Professionalism, what professionalism (Kwik Fit)

Member Name: johnrobinson@tesco.net

Product:	Kwik Fit
Date:	17/07/09 (234 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None discernable

Disadvantages: Read the review, but plenty.

have a Motability car and am unable to walk most of the time. Kwik-Fit have the contract to replace tyres on these vehicles. We had torrential rain in
Blackpool so I drove into the garage, which I have done before with no problem. The first thing I noticed was that I didn't recognise hardly any of the staff who were there on my last visit, It seemed odd for them all to have changed (perhaps I am wrong, however), but no matter I thought, as they are a big company with well trained staff and as I remebered, a better than average manner when dealing with customers, so I could relax. The protocol for addressing customers had, however, drastically changed. Normally you spoke only to the manager initially, who was polite and helpful and normally this was enough. You then went into the waiting room and read a magazine and had a coffee.
As soon as I pulled up in the space for customers and out of everybodies way, a large, dirty and surly engineer tore a strip off me because I hadn't noticed the signs they had put up since my last visit. The engineer refused to discuss anything with me until I had moved the car out into the bucketing rain, so I asked for the manager. Eventually after further surliness he gave in and fetched the manager. Several engineers were lounging around the walls to listen in on the conversation and pass ribald comment. The manager was equally disinterested with discussing anything except my car being put out into the rain. He said they had got strong issues with customers driving straight in. I tried to explain my difficulty with walking but customers were apparently a real nuisance to him. I did manage to explain that I would discuss it with his head office and see if we could come to some arrangement convenient to both of us and if not then I would talk to the Motability organisation that awarded the contracts to Kwik-Fit to see if I could go somewhere else as obviously it had become really difficult working with that branch. He wasn't at all interested in working it out and said he had real issues with customers who wouldn't do as they are told, (even if you shouted at them). That is no exaggeration as I was reversing out to go elsewhere several of the 'engineers' that were lounging about were jeering and shouting "Can't you read the signs, are you blind or sumfin" and similar. They had also moved a lot closer. I drove off feeling threatened and bullied by this bunch of louts.

I kept my temper and was extremely polite throughout my time in their obnoxious company (probably because I felt intimidated by the apparent breakdown of professionalism in that branch of KwikFit)
I was vowing to myself that if I got away intact I would never go there again. So upset was I by the incident that I am reluctant to go to the other KwikFit in Blackpool, in case of a repeat. However I have to get the tyre problem solved.
I am no newcomer to garages, having driven professionally all my life as a travelling mainframe computer engineer and sales engineer (now retired due to failing health and old age, I was 64 years old yesterday) but I have rarely come across a business (never mind a national company) with so little interest in the wellbeing of customers and the goodwill of their business. It reminded me of the bad old days of having to deal with cheap little garages where they didn't have the social skills to deal with customers.

Summary: I am still baffled by this incident.