Halfords Autocentres Reviews 135,500

Re-adding this as my review seems to have disappeared. Halfords broke my clutch, denied any knowledge, and then lied during arbitration. You can either look after your car or be a Halfords customer, not both. Horrible, dishonest company and will never get another penny from me.

The two men working in the Winterstoke Road branch were really friendly and helpful

I took my wife's Skoda Fabia in to the Bolton Branch for an exhaust repair today which as it turned out would require a replacement for a corroded clamp between the two sections of the exhaust. They didn't have the part in stock but attempted to obtain one from their local supplier who could only supply one the following day. The guy dealing with my case (Matt) then offered to do a temporary fix as the car was emitting a lot of noise and spent an hour doing the repair and the result was perfect, the car in fact now sounds back to normal and he then reassured me that the repair should last a quite a while. I asked the price and he said no charge and even refused a £20 tip! What a service!

My newish car of 9000 mileage - all 4 tyres failed / How many customers have had their tyres failed outright since Halfords and National Tyres got together?

I had my car booked in at their Crownhill Depot, Plymouth on Thursday 14th May at 0830hrs for new front wheel brake pads at an agreed price of £145 less 5% Halfords Premium Club membership discount. I arrived at 0810hrs having been requested to arrive 15 minutes before they open at 0830hrs. They didn't drive my car into the workshop and start work on it until 0900hrs!
After about 20 minutes one of the two reception managers beckoned me to my car. The car was up on a hydraulic ramp with both wheels off . He then said the right hand disc had been scorched and that both discs would need replacing. He further stated that the right hand caliper was seized and that would also need replacing. At this stage I was suspicious that he was inventing work that didn't require doing. I therefore asked him to give me a quotation and declined any further work until I sought other garage quotations. His quotation was £520 !! I took my car to another garage in Plymouth where they fitted new brake pads and discs for £160 and confirmed there was nothing wrong with the right hand caliper whatsoever. If you have booked your car in for any work with Halfords be warned they will invent work at extortionate prices. Garages that operate dishonestly, cheat and basically steal money from decent honest trusting members of the public should be closed down. They are criminal thieves.

Formal Complaint: Service Failures and Safety Concerns
To the Regional Manager,
I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding a recent service at your Horsham branch. As an IMI accredited engineer with over 40 years of experience in the motor trade, I am deeply concerned by the lack of professional oversight, the inaccuracy of the records provided, and the disregard for standard safety procedures.

Timeline of Events:

Check-in: I dropped off my vehicle on Friday afternoon for a scheduled Saturday morning start. The keys were handed directly to the branch manager.

Delay & Lack of Record: By Saturday afternoon—20 hours later—my vehicle’s GPS tracker confirmed it had not moved. Upon calling, I was informed that the branch had no record of the vehicle even arriving, despite me handing the keys to the manager personally.

The "Service": I was promised two technicians would begin work immediately. Only one hour later, I was notified that a "Full Service" had been completed. As a professional in this industry, I find it highly improbable that a comprehensive full service was performed to standard within that timeframe.

Verification Failures: At collection, I was assured a post-service road test had been performed. This was demonstrably false. Both the vehicle’s GPS tracker and the zeroed trip meter confirmed the car never left the premises.

Mechanical Oversight: Consequently, an audible noise from the off-side rear brake shoe went undetected—an issue that would have been immediately flagged during a legitimate road test. Furthermore, the service book was left unstamped and tyre dust caps were missing.

Current Status:
I was promised a follow-up call early this week to rectify the brake issue. Five days have passed without contact.

While I am more than capable of rectifying these mechanical issues myself, I have paid £300 for a professional service that was, by all evidence, bypassed or handled with extreme negligence.

Given the falsification of the road test and the failure to complete the basic administrative and mechanical requirements of a Full Service, I request a full review of this incident and an explanation as to why safety-critical steps like the road test were recorded as complete when they were not.

I look forward to your prompt response before I escalate this matter further.

Worst customer experience ever.

I had a tyre fitted by Halfords auto centre in farnborough after getting a flat on the motorway. I drove home to the south coast straight after and the next time I drove the car, noticed it was flat. I put air in the tyre and again, realise the next day or so that it was flat again. I took the car back to my local auto centre and asked that they replace it. They confirmed it was a result of rust on the alloy but because I drive the car flat, and didn’t get extended warranty, it was my fault and they were not liable. No apology, no acknowledgement that they missed the rust first time round.

I won’t be using them again

Popped in today to the London Road, Westcliff on Sea, Southend branch, for advice on car bumper sensors and to buy some car cleaning products. We met Ann at the desk, who was extremely helpful and full to the brim with her great customer service. Highly recommend. 5 stars.

My wife tried to put air in her tires today, 3 were fine , however every time she tried the forth air came out not in , then the value stuck open and a lot of air escaped. She stopped and phoned me panicking, the car is modern and although was flashing a red warning about low tyre pressure when she restarted the car , it did say there was some air still in the tyre , so with there being a Halfords in little Sutton , 6 minutes away from where she was , I told her to drive there very slowly and ask them to look at the value for her and I am sure they will put air in it for her ,. But when she got there and told them what had happened, they just said they can’t help her as they are to busy. THANKYOU HALFORDS, my wife cried all the way home thinking something horrible was going to happen to her . I will never use their service again . I am so angry. On a more positive note I am at Chester tyres right now and they have fixed it , thankyou so much CHESTER TYRES.

Total five star experience from Halfords auto Centre Oldham King St passenger front wheel was damaged took car in expecting to pay £208 they contacted me to say that it was only superficial damage was safe to drive on They could have said nothing and charged me £208 but they didn't would definitely recommend

The system to book an MOT was great, the MOT was great, the whole experience was great with one major flaw. I booked it online with an email address but they found it necessary to text my mobile phone SIX times in ten days. Once asking me to confirm it (I'd already paid), once asking if I wanted a service as well (I didn't), once thanking me for confirming (yawn), once a "last reminder", once asking for a review (well here it is Halford's). At this point I replied to stop texting me or I'll block them. Whereupon they immediately texted to say they'll stop texting me (!). Most of these unwanted and unnecessary texts came either when I was in bed, in the bath or trying to eat. They are painful. The MOT was good but the barrage of spam texts will put me off ever using them again.

Put a complaint in and got the usual email answer that it was being investigated and that somebody from the team would be in touch. Nobody got in touch so chased it up and was told the case has been closed. How can a case be closed when nobody has been in touch?

Very poor customer service

Had dash cam fitted by mobile fitter. No help setting up. Wiring is wrong so the radio doesnt work now. Apparently this is a common problem that the fitter should have known. Called the fitter straight back and was ignored. Have to wait another 6 days for someone else to come out to fix it. I wouldnt use them again

Horrible customer service. Got my tyres done and they didn’t balance my wheels. Went back and said their machines broken. Turned away from 3 other Halfords.been waiting over a week now and they said another 10 days. Shocking customer service. Go else where

Had an appointment to fit a tyre sensor to my car today and would like to send my thanks to the staff there.
The whole experience was first class. Very friendly and polite, even told me about a different issue which may need sorting out soon.
I recommend this branch in Torquay.
Val

Booked a tyre replacement online for there Northwich branch for the next day. On the day of the booking I decided to call in advance to double check the details where i was told they didnt have the tyre in stock and the ordered tyre had not arrived yet. They said they would call at 2pm, 1 hour before the appointment to see if it had arrived. I called at 1.55pm and it still had not arrived so they gave me the option to reschedule or cancel. After the person i spoke to accused me of shouting at him i chose cancel. still not recieved the refund which apparently takes 5 days, ridiculous waste of time.

Wanted to buy two new tyres using one4all gift card. Their website confirms they accept it and went to their Stockport tyre centre who also told me they accept the card. This also confirmed by the sticker on their door which included One4all in amongst all the other bank cards etc. Tyres were duly fitted after over an hour later than the booked timeslot. On coming to pay I was then told that they do not take this card ! . After much argument had no choice but to pay by other means. Made a formal complaint to their Customer service dept which has been totally ignored. This is at least misleading advertising and terrible service and probably illegal. I will never use Halfords again and have advised others to do likewise. Disgusting.

Booked an assessment of air con fault looking to have it addressed by Halford's technicians using Halfords-supplied products.
The reasonably professional-sounding and polite Technician informed me as I dropped off the car, parked 20 feet from their garage door, that they are not allowed to install or administer anything, not even products purchased from their shop, which made the trip & cost of highly doubtful value.
Returned 8 hours later to find that the fault had been vaguely identified very little more than I had done myself - with no advice nor guidance on getting it fixed, the engine bottom noise suppressing panel/component was hanging off from not having been properly re-affixed in one corner, and that the car had been driven 1.1 miles for no legitimate reason. A complete waste of time and money.

Crewe, Hightown Garage-
Great garage, and lovely fellas running it. As a first time, female, car owner I was very wary of being taken for a mug, but they guys were great. Car was misfiring, they checked it over, found no issues, but gave me a really helpful suggestion about the fuel I was using, which was bang on the money, and sent me on my way at no charge. I returned for a winter check a couple of months later, and again, they checked it over, even replaced some oil for me, and sent me off with no extra charge. Can't fault them at all, staff are really friendly, not at all intimidating, very knowledgeable, and don't take the Mickey. What more could you ask for?. I raved about them so much my husband has ditched his local garage, and is using them for his MOT.