Wednesday 29 February 2012

Good Garage Scheme announces Regional Top Feedback Awards for 2011

Customer feedback is one of the cornerstones of the Good Garage Scheme, helping us ensure that motorists receive the highest standards of service from member garages.

Our Top Feedback Award is our way of congratulating members who are actively encouraging customers to send in feedback and ensure the system works.

Congratulations to all of the Good Garage Scheme member garages that have topped their region for the amount of feedbacks posted in 2011.

A fantastic effort has been achieved by all and they will all receive an award to proudly display in their reception areas for all of their customers to see.

Central Region - R M Services
East Anglia Region- Wallis & Son Ltd
East Midlands Region - Huttoft Service Station
North East Region - Rovetec
North London Region - S & B Motors (London) Ltd
North West Region - Granville Auto Centre
Scotland - Knox Brothers
South Region - B P C Motor Engineers Ltd
South East Region - Motorforce (Chichester) Ltd
South Wales Region - Lewis Motors Ltd
South West Region - Interpro Automotive

To read the feedback listed by customers who have rated Good Garage Scheme member garages, please visit www.GoodGarageScheme.com.

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Granville Auto Centre wins national feedback award from the Good Garage Scheme

Congratulations to Granville Auto Centre, a member garage based in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, who have scooped the Good Garage Scheme's national prize for this year for the most feedbacks on the Good Garage Scheme website.

The award was introduced a year ago to congratulate garages that are striving to promote this cornerstone of the scheme by encouraging every customer that visits their garage to complete a feedback card. They also scooped last year's award due to the outstanding quantity of feedback they receive.

Awards have been presented in each of eleven regions, which will be announced shortly.

Granville Auto Centre have currently received over 3,800 feedbacks since joining the scheme in 2008. To read the feedback comments received from their customers please click here. It has been operating as a family-run business since 1993. For more information about this garage, you can visit their website http://www.granvilleautocentre.co.uk/

The feedback system is vital to the scheme’s success. Customers of member garages are encouraged to complete a feedback card when visiting to have their car serviced or repaired. It helps ensure these garages are providing the highest standards of service to their customers by asking a number of questions about their visit.

The Good Garage Scheme website recently surpassed the milestone of half a million feedbacks from customers of member garages since being established in 2006. Many thanks to all the garages that have helped us achieve this milestone.

Thursday 16 February 2012

Would you trust YOUR Sat Nav?

It has been reported that in the last twelve months alone, in excess of £200 million damage has been caused to vehicles due to misleading instructions provided by motorists’ personal satellite navigation devices.

According to confused.com, this has affected up to 83% of users and of those, 68% have incurred higher mileage as a result of misleading directions provided.

Head of car insurance at confused.com, Gareth Kloet, had this to say: "As car insurance costs continue to rise, it's never been more important to keep your motoring costs as low as possible. Our research has shown that the Sat Nav is not always the blessing it was once hailed to be and, increasingly, motorists appear to be citing the device as a source of frustration and danger."

Norman Baker, the Transport Minister, has revealed his intention to bring the organisations that provide the various sources of the data for Sat Navs together in order to improve the accuracy of the data provided to motorists, by means of a “Sat Nav Summit” next month.

Emotions reported in confused.com’s survey include anger and frustration, leading to the majority of those surveyed eventually shouting at their device due to its misleading advice.

Good Garage Scheme member garages are easy to locate with or without a sat nav, where directions can be found both on the website and on the Good Garage Scheme app – available for the iPhone and Android devices.

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Valentine's Day Labour of Love

It has to be said that some people view their car as their first love. Something must have motivated Mr Norman Hughes, one of the Directors of Good Garage Scheme member garage, Cleevewood Garages, to so lovingly restore a 1968 Ford Escort.

Mr Hughes’ story was featured in the Daily Mail  recently in an account of how he rebuilt the car that he purchased as parts in boxes. In 1968 it would have been sold for around £3,000, but it is now worth £65,000.

The car was a common sight in the 1960s and was one of the biggest selling cars at the time, but the last Mark I came off the production line in 1974 before Ford released the Mark II.
Mr Hughes’ car, fitted with a Lotus twin cam engine is one of only 883 hand-built Mark I Escorts. He says he’s unwilling to part with the car for under £65,000.

He said: 'I know it sounds like a lot of money, but I know how much time and money has been put into the car. I would say it is now better than new because of the lengths we have gone to in order to get it right.'

Among Mr Hughes’ tasks in his restoration was replacement of worn parts, rebuilding of the engine, back axle and the gearbox plus sandblasting and repainting the rusting shell of the car. Due to the rarity of the vehicle, locating items of trim caused his biggest problems. These included badges and dashboard switches.

Modifications underneath the car include, among others, disc brakes on the front wheels and an uprated suspension.

Mr Hughes added: 'I think I'm asking a fair price for something very rare and very special and which is better than new. It's a lot of fun and very reliable.'
Read more and see further pictures in the Daily Mail article here. If you are interested in speaking to Mr Hughes about the car, you can find his details on Cleevewood Garages' page on the Good Garage Scheme website.

Alternatively, see the YouTube video link here.

Friday 10 February 2012

Driving in Snow? Be safe...


Before you set off in snow...
If you do need to travel, clear any snow from the roof of the vehicle before you drive off. If not, it could slip down over the windscreen and obscure your view.
 
Use main roads
Even when the main roads are clear, the side roads can often be snow-covered because they won't have been treated or travelled on as much. Plan your route on roads more frequently used.
 
Slow and steady for snow and ice!
Avoid revving your engine and spinning your wheels on the slippery surface. Slow and steady works best. Try starting off gently in second gear. Then move into third and avoid sudden changes in steering and braking. Braking harshly may risk locking up your wheels and you could skid even further.  

Unmelted snow may turn to ice making driving conditions very challenging, even for the most experience of drivers.
 
Anticipate the road ahead and try to keep moving steadily where you can safely do so rather than stopping and starting off again - especially on hills. Keeping momentum going will help tackle the challenges of a snow-covered hill.
 
Be aware of Winter Service Vehicles
Vehicles spreading salt or plowing snow will be recognisable by the flashing amber beacons and will be travelling at slower speeds - around 40 miles per hour or less.

Keep a safe distance from the maintenance vehicle as salt or spray may be thrown across the road. Don't overtake unless
it is safe to do so - there may be uncleared snow or previously untreated surfaces on the road ahead.

Always carry a charged mobile phone for emergencies
and make sure your battery, lights and wipers are up to
the challenges of winter.

Find a garage near you offering
a Winter Check at http://www.goodgaragescheme.co.uk/winter_check

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Good Garage Scheme Celebrates Half a Million Feedbacks!


On Thursday, 2nd February, the 500,000th customer feedback was entered on the Good Garage Scheme’s website.  The lucky customer will soon be confirmed and rewarded with the promised Free Tank of Fuel to celebrate the impressive landmark.
 
The feedback system is at the heart of the Good Garage Scheme. In fact, over 8000 feedbacks are received each month. This information helps new customers search the website and decide on a Good Garage Scheme member to service, repair or carry out an MOT on their vehicle.
 

There are now three options for a customer to leave feedback on the service received.  They can fill in a feedback card, enter feedback online or enter feedback via the Good Garage Scheme app.

 
We will post more detail about the winner of the free fuel soon. In the meantime, have a look at this week’s Top Good Garage Scheme Feedback.

Thursday 2 February 2012

Welcome News about MOTs

The Good Garage Scheme welcomes the recent Government decision to keep MOT frequency as it is. The Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, announced the ruling which means that cars will continue to be tested after three years and then annually.

The Government first announced its intention 18 months ago and considered changing the MOT test to the first after four years and subsequent tests after two years (4-2-2 system) in order to bring it in line with European rules.

Justine Greening said: "Having listened closely to the very many views put forward and considered the available evidence, I have decided that I am not going to carry out further work in relation to relaxing the first test date or the frequency of testing.

The Good Garage Scheme, however, agreed with many motoring groups with the opinion that cutting the frequency of the tests would have led to more unsafe cars being allowed on the roads, putting safety at risk. A campaign was launched and a group called proMOTe was instrumental in the publicising of this, with fervent support from many. See their website here.

To find a garage to carry out your MOT test, please visit www.goodgaragescheme.com