I see good old Kwik fit back on watchdog.
Apparently charging people 1.50 per tyre for nitrogen regardless if its requested.........and most times just filling with air!
|
|
Nitrogen - at least Kwikfit are 80% of the way there - better than some of their previous tactics - leaking shockers was a favourite 30-40 years ago!
|
|
Local one replaced a tyre on my company car when all it needed was a repair (small screw centre of tread).
|
>> Nitrogen - at least Kwikfit are 80% of the way there -
They should only have to refund 30p then.
|
ISTR a fool fello on this forum not too long ago mentioning he'd had his tyres inflated with nitrogen :)
Last edited by: Dog on Thu 5 Nov 15 at 22:04
|
I was at an industrial unit buying some car parts from a motor factors. There was also one of these 'used tyre' places there. A Quick Fit van pulled up and started unloading tyres. The guys at the motor factors told me it was there a couple of times each day.
I'm not suggesting Quick Fit would tell customers punctures couldn't be repaired so they could flog them new tyres, but I wonder how many of the tyres they supply to 'used tyre' type places have puncture repairs?
|
Just watched the program.
The majority of tyres tested were filled with air, even though the customers were charged for nitrogen.
KwikFit must have been able to reconcile their use of nitrogen compared to their sales and noticed that they are selling more than they are buying!
They offered a £5 voucher for any customer that complained.
A whistle blower said that staff were paid bonuses if they sold extras such as nitrogen.
IMHO it is theft and it is a shame that Watchdog brought it to the company's attention without giving the relevant authorities time to undertake a buying and testing process and prosecute the b*****s if necessary.
If I did what Watchdog have just done, in my job, I could end up in clink for 5 years for tipping off!
Last edited by: zippy on Thu 5 Nov 15 at 23:01
|
>>IMHO it is theft
It's interesting. IMHO offering nitrogen at all is just theft. Once you've charged the £1.50 for the nitrogen then it doesn't matter what you inflate the tyres with as it makes N2-all difference.
It's like charging £20 for a horoscope. It doesn't matter whether the person writing it is "competent" or not, it's the charging for it that's fraudulent.
|
|
What good is a five quid voucher...? You're hardly likely to go back to Kwik Fit if you've been done over by them are you...
|
Never used Kwikfit ever. I generally find the fast fits well behaved but then I make sure they can't rip me off. When ever there is an incentive to sell something it means the sales person often bends the truth or in some cases just lies.
I've see it a lot with a large electrical giant and some of the stuff my customers tell me the sales people say is just lies. One example was "they said unless they set it up the laptop will not be covered under warranty" obviously the sales person was under pressure to sell home setup.
|
>> "they said unless they set it up the laptop will not be covered under warranty" obviously the sales person was under pressure to sell home setup
This is another reason why I prefer to buy stuff from internet :-)
|
>> >>
>> I've see it a lot with a large electrical giant and some of the stuff
>> my customers tell me the sales people say is just lies. One example was "they
>> said unless they set it up the laptop will not be covered under warranty" obviously
>> the sales person was under pressure to sell home setup.
>>
>>
>>
I took a faulty PC back to Staples once a few days after buying it. The manager offered a repair but I insisted on a refund or a replacement. He told me the factory wouldn't accept it because I didn't have the carton it had come in and they only stocked enough cartons for the number of computers they made and they wouldn't be able to sell it again. After I finished laughing I told him I wasn't leaving without the cash or a new machine, and when he realised I was prepared to stay there arguing loudly in front of a growing queue of customers he reluctantly let me have a more expensive one in exchange, not having any more stock of the crap Olivetti I'd bought back.
|
It's interesting. IMHO offering nitrogen at all is just theft. Once you've charged the £1.50 for the nitrogen then it doesn't matter what you inflate the tyres with as it makes N2-all difference.
Nope, there is a reason why nitrogen is offered. Nitrogen in a cylinder is dry - no water vapour in it. As a result, pressure changes due to temperature are less, and corrosion is less. Also nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen, so it can leak a bit less.
Of course, atmospheric air is 80% nitrogen to start with, so the leak argument is not exactly a biggie. Change in pressure is the reason F1 and other racers do it, but there, if you get a 0.1% advantage for a minor expenditure, of course they'd do it!
|
>> Also nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen, so it can
>> leak a bit less.
>>
>
Lead molecules are even bigger, which is why they are used in balloons.
|
|
And look what happens to them..
|
>> Nope, there is a reason why nitrogen is offered. Nitrogen in a cylinder is dry
>> - no water vapour in it. As a result, pressure changes due to temperature are
They don't use it from a cylinder, they use a compressor with a molecular sieve built-in....
www.nitrofillnow.com/products.aspx
|
So after they've paid the cost of the plant, a couple of pence per tyre. No wonder they are keen to sell their snake oil nitrogen.
|
|
A few years ago some organisation or other was offering to inflate tyres with nitrogen free at French motorway toll stations. I don't think you see it now. I wondered at the time whethe re-inflating tyres already hot was a good idea.
|
Watchdog - Kwik fit - Falkirk Bairn
