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Zed Shed

OP, in my opinion your actions in this matter have been considered and completely reasonable throughout. Your stepwise approach to escalating the matter and the calm and considered way that you have reported the events are to your credit.
I have no personal experience of the business in question. Over the years I have read a broad spectrum of reviews of the quality of the work undertaken and the customer service provided. The occasional customer has even stated that they wouldn't go anywhere else. However, I have also read several accounts of exactly the behaviour you describe. Don't doubt for a moment that you did the right thing, no matter what might be suggested to you by other people.
 
Just did a company house lookup, not good reading - seems he is not responding to account filings either, last entries relate to company strike off.
 
Just read the first post which is now edited to give the full picture, albeit from one side. Over the years I've seen many complaints about Mike's communication skills, especially on the facebook pages. He does seem to have many champions that laud his knowledge and work on Zeds, whilst admitting his communication skills are terrible, citing the former as reason to accept the latter.

From what I can glean from the edited first post, this seems to be the summary.

Wrong diagnosis of original fault.
A cheaper part fitted than was billed for.
A used electrical part badly fitted with no crimping/shrink seal/protection.
OP sent on their way with a poorly running car being told a good run will sort it.
OP having to pay another garage to rectify the work done by Mike.
OP trying continually to contact Mike to get the issue resolved.
OP taking Mike to court and judgement going in OP's favour.
Mike still refusing to accept any responsibility although has repaid OP.

If Mike is still a member on here, it really is in his own best interests to respond and give his side of the story.
 
Having read the OP's post now and many other similar over the years it would seem that the man from the Zshed can't cope when things don't go according to plan.

I understand he is very good with Z4 roofs, especially E89s, and obviously knows quite a bit about these cars. Unfortunately it's when things go wrong (which they do with everyone from time to time) that matters most.

You can't run a business well if you can't cope with problems when they arise. And, of course, if you just ignore problems and hope they go away it pisses people off, as seen here and with many other similar posts.

Then he seems to get all angry when taken to task on the problems, which doesn't help either.
 
Pondrew said:
Having read the OP's post now and many other similar over the years it would seem that the man from the Zshed can't cope when things don't go according to plan.

I understand he is very good with Z4 roofs, especially E89s, and obviously knows quite a bit about these cars. Unfortunately it's when things go wrong (which they do with everyone from time to time) that matters most.

You can't run a business well if you can't cope with problems when they arise. And, of course, if you just ignore problems and hope they go away it pisses people off, as seen here and with many other similar posts.

Then he seems to get all angry when taken to task on the problems, which doesn't help either.
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In any trade you deal with, you rate them on how well they deal with problems when they go wrong. When someone just puts their fingers in their ears and goes 'la la la la la la' then it doesn't matter how good they are, you're not going back and they won't be recommended.

It's amazing how stubborn Mike can be over very small amounts of money in the bigger picture.
 
sp3ctre said:
And this is 100% the reason I do not allow Zed Shed to advertise on here…
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Appreciate you letting this thread run, as to me it's just dealer feedback, regardless of who it is.
 
There is of course always two sides to every story, but we are seeing a quite worrying trend on here with this particular trader. There will be people that say he does a good job, and he does seem to when it comes to the roof, but as others have said, its when things go wrong you see how good a business it is. Which is why I laugh at reviews when people say 'I give it five stars out of five, I took my car in to have a tyre changed and they did it' ... I mean they did something that you paid them to do, good, how it should be.

But really the quality of a business is around customer management and problem resolution. That's when you really see what a good business looks like and I think its quite clear this business is very unreliable in these respects. The communication has been a constant ongoing complaint in this case which leaves you as a customer having to find solutions to problems they created as they seem to repeatedly wash their hands of anything.

There are a lot of myths around 'specialists' as well, but generally, most cars are built and run in pretty much a similar way. We are repairing a mass produced BMW, not a Model T Ford. Finding a good local indy is key to looking after your pride and joy. My dad and brother are both self employed car mechanics and both have worked on all my cars (Celica GT4, R33 Skyline, BMW Z4s, VX220s etc) and they have done the job no problem from clutch changes to simple servicing. You don't need specialists for 95% of the work you need done on your car.
 
coldel said:
There are a lot of myths around 'specialists' as well
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The word 'specialist' has been over-used so much these days I don't take any notice TBH. It's the modern way to try and make yourself look more important or skilled than you actually are. It goes on everywhere. It's nearly as widespread an the word 'executive'. :roll:

There is a back street garage near me who advertise as 'specialists' for BMW, Merc, Audi, VW, Jag, Ford, you name it...
They are just a general garage but are quite within their rights to use the word specialist at will.....and boy do they.
 
Saw a sign outside a barbershop in Barbados, We specialise in ALL haircuts.

Had a look at the Zedshed FB page, not unsurprisingly 98% positive.
 
sp3ctre said:
Haha, you could replace the word “specialist” with “limitation”
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I have that conversation a lot with one of my sub-contracting companies, as they keep banging on about being 'specialists'.
I say "you are only specialists cos you're crap at everything else". They love me, you know. :lol:
 
Which is precisely why I let my plumber operate on my dog.
I never liked that dog much anyway….
 
enuff_zed said:
sp3ctre wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 10:39 am
And this is 100% the reason I do not allow Zed Shed to advertise on here…
Appreciate you letting this thread run, as to me it's just dealer feedback, regardless of who it is.
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Yes thanks for leaving the original post on the basis it is feedback, and could prove useful to newer members who aren't aware of things going badly wrong in the past.

I took my 2nd Z4 to Mike while I was staying with a friend in Cheshire in 2017 to get the rear brake pipes replaced in Kunifer and a new key cut and coded. This was before he had premises so the jobs were done in the garage at his house. I arrived before he got back from the school-run and got no answer to the door bell, although I found out later his wife was in. :?

Anyway I was in his garage all day, interrupted by the afternoon school run, with no tea, coffee, whatever. Maybe that way I wouldn't need a jimmy?

Still he only charged me £100 for the brake pipes and £80 for a cut and coded flip-style key, and he deleted the missing keys too so I was pretty satisfied.

But some years later people started having issues. IIRC it all came to a head when he was offering modified back-boxes by mail-order. Someone paid but never received theirs and that ended up with a Court case which is when he was removed by the Mods, who are welcome to edit or delete my post if I've said anything inappropriate.
 
Did some non-roof related work for a chap this morning.
He is coming back when he has more time, for me to fix the roof.
When it first failed he looked and found the big proud 'look at me' Zedshed sticker on the motor. A bit of googling soon produced the 'lifetime guarantee' promise.
It won't surprise many to hear that despite several attempts to contact the gentleman, he has not received a single reply. :rofl:
 
At least I know now that mine wasn’t moved to the boot from there as there isn’t a sticker on it :lol:
 
pvr said:
At least I know now that mine wasn’t moved to the boot from there as there isn’t a sticker on it :lol:
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But you are missing out on a lifetime guarantee by a chap in a shed...
 
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