voluntary code for garages

vol⋅un⋅tar⋅y - done, made, brought about, undertaken, etc., of one's own accord or by free choice


From the BBC

The car repair industry has been warned that unless it provides a more reliable service to consumers, it faces the prospect of tough new regulation. Only 15 per cent of the UK's estimated 35,000 garages have signed up to a voluntary code brought in last year. The watchdog Consumer Focus is now warning that unless a greater number agree to abide by the code, it will push for industry-wide laws.

I'm struggling to understand in which way this code of conduct is voluntary if refusal to sign up to it will lead to tougher regulation. Doesn't that in effect make it compulsory? Consumer Focus are chomping at the bit to submit a ‘Super Complaint' to the Office of Fair Trading which would lead to all mechanics needing a license to continue working. So garages are faced with a real choice - sign up and be regulated or don't sign up and be regulated.

Surely the real solution to rogue garages and dodgy repairs is for the organisations that already exist to perform their role better? We already have a number of organisations who have the remit to check on the standards in garages.

I've used the same garage for at least the last 10 years for repairing my cars apart from the occasional trip to a main dealer if I can negotiate down the labour rates. I've built up a relationship with the owner of the garage and the senior mechanic there. I know that there are times when they have added phantom charges to my invoice (screenwash being the one that irks me the most) but then there have also been times when they have, at no cost to me, lent me a car while mine is being repaired. Overall I am more than happy with the service they provide and will recommend them to others. If I was not then I'd take my business elsewhere and, if enough people felt the same way, they would cease trading.