So what was my second bad experience.

3 years ago I bought a BMW. Not top of the range but a mid-model costing £35k. I say that to only put it into perspective. Love the car and until now loved the service - expensive but very good.

My car had a few parts that needing ordering and fitting from the last service. They had tried to interest me in a test drive of the new model while my car was being serviced but I was too busy. I had a quote for the parts and rang now - a month later - to book it in.

I was told they couldn't deal with my request as the 'system' was down but they would ring me back. I gave them them the job number and quote reference so they could look it up.

Thoughts:

• Not good for a garage selling £20k to £70k+ cars to have a systems issue with no back-up
• Great - they will call

What happened? No call later that day as promised, nor any of the next day. So I rang them to explain the situation. No appology, just a statement about the problems they had been having (now not computer but just workload) and a promise to get someone to call me 'when someone is free'. That was at noon. It is now 7.30pm and no call from anyone.

Does make you wonder. I want to spend something like £300 for parts and fitting. I am also potentially in a market for a car. Guess what I am thinking of doing? Yep - I will look at the local Mecedes garage.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.