Kwik Fit provided a student with a £685 air-conditioning quote, despite the vehicle not even being fitted with the machine.
Stevie Stowell, a student from Brighton, was told her Citroën C1 would need its air conditioning repaired after a warning light appeared on her dashboard.
Luckily her father, Dean, sought a second opinion, where he was informed that the car does not have air-con, reports the Daily Mail.
Stevie explained: “I have no knowledge of cars, so I just trusted that they’d got it right when they said I needed to pay to get the air conditioning fixed.
‘I was so upset when I heard; I don’t have that kind of money, I’m a student with a part-time job at Topshop.”
“I felt helpless, I was wiping tears off my face; that car is my lifeline.”
Her father added: “When she was told how much she would have to pay she burst into tears.
“I tried to console her, I was at Piccadilly Circus at the time, but I took the rest of the day off to come and pick her up because she was in a right state.
“She thought her car was kaputt.”
“Genuine mistake”
Kwik Fit has reimbursed the 19-year-old the £50 fee it charged her for the diagnostics tests, and also apologised to her father.
A spokesperson for the fast fit commented: “This was a genuine mistake for which we fully apologise.
“We made a misdiagnosis which led to incorrect information and a wrong quote being given to Mr Stowell.
“Unfortunately it was not picked up when we got a price for the part from our supplier, it would usually be flagged if a particular vehicle doesn’t require the part in question.
“Clearly if we had started the work we would have quickly seen that it was not an air conditioning issue, and would have provided the right advice.
“However, we understand that this is of little comfort after the event, which is why we apologise to Miss Stowell and have refunded the cost of the diagnostic test.”
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