Brandon S

Disappointing service

Would've happily given a nice rating & review a couple of weeks ago, but things have since changed. My car *seemed* okay when I got it, just a couple of small things that needed doing, nothing major. Sorted out at Unique MOT centre, who were absolutely brilliant by the way. Within a few days, my local garage discovered a faulty wheel cylinder which was causing some sort of leak. I gave TCC the benefit of the doubt and got it fixed myself, out of my own pocket. I then had my engine light coming on a week after that, and it turned out to be an issue with the timing belt, which I later discovered hadn't been serviced for 9 years. Apparently it's 'not their problem'. The part that upset me the most wasn't the issues with the car, but the fact that I described the issue to TCC and I was laughed at down the phone, and when I mentioned my consumer rights I was spoken to with a sarcastic tone. I was told "There's no way to tell if a timing belt is on its way out,". Basically claiming the mechanic at my local garage with 40+ years experience is wrong. Even though the engine light literally came on to warn me about the timing belt? So obviously there is a way to tell - the mechanic showed me the belt once he removed it, it was cracked and frayed so you could see it needed changing. I've since had 3 more underlying problems which I've also had to have repaired, so in total I've spent about £450 on repairs since buying the vehicle. Luckily I have AA parts cover which helps with a small amount of it, but I've still had to pay the majority. Someone else might not be so lucky and will get stung for full whack. Do I want to go down the route of trading standards and small claims? Absolutely not, it's a massive drain on everyone's time and resources. But I feel backed into a corner on this one. I'm genuinely disappointed because I got a good feeling from them initially, nice family-style setup with honest salespeople. But I just can't get past the issues with the car and the way I was spoken to the other day. Laughing at someone down the phone is downright disrespectful. I consider myself a nice, fair bloke but I can't forgive that.