Claadehol Posted October 1, 2015 Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 (*** mod edit - this came across as a rather personal attack, hence the removal of the owner's name ***) So a well established and successful local business has finally closed its doors. I refer to the Citroen Garage in Brae, known of late as Hillside Motors. The reasons for the name change, I'm sure, are far too complex for a simple layman like myself to understand.I read in the Shetland Times of (*** the owner's ***) deep sadness as he sells the business on. I also read of his difficulty finding staff after the exodus of people when he took over the business. He must know that some of these people left to work in other garages, and for other reasons, rather than solely due to the lure of the oil and gas sector as he claims.The Citroen Garage was extremely successful, and contrary to (*** the owner's ***) assertion, was right at the top of the tree as far as the franchise was concerned. The original owner won several accolades from Citroen for selling more cars than other dealerships in the UK. Quite hard to believe considering the locality and limited population, but true nevertheless.This flies in the face of (*** the owner's ***) analysis, where he declares that the future lies with local garages being authorised repairers, and all franchises being on the mainland. He says he can foresee the day when that happens.I wonder how far his foresight can stretch! Did he also foresee the day he would sell the garage on?Despite (*** the owner's ***) vast experience as an accountant, and in a varied array of businesses, he has managed in just a few years to guide a very successful and highly regarded business to closure. There are some businesses of course that make a successful business out of that.The original owner started in a modest way, and without (*** the owner's ***) undoubted business expertise, created a very successful garage based on hard work, long hours, and honest dealings. Perhaps not the same business ehic as (*** the owner ***).It would be interesting to hear from other local garage owners regarding their views on (*** the owner's ***) business model. Especially those with a franchise. Do they think future franchises will be outwith these islands.Interestingly, (*** the owner ***), apart from the many company pies he has his finger in, is also one of the religious representatives for the council. How does that work then?Well maybe he's a Catholic, so just pops along to confession now and again. brian.smith and Urabug 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted October 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 Sorry, missed the 't' out of ethic, important word too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urabug Posted October 1, 2015 Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 Went up to Brae a few months ago when interested in buying another car and was completely astonished at what I found . Yes! the Citron garage appeared to be a very successful business. Shame to see it end up like this . Must have provided a few local jobs that are no longer there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffererof1crankymofo Posted October 1, 2015 Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 Is this just a rant and a grudge you've got going down here then because it's certainly coming across that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted October 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 Certainly not a grudge, it doesnt affect me personally. And as for the rant, well it was just correcting a couple of inaccuracies in the Shetland Times article of last week, and also expressing some concern about the way some businesses operate. And the sad results thereof. No, not some kind of flippant rant dear, I'm not that cranky! And hey! is that your best photo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffererof1crankymofo Posted October 1, 2015 Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 @ brochbuilder - my pic is a tad more colourful than yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorrie Posted October 1, 2015 Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 http://www.shetnews.co.uk/showcases/7556-hillside-motors-full-service-for-the-islands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted October 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 Read it Scorrie, looked so promising at the end of 2013. Kept original staff eh? Need to check that methinks. Scorrie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue beetle Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 For anyone unfortunate enough to have entrusted their car into the hands of Hillside motors recently it will come as no surprise that they went bust. Our car hasnt been the same since it was there. With waiting times of up to a month to get an appointment in a Lerwick garage and at least a week in the country you have to be a special kind of useless to make a garage fail in Shetland nowadays. Maybe he should have filled it full of one arm bandits. He,s an expert in those apparently. LOL trowie246 and fionajohn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trowie246 Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Booked my car in for a service and get the heater fixed as it was blowing out cold air only. Spent the whole day in Brae, 10am -4:30pm and they didn't get the heater fixed. I had filled the car up with diesel the day before and by the time I got home from Brae the fuel light was on. The mechanic hadn't put on the fuel filter correctly and lost the full tank of diesel. Nearly went off the road as I almost lost her on a corner on the way home as my tyres were so greasy with diesel. In all fairness they were very apologetic afterwards and sent someone up straight a way to fix it. The thing that annoyed me was they charged me for work on the heater although they didn't fix the problem. I claimed the fuel back but didn't bother querying the bill which if I remember correctly was well over £200. I just made up my mind I was never going back there. nessboy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMouth Posted October 9, 2015 Report Share Posted October 9, 2015 My only experience of the was breaking a coil spring in the Co-op car park. I drove around to Hillside garage and they fixed it there and then. It took 3 hours to do both sides, my choice not theirs, and has been fine since. I just sat and waited whilst the work was done. I did enquire about buying a new car. I was given a brochure and told that they would order it through a mainland franchise, which struck me as odd. I had used the garage for a few years before in its previous guise and they were really good. Now that the car is as old as it is it goes to JRJ, but at £300 a visit, despite really low miles done, I might revert to the bus full time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyboy Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 To be honest I am not surprised they are having problems. I have visited the garage 3 times:1. Tried to book car in for a service. The 3 people in the back office were too busy looking up something on the computer so left.2. Tried to buy van, wandered around for 10 minutes with cheque book in back pocket being completely ignored so left.3. Was inquiring about getting some work done. Absolutely nobody in the place. Walked around the garage for a while, could hear a radio on somewhere but no staff. So left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riskassessed Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Its not only Citroen with a strange business model. I went in to a local Vauxhall dealer to buy a new Vauxhall Mokka. I was quoted a price which, even though it was higher than the price I'd been quoted on the mainland, I accepted as I wouldn't have had to go down and get the new car and take the old one down etc. etc. and I was keen to buy locally. I asked for a part exchange price and was told that I'd have to come back as the car would need a 20 minute inspection (even though they'd regularly serviced it and MOT'd it the week before). Went back on the pre-arranged date and though they weren't aware of the appointment, they did eventually inspect the car and almost four hours later I picked it up, though they still couldn't tell me the part exchange price and said they would let me know on the Monday after the weekend. No call arrived so I contacted them again to be told that the Salesman was on holiday and that they would ring on Wednesday. Again no call arrived on the Wednesday so I contacted a dealer in Aberdeen who gave me an instant quote for my old car, put the old car on the boat that night and had a shiny new Vauxhall Mokka on Friday morning in Shetland. A month later I've still not had a call from the local dealer. BGDDisco and Suffererof1crankymofo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelsup Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Had to sedn my VW to aberdeen for warranty work. Free except it cost me £400 for the boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windwalker Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) Its not only Citroen with a strange business model. I went in to a local Vauxhall dealer to buy a new Vauxhall Mokka. I was quoted a price which, even though it was higher than the price I'd been quoted on the mainland, I accepted as I wouldn't have had to go down and get the new car and take the old one down etc. etc. and I was keen to buy locally. I asked for a part exchange price and was told that I'd have to come back as the car would need a 20 minute inspection (even though they'd regularly serviced it and MOT'd it the week before). Went back on the pre-arranged date and though they weren't aware of the appointment, they did eventually inspect the car and almost four hours later I picked it up, though they still couldn't tell me the part exchange price and said they would let me know on the Monday after the weekend. No call arrived so I contacted them again to be told that the Salesman was on holiday and that they would ring on Wednesday. Again no call arrived on the Wednesday so I contacted a dealer in Aberdeen who gave me an instant quote for my old car, put the old car on the boat that night and had a shiny new Vauxhall Mokka on Friday morning in Shetland. A month later I've still not had a call from the local dealer.Not surprised riskaccesed, I've had similar issues with garages up here. The problem is lack of competition, they have it too easy and don't need to work hard to gain or retain business. Waiting 4 weeks to get new brake discs and pads fitted after an mot failure, was my last experience. Told it was due to several errors, not ordered, wrong ones arrived etc etc. Got fed up phoning every day to see if the car was ready and left it for a week then when I phoned, they said, oh yeh I think it was done twa days ago. Not only did I have to manage without the car for 4 weeks I've had to pay a months road tax and insurance for something I couldn't use. Then to top it all one of the brakes was binding when I got it back, so I had to return with it to get them to sort it. Then I had to sit down when the bill came in. looked at the price of second hand cars here last year and ended up getting an immaculate, low mileage model south, which was three years newer than the one I looked at at the local garage for less money. They really all need to try a bit harder. Edited October 15, 2015 by Windwalker Suffererof1crankymofo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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