Ian B Walker

[SLinKyjoe]

Ian B Walker,

For those of you who still have no view of a member who provides Ian’s services, this post may help.

I spoke to Ian in August and told him about the gearbox on my comedy car. When it had its MOT, I asked the garage to change the gearbox oil. They had a few goes at getting the filler nut out, but they failed, they did say they were a bit worried about braking the gearbox casing, and probably with the work load they had, they didn’t want to spend all week trying to get it out, and they were not of the mind to charge me a fortune for doing so.

Ian told me he could get it out without too much trouble. Well Tuesday, he got his chance. Took him ten minutes to get the right bit of metal in the existing (Damaged) nut and get it out, much to my amusement with a face load of gearbox oil. (Note to Ian: when the car is not level the oil will come out of the hole!!). In total and full fairness. He did need me to hit the tool he was using with a hammer! So it did actually take 2 people.

My point here is a fully approved local back street garage was unable to do what Ian did in 10mins. I am not suggesting my local garage are wasters but it does put perspective on Ian’s abilities.

On top of that, this car is Not a Mercedes, and Ian had never seen one before!

He then spent half an hour on fabricating a bolt type bit on the nut so it will come put again. The reason he did this was the nearest Suzuki dealer did not have the parts in.

I am fully convinced Ian is the best person to speak to about your cars repairs and servicing before you contact anyone else. Ian will tell you whether he can do what needs doing, whether he needs to look at it before making a decision and whether he thinks you need someone else to do it with equipment he doesn’t yet own.

Therefore I am happy to recommend this service, www.124works.com, from my experience and not because he is a member of this forum.

Let it be known, if he had been a clown this post would have still be made, just with a different outcome.


http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=20327

 

[mioba]

i have read a number of ians posts on forums...

he seems genuine and upfront about issues.........
thats what you want in a mechanic, not some back street boy who will bluff you senseless.

i have never met him nor am i endorsing his services. but he seems genuine from his posts.

glad you have a good trustworthy mechanic, they are few and far between.
I have a guy i have used for years too, he is actually a volvo specialist, but he has saved me an arm and a leg in the past, just by telling me things dont need doing and certain garages are trying to make a few "extra" pounds.

he also takes the time to show you the actual parts...and give a detailed explanation

 

[Ian B Walker]

Thank you for your votes of confidence.

What is the point of trying to bluff someone. At the end of the day all you are doing is bluffing yourself. Customers are a valuable comodity and should be treated as such. Its hard at times to decide who is more important, the car or its owner. I make a habit of retaining any parts that I change and showing the customer after. I have a horror show at work of parts that have failed. I also have no secrets as to the cost of items bought and am quite happy to pass on copies of the receipts for the customers records. Some say this is bad practice, I call it honesty.

 

[television]

Thank you for your votes of confidence.

What is the point of trying to bluff someone. At the end of the day all you are doing is bluffing yourself. Customers are a valuable comodity and should be treated as such. Its hard at times to decide who is more important, the car or its owner. I make a habit of retaining any parts that I change and showing the customer after. I have a horror show at work of parts that have failed. I also have no secrets as to the cost of items bought and am quite happy to pass on copies of the receipts for the customers records. Some say this is bad practice, I call it honesty.

It is the best way to be, I am in my 56th year of being self employed, Don't forget that you have to charge for the use of all of your equipment, its axpensive and things get out of date and break. From the time you start talking to the customer,to the time it takes to do the paperwork and clear up must be priced into the job, its going to cost you £3k when you want to get a Star code reader + the subscription. One snag with doing hands on work is that there are only 24 hours in a day and for the best part you can only do one thing at once, a dealer can have 20 deals all going on at the same time.
Do charge a reasonable amount, many people try it on, just say that you don't cheat and that you will do a good job, they will have it done.
Self employed paople are an easy target for the advertising sales people.
Don't fall for the one "we are doing a callender that will hang it the Rose and Crown" they are all a total waste of time. Even yellow pages is very expensive and hard to see how you would get your money back. The best is the local paper everytime in the service trade.

You should not pass on the reciepts from your suppliers, you are entiteled to earn 25% on those goods, and you will need that. The tax man can also come knocking on your door wanting to see them. Its only because I worked too much during this last 5 years that I have ever been able to enjoy my cars
Don't forget that you have to scale your holiday pay into your ernings, I never did, but I did not get many holidays either. like you I could never knowingly cheat anyone, I have always stood by my work. A handy income is if you can get hold of a small fleet to service say 5 cars, these things do pay the bills, Hope that I have not bored you too much, and good luck.

malcolm