Do Kwik-Fit Fitters actually know how to repair a slow puncture? (Kwik Fit)

Member Name: NoSugarInMine

Product:	Kwik Fit
Date:	13/08/09 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None - Kwik-Fit just wasted my time in finding them out

Disadvantages: A less techically aware person might easily be taken in

I had no idea that Kwik-Fit were up-sell enthusiasts and assumed from the TV ads that they employed trained, knowledgeable people. However I took a car wheel with a slow puncture to the Merthyr Tydfil Kwik-Fit last week, to be told that it couldn't be fixed ("it's too close to the edge which means that the patch would have to curl round the sidewall" - and other such nonsense). "So, you need a new tyre. Do you want a quote for one?"

I asked him to explain and let him talk, then asked a couple of simple Q's and gained the impression that the chap was clueless - it seemed to me that he'd no real idea how to repair a puncture.

I have a technical background so was confident, from that and 30 years of ordinary dealings with garages, that it would be a straightforward fix in the hands of a normally skilled tyre man. Indeed, almost a text-book example for a patch and plug repair.

So I took it to an independent tyre specialist ("Treads") a few miles away. I saw no reason to mention my Kwik-Fit experience - all I wanted was my tyre fixed. They said they'd deal with it while I waited, even though I offered to return later to collect. When done, they took the spare wheel off the car and replaced it with their repaired one. £9.50 inc VAT, plus a tip for the guy who dealt with it. No drama, just a proper job at a sensible price.

I've no idea what Kwik-Fit would have charged for a new tyre. But now I'll never know.

Summary: Kwik-Fit tried up-selling a puncture repair to a new tyre and were 'sussed'.