Halfords Autocentres Reviews

Name: Halfords Autocentres
Rating: 1.86

1.9 Rating 834 Reviews

21 %

of reviewers recommend Halfords Autocentres

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.9

Based on 834 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver, Courier
Average Delivery Time	Next Day
On-time Delivery	Greater than 9%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 64%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	2.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult

Phone:

0800 037 0800

Location:

Halfords Autocentres Ltd. 7/9 Richmond Road, Olton Wharf Olton,
Solihull

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Halfords Autocentres 1 star review on 23rd April 2025

Ardrie Kleyn

Halfords Autocentres 1 star review on 26th July 2024

Andrew

Halfords Autocentres 1 star review on 29th June 2024

Mrs Helen Dehkordy

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“I went to Halfords in Hounslow and that was my huge mistake one of the biggest disaster in my life very impolite guy seating in from or desk when I asked if I can get copy of my car service he said to me they don't have it. I paid 195 for annual service and nobody want to give me any information copy of car service. They changed me for changing engine oil but nobody change my oil so rude and impolite service”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“I booked my car in to have its MOT at Halford Autocentre in Kidderminster. The online booking systems allowed me two timing options. The one being 08:30 and the other 13:30. I have two children and was working night shifts at the time. My Wife was at work in the day so I was on school drop off and pick up duties. I couldn't risk the afternoon time in case they were running late and I would be left with no means to collect the kids from school. I therefore booked the 08:30 time. Now please note that there are not time slots. I am not told that my car must be there by a set time because it has its own hour slot somewhere. I thought that my car would be done at some point throughout the morning before the afternoon bookings arrive. Having dropped the kids off at the earliest possible time of 08:30, I drove straight to Halfords, arriving at roughly 08:50. I was greeted by the Manager on reception who after asking if I was alright said I was going to have to leave my car with them for the entire day. I explained that this would not be possible as I needed the car to collect my children and indeed I had no way of getting home. I said I was planning to wait on site while they did it. He then tells me that as I am late, I have missed my slot. He would try to fit it in throughout the rest of the day. I said that I wasn't aware I had an exact time slot to have missed. Nowhere did it state that on booking and I could see there was only one other car in their garage being worked on. The car park was empty but I appreciate other's were likely to be arriving later. The manager would not be more specific on timings and just said I would have to leave my car for the whole day. It was like I was being told off and punished for being late. I explained my reasons for getting there when I did and his response was, "Tough. You've missed your slot" Needless to say I cancelled my MOT and phoned to complain immediately. I couldn't go to the centre manager as it was the manager who was being completely none understanding and frankly rude. The centre clearly refuses to cater for families in circumstances such as mine. The manager needs training in customer service for when things don't go quite the way he expects. He is the smiling assassin. Very smiley until there is an issue clearly, so customers be warned. I can honestly say I shall never use that centre again while he is managing it. Halfords telephone customer services were good though and have fully refunded me. I'm now left having to find another location to get an MOT which is something I could have really done without.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“My daughter's first experience of an MOT and service on her first car has taught her a good lesson and reinforced my knowledge - don't use Halfords. I measure a company on their attitude to women drivers, cost and service. Failed all 3. What was very worrying was that they admitted not knowing the change in legislation when a car fails the MOT when I spoke to them 2 days later. ASTONISHING and APPALLING! They let my daughter drive off without informing her that she could now be stopped and prosecuted by the police. A score of zero would have been more appropriate.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“They say you can judge how good a company is by how it responds to a problem. Having booked my car in with Halfords for its MOT, as I have for the past few years, I turned up on Thursday to be told they couldn’t do it because some piece of equipment needed repaired. I was told I would be contacted as soon as it was and I would be a priority as my MOT expired next day. I was then contacted on Saturday to be offered an appointment the next Friday. It turns out that despite the equipment breakdown and the resulting backlog there is no MOT tester at work on a Saturday and no arrangements whatsoever had been made to deal with the situation – such as getting staff to work overtime, arranging to use someone else’s equipment, booking customers into an alternative tester etc. Instead I was told I can get a refund if waiting another week was no good for me. Well in fact it isn’t any good for me, and clearly Halfords has no interest in good customer service.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“If l could l would give 0 stars. They charge me £365 for rear discs and brake pads for my peugeot 207 and in local peugeot dealer center costs £275 original parts. Thieves. The car fail MOT and they said reason is rear break pads. After 3 days l book retest and pads replacement. They call me and said the discs must be changed as well.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Here's the inflated/average cost of the part they're charging me for: * CV Boot Gaiter: £10 - £14 They're asking for over £200 - when already undergoing a full service, and therefore the car is already up on the ramps with wheels off etc for inspection. I'm assuming here as well that they're not using a boot stretcher, making you possibly the only auto centre not to, but nevertheless it is not £200 in labour for this job, even when not doing a full service. This is a flat out joke. * Front small light bulb: £2.10 They're asking £20 for this - I'd happily change it myself in the 5min it will take. Can this be an option? I think this should be an option. * I brought the car to the same centre a year ago for a major service and check. The guy now tells me the rear and front brakes need to be done. This is after less than an additional 3,000 of driving; so they're telling me that last time the job wasn't done right? In which case I see why Halfords was fined. Or, alternatively, they're inflating the claim this time around to make a quick buck. The car does not do major mileage year to year. Consequently I would expect any such defects to have been detected when I brought it in for a major service last year. (The specific advice is that the rear and front brakes require replacing) * Additionally, the centre rep on the phone when I booked the car in seemed very confused about the work performed when I brought it in last year, and wasn't clear as to whether or not the brake fluid, oil or coolant fluids were changed. Even those these are included in the major service, and I made a deliberate point of requesting this be done last time. So again - was it done, or not?”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Eastleigh - rude and aggressive Booked my partner's car in for a full service. The car is 2 years old, and has a low mileage. The garage contacted her to "upsell" numerous totally unnecessary extras. I contacted the garage to politely question if these were needed and they openly admitted they weren't needed. Almost seemed like they were preying on those they think they can get away with it with. Beware. When I went to collect and pay for the service, the mechanic (short brown haired chap) was loitering by the workshop doors and made an abusive remark as I walked past. We won't be returning.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Absolute crap...failed MOT deilberately.. then quoted me works for £500+. On second opinion works not required”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Turned up on time. Told me his lads wanted to go home and it was an immediate fail as it had an air freshener hanging from rear view mirror. I said that was unfair as it had been booked for a month. Last mot passed with no advisories. Did less than 2k miles in a year and went from needing nothing to needing new : anti roll bar, brake pads, brake pad discs, suspension arm front and back both sides, sub frame coroded, bulb not working, coil spring and more. All bulbs do work. Want £47.98 to change one wiper blade that they themselves changed a few months ago for £19.99. Put in for a retest with someone else, PASSED first time. They Saw a female - they wanted to go home but because I asked them to actually the MOT at the time of my actual appointment when they wanted to go home they totally ripped me off. If they didn't want to do an appointment at half four then they shouldn't have booked it ! Disgusted !”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“I had my car serviced and MOT'd here, and was told to get a second opinion on any work they recommended. I'm very glad I did. They told me the front brake discs and pads needed urgently replacing, and gave amber warnings for the back ones, and a new tyre. The total would have been £600 if I had gone ahead. I called out a local mechanic who - after taking it apart - showed me that none of the work needed doing immediately. I can't believe that in this day and age such a big brand can behave this way.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Took my car in for mot and service. Car stank of cigarette smoke and I was told they do not provide a service report so only paperwork I got was a receipt for £800! Avoid at all costs”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“i have vauxhall and there was a service warning light was showing so i book major service with halfords grays when i was dropping my car the guy said if he can remove the warning light they will remove it and when i went there after 5 hours car was still was not done. later the machanic came with his long list of things to be done in my car they had piled up about £1000 worth i listened to his rubbish and took my car and he told me if i want to the warning light to be removed he will charge me another £50 pound for dignostic remember my car clearly says its vehicle service soon means they have to reset my warning light but what i want to tell people that they want you to spend more even though its their job to remove the warning sign but they wont remove it. by the way i have my own machanic from whom i do all my work the reason i went there because i wanted the stupid warning sign to be sorted.. I will not suggest these people they are just after your money and the will make a big reason for small job, next day i took my car to local garage in romford and got done it for £20 pound all i want to say is that i did my service but still the service sigh was not been removed they wanted to give them £50 for dianostic and also they suggested me to spend almost £1000 worth of work from them. please dont go here and give yourself a favour..”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Went to Halfords AutoCentre in Reading today. For asking a simple question in my normal voice, the lady (Lisa) shouted in my face. Was so taken aback I didnt say anything although I should have. You cannot treat customers this way. On top of this, she was awful at explaining things. AVOID, even if it means spending a bit more elsewhere.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Had to take car elsewhere to finish my AC service as it needed a fault reset after they regarded but they didn't know so wanted to charge more to find why it would not work.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Went I have for a cam belt and water pump they never did the water pump so the old one failed causing £800 worth of damage when I went in to complain about it I was told that it's not there problem”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“I had my tyres replaced at Halfords Autocentre, it had to be done in a rush for me just before a 3 week holiday. Later in the day the TPMS sensor went off but I couldn't do anything about it right away due to the holiday (and actually wasn't sure what it meant until I'd spoken to Ford). When the dealer checked it they confirmed Halfords had replaced the £50 sensor with a normal value during the tyre replacement, they speculated that the sensor had been broken and they hadn't admitted it. I contacted the Halfords customer service who refused point blank to do anything about it without the receipt, which I couldn't find. But obviously Halfords know from the online booking reference I gave them that I'd booked and pre-paid online, and their computer system obviously then shows the completion of the job. I also had my credit card receipt to prove it. Both ends of the Halfords system are a disgrace, the people who do the work damage are not trained to work with modern TPMS sensors and/or they break your property and don't admit it - and then the customer service looks for any little get out to avoid having to rectify their mistakes. I strongly recommend you look elsewhere.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Very poor service I will never go back. Toby the manager not understand customers request. Listen first time”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Toby manager of finchely auto centre I am discussed with the manager Toby at your auto centre in Finchley. I booked my car in for a mot and a check on my breaks. I told Toby to go ahead with the job but then I changed my mind and called him back straight away to let him no not to go ahead with the job. Once I came to pick on my car. He told me he's done the job after I explained for him not to go ahead. I was so annoyed that he done this and then tried to soften it by saying he will give me a discount. (you wouldn't offer a discount if you wasn't in the wrong)I'm sure no matter where you go, no means no! I told him how discussed I was of what he done and I hope he doesn't do that to other customers just to help reach his target for the day. He called his area manager as he didn't not what to put the car back to how it was. Then told me he will charge me for taken it off and if I don't pay he will not give my car back then expected me to be a happy customer regarding this. Then in front of me lied to his area manager in regards to I told him to do the job! I am amazed if you don't have other complements like this. Unacceptable! The area manager told Toby to do what I asked. No customers should be cheated out of there money like this! I told Toby I will send a email regard this as many times possible to make sure this does not happen again to any customer! He should call me and apologise for the lies, wasting my time and bad customer service. Toby lost you a loyal customer today. Thanks!”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Halfords Autocentres Dartford did an interim service and MOT on 8th March 2017. After collecting the car I returned Home and noticed a transmission fault condition flagged up on the dash screen. Concerned, I took the car back at the earliest convenience and parked at the reception. I tried to explain to the lady staff member but she refused to talk about my concerns, seemed agitated, and insisted I leave immediately quoting that "Halfords did not accept responsibility for their work once the vehicle was collected". she was very abrupt and was not at all concerned nor interested to address my concerns, as proved when I telephoned later asking about a diagnostics check. She said Halfords did not have any facilities for this????? Why not, when most cars use them now. I was left with no option but to go to Dynes to resolve the problem. To cut a long story short, the errors were corrected, easy. I now find after the service, the following additional things attributed to Halfords:- 1) serious oil leak from sump drain plug, making a mess of my Driveway. 2)Engine undertray is now missing 2 fixing bolts. 3)Oil filter was not changed. 4)N/S front wing has been scuffed whilst in for service. Would anyone want this sort of service?.....”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“I am a qualified vehicle tech and have been in the trade for over 10 years and also an MOT tester.unfortunately the company I work for only MOT in house due to the nature of its business. My fathers MOT was due up so he asked me to check his car over as he'd booked it in at your Nottingham Huntingdon street branch. When I checked it over I found that the suspension arm ball joint covers had minor splits in. These could be an MOT failure if they are excessively deteriorated to an extent that they are no longer preventing dirt and ingress.see section 2.4 of the MOT manual. However they weren't they were very minor, regardless I fitted new covers but over the old ones so they were 'doubled up' so no way dirt could get into the ball joint. So if I would of been able to MOT the vehicle it would of been passed but with an advisory notice but having done them it should of passed with flying colours. So having hearing from my father it had failed I was shocked as this reflects bad on my workman ship. Anyway ramping the car found that it looked as if the cover had been pushed or peeled back. Already bought more dust covers I carried on and replaced it once again. To only hear today that the MOT tester failed it again. This was questioned this time and was told that the tester had pressed against the cover pushing it away from the joint, said he'd saw grease end of. Even if the ball joint was brand new if you pushed the cover away from the joint you would reveal grease. The work this entails is probably 1 hour at the most plus a dust cover at approx £3 but this is frustrating for my father and myself this has happened.I would like to put this to the ministry but unlike your Tester I haves conscience and don't just think about making money or putting people down. I would also like to add that he was quoted an extortionate amount for the repair and was told we don't mess about with just covers it would need a new arm. My father only decided to use your services as he'd got a voucher from somewhere for £10 MOT. In future he nor anybody I know will be told to avoid as I see your £10 mot a ploy to draw you in then have your pants down for unnecessary repairs at extortionate costs.fortunately he hasn't been ripped off just a massive mess about.well done Halfords.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

Halfords Autocentres is rated 1.9 based on 834 reviews