Aspiring mechanic Gareth Cranston took his car into the Seafield Branch of Halfords in Edinburgh when he suffered the insults
SHOCKING dashcam footage shows the moment Halfords staff appear to call a customer a "f***ing idiot" behind his back as the company pledges to take action.
Aspiring mechanic Gareth Cranston took his car to an Edinburgh branch on April 7, to get his brakes looked at and left his dashcam running.
After staff told him there was nothing wrong, he checked dashcam footage and was shocked to hear them verbally abusing him.
Gareth, 31, had told staff at the at Seafield branch he was an aspiring mechanic looking for work experience.
At the start of the footage, one staff member says: "F***ing idiot yeah? F***ing idiot that guy."
Another appears to imitate Gareth saying: "'Oh I don't want to buy f* all.' Is that what he says?"
He continues saying "'Oh I want to be a mechanic" in a mocking tone, before making an inaudible comment.
Gareth said he was hugely disappointed to hear what had been said in the recording.
He said: "My brakes were making a noise when slowing down, so I asked for a free cambelt check for my car. I was then informed that I don't need that check.
";So further to that discussion I mentioned to the guy in reception area that I am personally interested in learning more about cars, and explained that I have approached garages in the past to ask if they would take me on a few hours, one day a week to learn.
"So after I left my keys and went home to await the call that my car was ready to pick up.
"I went to pick it up and was told there is nothing was wrong and was told it could possible be friction on the brakes.
"So later on I decided to check my dash cam and to my horror I was subject to being verbally abused by one of the technicians, calling me a "a f***ing idiot" twice.
"The guy doing the hand signals is the guy I had handed my keys to and had the discussion about wanting to learn, so has obviously went and disrespected me to his team mates."
Halfords initially offered Gareth a £25 gift voucher, which he labelled "ridiculous."
After posting about the incident on Facebook, one of Gareth's friends said: "Tell them to stick their £25 gift voucher up their hoops."
Whilst another added: "That's insulting."
A Halfords Autocentres spokesman said: “After listening to the video a number of times it's unclear who the comments are directed at.
“Regardless, the language and tone is unacceptable and we are taking the appropriate action.
"We have apologised unreservedly to Mr Cranston and have offered him a gesture of goodwill.”
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