Centre Gravity don't want my business? Alternatives? - Page 2 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

I've called them a few times, never had anyone answer. Left 2 messages asking them to call me back. Silence. They're clearly not interested in taking my money. Is this level of customer service typical? Who else would get a recommendation to do a suspension refresh on my 997GTS - preferably in Scotland. Any suggestions appreciated!

Why not book online? it s a fully automated service. You can see availability and book the type of service you need from the menu of options.

Following as I would like to reset my Cayman GT4 suspension ideally by someone in Scotland as I am north of Aberdeen and anywhere in England iis a good 5-6 hour drive each way

Just book online, I used to book using email, and no disrespect to CG, it was slow and could cause issues with availability slots and me replying etc so online is much simpler. There's a space in the online booking where you put in some text, e.g. I'm concerned I had faulty shock. I'm sure the service will be great once you're there in person. Good luck, I'm off there Monday so an early start as I'm in London.

Never had an issue myself and they have provided fantastic service during my interactions. Drop them an email or, as others have said, use the online booking system.

GTSjohn said: I've called them a few times, never had anyone answer. Left 2 messages asking them to call me back. Silence. They're clearly not interested in taking my money. Is this level of customer service typical? Who else would get a recommendation to do a suspension refresh on my 997GTS - preferably in Scotland. Any suggestions appreciated! It's a small, very specialised, very successful family business that focuses on doing the job correctly. If you want to speak to them prior to an appointment/them working on your car, then do as others have said and book the appointment on line and in the notes section request a phonecall with them prior to taking the car in, or just email them and then be patient.

Slippydiff said: GTSjohn said: I've called them a few times, never had anyone answer. Left 2 messages asking them to call me back. Silence. They're clearly not interested in taking my money. Is this level of customer service typical? Who else would get a recommendation to do a suspension refresh on my 997GTS - preferably in Scotland. Any suggestions appreciated! It's a small, very specialised, very successful family business that focuses on doing the job correctly. If you want to speak to them prior to an appointment/them working on your car, then do as others have said and book the appointment on line and in the notes section request a phonecall with them prior to taking the car in, or just email them and then be patient. Now that's a proper pistonheads forum dressing down. I happen to agree. But that was very withering.

My mate runs his own garage very successfully! He averaged a chargeable 42 hours a week for a 52 week year! He has his regular clientele who trust him totally. When a new customer comes along and ask 'How much for this and would you work out a quote for me?' He say's No it costs what it costs. It is a waste of his time doing a quote for a punter who might never get the job done.!

CloudStuff said: Now that's a proper pistonheads forum dressing down. I happen to agree. But that was very withering. Trust me when I say that was the abridged version ...

stichill99 said: My mate runs his own garage very successfully! He averaged a chargeable 42 hours a week for a 52 week year! He has his regular clientele who trust him totally. When a new customer comes along and ask 'How much for this and would you work out a quote for me?' He say's No it costs what it costs. It is a waste of his time doing a quote for a punter who might never get the job done.! I've a mate that specialises in Ferrari and Maserati servicing and repairs. I worked with him for 6 months a couple of years ago. Most people have no idea how long getting quotes together takes these days. Often for the prospective customer only to turn around and say "Oh, so and so have quoted £50 less. Can you price match or beat their quote ?" The answer was ALWAYS monosyllabic ... Worse still were traders getting quotes to play the specialists off against each other. Once he knew who they were, he either told them he wouldn't quote, or he'd just inflate it to the degree he knew he wouldn't get the job. Edited by Slippydiff on Saturday 3rd October 15:46

Some "interesting" replies. Perhaps I'm old and out of touch in the digital age. In my book it's simply rude and bad business practice not to return calls. Simple as that. Who runs the business in question, it's size and success are not relevant. Reputations are hard won and easily lost. As I say, may be I'm old fashioned and out of touch. Anyway, any recommendations in Scotland for a similar service?

Had my 718 (and 987.2 before it) set up at Automek in East Kilbride. They know their stuff, not a porsche specialist per se but they know the platforms inside out, particularly when it comes to alignment settings. Give them a call and ask for Andrew. Not used P for porsche in clydebank as yet but have used the sister company for my bmws and their work has always been spot on and reasonable on price.

GTSjohn said: Some "interesting" replies. Perhaps I'm old and out of touch in the digital age. In my book it's simply rude and bad business practice not to return calls. Simple as that. Who runs the business in question, it's size and success are not relevant. Reputations are hard won and easily lost. As I say, may be I'm old fashioned and out of touch. Anyway, any recommendations in Scotland for a similar service? Speak to Kenneth Brown in Hillington - does lots of GT Porsche suspension and the like.

Slippydiff said: Most people have no idea how long getting quotes together takes these days. To be fair, garages and specialists would save themselves a lot of time if they put their service prices on their website. I've been amazed when you call a place asking for a quote and they have to take loads of details, reg number etc and then 'get back to you'

SV_WDC said: Slippydiff said: Most people have no idea how long getting quotes together takes these days. To be fair, garages and specialists would save themselves a lot of time if they put their service prices on their website. I've been amazed when you call a place asking for a quote and they have to take loads of details, reg number etc and then 'get back to you' Yeah, but we're not really talking about standard, tick-box servicing. You can't know how much work is involved in most jobs until you have your hands on the car. In other words you don't really know what the job actually is until you can see what's really wrong with it. Frequently you won't know until the car is in bits. So asking for anything more than a possible price range up front is unreasonable, or at least encourages the garage to build a big safety margin into their quote. It's so much better when you get to a position of mutual trust so you just hand the car over safe in the knowledge that they aren't going to rip you off and they'll give you a ring if they discover anything unexpectedly expensive that needs doing.

Anyone who runs a business in 2026 knows that time - labour - are at an utter premium. If you want to take the time of acknowledged experts, you need to be pre-qualified. I am sure most Porsche indies could spend all day talking to people who want free advice, or stuff done cheap, and never earn a penny. There is a reason supermarkets have self checkouts. There is also a reason why any decent Porsche indie worth their salt is working to bookings weeks ahead.

Digga said: Anyone who runs a business in 2026 knows that time - labour - are at an utter premium. If you want to take the time of acknowledged experts, you need to be pre-qualified. I am sure most Porsche indies could spend all day talking to people who want free advice, or stuff done cheap, and never earn a penny. There is a reason supermarkets have self checkouts. There is also a reason why any decent Porsche indie worth their salt is working to bookings weeks months ahead. ATG said: Yeah, but we're not really talking about standard, tick-box servicing. You can't know how much work is involved in most jobs until you have your hands on the car. In other words you don't really know what the job actually is until you can see what's really wrong with it. Frequently you won't know until the car is in bits. So asking for anything more than a possible price range up front is unreasonable, or at least encourages the garage to build a big safety margin into their quote. It's so much better when you get to a position of mutual trust so you just hand the car over safe in the knowledge that they aren't going to rip you off and they'll give you a ring if they discover anything unexpectedly expensive that needs doing. Two sensible replies from individuals with common sense (at least of which one has his own business) SV_WDC said: To be fair, garages and specialists would save themselves a lot of time if they put their service prices on their website. I've been amazed when you call a place asking for a quote and they have to take loads of details, reg number etc and then 'get back to you' Binary finery ^ Is it really so amazing (and clearly irritating for some) when the proprietor of a small business does his due diligence, gets all the usual details such as year, registration etc, but also asks some pertinent questions to ensure that when they ring their parts supplier, they've got all the information required to get accurate parts prices ? A prime example of which was, when quoting on a service on a Ferrari, it became clear that there were two oil filter options depending on the year of production. The early model's oil filter was £37, the later version was just over £100 +vat. Of course it could have been assumed it was the more expensive item and charged the client accordingly, irrespective of whether it was the cheaper filter or not, but because he'd done his due diligence, he was able establish exactly which filter was required and thus was able to quote accurately. So far from being amazed when someone bothers to take the time to ensure they've got all the relevant information, perhaps you should be more appreciative of the fact they have bothered, and they've bothered because it will ultimately save them time and bother, and save them having to "explain" why the invoice was more than quoted, "because they'd based their quote on the last Ferrari *** they serviced, but the oil filter on this particular car was over £60 +vat more". I've taken my BMW to several main dealers (frequently S*tners) often for warranty work after an previous initial diagnosis. I traipse over there to drop the car off for the repair, and I either get a loan car or a taxi home. On several occasions I've got a phonecall (after lunch) to say they've been unable to carry out the repair because the part hasn't been ordered, isn't in stock, or the wrong part has been sent ... You'd think a large, efficiently run corporate business such as S*tner would be able get stuff like this right, but all too often they don't. So ... Center Gravity is the polar opposite of S*tner, a mere three members of staff : Chris the owner, his daughter Holly and his son-in-law Pete (Holly's other half) Both Chris and Pete work like Trojans and for long hours (early on, Chris wouldn't bat an eyelid at working 15-16 hour days to get cars completed whilst the owner waited in reception for it) I don't know if that's still the case, but I know both are grafters. IF, and this is complete supposition on my part, Holly and Pete have had a week off, that would leave Chris on his own, and in turn mean there's no one to answer phones, and knowing Chris, no one to answer emails or respond to online booking requests for a phone call either. I've no idea how long the time was between the OP's "several phone calls", but if happened to be during a week when two members of the team were on holiday, it would explain the lack of response. That's not to excuse it, but taking time off in a small business is always difficult. It's the age old question - Do we stagger our holidays and keep the doors open all year round, or close down altogether three or four times a year and all have a break simultaneously without having to leave someone to hold the fort ?

I’ve visited CG three times….twice with my 991.2 GT3 (7 years apart) and once with my ‘73 911. What I would say regards charging/costs is that CG in my experience will only charge you what needs doing. My ‘73 car was booked in to CG a few months after I bought it, he’d had a full chassis set up done by a Porsche specialist who frequently get named on here for their expertise/service. Car was booked in for a full day but I was very happy to be sent on my way at lunchtime with the car transformed. Car went in with a daft amount of rake…front end on the bump stops and the back end “jacked up” which meant the rear wheels had a load of toe on them. Which made the steering very heavy (rear wheels want to go straight) and the steering was compromised by the lack of compliance in the front end. However, the corner weighting was bang on so CG didn’t have to do it. So I was sent home and only charged for half a day despite having a full day booked up.

Cheib said: I ve visited CG three times .twice with my 991.2 GT3 (7 years apart) and once with my 73 911. What I would say regards charging/costs is that CG in my experience will only charge you what needs doing. My 73 car was booked in to CG a few months after I bought it, he d had a full chassis set up done by a Porsche specialist who frequently get named on here for their expertise/service. Car was booked in for a full day but I was very happy to be sent on my way at lunchtime with the car transformed. Car went in with a daft amount of rake front end on the bump stops and the back end jacked up which meant the rear wheels had a load of toe on them. Which made the steering very heavy (rear wheels want to go straight) and the steering was compromised by the lack of compliance in the front end. However, the corner weighting was bang on so CG didn t have to do it. So I was sent home and only charged for half a day despite having a full day booked up. Had something very similar with my car two years ago. Pete decided that it didn’t need everything it was booked in for but still spent most of the day on it, despite reducing the cost I have so much respect for these guys

Having run my own business for 22 years, I can see all points of view here. My No 1 tip for all though, is COMUNICATION [ oh and be honest ,reliable, and know your sh-t!]

Good comms are important, but I have never had an issue with CoG. Holly has been all over every query I have had and when arranging my 3 visits over the years. But they do all work flat out. And take holidays. If I was the OP I would keep trying. He will benefit more than CoG will. They do want your business, but don’t need it.

I've never used CG but if I wanted their kind of work done, and I wanted the CG quality - because I understand they're bloody good - I'd forgive them a communications lapse, especially if I could book an appointment on line. It doesn't sound like they're taking the piss.

Imagine how differently this thread would have gone if the title was something like “ Has anyone else had trouble getting in touch with CG?” And the message was… “I’ve tried to get in touch with CG and left a few messages but haven’t heard back, does anyone have an alternative way to contact them” There’s a message in there about poor communication or something I’m sure….