Idris

Beware of this outfit.

Purchased car from Ash @ Garrison Trade Birmingham on 02/04, who described it as a reliable, well-maintained vehicle with full-service history for £3300. Payment made in full on the same day (02/4/23) and cleared onto the account on 03/4/23 – Ash agreed to get the car valeted and serviced and would contact me when the car was ready for collection. Ash contacted me to advise car was ready to collect on 07/04/23 and we made our way to pick up. After driving out of Garrison Garage only a short distance, (2-3 miles) the engine management light started flashing, together with a whining noise from the engine and the car started to lose power. We immediately notified the garage of the problem and advised we were heading back to them, as at this stage, we were only short distance away. Upon returning we were met by Ash’s brother, connected vehicle to a laptop , advising he was running a diagnostics test. He informed the warning light on the dashboard was minor and was caused by fragments in the engine and low fuel levels, then done something on the laptop which erased the flashing warning on the dashboard. He stated this negligible issue would be resolved by refilling diesel, together with the homebound drive of circa 20 miles would flush the engine clear of any minor debris. Not convinced by the explanation, we asked for refund, but he was reluctant to take the car back, advising he was about to close the garage, and the person who had sold us the car (his brother, Ash) had already left. I rang Ash’s number from my phone, which was ignored - I then asked the brother to ring Ash from HIS PHONE, which was surprisingly answered, upon which discussed the reason for our return to garage and my concern the car wasn’t performing as one would normally expect a recently serviced. I requested a refund citing, reliability issues and apprehension over the long distance via motorway to travel back home, to be reiterated with the same response - that by simply re-fuelling, there would be no further problems. Left with little choice, after being ushered out, we refuelled in a nearby petrol station, but around 20 minutes into the driving home journey, experienced a recurrence with the glow plug flashing once again on the dashboard and the car losing power, struggling to gain speed, barely managing 50-60mph. I contacted Ash upon our return @ home on 19:12 on 7/4/23 to advise that despite his insistence that refuelling would eradicate issues, the car had struggled to reach 60mph and not going over 2500 revs. I explained this was particularly hazardous, as the car appeared to be restricted to accelerating so would take an eternity to gain speed from 40mph upwards, so navigating and joining the motorway on our way back at such slow speeds was extremely dangerous. Ash agreed to arrange collection of the car the next day. 10/04 - no-one attended or called. 11/04: Having wasted the entire day enquired about whereabouts of pickup truck, only to be advised collection would now be 11/04 (Tuesday) apparently Ash had forgot it being a bank holiday. 11/04 came and went, again with no pickup or call - left waiting in all day for a no-show. I messaged again as not received any contact from the garage, despite repeatedly asking to be kept informed of approximate pick-up time to enable me to plan my working day. 12/04: vehicle finally collected. Contact was then made by myself on multiple occasions for update since then to be consistently advised “we are investigating the issue, whether it was caused by an oversight during the service” or “we are planning to take it to another mechanic for inspection “ At no point during the interaction, despite repeated promises, was I ever the recipient of a call back to update progress. Instead, I made a series of calls and WhatsApp messages throughout the next 2 weeks for progress updates on 19.04.23, 20.04.23, 26.04.23, 27.04.23, 29.04.23. Voicemails were also left yet promised call-backs did not materialize. I have retained messages on WhatsApp. During contact, I repeatedly requested a refund due to the lack of engagement and constant promises to return calls not being fulfilled. When Ash did manage to answer, he would revert to advising he “was looking into getting this sorted” but repeatedly disregarding requests to supply any definitive view of progress - effectively dismissing the refund request. After numerous efforts, my final message to the garage was on Saturday 29/04 @ 11:51. “Hi ash, after waiting for your response yesterday- which again did not materialise, and I had to chase a response. During this discussion I requested a full refund as I do not have the confidence the car is suitable for my daughter.