Halfords Autocentres Opiniones 135.494

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.

Last Tuesday, 12th May 2026, I took my car in for a simple free vehicle check because I was aware there was an oil leak issue. I was told the check would take around 30 minutes, but after waiting over an hour, nobody contacted me with an update. I eventually had to call them myself, only to be told that the car was already ready to be collected. At no point did they call, text, or email me to let me know this. The only communication I received was an email the following day telling me to collect the car.

When I arrived at the garage, I was informed that there were several issues with the car. I was told the clutch needed replacing and that both front tyres needed changing. I was then quoted around £1,040 in total — approximately £900 for the clutch and £140 for two new tyres. I personally feel this price was extremely excessive, especially as I know trusted mechanics who could complete the same work for significantly less while still providing honest and reliable service.

I asked staff for a breakdown and explanation of the costs, but I was not given any proper details. The only explanation I received was “labour costs,” without any transparency or clarification about why the price was so high. The customer service throughout the experience was poor and dismissive.

On my way home, I also noticed that my dash cameras had been unplugged and left disconnected. The cables had been pulled out and not plugged back in. I called the garage to ask why this had been done without my knowledge. I was told they “needed to unplug it,” but when I asked why nobody informed me beforehand, they simply said they did not have to. What makes this even more concerning is that the incident was recorded once I plugged the camera back in.

What disappointed me most was the lack of accountability or apology. Instead of acknowledging the issue, they simply offered for me to come back so they could reconnect it — something that should never have been left for me to deal with in the first place. The entire situation felt very unprofessional and dishonest.

Because of this experience, I will not be returning to Halfords Autocentre again, and I will no longer be a Halfords membership.

My wife has had a dreadful experience with getting 3 tyres replaced on her Rav. She booked to have the tyres replaced on our drive at home. On the day the job was scheduled for she was told that she was sixth in the queue. She checked the app to show where the fitter was and throughout the day it showed he was still on the first job. The fitter eventually turned up at about 4pm. When questioned about tracking his jobs he said that the app didn’t work. The tyres were supposed to be balanced by the fitter but on the first motorway run the car juddered at speeds over 60 mph. She took the car to the local Halfords store and they agreed that the balancing hadn’t been done properly and added that the mobile crews were poorly trained and bad at their job. The balancing was redone and the car still juddered at high speeds. Halfords sent out a new fitter to replace and rebalance the tyres, which he’s just done. He said that if the problem persists it is because the tyres are not of sufficient quality even though the website recommends them for this make of car. Guess what? The problem persisted. Halfords agreed for the tyres to be returned but haven’t confirmed this by email even though 24 hours has passed and they said it would do it straight away. In frustration we emailed them to have a reply saying that the email address was no longer in service. Another business that offers sub standard service and won’t engage with their customers when they have a complaint. A huge waste of our time and dreadful customer service. Don’t even think about using Halfords

I had my car serviced in the Hounslow site and some bits done. I had an issue after leaving but it was swiftly resolved. Nice guys!

Booked an MOT almost 1 month in advance, received a phone call less than 24 hours before appointment, to be told all testing at that branch was cancelled, (and had already been for past 2 days which is strange as they sent me a text yesterday, to reminder the test was due) so requested a transfer to another Halfords branch for an urgent appointment, and was told different branches can not communicate with each other. When I tried to book at another branch, I was told they changed an extra £5 because they were a busy branch, even worse the only available slots were at "peek times" so they added an additional £1 surcharge.

Terrible - Called to Croydon Purley Way store and parked out the front as advised. Got a parking demand in the post 2 weeks later for £60.
Don't shop here - you may get a ticket for doing nothing wrong. Halfords C/S not interested.
Shop elsewhere or it will cost you!

I had multiple jobs carried out at the Mansfield branch of Halfords and unfortunately my experience left me with very little confidence in the workmanship or customer service.

After work was carried out on my ignition coil, the scuttle panel was left loose and incorrectly fitted. I raised concerns at the time but was repeatedly told this was “normal” for the vehicle. Shortly afterwards, a crack developed from the lower edge of the windscreen in the same area.

I later had the windscreen replaced by Autoglass, and their technician immediately identified that the windscreen had been under tension and that the scuttle panel had not been fitted correctly. Once refitted properly, it sat flush exactly as it should have done originally.

This was not an isolated issue. Following previous work involving my thermostat/clutch cables, the vehicle began juddering badly. Again, I was told this was “normal for the model.” After repeatedly returning, an arcing HT lead was finally identified under the bonnet. Despite visible sparking, I was still told the vehicle was safe to drive.

What frustrated me most throughout this experience was the repeated dismissal of concerns rather than properly investigating them. As someone who maintains and regularly hand-cleans my own vehicle, I know when something has changed.

I contacted customer relations multiple times with detailed evidence, videos, and documentation but received no meaningful response.

In contrast, the service from Autoglass was excellent, professional, honest, thorough, and reassuring.

Overall, I left feeling disappointed, ignored, and unable to trust the workmanship or advice I was being given.