davey_83 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 The garage didnt unplug the dash cam, the tech did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaddyCee Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Sorry your point being? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-G- Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I wouldn't want to be filmed whilst doing my day job either, tbh. Nothing to hide particularly, but I may have conversations with colleagues that could easily be taken out of context or use language that could be found offensive by some. Massive difference between arbitrarily spying on what someone is doing and catching someone abusing your car on a test drive. Most dashcams are ignition activated so it's highly unlikely you'd catch them doing anything other than driving your car. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Mine is setup so it'll come on if the car is moved, ignition on or off. Even if they're only moving the car backwards and forwards in the workshop, you're still being recorded. Tbh when my car has been in for work I'd much rather they did take it for a quick test drive to confirm everything is working as it should do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strudul Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Just ask them to leave it on next time. See if they will comply. When I took my car to Halfords I checked my dashcam footage after. They had left it on, and it showed them being useless and abusing my car. Did you complain about this? Big company that is scared of bad press. Although each branch is treated as individual, its still the halfords banner. Id say bring it to mine next time and ill look after it, but Burton is a trek from Wakefield I wasn't gonna, but they kept pestering me by email asking me to fill out a survey and rate my experience. I eventually caved in and filled it out (negatively). The system detected this and said a rep would contact me regarding the issues, but that never happened Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay84 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Its normally down to the centre manager to contact the customer and deal with the rescue...not that i ever get complaints lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay84 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Although yours is down as being completed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 There was a discussion about mechanics turning off dashcams on a mechanic group im on. There was 2 main reasons mechanics gave. Firstly they felt it was a security risk, as owners could play back footage and see clearly inside their workshop. See what tools they have, where they were kept, probably scope the area out nicely etc. Mechanics are very protective of their tool chests etc as there`s some serious moneys worth in them and its their livelyhood. The other reason given is that they just didnt like "big brother" watching & listening to them. Some customers are the type who complain about every little thing and should the mechanic say something which could be mis-interpreted, or do something the customer wasnt happy with then that would be the mechanics job on the line. Each to their own really. I dont have a dash cam in my 911 turbo and happily leave it at my local indi for them to work on. Some of their mechanics do actually look like they have come straight out of prison, but the place has an impeccable reputation, go the extra mile and so I trust them. Afterall, when you see some of the supercars they look after there, it makes my car seem pretty average to them. Good points but largely not convincing in my eyes. Mostly people want the dashcams on when the car is on and in motion not when its stationary and switched off. Yes the cars might be on and running briefly inside a workshop but for work like services most of the time its off - so no big brother going on there really. As for scoping out garages, thats just rubbish. If someone wants to rob a garage you walk in and enquire about some work and walk out again, that will give you much more of a view of the content of the place than a car with 110 degrees of view dashcam which probably isnt picking up brand names and labels on tools etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Not long after buying my car it needed an alternator, thankfully covered under warranty. booked it in to a local indy and the process for both the garage and the warranty company went smoothly. No dash cam fitted at the time, however i did set both a movement and speed command to the vehicles tracker which would text me the moment the vehicle left the garage and if it went over a set speed. The vehicle movement alert came to my phone but the max speed never did and the vehicle was taken on a nearby dual carriage way by them and fair play to the tech didn’t break the speed limit. The moment the vehicle was taken on road test and back to the garage, they called me up to advise of the update which is all any customer can ask for along with the above. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 There are some neat trackers around at the moment, £100 and last for about 3 months before needing charging that communicate with an app on your phone. Mostly for use if the car got stolen but equally for knowing if the car is being ragged senseless around roads. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Kay Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Do you have a link to them Coldel, sounds interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 (edited) I think garages/technicians need to accept year on year more and more cars are having trackers and dash cams fitted, to which they need to sort their acts out. Be respectful towards other peoples stuff and if not accept the potential repercussions. Main dealer that we deal with on a daily basis. Now video the the work they do and vehicle healt checks and post these online for the customer to view, so this tosh about tools and safety is rubbish. If anything cameras can actually safe gaurd the garages. Speed camera on the drivers way home after visiting the garage, then states this was done whilst with the garage. His dash cam IF left plugged in could prove the tech was never even on that peiece of road. Edited February 22, 2017 by davey_83 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy_Baton Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Just ask them to leave it on next time. See if they will comply. When I took my car to Halfords I checked my dashcam footage after. They had left it on, and it showed them being useless and abusing my car. Did you complain about this? Big company that is scared of bad press. Although each branch is treated as individual, its still the halfords banner. Id say bring it to mine next time and ill look after it, but Burton is a trek from Wakefield I took my car to Halfords to have the air con refreshed, the young guy <25 was really sheepish about giving me the keys back and even watched me drive off. The manager said he loved my car. It was a bit weird so I checked the footage and the first thing the kid said when he got in my car to drive it into the service bay was ‘I got to take this out for a spin later’… Not sure if you need a drive to check the air cons working! He did take it out, but only went ~1000 meters around the industrial estate and was just about under the speed limit, although he got there a bit fast. Decided in the end there was no harm done, and it gave the kid 3 minutes of enjoyment, so didn’t report it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay84 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 With ac regas I tend to rev to 2-3k to make sure compressor is engaging and temp drops significantly. I do that on the forecourt. We road test everything that has had the wheels off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Do you have a link to them Coldel, sounds interesting I did read about them in Auto Express or something like that a few months back - I cannot locate the article but google turns up pages like this http://heavy.com/tech/2016/09/top-best-gps-tracking-devices-for-cars-vehicle-monitoring-obdii-module/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Hell Citroen's new C3 comes with a built-in dashcam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 As for scoping out garages, thats just rubbish. If someone wants to rob a garage you walk in and enquire about some work and walk out again, that will give you much more of a view of the content of the place than a car with 110 degrees of view dashcam which probably isnt picking up brand names and labels on tools etc. Dont know which sort of garages you use, but whenever ive been to a garage they wont let you anywhere near their workshops. You have to speak to the receptionist and your never allowed anywhere else. Health and Safety is what I was told. I did actually walk into the workshop at one garage to chat to a mechanic and actually got a long lecture by the garage boss for doing so. Same as when you actually take your car there to have work done. Nissan in particular I remember the very young female receptionist taking my keys, walking out to my pride & joy, jumping in and driving it off to their workshop. Ford & BMW were the same. If your lucky, a mechanic will come out from the workshop and speak to you in the waiting room. Not saying I agree at all with the mechanics "reasoning" behind turning the cam off. As an owner, I can certainly understand why some people would feel happier knowing they have a cam on monitoring whether the garage mis-used their car or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay84 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I will walk with customers to there car if i want to show them something, or if they ask. They can go in the workshop but under my terms. Anyone that just walks in gets asked nicely to leave and go to reception where i do the workshop version of **** block them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I really like garages where they just let you walk in and have a look around at stuff. Center Gravity were happy for me to even get involved in doing some bits on my car the other week, and Roger Clark Motorsport made a point of showing us around when we took the Scoob there last week. My local indie BMW place is also happy for me to walk around when I'm there. Porsche Colchester were also excellent, and it was so handy to talk to the tech who was actually working on my car at the time so he could point bits out. I can see why bigger chains with more paranoid H&S people might not want to let you though, one more thing out of their control and a risk assessor's nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 When I had alignment done on my car I walked in, the MOT centre I use I walk in and stand with the car as it goes over the ramp - its pretty common practice. Most garages I have seen and used over the years have the shutters on the front of the building and you can just look inside even whilst standing outside. The excuse to turn the cam off for that reason is as I say is complete nonsense. Its basically to stop people capturing any balls up that they can cover up and get away with simple as - there is no security risk or the like. I can though believe that someone would simply not want their days work recorded and put on the net - if they were up front about that instead of making up excuses which bear no weight people might be more inclined to trust them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 (edited) It not right for a customer to walk in and out of the workshop let say unsupervised, if something heavy were to fall on the customers foot or worst the garage is liable - this will never change and shouldn't. The customer is not insured to be there, simples. Going off topic a tiny bit also. Edited February 22, 2017 by davey_83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay84 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 That's why i do it on my terms. Otherwise Id need a bowling alleys supply of toe tectors 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Yeah get that but that is not the point we are looking at, the original point was made by mechanics that they disconnect cameras so that "we don't allow cameras because of security of the workshops being victims of burglary and cameras recording etc' when in many cases you can stand outside the workshop and look in as they have open fronted workshops, or have to walk through parts of them to get to the reception area, or if you ask you can be accompanied in etc. I was sat on the train today which stopped at Mortlake station I looked out the window at Mortlake motors and saw four cars in the workshop and the whole interior of it from sat on the train - the idea that they would for instance disconnect your camera for this reason is as I say, just nonsense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I really like garages where they just let you walk in and have a look around at stuff. Center Gravity were happy for me to even get involved in doing some bits on my car the other week, and Roger Clark Motorsport made a point of showing us around when we took the Scoob there last week. My local indie BMW place is also happy for me to walk around when I'm there. Porsche Colchester were also excellent, and it was so handy to talk to the tech who was actually working on my car at the time so he could point bits out. I can see why bigger chains with more paranoid H&S people might not want to let you though, one more thing out of their control and a risk assessor's nightmare. All the main dealers ive been in wont let you so it might be just garages at that level. My local Porsche indi for example, actually happily took me on a supervised tour of their workshops - mainly I think to show me how professional their workshop was etc to try and get my custom. My local back street MOT station however was the place where the guy gave me a severe b*llocking for standing 2 feet outside of the designated "MOT viewing area". Quite surprised me as my old MOT center would actually let me drive my own car on their ramp and help out with the brake tests etc. Ive just remembered that the backstreet motorbike garage I used to always use always had its doors open. You could just walk in and chat to the guys, but then at that point in time they were just 3 mechanics. They then got so busy they actually hired a receptionist and closed their doors, so everyone had to go via reception and no longer could you speak to the mechanics directly. Was a shame really, but I could see where they were coming from. Apparently they worked out they were loosing so many hours a day chatting to people that it was affecting their productivity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Heh, I've assisted with my own MOTs before as well, feels very weird the first time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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