“Awful awful awful...
Had car in three times for repair before rejecting the car under the Consumer Rights Act and what a stress it was. The lies they told the Ombudsmen to try and wriggle out of giving me my money back was ridiculous. Two years it took but won my case and exposed their lies in the process. Avoid this lot at all costs!”
“Bought a car from them on July 18th 2022, on day of pick up it had two warning lights on dashboard. Brought back in and they rectified the issue. In September they called me and said the MOT was running out in October and to bring it back asap so they can get this done free of charge as it should of been done before it got handed out to me, come to find out the car had actually failed the MOT in May and nothing was ever done about it so I was driving the car around for 3 months with a failed MOT. Recently took it back to the garage for an engine coolant leak and an oil leak which came with a whopping £3.3k bill, lots of things charged to me which doesn’t add up if they had rectified the issues in October when it failed it’s MOT again. Avoid at ALL costs. Scam of a company.”
“Would leave no stars if I could. Absolutely horrendous service from Graham and his team at the Glasgow store. Countless lies, false promises, lack of knowledge regarding finance, order places incorrectly. When we said we’d like to make a formal complaint we were told by Graham there is no point as being the manager he reads them so would just bin it. Once they have your money they have absolutely no interest and customer service is non existent. Horrendous experience, extremely disorganised, had to make numerous visits to complete paperwork as they didn’t have this ready. Look on their Facebook group to see real experiences customers have gone through. Pay more and go elsewhere.”
“Rude people, rude customer service. Our car was faulty since the day one. Really difficult to communicate with them. They were the least helpful ever.
Independent garages scare of these people as they manipulate them and bully them through various channels.
They also blocked me on Facebook when I shared my experience.”
“Horrendous - treated like royalty, brand new car, in for the lucky draw, bought the service plan.
Did it all by the book. Catastrophic engine failure at 35,000 miles. Car is 3 years old. Hyundai and AC washed their hands of it all. £10,000 + to repair.
Took them to court.”
“I bought a car from Arnold Clark last year and also , foolishly, bought a package of pre paid servicing.
My last service was 4 months ago.
I have fine 4000 since that service and yesterday my oil light came on. I contacted serving at Winsford Vauxhall where I was met with defensive denial that the lack of oil was anything to do with them.
I took it to an independent garage . The oil was at minimum and viscosity indicated that it had not been recently changed.
I asked if it could be checked as I was assured there was a full oil change at point of service in February.
The garage could find no leak or evidence that the engine was burning oil. The view was that the work had not been completed.
I rang Winsford servicing back to explain the situation. It was denied , I was told what amounts to : it was my word against theirs.
I asked for a refund on future services, I was told this is not possible and I will just have to do what I want to do about it. I asked if the call was being recorded , the receptionist said it was and she was glad. She put the phone down.
Just be careful when dealing with this company. If you buy pre paid servicing it is likely corners will be cut, its not worth it.”
“Avoid at all cost pushy salesmen and faulty cars are being sold at this dealer. Misleading information about the car and sold me a car with flat battery and not working ac, 3 weeks waiting time to book a car for flat battery and alarm going all day long and it took almost 9 month to fix not working ac, car have been in service 8 times in total was off the road for almost 4 weeks. When I wanted my money back, they offered 2k less that I paid for it. I highly recommend not buying any car of this dealership as they sell dodgy cars and hide full information about them, car that have been sold to me with fault have been registered as a disability vehicle aswell - nobody informed me about that aswell.
Avoid at all cost.”
“Ripped off, car never worked fully without a noise after 10 mins from pickup, forced rejection as I couldn’t MOT car, told it was fine, then find out they sold it trade for nearly half the price (shows how fine it was) well out of pocket and time and a year paperwork and misery.. stay well clear, it’s not quality approved cars anymore! Don’t be fooled at what was once a half decent company.”
“Absolute shambles .
Lied to and fobbed off from the first hour.
I don't think they even looked at the car before sending it out.
Brakes on duel carriageway, car locked up and started to go sideways,this wasn't good as there were cars behind me , I think I'm very lucky not to of been involved in a pile up.
Tracking way out , none of the new tyres balanced , knocking noises from front end , turns out it had a broken spring only found out at MOT time. Window wipers banging off car body work and not clearing windscreen properly . Car twisted at front and bonnet and wings etc out of line.dpf blocked up on about a week . There is more etc etc . Totally shocking treatment also 3000 more than top book price , for a pile of #hi* . Wasn't even worth bottom book price so more like ripped off for 4500. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE/COVID . They won't care once they have your cash 😭. Never again .”
“I bought a car from them & took the service plan, which gave me three services, at the first service they told me that my track rod end was needed replaced, I purchased the track rod end & got a family member to change it, who informed me that it was completely fine, I also got an engineers report done on it.
I worked with the company at this point & was told by an area manager that this is common practice & it’s called “hitting the car up” where they say your car needs parts when it doesn’t & off course I complained & surprise surprise I was fired months later.
Fortunately I was part of a Union & was planning on taking them to an employment tribunal, But Arnold Clark paid out before the employment tribunal took place.
Oh & just to top my Arnold Clark experience off, my details were stolen by hackers on the 23/12/2022 & still haven’t even had an apology from them & an explanation why they kept my details for so long after car was purchased.
If you want to be lied too, ripped off for your hard earned money, then I would recommend Arnold Clark, but if you don’t want to be lied too or ripped off for your hard earned money, then I would avoid this disgraceful company who only care about money”
“Sold a faulty car, absolutely shocking customer service and then left £9k out of pocket for a new engine on a £48k car with 32000 miles on the clock
Avoid at all costs”
“I am pleading with people to avoid Arnold Clarke at all costs, to avoid a bitter experience.
I am very disappointed with Arnold Clark Salford Branch, last year on 07 December 2022, one of my sisters brought a Honda car 2019 Reg after two days she brought the car from Arnold Clark. The car started having a problem.
When my sister drives the car, the car will just stop working. My sister reports the problem to Arnold Clark Salford straight away.
Arnold Clark Salford told my sister there was nothing they could do about it, my sister just paid the full payment of £20,000 towards the car she brought from Arnold Clark.
What is more, anytime my sister calls Arnold Clark Salford to speak to the Sales Manager, they keep telling her the Manager is not available for a good one month, my sister started to have mental problems, depression, and anxiety.
After a month of her calling Arnold Clark Salford, they told her she needed to speak to the Arnold Clark Stourbridge branch and inform her that is where her car is brought from.
In lieu of this, the same experience she had with Arnold Clark Salford, she had the same with Arnold Clark Stourbridge Branch.
She informs me about the problem she is having with Arnold Clark Salford and Arnold Clark Stourbridge.
I advise her to let us visit Arnold Clark Stourbridge where they claim her car was brought. On 12 December 2022, my sister and I visited Arnold Clark Stourbridge and we had a meeting with their Sales Manager.
We explain the problems my sister is having with the car she brought from Arnold Clark Stourbridge to the Sales Manager David, 15 mins into the meeting with the Sales Manager.
The Sales manager said he does not care about the feeling my sister is having with the issues she is having with the car.
I asked him to repeat the statement, and he repeated the statement, I told him that it is very bad to say that to a customer that spent £20000 to buy a car in your company.
I told him my sister is going to take legal action against Arnold Clarke and the Sales Manager started pleading and he said he is going to replace a new car for my sister.
On 18 May 2023, my wife asked me to join her for an appointment with Arnold Clarke Salford to buy a new car.
I advised her to avoid Arnold Clarke at all costs, I further reminded her of the experience my sister had with Arnold Clarke last year.
But she insisted on attending the appointment, I should just follow her to the appointment, we had a meeting with Adam in Arnold Clark Salford.
I told Adam straight away about the bad experience my sister had with Arnold Clarke Salford last year before we started the meeting with him and he promised us that he will avoid having the same experience with us.
Adam found a car that suits my wife, he told my wife she has two options for a monthly payment plan, one is £137 and £157.
During the meeting with Adam, he called two of his Sales Managers to come and look if he have done the payment plan right, two Managers Daniel and Lee look into the system and said to Adam that everything is fine with the payment plan and confirmed to him to go ahead the process.
I advised my wife the car is fine and also the payment is fine as well, she can go ahead with Car.
My wife told Adam she likes to think about it and get back to Adam on 19 May 2023.
On 19 May 2023, my wife sent an email to Adam, to confirm to him that she wants to pay a deposit towards the car. Adam called my wife to say he made a mistake and that the car is not £137 and is now £272.
I told my wife I warned you about Arnold Clarke, you did not listen to me. My wife was very devastated, and very depressed by what Arnold Clarke did to her.
I spoke with Adam on the phone and asked what happened, but he was just giving a nonsense excuse, I reminded him what I said about the bad experience my sister had with Arnold Clarke, that Arnold Clarke has always been dodgy with customers.
During my telephone conversation with Adam, I advised him to find solutions to this problem and avoid any further bad representation again with Arnold Clarke.
What is more, during my telephone conversation with Adam, he told me he has another option for my wife, she can have another car for £220 monthly, after a couple of hours again, Adam changed his word again by email to my wife that the payment plan is not £220 is now £223.
At this point, I was very highly disappointed with Arnold Clarke in general. Wasting customers' time and damaging their reputation every day.
I invite the senior directors of Arnold Clarke to look into matters/issues, that keep arising within their organisation and try to do everything in their power to address all the problems customers keep having with Staff and Managers.
I am pleading with people to avoid Arnold Clarke at all costs, to avoid a bitter experience.”
“Absolutely disgusting bought a Vauxhall Grandland from Arnold Clark mount Vernon Glasgow paid for the interior and exterior protection and it was never applied noticed brake discs on rear were grooved and scored badly this is a brand new car only done 8k and on first service was told I have pay out nearly £500 on discs and pads I am absolutely disgusted by this and when I called customer service I was told it was down to my driving and wear and tear as for the protection I am still waiting to hear …, I will never deal with this shameful company again only happy to take your money ….,”
“Told lies about the car to get us to agree to the sale. Turned the keys to drive away and it all went downhill from there. Car needed a service, child locks don’t work, no paperwork for what we’d agreed to (service history etc) and was told at sales that this was the final year for car tax to be at the rate it was. Vehicle docs came through and this wasn’t true. Many emails to sales guy said details were passed to manager more than once and no contact - they’re just not interested once they have your money and tell you lies to agree to the sale. STAY WELL AWAY FROM ARNOLD CLARK WAKEFIELD.”
“Absolutely hellish experience with these guys. Bought my car from them 3 weeks ago and after a few days of driving it a noticed there was a noise coming from the front of the car. As I was still within my 60 day guarantee the service department booked it into the garage so they could take a look.
The first garage at Seafield Edinburgh couldn’t find fault with it, so they sent it along to the other garage across the road for them to take a look. I then got a phone called to say that the car is now getting taken to Hyundai and Stirlingshire as they thought they needed a new steering bracket. .
I was told that I would receive a courtesy car and it will be ready for me to pick up the next again day. One arriving at the location to pick up my courtesy car, I was told that there wasn’t one for me. I then had to go back in the afternoon to pick up a car. They had my new car in that garage for two weeks. During this time 6 different members of staff called me to ask what was going on with my car and could I explain the problem, in which I replied, I don’t know I’m not a mechanic and what the hell was going on with it. I was then told by a member of their staff that new, back brake pads and discs had been changed as the brake pads and discs that were on the car when I bought, it were not Hyundai‘s brake pads and discs.WTF. They then said that my car is ready to pick up, why would they not automatically change the front brakes and pads. As soon as I got in the car. I could still hear the same noise from my initial complaint. I then had to call them again and wait another week for the car to be booked back into the garage. On complaining to the management I was told that I would have new front brake pads and discs and a courtesy car waiting for me. Absolute lies from their manager, Michael, Joel.
Just took it there this morning for one of their service engineers to start my engine up hear my squeaky grinding brakes and for him to tell me that’s how your car should sound. The after-care service is unacceptable from this company to be lied to and passed around from different service departments different phone calls from different members of staff. Them passing the buck onto one person to another.
Three weeks of absolute complete nonsense. You’ll be pleased to know Arnold Clark that I took my car directly to Halfords. after I was told there was nothing wrong with it.A simple cleaning of the brake pads and discs was all that was needed to clear the noise, why could you have not have checked that’s and done that. Your service engineer didn’t even look at my brake, pads or disks.Spending 21,000 on a car that just needed a wee TLC, I have bought all my cars from Arnold Clark since passed my test 30 years ago. never again will I be dealing with this company or these people that work for them, avoid at all costs.”
“Why can't motor dealers check the cars before selling them? My son purchased a car from the Vauxhall dealership in East Kilbride, Glasgow. In the 3 weeks he's owned it, it has been sitting in another Arnold Clark dealership in Paisley for over a week and a half with no sign of him getting it back anytime soon. Awaiting parts apparently. Obvious fault with the gear box, don't need to be a mechanic to know that. Due to his age he can't get insurance for a courtesy/hired car. His second car purchase through AC and both have been bad experiences although this time way worse than the first.”
