“Avoid if you value your time at all!
I'm sure it's ok when it works but the way a company deals with issues when they do appear is very telling of how much they actually care about their customers. Unfortunately Blackcircles deals with issues very poorly and does not seem to care about their customers at all.
I was notified last minute that the previously advised timeslot at the given garage "could not be confirmed" and to contact for alternatives.
I've replied with numerous emails, got nothing back, tried the phone hotline and the heavily advertised call-back-feature and got nothing back. Eventually I called again and held on the phone until I finally got through to a customer service advisor.
He poorly explained that the timeslots advertised on the website don't actually mean anything. Black circles has no information on if a garage is actually available at that time, they will take your money and make you believe you can rely on a given appointment and then hope the garage can accomodate. That leads me to the question: What value does Black circles add? The customer service guy could not answer me this question either. It's supposed to be a convenience service, yet has just added more stress, delay, hardship and a terrible experience to the process of getting new tires. No value added.
I highly recommend anyone who values their time to just directly arrange with a garage and cut out the parasitic middle-man with no transparency and terrible customer service, seeing how no extra value or service is provided.
Oh, and as a "cherry" on top, the automatic queing system advised me to hold after my conversation with a customer service advisor to provide feedback and a rating. However, the customer service advisor refused to hang up, thus preventing me from giving any feedback. So here I am, giving my feedback on reviews.io.”
“Tried black circles for the first time band can safely say will never use them again after a terrible experience. I went on line and ordered two tyres and selected a local garage to fit them. The day before they were due to be fit I received an email explaining that they could no longer be fit on that day (Thursday) and an appointment had been made for the Sunday. This was no good to me as I was going away on the Friday afternoon and needed the new tyres for the long drive. I phoned and explained my situation and they told me the earliest would be the Saturday. I explained I was looking at their website and that they were offering slots on Friday morning at a number of garages near me. I was told that the slots shown are not always available - doesn't seem like a good system to me. The person I spoke to then did phone a couple of garages and arranged a fitting for Friday morning at 8:00am. At 5:00pm I received a message to say that the tyres are due for delivery between the Friday and Tuesday. I phoned and explained that I needed the tyres fitted Friday morning before my long car journey. The person on the phone suggested I phone the garage the next morning to see if they were in. If they were not in by 5:00pm on the Thursday I hardly think they will be in by 8:00am on the Friday. He also suggested that I could try at different times on the Friday band they may be able to be fitted in the afternoon even after I had explained I was going away!!!
I decided to ring another local garage who had tyres in stock (not the exact ones I'd ordered but very similar in performance and a similar price, although he did say he could easily order different ones). This local garage came around to my house (at no extra cost) at 8:30 the next morning - so simple and easy and such excellent service!!! I can't understand why it was so difficult for black circles. I phoned them and cancelled my order.
From ordering tyres on a Tuesday it could have been up to a week before my tyres could have been fitted!! I had two slots cancelled - just such poor services. The chap at the garage I eventually used couldn't believe how long it would have taken as he could have ordered the same tyres and had them the next day. I know who I will be using the next time I need new tyres... not black circles!!!”
“Turned up at the garage on time for my fitting to be told that the tyres hadn’t even arrived, even though I had email and text confirmations from BC.”
“This was a first-time experience for me: all previous tyre transactions have been directly with a fitting centre. I was put off that route by the huge increase in cost for the same tyre at the same local dealer (and others) compared to last time. I had some misgivings about using Black Circles, being an avid reader of feedback left on review sites (granted, there can't be many companies that escape bad feedback from time to time). All I can say is that the ordering process proved to be entirely straightforward and the tyre was fitted at the appointed time by friendly staff who didn't seem to be in the least upset at fitting it at less cost than they would have charged themselves.
If there was one criticism of Black Circles, however unfounded, it is that I'd been expecting an e-mail to say that the tyre had been dispatched to the fitting centre. This never came, but it may be that I have misunderstood the process. It would also have been a relief to receive notification that the tyre had arrived and was ready for fitting: there have been reported cases of people turning up at fitting centres and finding that their tyres hadn't come.
I don't know how Black Circles can offer exactly the same product and service at the same fitting centre for sustantially less cost than dealing with the centre directly, but it certainly paid off for me.”
“Ordered 3 in stock Lorry Tyres.
Appointment confirmed.
I show up with Lorry and they had no tyres and no fitting booked in. 5 mins later an Email arrived telling me the tyres were not in stock and was offered an alternative tyre brand and fitting.
They cancelled again.
27 emails with conflicting info, along with a call to customer service later and I'm waiting for a refund.
Lesson learned. Found our local commercial garage. 6 tyres in stock. Booked in for Friday. No up front payment.
Leah tried her best but this operating model doesn't work for me.”
“It was a very long process with changes dates regarding the waiting for the tires, and consequently, the changes in the meetings (twice) to install the tires. Very negative attitude towards the client.”
“Drive 50 miles to be told that the tyres had not arrived for the agreed appointment. No call to let me know. Tried to call the call centre but closed because of Covid. The 0845 number in the confirmation email from the CEO has been taken out of service. Emailed them to be told it would take 48 hours to respond to my email, given the urgent nature. Live chatted (their recommendation) to a robot who didn’t have a clue so it asked for a human. Waited 10 minutes for Rebecca to arrive and was instantly disconnected. When I was invited to review the chat it cut me off after the first sentence.
Nothing but utter contempt for the company’s lousy customer (dis)service. After all, their only job is to source a tyre and deliver it. Nothing more. They don’t design them, make them, fit them or dispose of them.
My advice to Graeme Cole, the Chief Executive Officer, is ‘pull your finger out man’. If you google other review sites you’ll see what’s really going on in your company. The Trustpilot site is not remotely representative of how your company is doing!
Let’s see if you can handle a refund efficiently. I wish I could give you a -5 review.”
“Incompetent wannabe company, who is making promises and wasting your time and money. They give you an option to choose the date for fitting your tyres and they can't even do that right. Two times I was promised the fitting date and in the end when I called my local garage they told me how I'm was not the online one waiting for my tyres. They had 10 more people. Just stay away from them and save your time and money.”
“Great price, ordered, confirmed, booked in and then an email 3 days later & just before the end of the day to say can't install for the booked time and may be another 3 days. Phone lines too busy and therefore have gone elsewhere”
“they sent a company to my home, fitted 4 new tyres whilst i was working away. they told my wife that the back wheels were buckled and he was unable to balance them, that she would need to take the car to their garage whilst they did additional work so tytes could be balanced. as i was working away from home my wife took the car out and noticed that the rear on the vehicle seemed to be shaking, she immediately turned back and managed to get home with the car. i wasnt back from work for several week and once id found out i told her not to use it.
On returning home i took the car out and immediately noticed the rear wheels seemed to be shaking. I could not understand how 2 rear wheels could suddenly become buckled when the car drove perfect until it had the new tyres fitted. I therefore took it to a local tyre garage and they took off the rear wheels and told me that they had not been balanced, they still had the old weights on from the tyres previously fitted.
I got them the balance the tyres to the rims and took it for a drive and it was perfect. I might add that the garage checked and the front tyres had been balanced therefore there was no reason the rear ones wasnt.
Obviously they came out and seen a woman and tried to con her out of additional work when it wasnt required.”
“Blackcircles delayed my tyres order delivery twice. On the second order, I was assured the delivery will be done the next day (Thu 23) for tyres fitting on Fri 24.
At 5:41pm Thu 23, BC sent me an email of delayed delivery again (11 mins after the Telephone opening hours ended at 5:30pm).
I had already booked time off from work to get the MOT re-test (within 10 days from previous MOT tyres failure) and now BC screwed up the plan. This is a very unprofessional and ridiculous sales service!”
“Bought (and paid for) tyres online and scheduled a Saturday morning appointment at the fitters. Made plans to head out of London for the weekend after the new tyres were fitted. Friday afternoon at 15:30 I received the appointment confirmation email. An hour later I get an email cancelling the appointment as the tyres weren't available, and told to book for 3 days later.
I called up and requested a refund. Was told the usual "3-5 days", which was unacceptable to me. Got a supervisor to call me back, and was told that while they CAN DO A SAME-DAY REFUND, the finance team had left, and I'd have to wait for Monday, which was again unacceptable to me. Got another callback and money refunded to the bank within a couple of hours on Friday evening.
All credit to Sophie for making an effort, showing empathy and resolving the issue for me. She's the reason for two stars, blackcircles deserves none. And reading other reviews this seems to be their general service level.
KwikFit stepped up and gave me a Saturday booking and a price that was cheaper and with a free alignment, battery and brake checks. So spend your money there.”
“Ordered 4 tyres to be fitted at my local garage, on arrival was told only 3 were sent. Supposedly this is common with dealing with black circles. Anyway got 3 tyres fitted still waiting on the 4rth”
“Terribly unreliable. They cancelled my order last month and made another appointment without consulting me. We gave them a second chance yesterday, my wife tried them and was offered an appointment, they took payment from her card but then cancelled after customer service was closed. She has now applied for a refund. Who knows how long that will take, if successful. Do not book with black circles they are shocking. They take money for appointments which aren’t booked.”
“ORDERED AND PAID FOR FOUR TYRES TO BE FITTED AT MY NOMINATED GARAGE. RECEIVED E MAIL AT 6.50 PM TO SAY ERROR WITH BOOKING AND THEY COULDNT BE FITTED ON NOMINATED DATE. VERY CONVENIENT CONSIDERING THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICES CLOSES AT 5. 30 PM PHONED NOMINATED GARAGE WHO SAID THEY HAD MY CHOICE OF TYRE IN STOCK AND COULD FIT IMMEDIATELY AT A CHEAPER PRICE THAN BLACK CIRCLE WERE OFFERING ! NOW AWAITING FULL REFUND FROM BLACKCIRCLE AND IF ITS NOT RECEIVED WITHIN 3 DAYS I WILL REPORT THEM TO TRADING STANDARDS AND NATIONAL PRESS. BLACKCIRCLES ARE A COMPLETE JOKE AND THEIR ACTIVITIES ARE BORDERING ON FRAUDULENT. STAY WELL AWAY FROM THESE COWBOYS YOU CAN BUY MUCH CHEAPER TYRES DIRECT FROM TYRE FITTING CENTRES !”
