Government report highlights counterfeit and customer-supplied parts problem

[Mike Ruff, GW editor]

The Independent Garage Association (IGA) has collaborated with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to highlight the dangers of counterfeit and cons
[See the full post at: Government report highlights counterfeit and customer-supplied parts problem]

[harold]

The point being missed is, if you as a garage accepts the parts , you are saying they are fit for purpose and as such taking on the warranty.
By doing this you are also at risk of not being insured for public liability by accepting customers own parts

[David]

This is a problem I don’t see going away either short term or long term. There is no minimum laid down standards that the trade have to adhere to, it is simply a free market and so long as the customer holds the garages over the barrel sort of speak with “How much will it cost” without a minimum bench mark to work from, the problem is here to stay. Nothing is going to change, as the saying goes if you stick your neck out be prepared to get your head lobbed off. Nobody is going to make a stand. As I see it the government will lokk at their tax losses if enforcement action to stop the manufacturer and selling of these parts were enforced, and whichever way you look at it, if the garage is taken to court, the court rules against the garage, they gain another tax income. Its a no brainer, the government will not make any changes. That is how I see it.

[Steve]

Several points here firstly it always something like the good old egr valve £300.00 from me £50.00 on line you can see why they do it ,secondly we don’t stand together if I don’t fit it someone else will, thirdly sometimes theses components have been bought from my suppliers in click and collect 60%off Friday deals etc… To sum up we need to go back to public information adverts show clips like the one in this article on tv and have an authenticity mark and make it illegal to fit parts not showing it (though I suppose they will fake that as well)

[Les]

If you fall foul of product liability laws and you have no paperwork to prove who the supplier was the liability is with you.
Product liability lasts for up to 15 years so keep your paperwork and pass the liability on to your supplier in the event of parts you have fitted failing and causing a serious accident.

[Steve]

Several points here firstly sometimes customers have bought components from our suppliers in click and collect 60% off Friday deals etc…and if I don’t fit them somebody else will,secondly it always something like an egr valve £300.00 from me £50.00 on line you can see why they do it.we need to go back to public information adverts like the clip in this article show it no national tv we need an authenticity mark and make it illegal to fit parts without it .

[brian cartwright]

I refuse to fit customer supplied parts when asked why, I ask them if they dine out, and do they take their own food to a restaurant and ask them to cook it for them, asked the relevance of this , I say who do you blame when you get food poisoning? Your food or the cooking? They are not the people we need at our garage anyway, parts profit is important to any garage.

[brian cartwright]

I refuse to fit customer supplied parts when asked why, I ask them if they dine out, and do they take their own food to a restaurant and ask them to cook it for them, asked the relevance of this , I say who do you blame when you get food poisoning? Your food or the cooking? They are not the people we need at our garage anyway, parts profit is important to any garage.

[graham cox]

as stated above simple we all need to stick together and refuse to fit customer supplied parts
as a garage of 30 years trading I now find myself struggling to understand what is going on
why do the public assume we all have to be “cheap” we invest in staff,training,buildings etc etc
yet we now struggle because mr fred in shed round the corner works on axle stands for 20 per hour cash in hand and nobody seems to stop him we have paid thousands to HMRC over the years yet we are left to struggle
if this industry is not carefull all the decent mechanics/garages will throw the towel in and walk away

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