Category: COVID-19

Information and important updates about how we are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. This will include our revised opening times, new workshop procedures and how we are keeping our customers safe whilst they and their cars are at the workshop.

COVID-19

COVID-19 Update 05-01-2021

Firstly I’d like to wish all of my customers a Happy New Year.

The workshop reopened on Monday 4th January after the Christmas break. Following on from the government’s announcement yesterday the workshop will remain open when there is work in the diary but will close and I will stay at home if there are no bookings. I can still be reached when at home using the contact methods listed on the contact page of this web site.

Workshop Mobile Telephone Update

I have decided not to renew the contract for the workshop mobile phone when it expires in March. As many of you will have noticed it’s next to useless for making or receiving calls in the workshop due to the low quality signal and is an expensive text messaging device.

Instead I have reserved a new mobile phone number. Calls to this number will be routed via our 3CX phone system to the workshop telephones and text messages will be routed to 3CX’s inbuilt chat and messaging system. Calls and texts will be replied to from the workshop during normal working hours.

I will release the new number and phase out the use of the mobile phone in the next few weeks once internal testing has been completed.

All customers will be notified before the mobile phone contract expires.

COVID-19

COVID-19 Update w/c 25-05-2020

The workshop will be closed on Monday for the bank holiday but will be open again on Tuesday 26th May. I am already 80% booked up for the week but there is room to accommodate emergency jobs if required.

The workshop remains closed to visitors and all work is carried out by appointment only. Initial contact is by telephone, email or social media messaging. I will be staggering drop-off and pick-up times to ensure only one customer is present at the workshop at a time.

I will continue to sanitise all vehicles when they arrive and before they leave with a suitable anti-microbial disinfectant.

Our Safe Workshop Practice Charter

  • We try to minimise contact with customers and suppliers.
    • The workshop is closed to visitors and all work is carried out by appointment only.
    • Initial customer contact is by telephone, email or social media messaging only.
    • Drop-off and pick-up times will be staggered to ensure there is only one customer present at the workshop at any time.
    • We are not providing a while-you-wait service and there will be no waiting at or in the vicinity of the workshop.
  • We keep customers safe by using new disposable seat covers, floor mats and gloves for every job.
  • We will turn off vehicle Air Con/Climate Control to avoid spreading germs.
  • We wipe down all vehicle contact points as we work with Smartsan-V (passes BS EN1276:1997 & BS EN 1650:1998 disinfection standards), a non-staining broad spectrum sanitiser that is effective against a wide range of pathogenic virus, bacteria, yeast and fungi. A sanitation checklist will be left in all vehicles after the final treatment.
  • Items in the workshop which come into contact with customers such as the card machine will be sanitised after each use with Smartsan-V.
  • Our workshop follows all current government social distancing guidelines.
    • New signage and barriers have been installed at the workshop complying with the government’s latest ‘COVID-19 Secure‘ guidelines.
    • A clear plastic cough/sneeze guard is now installed at the reception counter.
    • Alcohol-based hand sanitiser gel (≥70% alcohol content, passes BS EN 1276 & BS EN 1500 disinfection standards) is available on the reception counter. I would ask all visitors to use it on arrival at reception and before they leave.
  • We respect high risk customers by maintaining an external drop-off and collection point.
    • When necessary and for high-risk customers we will increase our level of personal protective equipment (PPE) to include a 3M FFP3 respirator and disposable nitrile examination gloves.
  • We will offer you value-added services; e.g. Air Con disinfection, cabin filter replacement (HEPA) etc. for your added protection.
  • To keep your vehicle legally roadworthy we will carry out a free visual safety check of the following:
    • Brake Discs
    • Brake Pads
    • Horn
    • Lights
    • Wipers & Washers
    • Tyres
    • MOT Due Date
  • We will notify you of any defects found during this check.
  • We will ensure all contact points and keys are wiped down before collection.
COVID-19

COVID-19 Update

The workshop will reopen at 9.00am on Monday 18th May to deal with breakdowns and a few jobs which have accumulated over the past few weeks. The workshop will remain open all week and I’ll decide at the end of the week whether to stay open or close again depending on demand.

The workshop is closed to visitors and all work is carried out by appointment only. Please phone the workshop on 01482 521201 or the workshop mobile and leave a voicemail message. Alternatively send a text message to the workshop mobile, a WhatsApp message to 441482521201 or use the message function on the company Facebook page. Please don’t send work-related messages to my personal Facebook account as I won’t see these on the workshop computer.

I’ll advise customers of the new procedures in place at the time of booking. As has been the case since the 13th March all vehicles are sanitised on arrival and before they leave with an appropriate anti-microbial disinfectant.

Our Safe Workshop Practice Charter

  • We try to minimise contact with customers and suppliers.
    • The workshop is closed to visitors and all work is carried out by appointment only.
    • Initial customer contact is by telephone, email or social media messaging only.
    • Drop-off and pick-up times will be staggered to ensure there is only one customer present at the workshop at any time.
    • We are not providing a while-you-wait service and there will be no waiting at or in the vicinity of the workshop.
  • We keep customers safe by using new disposable seat covers, floor mats and gloves for every job.
  • We will turn off vehicle Air Con/Climate Control to avoid spreading germs.
  • We wipe down all vehicle contact points as we work with Smartsan-V (passes BS EN1276:1997 & BS EN 1650:1998 disinfection standards), a non-staining broad spectrum sanitiser that is effective against a wide range of pathogenic virus, bacteria, yeast and fungi. A sanitation checklist will be left in all vehicles after the final treatment.
  • Items in the workshop which come into contact with customers such as the card machine will be sanitised after each use with Smartsan-V.
  • Our workshop follows all current government social distancing guidelines.
    • New signage and barriers have been installed at the workshop complying with the government’s latest ‘COVID-19 Secure‘ guidelines.
    • A clear plastic cough/sneeze guard is now installed at the reception counter.
    • Alcohol-based hand sanitiser gel (≥70% alcohol content, passes BS EN 1276 & BS EN 1500 disinfection standards) is available on the reception counter. I would ask all visitors to use it on arrival at reception and before they leave.
  • We respect high risk customers by maintaining an external drop-off and collection point.
    • When necessary and for high-risk customers we will increase our level of personal protective equipment (PPE) to include a 3M FFP3 respirator and disposable nitrile examination gloves.
  • We will offer you value-added services; e.g. Air Con disinfection, cabin filter replacement (HEPA) etc. for your added protection.
  • To keep your vehicle legally roadworthy we will carry out a free visual safety check of the following:
    • Brake Discs
    • Brake Pads
    • Horn
    • Lights
    • Wipers & Washers
    • Tyres
    • MOT Due Date
  • We will notify you of any defects found during this check.
  • We will ensure all contact points and keys are wiped down before collection.
COVID-19

COVID-19 Precautions

Important COVID-19 Update:

From tomorrow I will be treating the controls and door handles of all vehicles on their arrival at the workshop and before they leave with Smartsan V anti-microbial disinfectant. Controls are items such as the steering wheel, gear lever, parking brake lever and commonly used switches. I will also extend that treatment to items in the workshop such as the credit card machine.

Smartsan V is a non-staining broad spectrum sanitiser that is effective against a wide range of pathogenic virus, bacteria, yeast and fungi. It passes BS EN1276:1997 & BS EN 1650:1998 disinfection standards.

You can read more about the product I will be using and download its datasheet at the link below.

I’m being proactive with this so I can help protect both myself and my customers.

https://autosmart.co.uk/products/csmv114c-smartsan-v

Our Safe Workshop Practice Charter

  • We try to minimise contact with customers and suppliers.
    • The workshop is closed to visitors and all work is carried out by appointment only.
    • Initial customer contact is by telephone, email or social media messaging only.
    • Drop-off and pick-up times will be staggered to ensure there is only one customer present at the workshop at any time.
    • We are not providing a while-you-wait service and there will be no waiting at or in the vicinity of the workshop.
  • We keep customers safe by using new disposable seat covers, floor mats and gloves for every job.
  • We will turn off vehicle Air Con/Climate Control to avoid spreading germs.
  • We wipe down all vehicle contact points as we work with Smartsan-V (passes BS EN1276:1997 & BS EN 1650:1998 disinfection standards), a non-staining broad spectrum sanitiser that is effective against a wide range of pathogenic virus, bacteria, yeast and fungi. A sanitation checklist will be left in all vehicles after the final treatment.
  • Items in the workshop which come into contact with customers such as the card machine will be sanitised after each use with Smartsan-V.
  • Our workshop follows all current government social distancing guidelines.
    • New signage and barriers have been installed at the workshop complying with the government’s latest ‘COVID-19 Secure‘ guidelines.
    • A clear plastic cough/sneeze guard is now installed at the reception counter.
    • Alcohol-based hand sanitiser gel (≥70% alcohol content, passes BS EN 1276 & BS EN 1500 disinfection standards) is available on the reception counter. I would ask all visitors to use it on arrival at reception and before they leave.
  • We respect high risk customers by maintaining an external drop-off and collection point.
    • When necessary and for high-risk customers we will increase our level of personal protective equipment (PPE) to include a 3M FFP3 respirator and disposable nitrile examination gloves.
  • We will offer you value-added services; e.g. Air Con disinfection, cabin filter replacement (HEPA) etc. for your added protection.
  • To keep your vehicle legally roadworthy we will carry out a free visual safety check of the following:
    • Brake Discs
    • Brake Pads
    • Horn
    • Lights
    • Wipers & Washers
    • Tyres
    • MOT Due Date
  • We will notify you of any defects found during this check.
  • We will ensure all contact points and keys are wiped down before collection.