer aware and they should take it seriously.

A garage local to me recently shared a "helpful" post of dashboard warning lights and what they mean. They captioned it as something for "the females". Then they clearly thought better of this and edited their post and replaced "females" with "customers". But the damage was done, and another Facebook group shared it with the original caption. I reported it to the admins as hate speech 😅

My car went in for a safety recall fix. They told me that it needed £££ spent on it and made out the engine was about to explode and it wasn't drivable. I called dh in tears thinking I wouldn't have a car while holding a quote for parts and labour rates.

I like to think I'm a bit clever and not an easy target, but it was all bollocks.

Dh is a hgv mechanic, he turned up in his work van, got his little torch and asked to be shown the faults. He had a 'I need to speak to the manager' moment.

Years later we still shout from the rooftops about how shit the garage is.

Years ago I took my car to Kwikfit. For a new tyre. The mechanic rang and said I needed a new exhaust, the exhaust was rusted through. I told him I couldn’t afford it and just to do the work I’d asked for. When I arrived to pick it up I had a new exhaust which had been added to the bill. I refused to pay for it despite the smarmy manager offering to knock off 10%. I told him to put the old exhaust back on. He said it had been junked. I ended up with a free new exhaust. Hopefully someone learned a lesson. Never visited a kwikfit since.

Neither of you must know a thing about cars because you took it to Halfords in the first place.

You need to have a first class degree in being a moron to work there.

Find a good independent locally and stick with them. They will always look after you.

That makes sense, you have done nothing but patronise me. I've literally just told you what the problem was and you're still saying it couldn't have happened.
It's ironic really considering the thread that you could just prove what people are saying in a few short posts. You have no idea how old my car is for a start.

Good independent garage which is local to you should and will rely and local Facebook etc for their reputation.

Mine is brilliant but also they know the local groups are very active so local businesses really keep their game up.

@Boldernow Q. Why do car garages treat women so badly ?

Huge generalisation but -

A. Because some women allow it.

People only treat you as badly as you allow them to.

In many of the posts, the posters have, walked out, stood their ground, challenged and a qualified relative has proved the garage wrong. They were still treated badly, even though they didn't allow it to continue. You can't prevent bad treatment because it can happen at first point of contact, or in a few cases, the insult starts via written communication.

Dual circuit hydraulics were introduced in the 60s to prevent this exact thing from happening and it’s become more advanced in modern times. So you’re correct, I don’t know how old it is but I’m making an assumption that it’s less than 50 years old.

"You can't prevent bad treatment because it can happen at first point of contact, or in a few cases, the insult starts via written communication."

I agree.

So if the company demonstrates poor customer service from the get-go you just don't deal with them.

A single friend of mine had a small lottery win and decided to change her car. The one she had was a real 'shed'. So she went to a dealership to have a look at the cars on display. No-one bothered to come out from the office to see what she wanted.
So she went to the dealership next door where they came out and were only too happy to help her. She bought a car off them.

She had the last laugh but not only that she then took it a stage further and rubbed the first dealership's nose in it.
She took a picture of her 'old banger', and sent it with a complaint to the head office and also included a photo of the car she's bought from the next door dealership.
The result was a letter with profuse apologies more or less begging her to give them another chance. She replied saying she wouldn't buy a car off them now if she was desperate.

Some companies have neglected one of the first rules of business. One satisfied customer will tell maybe one or two others but one dissatisfied customer will tell over a dozen. 🙂

You're still doing it 😂 dude, I'm not interested in your corectile dysfunction. If you think a car can stop with no brake fluid then that's up to you. I'll just get the repair done rather than give it a good talking to and tell it I don't believe in it.

It's so short sighted too. If I've been ripped off once, I'll never go back. But if they do a good job and don't treat me like an idiot, they've got a customer for life. I've currently got a great garage. Not the cheapest, but I don't care. I trust them.

Bullsh*t. It's because some men are horrifically sexist and take it to work with them.

Victim blaming at its best. Do you query what rape victims were wearing too?

wow never expected this many responses! It’s really interesting (though very sad/frustrating!) to hear others experiences. To answer a few Qs -

MOT machine that was broken was the ramp (made me laugh having that pointed out as shows my depth of knowledge, I was in a rush writing my original rant)

I’m super aware it’s not all garages and there are lovely honest people out there, I’ve just got to the point where I absolutely dread going every time, and usually I’m trying somewhere new each time because I’ve had to move area so much, which definitely doesn’t help.

I’ve been sent a good local recommendation as a result of this thread so thank you!!! I’ve booked next service with them and they were really nice on the phone so fingers crossed

And with regard to my Halfords experience the other day, they still hadn’t started on my car after 2 hrs (all it was in for was their ‘quick’ 10 point check and I was first person there if the day!!!) when they were finally done at the 3hr mark they didn’t charge me the £15 - I think they realised they took the mick, and having a visibly pregnant, clearly hacked off customer in your reception isn’t a good look 😂

This is a crazy take from you