Do not use this garage. A third party reversed into my car; the third party admitted liability and Reserva (the third party's insurer's repair management contractor) allocated me to SMS Garages Ltd for repair, there were no reviews on SMS Garages at the time so I went with them as per the insurer's instructions, had I known then what I know now my decision would have been completely different.
My car was due to be returned 2 and a half weeks after going in for repair, quite a long time for a new door skin. I was supposed to have Gard X protection applied to my car as it already had this prior to the accident. It was only when I called the garage to ask them to bring the guarantee with the car when being delivered that they admitted they had not applied this and could not source the product, my decision to go with SMS was made on the basis that the insurer confirmed the garage would apply this. It was evident the garage hoped I would not ask and they could therefore get away with not doing this. A week later someone had to come to my house to apply this product. Further to this my car was returned with rubbish left in it and an empty tank of petrol.
Not long after having my car returned the paintwork started to bubble. The car therefore went back in for this to be fixed. When my car was returned the paintwork had been fixed, but my car was returned damaged, one side with a dent and paint missing, the other side with scratches and the back corner with a big mark across it.
The car therefore went back in a third time. Once returned I was not satsified with the work, the dent on one side and mark at the back had been removed, but the paint that had been scratched off on one side had only been filled in, which I could have done myself, it was such an obvious touch up. I did not send the car back in because quite frankly, how long can you deal with a garage like this?
For a no fault incident this whole experience has been a huge frustration and has caused me inconvenience after inconvenience, as well as additional expense. The process has taken approximately three months and throughout this time I have had to chase the garage up to be confronted with excuse after excuse, which as a customer I do not care about, I just wanted my car returned to its original state as hassle free as possible; customer service was definitely lacking. Please avoid this garage as I would not wish anyone to go through an experience like this, it really does make me wonder how garages that perform like this continue to win contracts with the insurers. read more
