Halfords Autocentre Service

Abs2017

Hi Guys,

I am a fairy new driver. Please can you guys advise me what the best route is in my case.

Thank you in advance.

I was recommended to get my car MOT done from Halford Auto centre last year in December 2016 which they passed without any issues or advisory.

As I found the service good I booked in January of this year for a full major service from there things went out of control. When I went to pick up my car the mechanic didn't do some of the things I could visually see and I asked him if he had and he said he had not and made me wait while he finished off the greasing of the doors etc. When i went home that day I checked my service handbook from BMW which was not ticked in the right places and showed according to him he had not done some of the work which was part of their major service. I called the manager and he said the guy had done it and incorrectly ticked the wrong boxes. I further explained and made a complaint about all this to their customer service team on the phone and they said the car should go back in for a service again and rechecked if the service was carried out. Went back in the following week as I work 7 days a week in two jobs and take care of my sisters hospital appointments as she is suffering from a rare form of cancer and working two jobs helps to pay for some private medical bills.

The second time I was told by the manager all was done and he admitted in a video recording I made discreetly the first guy didn't do a full service and reassured me this time it was done. He also amended the service book overwriting the first guys errors. (I have kept a photo copy of the original service book details) I then informed him of a noise coming from the front of the car and he asked another mechanic to road test the car with myself. Where he was able to find a noise but said he needed me to come in again to find the fault as he will need to take the wheel off etc and see where it was coming from. I was given a free MOT voucher as compensation at that point by their customer service team.

As I said above due to personal matters the next time I was able to go in was this week March 30th 2017, about two months after the previous conversation.

I dropped the car off and took a taxi to work. Around midday the manger calls and I am told my brake disc are worn out and that was the reason possibly for the noise. I went in to the service station after work by taxi again as my work pattern and their opening hours are quite tight. I walked over to my car parked a the front of the building and saw it was unlocked and after a few minutes was handed my keys by one of the mechanics who brought it out from the back. My uber driver was bit shocked they had left my car unlocked in a area without CCTV. He waited with me while I had a chat with the manager asking why the brake disc issue wasn't highlighted to myself at the service day and all clear was given? He said it must have been (in the video on the day that wasn't what he had said so bit of a lie there) I told him what if I had walked away and not asked about the noise and as a new driver I would have trusted their word my car was fine and possibly had a major incident while driving. ( I usually travel around the UK and from Jan 2017 to March have done 3k miles) He said that would have happened. He said BMW who had serviced my rear brakes in July of 2016 should have told me and a third party who did my breaks in October 2016 should have also told me but I told him they had done a MOT test and two services within 2017 and they are suppose to tell me themselves as even in a minor service breaks and brake discs are checked and I had opted for their premium Major service with 71 point check. He said everything was checked and still referred back to BMW and third party should have highlighted these issues. I told him I will complain to their head office again and he simply replied go ahead.

I have since spoken to their complaints team and asked to have a call from their area manager regarding this. It has scared me to think I had almost walked away from them thinking my car was in perfect shape and possibly had continued being ignorant as a new driver if I didn't questioned the noise.

Please advise myself what I can do as financially I had the money for repairs in January but since then I have spent almost all of my income on saving my sisters medical bills and giving her the chance to have children after her chemotherapy which knocked me back 15k.

Really stressed and confused about what support is out there for us consumers and what is the best course of action to take and what I should ask for in order to get myself back to square one.

To all new drivers please make sure you take care of who you trust as brakes systems are either a life saver or a death trap in the wrong hands.

Sorry if I wrote an essay. New here too and had to get everything off my chest

forgotmyname

Stressed about what exactly? A slight noise on the brakes not picked up on the service? They didnt road test it so as long as the brakes are within spec they wont have reported the brakes needing any work.

Its possible the brakes are fine, just the brand of pads/discs but to sort your issue they just thought change the brakes anyway?

They replaced the brakes rather than clean them and remove the lip of the disc?

debtdebt

As I read it, between the service in Jan and now, your brakes have started making a noise. It may well be that your brakes only just started to deteriorate after the service and need replacing now. How can Halfords be responsible for that?

It's unfortunate that you had to spend your money before the brakes were noted to be making a noise but that isn't anyone else fault.

There isn't anything that can be done. What do you think Halfords have done wrong regards the brakes?

chrisw

Why did BMW do the rear brakes in July 2016 and someone else do the brakes in October 2016?

I would have firstly queried why Halfords felt they needed replacing again already, then gone back to the person who did them in October to complain if necessary.

EdGasket

chrisw wrote: »

I would have firstly queried why Halfords felt they needed replacing again already,

£££££££'s

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