A North East MOT centre has modernised the annual vehicle inspection. Motorists who pass now receive a completely different problem.
Regal Oak Vehicle Compliance & Fasteners Ltd introduced its new Pass & Return scheme after management found that customers with an MOT certificate simply paid, collected their keys and left.
“Some weren’t coming back for months,” said operations manager Gary Spanner. “One bloke apparently made it almost a year.”
MOT Centre Customer Retention
Under the improved system, the centre guides successful vehicles through its Customer Retention Zone. The area contains broken concrete, loose screws, exhaust clamps, seventeen unidentified bolts and a gearbox awaiting collection since 2018.
The centre gives selected motorists a complimentary self tapping screw. Staff position it neatly within the main tyre tread.
The screw resists pliers, a claw hammer and increasingly personal language. However, it unscrews beautifully once the customer accepts that it has apparently become part of the vehicle.
At the MOT centre, staff call this a “continuity initiative”. The customer continues to be concerned before reaching the roundabout.
Regal Oak says the fastener is not technically a defect. The centre supplies it after the important bit has been passed.
Customers may hear an immediate rhythmic TACK TACK TACK TACK upon leaving. The centre calls it an audible aftercare notification.
Premium MOT customers can choose the Full Workshop Experience. The vehicle leaves with a cable tie nobody remembers fitting, three oily fingerprints on the bonnet and an unexplained 10mm socket beneath the driver’s seat.
The garage promises no surprise fees. The screw arrives free of charge, although its removal may later require a more expensive expression of gratitude.
Management also praises its circular economy. The same customers circle back before their kettle has finished boiling.
Spanner denied that the scheme creates extra work.
“We don’t manufacture anything here,” he said.
“We mostly just leave it on the floor.”
MOT Centre Sources
Source: DVSA MOT inspection manual for wheels tyres and suspension
