Halfords Autocentre Dispute

Taineh

Hi!

Just wanted to share my experience with Halfords Autocentres (Camborne branch).

Took my newly purchased MG ZS 180 in to have a major service as I tend to think this is a good idea after buying a second hand car. The car had had an MOT last month with no advisories, so I wasn't really expecting anything to need doing.

Of course the inevitable phone call - "you need new brake discs and pads all round." Unfortunately this caught me a little off guard and I agreed for them to do the work given that the manager said that he would give me a discount. Later I got called again - apparently the front calipers had seized and also needed replacement. Again, the manager offered to waive the labour charge to fit these.

The final bill came to over £1000 which I felt was still quite steep!

I later noticed that Halfords say that they have a price match guarantee:

"If you find the same goods or service cheaper (within 3 miles of the autocentre and within 7 days), we will refund the difference."

I therefore obtained two quotes from two independent garages within 3 miles of the autocentre - they both quoted £200 less than halfords for the same work.

Intriguingly I received a missed call from Halfords so I decided to go there in person. Asking first what the call was about, the manager told me that they had put the wrong air filter in my car and forgotten to tell me! They now had the correct filter - and so I agreed for them to put it in.

I then moved on to the question of the price match guarantee. I gave the printed cheaper quotes to the manager who took a brief look at them, chucked them down on the desk and said "I'll have a look and get back to you".

That was 3 days ago now.

On Monday I intend to phone the autocentre and attempt to get a final answer. Has anyone else attempted this before?

motorguy

You were mugged.

Seriously mugged.

:eek:

What ever possessed you to take an approx 10 year old car to a Halfords Service centre AND then to agree to it needing new discs and pads and front calipers???

Shocking.

Were no alarm bells ringing at all with you?

Strider590

We call them "Halfrauds" for a reason.......

Taineh

motorguy wrote: »

You were mugged.

Seriously mugged.

:eek:

What ever possessed you to take an approx 10 year old car to a Halfords Service centre AND then to agree to it needing new discs and pads and front calipers???

Shocking.

Were no alarm bells ringing at all with you?

Well I guess it's a lesson learnt, but actually I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a professional service from a large organisation such as this. I'm not a mechanic therefore I have to put some trust in one, just as people put trust in me when I give them an opinion in my professional role. It may be that this trust has been breeched - but certainly they have not been competitive on price.

mad_rich

To be fair, I have only had one complaint about Halfords.

I raised it with the manager, and when he couldn't resolve to my satisfaction he referred it to the regional manager. I had the promise of a full refund by the end of the day, and without too much hassle.

spacey2012

When people buy new cars why on earth do they insist on taking them to a garage for them to give them a list of work.
Of course they will find worn parts, it is a second hand car.
You were just lucky Halfords do not own the tools to replace the suspension parts.

Taineh

spacey2012 wrote: »

When people buy new cars why on earth do they insist on taking them to a garage for them to give them a list of work.
Of course they will find worn parts, it is a second hand car.
You were just lucky Halfords do not own the tools to replace the suspension parts.

It definitely needed a major service given the age and the service history. The oil looked pretty tired when I inspected it, and there was no record of the other fluids being changed in the last 4 years or so. I wasn't taking it for them to specifically find out problems - perhaps my fault for trusting their advice when they reported the brake problems. Hard to say if their advice was correct or not - in the future I will ask for the old parts to inspect or have inspected by someone who knows what they are doing.

Taineh

mad_rich wrote: »

To be fair, I have only had one complaint about Halfords.

I raised it with the manager, and when he couldn't resolve to my satisfaction he referred it to the regional manager. I had the promise of a full refund by the end of the day, and without too much hassle.

Thanks - I will ask about referral to regional manager if the branch manager doesn't honour the guarantee. Fingers crossed!

CRISPIANNE3

I used to praise Kwik fit but learnt my lesson the hard way. When my car is due for a service or MOT i usually go to an independent garage.
The only time I now use Kwik fit is for them to check my brakes and pads as I have a life time guarantee covering those parts.

skivenov

motorguy wrote: »

You were mugged.

Seriously mugged.

:eek:

What ever possessed you to take an approx 10 year old car to a Halfords Service centre AND then to agree to it needing new discs and pads and front calipers???

Shocking.

Were no alarm bells ringing at all with you?

Exactly.

It's absolutely no help to you now, but whenever you have parts replaced at the garage, tell them you want the old parts. Any garage worth their salt will have no problem with this (although brake calipers will probably need to go back to the supplier for a surcharge, you can still ask to see them). Any garage that refuses this will be hiding something.

That way:

1) You can see they've actually been changed
2) You can see that they really were worn

Whether you're a mechanic or not, take a phonecall saying your car needs extra work with a similarly sized pinch of salt to the one you'd add if someone knocked on your door and said "I was just doing some work down the road and noticed you could do with some work doing on your roof".

spacey2012

They have a load of "apprentices" who will bolt on whatever you will agree to pay for.
It is what they do.
In this case you were lucky, the suspension parts are to intricate for them on the Rover.
The parts they fit are also just standard bottom line motor factor parts and often far inferior in quality to what they took off.

If there was anything wrong with it, it would not have an MOT, despite what people think about dodgy garages and MOT stations, it is just not worth the MOT stations licence to nod a car through.