Urgent help required halfords auto centre mot failure

sevenhills

Beckyf84 wrote: »

Anyway long story short my dad told me to shop around and see if any other garages could fit me in sooner as i need the car to get my children to school and i contacted a garage in my area that my friend had used has brilliant reviews and they were a DPF specialist garage, they could fit me in on the Tuesday to take a look, they investigated and turns out that the DPF was completely fine, they agreed with all the other things, cv boot, lights etc but nothing wrong with the emissions, in fact they retested my car and it passed with flying colours first time they didn't even need to do a forced regen or a clean etc they fixed all the little bits, the CV boot and retested the car and passed it and all for under £200.

You need to speak to your dad more often, it will save you money too.
The faults are the MOT testers opinion, I have seen cars with smokey exhausts and its amazing that they pass their MOT.
Some of the big chains like Halfords do have a bad reputation for doing work that was not needed. Stick with the smaller garages, or even get someone that knows about cars to take it for you.
Difficult to get any recompense for a failed MOT, but a complaint to head office might make you feel better.

tacpot12

Sorry about your troubles. I'm not sure I would complain to Halfords - if you do, the most likely outcome is they will send you a voucher for £200 off your next service - which will cost £200 more than anyone would charge, except perhaps a main dealer.

To avoid problems in the future, you need to find a good local mechanic. There is almost certainly one near to where you live. They will service the car and change the brakes and tyres for you, and will take the car for an MOT.

Start looking for this mechanic now. Ask friends and relatives.

alan_d

Beckyf84 wrote: »

I took my car to my local Halfords A C last saturday for an MOT,

That's where you went wrong. Halfords can't change a wiper blade properly never mind anything more complicated.
And chances are you didn't need new brakes all round...

EdGasketTheSecond

This has got to be a wind up. Doesn't make sense to cancel holiday and lose £1100 which is greater than the quoted repair bill anyway.

Mercdriver

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

This has got to be a wind up. Doesn't make sense to cancel holiday and lose £1100 which is greater than the quoted repair bill anyway.

Still you usual helpful self then...

Sometimes it is better to say it in the inside...

downinja

I assume you paid for the MOT from Halford's? And I assume you have the documentation showing the emissions test?

stator

You don't have any case whatsoever.


Write a letter of complaint (not facebook or e-mail) to Halfords HQ and if you are lucky they will give you a gift to make you go away. Don't expect much

MEM62

Beckyf84 wrote: »

I trusted them

I sympathise but there is your mistake in three words. Halfords, along with some others, are notorious for this kind of thing.

In respect of your stress Halfords cannot be held responsible for your health issues. They cannot be aware of your challenges or your financial standing. Likewise the holiday, it was your decision to cancel and, to be honest, you should have sat back and taken a breath before making such a decision. Of course hindsight is always 20/20 but making decisions when you are in a stressed and emotional state will not serve you well.

Having said all that I would complain to both the centre and Halford HQ. There maybe limited benefits for you in doing so but it may help others.

m0bov

There was nothing wrong with your brakes, never go to Halfords, they will always find something wrong. Just stick to a local garage and build up a relationship with them.

Tokk

It's the surprise that gets you - not being prepared for what you were told, or prepared for how to fund it.

Stating the obvious, but not all Halfords or Kwikfit are terrible...
Some are okay, but caveat emptor - expect them to try to upsell (and be pleasantly surprised if they don't, or if they softball) and be aware of the state of your car.

With most modern cars with alloy wheels you can see your discs and pads easily enough, the most cursory glance is enough for forewarned is forearmed - if you know there's meat on the pads and they tell you they're bordering on dangerous then you know how far to run.

But everyone else is 100% right, a decent local garage is a much better bet... Even independent specialists for most car manufacturers will be better priced for most work than chain garages and main dealers, and they'll know your car very well too.

Not all local garages do tyres themselves, some take them to chains (atleast one of my local garages gets the tyres done at local ATS), but they're not going to get hoodwinked by upsold maintenance...

Find a local garage you can trust, budget some savings in advance for repairs and do you own minor checks as much as possible - you won't ever be so surprised, or upset, again.