# Advance Pitstop…car service price confusion



## Squonk (6 Aug 2009)

I have used Advance Pitstop in the past for my car servicing. They are convenient and seem to do a good job.  I dropped my car in to day for a full service. My car is 1.6L. I was expecting to pay €180 minus the 10% discount that they are advertising at the moment on their leaflets in the garage and online at http://www.advancepitstop.com/index.php?id=38. So I expected to pay €162 assuming no extra work was needed. I have paid along these lines in the past.

I picked the car up at lunchtime and was asked for €210 (with no additional work done)! Yer man in charge said the €180 price only applied to cars up to 1.1 litre, news to me! I asked him did the €210 already include the 10% discount and he said it did (which would have made the service approx €233 before discount, not exactly a round number!). I wasn’t happy but I saw little choice but to pay. As my credit card was being processed I looked at the posters in the shop and they explicitly said that a 1L to 2L service is €180 (in a small footnote mind), and €210 for engine sizes above that. Yer man said that the €210 price is what his computer was telling him (where did the 10% discount go??). Anyway after some to-ing and fro-ing he refunded me €48 (€210-(€180-10% discount)).

I left the shop still confused, and I think yer man in the shop was confused too. Were the posters in the garage out-of-date? Should the price for a 1.6L actually have been €210 minus 10% = €189??? A little higher than the ‘old’ price of €180 but you feel good because you got a 10% discount?? Looking at their website they give vague details on pricing…."from only €180" they state with no further details as far as I can see.

Anyway, I think the lesson here is to get a clear price beforehand.


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## JamesGG (12 Aug 2009)

Advance have crept up over the years. I just look for reputable local type places now. I mean tracking in them places is like 90euro. Its 40 -50 in a local place.


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