A quiet afternoon so I thought I'd vent my spleen re my recent experiences with Knights Garage. Firstly let me preface this (rant?) by saying I'm sure there are plenty of customers delighted with the service they've had from Knights Garage but I am not one of them. I will try to keep it brief:
It began when I saw the Imola S50 with Hartge wheels on their website stating that the wheels are available separately - I've been hunting for a set of these for a while now so I made a small diversion and dropped in to see KG at their unit on an industrial estate in Thame (bit of a contrast to the impression given by the images on their website, I might add).
I was a little taken aback by Russell's reception when I rang the buzzer. "Appointments only" apparently. The Google search I did to get the postcode while travelling showed "open today 9am - 5:30pm" and whilst each listing does state "we look forward to your questions and appointments to view", I didn’t think it would be an issue to drop in and meet a fellow enthusiast, especially since I was going to discuss the purchase of a set of wheels, so didn't need to see a fully prep'd car.
Anyway, having firmly been told "it DOES state 'appointments only' on the website" (which it does not), I progressed the conversation to the wheels I wished to buy. Russell advised me that the owner wishes to revert the car to standard and sell the Hartge wheels separately and that they're £1000. "Excellent", I said, "I have £1000 in my pocket and I'd like to buy them please." Russell informed me that the car's not coming until next week, so, I gave him my details and asked him to contact me when the car is in and I'd come back to buy the wheels - he did not call. The conversation then briefly continued until Russell became pre-occupied with a text message on his phone and was not focusing on our conversation at all. He read out part of the text - I'll spare the details but suffice to say it could've waited - but instead he simply muttered that he wants to make a call and then he walked out through the back door leaving me to see myself out. I was a little stunned but anyway, no need to get upset, I thought - at least I'd verbally secured the wheels, so fingers crossed for next week...
That evening Russell called me. "Ah a great businessman always follows up a new contact / customer" you must be thinking - maybe even an apology for cutting short our earlier conversation. No. He called to tell me of change to what he'd told me earlier. Apparently the vendor has changed his mind and wants to give a buyer the option of having the car with the Hartge wheels for £20k OR with the standard wheels for £19k - I said that the vendor has a willing buyer for the wheels with cash waiting and Russell's terse reply was "Well it's the customer's car and he can do what he likes!"
So, I said I'd wait and see and hopefully be in touch. Sure enough, this week the car is showing as "under offer" so today I thought I'd drop Russell a line to see if the buyer is having the wheels or not - fingers crossed!!! It was a short conversation in which Russell simply advised me that "the buyer is unsure if he's having the wheels and besides if he doesn't have them I'm keeping them for myself!"
Unbelievable!
I now wonder if my offer to buy the wheels was ever put to the vendor...
I wonder, was Russell ever an estate agent?
It began when I saw the Imola S50 with Hartge wheels on their website stating that the wheels are available separately - I've been hunting for a set of these for a while now so I made a small diversion and dropped in to see KG at their unit on an industrial estate in Thame (bit of a contrast to the impression given by the images on their website, I might add).
I was a little taken aback by Russell's reception when I rang the buzzer. "Appointments only" apparently. The Google search I did to get the postcode while travelling showed "open today 9am - 5:30pm" and whilst each listing does state "we look forward to your questions and appointments to view", I didn’t think it would be an issue to drop in and meet a fellow enthusiast, especially since I was going to discuss the purchase of a set of wheels, so didn't need to see a fully prep'd car.
Anyway, having firmly been told "it DOES state 'appointments only' on the website" (which it does not), I progressed the conversation to the wheels I wished to buy. Russell advised me that the owner wishes to revert the car to standard and sell the Hartge wheels separately and that they're £1000. "Excellent", I said, "I have £1000 in my pocket and I'd like to buy them please." Russell informed me that the car's not coming until next week, so, I gave him my details and asked him to contact me when the car is in and I'd come back to buy the wheels - he did not call. The conversation then briefly continued until Russell became pre-occupied with a text message on his phone and was not focusing on our conversation at all. He read out part of the text - I'll spare the details but suffice to say it could've waited - but instead he simply muttered that he wants to make a call and then he walked out through the back door leaving me to see myself out. I was a little stunned but anyway, no need to get upset, I thought - at least I'd verbally secured the wheels, so fingers crossed for next week...
That evening Russell called me. "Ah a great businessman always follows up a new contact / customer" you must be thinking - maybe even an apology for cutting short our earlier conversation. No. He called to tell me of change to what he'd told me earlier. Apparently the vendor has changed his mind and wants to give a buyer the option of having the car with the Hartge wheels for £20k OR with the standard wheels for £19k - I said that the vendor has a willing buyer for the wheels with cash waiting and Russell's terse reply was "Well it's the customer's car and he can do what he likes!"
So, I said I'd wait and see and hopefully be in touch. Sure enough, this week the car is showing as "under offer" so today I thought I'd drop Russell a line to see if the buyer is having the wheels or not - fingers crossed!!! It was a short conversation in which Russell simply advised me that "the buyer is unsure if he's having the wheels and besides if he doesn't have them I'm keeping them for myself!"
Unbelievable!
I now wonder if my offer to buy the wheels was ever put to the vendor...
I wonder, was Russell ever an estate agent?
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