I blame the legal system (or at least the abuse there of)!
There are things about this country that really annoy me, to the point I feel I need to vent a little, after all, isn't that what LJ is for?
Any way, I took the car for it's annual road worthy (MOT in local speak) where it failed on a couple of areas. That's fine, I can cope with that. The failure was on the rear brakes and the CO emissions. The brakes are a known weak spot on the car and I would have had to do the work at some point regardless.
So I sourced the components required to completely overhaul the brakes, basically I replaced all the moving components, all the rubber bits and installed new pads.
When I was at the mechanics the first time I explained how the CO reading is adjusted and they said they could do it. Great, I'd have done it myself but as I don't have an exhaust gas analyser, it's a bit difficult.
So I took the car back for the retest with a complete print out of the procedure to make the adjustment. I then receive a phone call stating that they can't make the adjustment as they don't have the correct tool, to which I explain that the 'tool' is just a length of wire to connect 2 terminals together as explained in the info I gave them. Then they said they weren't prepared to do that in case they damaged something!
Basically they didn't read the information (I'd even highlighted the relevant text on each page), weren't prepared to use any initiative and were scared of legal action if they did damage something. Now I have to take the car to another mechanic to have this simple adjustment made before I have to take it back to the first mechanic to complete the retest. Sigh/Grr!
The ever present threat of legal action in this country is frightening and stifling. The number of legal companies advertising on TV with the slogans of "No win no fee," and "If you've had a trip or fall anywhere," is appalling. It all seems to tie in with my theory of 'it's not my problem' or 'it's not my fault' culture that exists over here and I can only see it getting worse!
I definitely understand the sentiments of people leaving the UK!
Any way, I took the car for it's annual road worthy (MOT in local speak) where it failed on a couple of areas. That's fine, I can cope with that. The failure was on the rear brakes and the CO emissions. The brakes are a known weak spot on the car and I would have had to do the work at some point regardless.
So I sourced the components required to completely overhaul the brakes, basically I replaced all the moving components, all the rubber bits and installed new pads.
When I was at the mechanics the first time I explained how the CO reading is adjusted and they said they could do it. Great, I'd have done it myself but as I don't have an exhaust gas analyser, it's a bit difficult.
So I took the car back for the retest with a complete print out of the procedure to make the adjustment. I then receive a phone call stating that they can't make the adjustment as they don't have the correct tool, to which I explain that the 'tool' is just a length of wire to connect 2 terminals together as explained in the info I gave them. Then they said they weren't prepared to do that in case they damaged something!
Basically they didn't read the information (I'd even highlighted the relevant text on each page), weren't prepared to use any initiative and were scared of legal action if they did damage something. Now I have to take the car to another mechanic to have this simple adjustment made before I have to take it back to the first mechanic to complete the retest. Sigh/Grr!
The ever present threat of legal action in this country is frightening and stifling. The number of legal companies advertising on TV with the slogans of "No win no fee," and "If you've had a trip or fall anywhere," is appalling. It all seems to tie in with my theory of 'it's not my problem' or 'it's not my fault' culture that exists over here and I can only see it getting worse!
I definitely understand the sentiments of people leaving the UK!