[Chris Holmes]

My advice to all you people that are having problems with "these" companies is keep a file in date order of every event, phone call, email etc; and contact your nearest Trading Standards Office. The Hillingdon Office has been mentioned in a post as being aware of the practices that you are all posting about.
Do not let it lie, the Terms and Conditions published on the website are reported elswhere to have been checked and classed as illegal as they are not customer oriented at all. Take a copy of these or the website url to TS as well and eventually they will have to take action.
Another tip is never to deal with any business online that does not take credit card or Paypal payments, ask yourself why?
Good luck everyone.

[debshep]

ohh s*** they have my car i took it last week

[stom auto]

Beware of 1st choice engines ltd!!!

They are struggling to cover cost and administrative problems as I can observe. They don't care about customers as I was told by their managers face to face in their workshop. They want to make money nook or crook. Beware people should not go to them.

[Stuntboy]

Hi everyone, this thread is so long and seems to cover so many business names. One name that keeps popping up is Roy Dart who I believe is now running "The reconditioned gearbox" based in Twickenham. Am I right to think that he is linked with the other business's mentioned in this thread? I have issues with him too but will not be discussing them in public but would love to hear from anyone who is up for going to see him.

[bmwx5]

1st Choice Engines Limited / First Choice Engines Limited reconditioned-engines.co.uk

Not sure how many people know of this but the above company are based at :-

Unit 5,
Perth Trading Estate
Slough
Berkshire SL1 4XX

The are the same guys that were Bray Engineering / Heathrow engines etc.

They are back to their old tricks of nicely on the phone when you 1st enquire, quoting a low price, recovering your vehicle for a cheap price if not free.....................

Then they have you...........

The price doubles due to more damage..........parts are damaged (which are not) and also your clutch is 80% worn so you should change this while doing it.

As from here you either pay the fees for recovery / strip down etc (£500 upwards) or you have to pay 50% UP FRONT before they will begin the work (many people feel they have to, however for your information this is against selling regulations to pay ANY money upfront - and they other signs are they don't take credit cards..........because they would get slaughtered via the legal teams at card issurers and the money would be taken back).


Your are then held to ramson and the guys use threats, abuse and intimidation - and they are no different in person.

People are getting their cars back, but paying stupid money for a ****** repair that costs less - or getting parts from someone elses engine - THAT IS if you are one of the lucky ones - otherwise you are fobbed off with excuses week after week.

I've been following this for some time and wanted people to be aware that this scam has moved to Berkshire.

STAY WELL CLEAR - The Sky News report plus all the feedback on here so give you the information to make this judgement call yourselves.

[bevvy]

have you got your car back yet.

Originally Posted by benatom

Was this the slough branch? As they have our car?

they have mine & i was going to get the work done there

[bmwx5]

Time to take action

Hi All,

Those of you who have been taken for a ride - please send your stories to :-

[email protected]

This has been set up to be able to get stories from people who have been overcharged, had **** work carried out, fed lies etc etc.

A compilation is being put together to forward to Trading Standards, the local police and anyone else who can help in making sure they do not screw more people over.

[Jason200786]

Well where do I start, service was awful, the manager tommy well, never met such a rude man in my life! The quote started off at £1700 without picking my car up, with picking it up £150 so ok that's cool. Phone call then there was more work to be done, another £600, so at this point I have no control, so I have to say yes, or lose £600+ vat for the labour and vat. So they start the work, half way through fixing my car they ring, "hi is that Jason, yes I reply, good news we are half way through fixing it, all going good but now we will stop and you need to pay half, I'm like what??? You need to bank transfer half the cost or we dong continue, so ok, it will take 3 days for it to get to your account but I will do it today, he then replies, well we can't continue until we get half payment (like I'm not going to pay as they have my car), so I'm very upset at this point, they have had my car 7 days and still no car, so they stopped working on it! At this point they don't or sound like they care! As they near the end of the job, they ring again, until we get full payment we will not finish the car!!! Whatttttt, even longer, cant get over the lack of trust or the urgency to give my car back as at this point they have had it 14 days!!! And want to charge me £230 to deliver the car to my house when they only charged me £150 to pick it up!! honestly anyone going to use this garage I really advise you not to, as good as they sound when you first talk to them, don't! I read a review before going to them, ignored it and my god do I wish I listened!! Still no car 20 days later!!! No updates nothing! Never thought I would go through this and don't wish this on anyone!

[Jason200786]

Originally Posted by miss scarlett

roy dart and Paul Dockerill. these cowboys...took £1300 from me stole personal items and parts of my engine before throwing it all back into the car in pieces! i'm currently taking them to court but its going to be hard as they have changed their name yet again to Unique Engines ltd. How are they getting away with this??

Tommy Lorenzo is one of them to

[Trainman]

This may help if you complete the form.....
https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/contact

[Jason200786]

Done sent to watchdog

[bmwx5]

Folks - keep the stories coming - but please send them to the e-mail address - don't post too much on the thread - as you don't know who else is reading this.

[Mark8828]

Hi there people , after some real help if possible , I've returned from abroad to find out my dad has been taken in by these people , his car has been there for over 9 weeks and they have bullied him into transferring nearly £3k to them and he still hasn't had the car back , it's making him really Ill but just wondering on what to do next , citizens advice have suggested a letter and small claim court but reading posts I can't see him getting car or money back

[Trainman]

Here is a great website to study

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/types_of_fraud

I am sure that this will be of use if you read all the info.

[bmwx5]

Those who have had and are still experiencing issues with these people, please get in touch via e-mail, and I will give you some updates on what is happening and some advice.

[email protected]

Cheers

[stephrichmond]

Absolutely Disgusted with 1st Choice Engines - Slough Branch

"BEWARE, NEVER USE THIS COMPANY"
Wish i had read the reviews prior to my car going there.
Estaimted £1350.00 Then quoted £2418.00
These people are just out to take your money.
Had to pay £456.00 to get my car back with no work done, just a rip out of the engine (Slung in the boot along with the lights and battery) and a report produced.
"Tommy" is agreesive and rude over the phone.

[Trainman]

Please contact bbc watchdog

Will all of you that have been ripped off please contact BBC WATCHDOG and get this lot before the courts.

[stephrichmond]

Sent my watchdog form off this afternoon.

[ciderapple]

Massive police raid

Looks like there is a massive police raid ongoing at Unit 5 Perth Trading Estate address in Slough. Well the police are raiding a large auto repair establishment on the estate. Cars are being taken away and from reports it looks as if people are being arrested. I don't know what the business is called as they have never had a name up, but I googled the address and this forum came up.

The establishment did not look the best run business, leaving cars parked all over the estate outside the border of their Unit and official parking area.

There is a TV crew there so I guess it will be on Watchdog or similar soon!

[Trainman]

Oh dear what a shame never mind. Scum unto scum get their reward!!

[bmwx5]

Police Raid in Slough ???

Hi Ciderapple,

Any pictures you can upload will be great..............

Not currently on any news site - but this really is good news to stop these cowboys from getting more money from vunerable people.

send pictures to [email protected]

Thanks

[ciderapple]

I may drive past there in the next couple of hours - if so will take a picture. It is definitely them after seeing the photo of the site on their webpage. Looks nothing like it now outside - a mess of cars and recovery trucks.

[bmwx5]

Don't think it's been Raided guys & gals

I called a friend who works around the estate in Slough and asked him to pop over in his lunch.

There was no signs of Police or Recovery vehicles, gates wide open with loads of cars thats were all parked up with bits missing.

I am guessing that if there was police there, it might well be that someone is getting their car back and Police are there to assist with the recovery instead of getting threats and bullying from those conmen.............

Looks like business as usual for them..................

[ciderapple]

Yes all the Police had gone and they are still trading. But it sounded like an awfully large number of Police to assist with recovery. I guess we will only know if something appears in the media or a Thames Valley Police press release. Nevertheless it has been interesting reading this thread and I know to stay well away from anyone involved in the operation!

[bmwx5]

Hi Ciderapple,

We if you see the previous SKY NEWS footage on these people you would understand why a larger than normal amount of police would attend.

They have been known to go at police with crowbars etc - so safety in numbers - especially since it would be taking a vehicle away which they could hold the owner to more of a ransom..........

I hope that more is being done with these people - and that this becomes a daily occurance.

[ENGCTR]

The posting above is totally fictitious, we are

national engine centre
unit 1 derby rd
cardiff
cf245sb

02920 451919

might i ask that anyone who posts to this website with problems relating to a vehicle we have fixed or are in the middle of fixing, that they give enough information that i be able to give a detailed response. This doesnt neccesarily mean that you are wrong but im sure everyone will agree that there are 2 sides to every story.

We have thousands of satisfied customers and will willingly supply trade or customer references from people in your area to verify
when there are problems sourcing parts or a vehicle arrives with parts missing, we supply free courtesy cars
remeber an engine failure is nearly always a secondary reaction to a primary problem, sometimes this isnt always apparent especially when your vehicle arrives with us in bits and already diagnosed, an example is head gasket failures are sometimes caused by blocked radiators etc etc
we have 10 customers a week and have been trading for over 15 years. Circa 8000 engines fitted, we have possibly 20 negative feed back on the internet of which half is malicious nonsense, this equates to less than a half a percent
old cars are getting newer increasingly most of the engines we fit are secondhand units with proven provenance. This doesnt detract from what we offer. An example is a 4 cylinder petrol vw engine, removing the crank from the block renders the engine u/s and this info is from the manufacturer. Yet i still see so called recon engines for these vehicles for sale. Most cylinder blocks for petrol engines are now made from a cast alloy 90% of failures in this type of engine render them scrap/ impossible to remanufacture. The new generation of diesel engines are now going the same way very soon your only option will be secondhand
we never tell you what you want to hear, we regularly advise customers not to repair there vehicles. What you paid for your car is irrelevant on the day you need an engine, all that matters is whats the car worth as it stands, what is it going to cost to fix and what are the ongoing running costs likely to be. Obviously the older the car the less likely its worth fixing?
Please try us if you need an engine , no money upfront and we accept credit cards

[bmwx5]

National Engine Centre the above quotes are real.

they do no revert to you but the scam that is being run by these guys in Slough.

i have no info about work carried out by yourselves and have no issues with that.......BUT First Choice Engines are a rip off outfit with threats and bullying going on, and they con people everyday and the cars that are eventually returned are poor repairs with more problems....

Regards

Originally Posted by ENGCTR

The posting above is totally fictitious, we are

national engine centre
unit 1 derby rd
cardiff
cf245sb

02920 451919

might i ask that anyone who posts to this website with problems relating to a vehicle we have fixed or are in the middle of fixing, that they give enough information that i be able to give a detailed response. This doesnt neccesarily mean that you are wrong but im sure everyone will agree that there are 2 sides to every story.

We have thousands of satisfied customers and will willingly supply trade or customer references from people in your area to verify
when there are problems sourcing parts or a vehicle arrives with parts missing, we supply free courtesy cars
remeber an engine failure is nearly always a secondary reaction to a primary problem, sometimes this isnt always apparent especially when your vehicle arrives with us in bits and already diagnosed, an example is head gasket failures are sometimes caused by blocked radiators etc etc
we have 10 customers a week and have been trading for over 15 years. Circa 8000 engines fitted, we have possibly 20 negative feed back on the internet of which half is malicious nonsense, this equates to less than a half a percent
old cars are getting newer increasingly most of the engines we fit are secondhand units with proven provenance. This doesnt detract from what we offer. An example is a 4 cylinder petrol vw engine, removing the crank from the block renders the engine u/s and this info is from the manufacturer. Yet i still see so called recon engines for these vehicles for sale. Most cylinder blocks for petrol engines are now made from a cast alloy 90% of failures in this type of engine render them scrap/ impossible to remanufacture. The new generation of diesel engines are now going the same way very soon your only option will be secondhand
we never tell you what you want to hear, we regularly advise customers not to repair there vehicles. What you paid for your car is irrelevant on the day you need an engine, all that matters is whats the car worth as it stands, what is it going to cost to fix and what are the ongoing running costs likely to be. Obviously the older the car the less likely its worth fixing?
Please try us if you need an engine , no money upfront and we accept credit cards

[chelseawiggie1]

scams -are -us

Originally Posted by cartel

...and to add to the tales of woe. Whilst the Heathrow operation has been shut down I believe I have been stung by the same people or at the very least the same scam by an operation that has just opened in Slough using one of the previously used URL's http://www.reconditioned-engines.co.uk/The new operating address is Unit 5, Perth Trading Estate, Slough, SL1 4XX. 0175-3722294It's quite possible that they monitor this thread so I won't say much but if anyone hears of the Slough operation being shutdown in the same way as Heathrow then it would be helpful if they could post that information here.

well I am the latest mug to be taken in by 1st choice rip offs. Been in touch with citizens advice and trading standards for advice I am now in touch with a researcher for B.B.C. Watchdog who is very very interested in the situation I am in. She also wants as many people as possible who have been affected by these clowns to get in touch..this is the email address to use to contact her....all lower case...Zahra.khimji01@ bbc.co.uk Don't delay and get involved if you want these scam artists put out of business as much as I do.

[chelseawiggie1]

1st choice engines

do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use do not use

[Louisa]

So gutting to read all of these upsetting posts. Unfortunately we are in same situation as many others. I can't say much as we are taking these robbing bas****s to court. Don't know how they live with themselves!