Sytner BMW Leicester (Avoid)

[Adil_3]

So just a little heads up to anyone that may see this or lives nearby.

I went in for an MOT at Sytner Leicester BMW. (A little bit of background info, 2 days prior I took my car to BMWMAN for oil and full a-z check over prior to my MOT so I know everything is tip-top shape - trying to keep a perfect MOT & Service Record)

Anyways MOT didn't go to plan thank you Sytner. My car sat there for an hour unattended, dashcam confirms that but can someone tell me why my dashcam was given back to me unplugged and an hour of footage deleted during the MOT check?

I know it's been deleted because my dashcam has a cheeky battery that records for an extra 2 hours and between 14:15 - 15;35 there's no footage and then a random 15-second recording of the camera being messed around with =D.

 

[Pooltee]

Not defending the dealer here, but is there a chance that where your camera was mounted it could of caused an mot failure? I am just wondering if they removed it for the sake of the test that’s all.

 

[sw4nny]

Data protection,are you allowed to film and record then watch images of someone elses work place and staff,without their consent,just may be the reason it was disconnected

 

[maxman]

Did it fail the mot,if not a lot of fuss over nothing.Not enough to diss a garage.

 

[mcbutler]

Data protection,are you allowed to film and record then watch images of someone elses work place and staff,without their consent,just may be the reason it was disconnected

Filming in any public place of anyone is legal

 

[Adil_3]

It didn't fail the MOT because of the Dashcam. It failed because of the front suspension coil being broken off which I know wasn't because I was under the car myself and on the video, they sent across to me showed a huge chunk broken off completely. You'd think I and the specialist would have seen, felt a broken spring. Also I would have known if i went over a pothole that could have caused this issue.

All I'm saying is the missing footage would only be gone if they went unplugged my dashcam took out the SD card and manually deleted the footage for the hour. Furthermore, after the 15 seconds, there is plenty of video of them driving around the garage and taking it on and off the ramp before giving my car back.

Its defo my fault because i didn't read the google reviews prior to booking my car in but hey ho, just a little heads up for anyone thinking of booking MOT or dealing with the garage

 

[Rockhopper]

I’ve had several broken springs and never once had I any clue that they’d broken. The last one was broken for around 20,000 miles!

 

[Adil_3]

I’ve had several broken springs and never once had I any clue that they’d broken. The last one was broken for around 20,000 miles!

LOL, agreed happened to me before, but im abit more familiar with the feel so, i would know also checked the car over before the mot aswell so trust me i would have known

But your right, I'm not trying to make a fuss about mot, or the spring this is just a heads up for anyone that maybe considering getting some work done or mot or whatever to just be a lil cautious with that particular dealer.

If someone would have told me yeah got my mot done at sytner and they turned my dashcam off removed my sd card and removed one hour of footage. It would make me more aware of what im getting myself into so this post was a headsup for anyone nearby

 

[sw4nny]

I’ve had several broken springs and never once had I any clue that they’d broken. The last one was broken for around 20,000 miles!

LOL, agreed happened to me before, but im abit more familiar with the feel so, i would know also checked the car over before the mot aswell so trust me i would have known

But your right, I'm not trying to make a fuss about mot, or the spring this is just a heads up for anyone that maybe considering getting some work done or mot or whatever to just be a lil cautious with that particular dealer.

If someone would have told me yeah got my mot done at sytner and they turned my dashcam off removed my sd card and removed one hour of footage. It would make me more aware of what im getting myself into so this post was a headsup for anyone nearby

Its sure worth an headsup,my concern would be if they had a valid reason for removing and deleting sd card surely they should inform you of their actions and reason for them

 

[Adil_3]

I’ve had several broken springs and never once had I any clue that they’d broken. The last one was broken for around 20,000 miles!

LOL, agreed happened to me before, but im abit more familiar with the feel so, i would know also checked the car over before the mot aswell so trust me i would have known

But your right, I'm not trying to make a fuss about mot, or the spring this is just a heads up for anyone that maybe considering getting some work done or mot or whatever to just be a lil cautious with that particular dealer.

If someone would have told me yeah got my mot done at sytner and they turned my dashcam off removed my sd card and removed one hour of footage. It would make me more aware of what im getting myself into so this post was a headsup for anyone nearby

Its sure worth an headsup,my concern would be if they had a valid reason for removing and deleting sd card surely they should inform you of their actions and reason for them

Yeah, I was never told about this, I was just curious to see what happened so I checked, and I noticed there was time & footage missing. A few of the video files between the deleted had a "last accessed" timestamp in the file properties the last accessed time was in the missing timeframe. The dashcam only writes footage not accesses it, I only checked the dashcam footage a couple of days later so they've definitely gone in and deleted a specific set time.

 

[parabolica]

Data protection,are you allowed to film and record then watch images of someone elses work place and staff,without their consent,just may be the reason it was disconnected

Filming in any public place of anyone is legal

A BMW workshop is not a public place.

Dealerships, garages, tire fitters etc have been disconnecting or turning off dashcams for years. How would you feel if someone came to your place of work and stood there filming you going about your day.

OP I’m guessing it wasn’t the type of appointment where you could stay and wait for the result? I’ve had a similar experience before (years ago with my SAAB) and ever since I’ve always booked a ‘while you wait’ type apt so the mechanic can show me anything that’s flagged up.

 

[Adil_3]

Data protection,are you allowed to film and record then watch images of someone elses work place and staff,without their consent,just may be the reason it was disconnected

Filming in any public place of anyone is legal

A BMW workshop is not a public place.

Dealerships, garages, tire fitters etc have been disconnecting or turning off dashcams for years. How would you feel if someone came to your place of work and stood there filming you going about your day.

OP I’m guessing it wasn’t the type of appointment where you could stay and wait for the result? I’ve had a similar experience before (years ago with my SAAB) and ever since I’ve always booked a ‘while you wait’ type apt so the mechanic can show me anything that’s flagged up.

I was sat there waiting in the dealership for my car to get MOT'd... besides its Sytner BMW. It's okay not for everyone but those that care the information is above

 

[parabolica]

Ok cool so they were able to show you the broken spring in person? Did it look freshly snapped?

 

[Adil_3]

Ok cool so they were able to show you the broken spring in person? Did it look freshly snapped?

Nope COVID doesn't allow for them to show me the spring in person. They share a video across via text or email to show you what's wrong. Luckily they left the spring on the passenger floor, along with my dashcam wire pulled out from the trim =D and my roof fully down for some reason. From my perspective yes very shady indeed.

 

[mcbutler]

Filming in any public place of anyone is legal

A BMW workshop is not a public place.

Dealerships, garages, tire fitters etc have been disconnecting or turning off dashcams for years. How would you feel if someone came to your place of work and stood there filming you going about your day.

OP I’m guessing it wasn’t the type of appointment where you could stay and wait for the result? I’ve had a similar experience before (years ago with my SAAB) and ever since I’ve always booked a ‘while you wait’ type apt so the mechanic can show me anything that’s flagged up.

I was sat there waiting in the dealership for my car to get MOT'd... besides its Sytner BMW. It's okay not for everyone but those that care the information is above

Yes it is i guaranteee you, even the inside of your car is a public space. Synter will no doubt have CCTV in the workshop/showroom/parking areas etc. You will even find CCTV in changing areas of swimming pools, not in the cubicles but often covering transit areas and open shower areas where people are expected to be clothed.

 

[parabolica]

Yes it is i guaranteee you, even the inside of your car is a public space. Synter will no doubt have CCTV in the workshop/showroom/parking areas etc. You will even find CCTV in changing areas of swimming pools, not in the cubicles but often covering transit areas and open shower areas where people are expected to be clothed.

The premises/workshop of a private corporation is not public; there is a big difference between an employer filming their employees and customers vs a member of the public filming their work practices.

OP hope you get the spring sorted.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Maybe I missed something here but I always take my BMWs to a good Indy, and would never think of going to a BMW main agent for an MOT!

Why on earth would you do that? :?

 

[Rockhopper]

Agreed - best place is either a trusted garage or one of those local authority places that doesn't have a workshop then they have no vested interested in finding things for it to fail on so they can fix them for you.

 

[mr.tourette]

I kinda get the OPs point, I would have no real issue with them switching off or removing the dashcam but going into it an editing the footage I would take exception to

 

[AndyBeech]

Might seem obvious and I may have missed something but did you query them on any of this or raise any questions with them regarding your concerns?