Terms & Conditions

Garage Gaffer is operated by Garage Gaffer Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales.

In these terms, “Garage Gaffer”, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Garage Gaffer Ltd. “You” and “your” mean the person booking vehicle work through our website.

• Platform means the Garage Gaffer website and booking service.
• Mechanic means an independent mechanic or garage who carries out vehicle work booked through the Platform.
• Booking means a job you arrange through the Platform for a Mechanic to carry out.
• Charges means the labour price shown to you for a Booking at the time you book it.

Garage Gaffer is a booking platform. We connect you with independent, vetted mechanics; we are not a garage ourselves, and we do not carry out any vehicle work.

Each Mechanic is an independent business, or a self-employed tradesperson, and not our employee or agent. They are responsible for the vehicle work they carry out, in the same way any garage is responsible for its own work. We check every Mechanic before they can take jobs on the Platform, including a DBS check, verification of trade qualifications, and confirmation of public liability insurance, but we do not supervise individual jobs once they're under way.

You must be at least 18 and able to form a legally binding contract to make a Booking. You must give accurate information about yourself and your vehicle: an incorrect registration number or postcode can lead to an incorrect price, or a Mechanic being unable to complete the job.

You get a price by entering your registration number (or your car's details) and postcode, then choosing the work you need. The price shown for your chosen job at that point is the labour price, worked out for your specific vehicle. It won't change once you've booked, provided the vehicle details you gave us were accurate.

The labour price doesn't include spare parts. If your job needs parts, we'll confirm their cost with you separately, and they'll only be supplied with your agreement.

If a Mechanic finds that further work is genuinely needed once they've started (for example, an underlying fault only visible once your car is on the ramp), they'll contact you to agree a separate price for that extra work before carrying it out. The labour price for the job you originally booked won't change without your agreement.

When you book a slot, we pass your Booking to a Mechanic. You can cancel or reschedule at any time before your appointment, since we don't take any payment until the work has been carried out.

We'd appreciate as much notice as possible if your plans change, so the Mechanic isn't left holding a slot for a job that's no longer happening. If you cancel at very short notice or don't show up, the Mechanic may not be able to attend, and repeated late cancellations may affect your ability to book with us again.

You pay the Mechanic directly once the work has been completed. We don't currently collect payment through the Platform, and no card details are taken when you make a Booking. There is no charge for making a Booking itself.

Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, vehicle work carried out through the Platform must be performed with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, and for the price agreed.

If something goes wrong with completed work, contact us and we'll help you resolve it with the Mechanic who carried it out.

Because you book through our website, you normally have the right to cancel within 14 days of booking, without giving a reason, under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.

If you ask for the work to be carried out before the 14 days are up, which will usually be the case since most Bookings are for a slot within the next few days, you may lose this cancellation right once the work has started or been completed. We'll always confirm your Booking details, including the price and date of the work, before you're committed.

This is separate from the cancellation and rescheduling arrangements in the section above, which cover changing or cancelling your slot with a Mechanic.

Every Mechanic on the Platform is vetted before they can take jobs, including a DBS check, verification of trade qualifications such as City & Guilds or IMI, and confirmation of public liability insurance.

Even so, each Mechanic is responsible for their own work, conduct and legal obligations to you as a consumer. Garage Gaffer is not a party to the contract for the vehicle work itself; that contract is between you and the Mechanic.

This section applies if you apply to join Garage Gaffer as a garage or mechanic. When you submit the application form, you agree to these terms, including this section.

Your application must be accurate and complete. We may ask for supporting documents, including proof of Level 3 trade qualifications (such as City & Guilds or IMI), public liability insurance and a DBS check, and you must keep these valid for as long as you take jobs through the Platform. We use the details you give us to assess your application and to get in touch with you about it.

You are an independent business, or a self-employed tradesperson, and not our employee or agent. You are free to take work from other sources, and we don't require exclusivity. Being accepted onto the Platform doesn't promise any minimum amount of work.

For each Booking you accept, you are responsible for carrying out the work with reasonable care and skill, at the labour price shown to the customer. You must agree any extra work or parts with the customer, through us, before carrying them out.

We may pause or remove a partner who doesn't meet our standards, including where customer ratings consistently fall below our threshold. Any fees and payment arrangements for partners are confirmed to you in writing when you are onboarded.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

Subject to that, we are not liable for the acts or omissions of any Mechanic, including the standard of any vehicle work carried out; responsibility for that sits with the Mechanic, as explained above. Our own liability for losses arising from your use of the Platform itself is limited to the Charges for the relevant Booking, and we are not liable for indirect losses or losses to a business.

We use the vehicle and contact details you give us to look up your vehicle, work out your price, process your Booking, and get in touch with you about it. This can include sharing your registration number with official UK vehicle information services to confirm your vehicle's details, and sharing your booking and contact details with the systems we use to run the Platform and send you a booking confirmation.

If you have questions about how your information is used, contact us at support@garagegaffer.co.uk.

If something goes wrong, contact us at support@garagegaffer.co.ukand we'll do our best to put it right.

We are not currently a member of a certified alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme. If we can't resolve a complaint between us, Citizens Advice offers free, impartial advice on your consumer rights and next steps.

These terms, and any Booking made through the Platform, are governed by the law of England and Wales. Disputes can be brought in the courts of England and Wales, or, if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in the courts there instead.

We may update these terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes to how the Platform works or changes in the law. The current version is always the one on this page, with the “last updated” date at the top. Continuing to use the Platform after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Questions about these terms? Email us at support@garagegaffer.co.uk.