A chauffeur claims he has been told he is no longer welcome at a Mercedes garage after his dashboard-cam revealed a mechanic had taken his car out for a spin and broken the speed limit after he took it in for repair.
David Argust posted footage from the camera on social media, which showed the £40,000 E300 AMG car exceeding the speed limit nine times in 10 minutes. He had taken the vehicle to Sytner Mercedes Bristol garage for a repair under warranty on a wheel sensor, which he said did not require a test drive.
If you do take customers’ cars out for test drives after carrying out repairs, make sure you have adequate levels of road risks insurance in addition to your general motor trade insurance.
The Bristol Evening Post reported that the mechanic who had driven the Mercedes had been sacked but Mr Argust said he had also been told he could not return to any of the company’s garages for repairs after the incident.
He told the paper: "I pride myself in having a clean licence, both as a driver and a chauffeur. I've done this job for 11 years, and I could have lost my licence if he was caught.
"I've reported it to the police but didn't want to press charges. I just think what they've done is wrong, and the fact that they're not admitting that it's a big problem is also wrong.”
The garage said it had apologised to Mr Argust but did not wish to make further comment. The company wrote to him after he posted the footage from the dash-cam on social media, cancelling an appointment he had booked in.
The letter continued: "These actions demonstrate a complete breakdown in relationship, and in conflict with any future positive business relationship we had hoped to restore.”
