Charles Hurst in court for failing to service a car

The car dealer Charles Hurst Toyota, Boucher Road, Belfast was today fined a total of £2,000 for charging a customer for a service that did not happen.

The prosecution was brought by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s Trading Standards Service. The company pleaded guilty to 2 charges under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.

The case came to light after a customer left his car at the Charles Hurst Toyota centre for its 40,000 miles service. The customer had taken the precaution of marking the fuel and air filter components as both of these needed changed.

When the car was ready for collection the customer was presented with a bill for £270, but when he checked neither filters had been changed. He was also charged for a rear wiper rubber even though the car didn’t have a rear wiper.

Alison Gilchrist, Trading Standards Service said: “In our experience a number of businesses could do much better in providing car servicing and repairs to ensure situations like this do not occur.

“Car servicing does not come cheap and the ordinary consumer has no way of telling if the work has been done properly. The consumer completely relies on the diligence of the trader to ensure the car is fully serviced.

“Customers whose cars are still under a manufacturers warranty should remember they are not tied to the specific dealer who supplied the vehicle, they can use any authorised workshop.”

Anyone who has concerns about car servicing should contact Consumerline on 0845 600 6262.

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