Stay of execution for garages
- Garages miss September deadline…
- … but get more time to improve standards
- Motorists pay £4 billion a year for poor service
Car workshops have been given another stay of execution and even more time to get their house in order, despite missing a key deadline.
Six months ago the National Consumer Council said it would lodge a 'super complaint' against the service and repair industry if standards didn't improve.
The threat followed a string of disastrous results from mystery shopping exercises which showed motorists were getting terrible service and forking out £4 billion a year too much as a result.
After years of aborted attempts to improve standards, the NCC said the industry would need to get approval from the Office of Fair Trading for a new voluntary code of conduct by September.
Despite now missing the deadline, the NCC has again decided to hold off on its super complaint which could force the Government to introduce licensing and compulsory minimum standards.
Senior policy advocate of the NCC, Steve Brooker, said: 'While the NCC is frustrated that our deadline has not been met, we are pleased that substantial progress has been made.
'Making a super-complaint now, when so much has been achieved, could jeopardise an early improvement in service standards for millions of consumers.'
The NCC says it will now hold monthly meetings with key groups from the £10 billion a year industry to ensure the speedy introduction of the code.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is one group involved in drawing up the code and said: 'We understand why the NCC set a deadline. This is positive news, but this is also a call to arms for the industry. We must be prepared to continue to work hard together.'
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