“No work carried out, charged for a visual check and even though it was booked for a specific repair this was not done on the agreed date. Awful service won’t be using them again, no one can afford to throw money away like this.”
“BSM Banbury. More than helpful before they take your money then don't make good on their promises and ghost you. Worse than a second hand car dealer!!! I should have read the reviews before going there.”
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“Awful experience, I do not recommend putting down the £99 'fully refundable' holding fee as its a nightmare to get back!!!
Since I advised the salesman I didn't want to purchase the car, they have dropped all communication... I have contacted customer services a number of times who just pass me around to other people, but seem to get nowhere.
I'm going to have to now contact the bank to put a reversal on the payment...
The holding fee was pointless anyway, I was told it was for a 48 hour period, but by the time I got to view the car the next day the hold had been expired as it only lasted 24 hours...
If they cant sort out something as trivial as this, I'd hate to think how difficult it would be to try and sort out any kind of substantial issue!”
“Don't trust this company. I bought an annual service plan from these people explicitly to receive the home collection and drop off service. The collection service was cancelled 3 months before my service without any notification. I only found out when booking my annual service.
Since this happened various individuals I have spoken to and corresponded with have lied about and dodged my questions without so much as an apology.
Buy their services at your peril.”
“Ever heard of the term ‘by hook or by crook’?
Should anybody not know the meaning of this phrase, then go to Bristol Street Motors.
We have had three cars from this lot, namely from their Ford Hartlepool branch. We ordered a new Puma St Line from them in late 2022, the finance was all completed and passed and we had to wait for the twelve weeks for our car to be produced and shipped over. Throughout this time, their sales representative kept us informed as to the status of our car, eventually arriving to the point some three months later that it was due to the dealership in a couple of days. The day before collection, we receive a phone call from Alan Smith, their ‘sales manager’, informing us that the finance was now declined. They ‘apparently’ do a soft search first, then a hard search later on. We were never advised of this. So they order a factory car with only a soft search credit check? All the documentation was signed and sealed when we initially ordered the car. We inevitably cancelled the order, disgusted at their attitude and also been blatantly lied to. More to the point, it took us days to get our cash back from them as we had used my partners 18 reg Fiesta as a part exchange. We vowed to never go back. Coincidentally, we went to another dealership and purchased another vehicle on finance.
October 2023, we were looking for another car, and we saw a 21 reg Fiesta Vignale at their Knaresborough branch. Putting our doubts aside, and giving them the benefit of the doubt, we contacted their Hartlepool branch, who had the car brought to them. We went to test drive it and were happy with it. During the test drive, the sales representative persistently pushed their extended warranty as the car only had three months manufactures warranty left. We told her we were not interested in the warranty. We sat down to do the deal, paying for the balance outright whilst also using our current car as a part ex. Throughout this process, the warranty was consistently brought up, the benefits, the recommendation etc. we eventually succumb and agreed to purchase the warranty at a cost of £699. We also noticed a split in the passenger side front tyre side wall. Part of the deal was for this to be replaced with a new tyre as it was unsafe to drive, especially at motorway speeds, and also an MOT failure. Ironically, the car had been MOT’d in July?? We collected the car a week later, this was late October during one of last years major storms. We were told the tyre had all been done etc and we drove the car away. We stopped five minutes up the road to have a quick coffee. Upon getting out of the car I noticed the split tyre was still on the car, the way the wheel had rotated, the split was nearest the road surface, bearing the weight of the vehicle. It had not been replaced. Not only was this trying to pull the wool over our eyes yet again, it was also negligent as this was also a safety issue. We went back to the dealership and they finally fitted the new tyre, telling us it was a mix up.Fast forward to early April and we noticed an alarming rattle/vibration coming from the front of the car, also with a worrying electrical smell too. The front Alloy Wheels had
Also began to peel, a known issue with this particular wheel. I contacted the sales rep who fobbed us off with a ‘we use this company, take it to them, they are cheap’ response. We finally decided to part ex the car as it was worryingly starting to be problematic. We purchased a 72 plate VW Golf from Lookers. I contacted Bristol Street Motors/Vertu Motors to request the warranty be cancelled and to request a refund, to which we were informed this was only refundable under ‘exceptional circumstances’. My partner is once again suffering from cancer, and I myself am awaiting major abdominal surgery in July. I cannot work at the moment because of this, so what this company believes are ‘exceptional circumstances’ the mind boggles. We received a call from Ford Hartlepool’s sales manager again, Alan Smith. I informed him that we were never ever told when we purchased this that it was none refundable. He more or less called me a liar and said why did we not say no, to which I told him we did, several times. Their rep pushed and pushed to purchase it, so we finally agreed, due to her persistence and recommendation. Alan Smith also said that this product was not an insurance type product. According to the law, any warranty is regarded as a form of insurance, to insure the product is repaired or replaced in the event of breakdown, therefore protecting the customer. As far as I am aware, these products cannot be recommended to the customer, only the features and benefits should be made aware to the customer. It is up to them to make up their mind. Alan Smith then told us, it was non refundable, we were not entitled to getting our £699 back. We were misold this product
Date of experience: 24 June 2024”
“Purchased a new car from Bristol Street Motors Stafford. Should have been delivered today at 11100hrs.
1130hrs no car, I call the dealer to be told they would look into it and call me back. 1220hts I call again (no call back received) to be told it’s not due for delivery until next week, not put on transporter. Prior to this I have sorted Ford Drive away insurance and changed the details on my policy….
Manager - Dominic agreed a full refund. 1645hrs no refund pending I call to speak to Dominic. Unsurprisingly he’s ‘with a customer’ and will call me back. It’s now 1740hrs, no call back and dealer now closed until Monday. I am livid”
“Would recommend everyone to avoid this dealership. I spent good money for a very poor customer service. I had the car for only a week and it is still with the dealers to get fixed .it has been over a month and still not fixed .please everyone take your money elsewhere and get the right customer service as this place won't look after you they just want the sale .(Shirley branch) AVOID!!!”
“Would NOT recommend BSM Plymouth branch after selling us a Skoda Fabia we’ve been having some issues with getting the DAB radio to work. We notified BSM of this well within our warranty cover in the hopes that they would rectify the issue. This has been ongoing for 4 months and in that time they replaced the antenna and took it to Skoda for a system update which unfortunately didn’t resolve the issue. They said no more could be done so feeling really fobbed off we spoke to an auto technician who advised us that issues with the DAB can be resolved by either replacing the antenna or replacing the digital box itself (like you would if you were to go to Halfords a buy a new unit). We tried to go back and explain this to them as they hadn’t replaced the digital unit at this point. We were told that they were not going to investigate this issue anymore. We now have a car which we paid a lot of money for without a working DAB radio, feeling very frustrated with the lack of customer service received, and the disappointment that they’ve not stuck to the warranty agreement!”
“Hi. I found bristol street motors in Worcester terrible. I have a 2019 transit custom. Had a low oil pressure pop up on dash. Phoned up on Monday to book in. Asked for a van when mine was in for repair. Was told Thursday. Phoned today to sort bits asked when to pick up van to use. Sorry not booked you one out. Asked when could I have one. 13th of fed. Now left with no van so I can't work. Surely mine would be fixed before I got to borrow a van. Terrible service”
“I'd like to thank Mustafa for his customer service today. He was welcoming, and explained all on offer from the showroom. Great doing business with him.”
“Shocking approach to customer care which they mistake for reputation management. Purchased a nearly new Hyundai - £40k o. 7th October. The day after delivery it was towed to garage where it remains 2 months later. It turns out that BSM had undertaken some major engine repairs (3 occasions) and these had been done negligently. This was not disclosed. The manufacturers warranty is invalid. There has been no urgency from BSM to resolve the compliant - why would they, they have the money in their bank account. They refuse to answer simple questions because they know they are liable. It’s a mess that is heading to court and totally avoidable. You will find out that BSM response to customer complaints is to pass you round the houses but not to resolve the problem. There is no escalation process or no other means to deal with problems. It is appalling customer service. The test of customer service is sorting out problems when things go wrong. No offering you a drink etc when they want you to buy a car from them. My recommendation - buy elsewhere and make sure they tell you the truth and disclose any previous problems that would invalidate the warranty. They should anyway but that is not my experience. I’ll expect a bot response that alludes to dealing with problems but just moves the issue on!”
“they fought hard to get out of a warranty issue. I intended to take them to small claims as had a good case but then covid happened and it became too difficult at that time . It had been stressful and i did not bother . they also said my brake pads and discs needed replacing at rear and front as very low . it was nonsense and they are still ok 4 years later and pass MOT although they look at them only visually .”
“We purchased a 2nd hand peugeot from the Oxford branch of Bristol Street Motors back in June this year. We had the car checked over within three days of purchase by our trustworthy local garage and they found that the battery was underpar and recommended it be replaced before it let us down.
We contacted Bristol Street Motors and they has no interest in replacing it. Their suggestion was to see how the car performed in the next few months, and if we had a problem with the battery they would look after us.
Little comfort when you're relying on the car to take you to your destination without the worry of being stranded with grandchildren or on the way to the airport.
Smaller second hand car dealers, who tend to have a bad reputation for one reason or another, have actually been known to replace faulty batteries without further ado.
Yet a large concern such as Bristol Street Motors are penny pinching. I say this as they also attempted to sell us an additional warranty which would have been of no value as the car had already gone beyond the qualifying mileage quoted on their T&Cs.
Not a great experience. Won't be recommending them to anyone.
Be warned!”
“Tyre inflator kit was missing and the arm rest was snapped in half on delivery also the so called extended warranty is not worth the paper is written on and after sales service is absolutely awful,
Would not touch them with a bargepole”
“Excellent service throughout, kept well informed on progress of new vehicle ,Linda was brilliant very helpful and friendly, so different from my previous dealership, would throughly recommend Bristol street Motors”
“I visited Banbury branch as I had lost the back off a wing mirror. I was given excellent advice and service by Theresa, Sarah and Nigel. It was fitted the next day , all good!
While I was waiting my coming MOT and annual service was organised for me as when I had phoned the main call centre, they were unable to give me dates together, before the MOT ran out . Sarah found me a nearer booking to my MOT and service to be completed in good time. All with a smile!”
“Sent my 4wd car in for MOT, they failed it as it didnt work with their 2wd brake rollers. I explained they should do a decel test instead as per MOT guidelines, they ignored me and did it anyway. This could have damaged the transfer box permanently. II politely complained twice, and was promised someone would call me back both times. Neither call happened. I then got upset, and they have banned me from coming back. Avoid at all costs, these people are morons.”
