Halfords fitted my car battery loose

selinakhan

Halfords fitted my car battery which I purchased from them 2months ago. Since then my car has been dead several times not starting I thought it was down to the cold weather or me leaving it on accidental. Had to have it jumpstart few times after a month problem not solved decided to call AA who came and looked and said the car battery wasn’t fitted properly originally it was very loose and moving around which caused the car not to start. Next day several lights come up in the car and was told not to drive I still took it to Halfords who said their sorry and will refund me the fitting and suggested car has been off drive it for a few miles and all lights will go away and also suggested keep car on for a few minutes in mornings. We did all that no help at all. We had to call aa again who said don’t drive the car it’s dangerous to drive with the warning lights. Since then Iv had to get several work done such as wheel alignment, reprogramming the car and something else too after that car was fine. I emailed Halfords about all this who said sorry and asked off receipts and work done and also said in emails once they receive all this they will make me the payments for Hassle caused. I waited a few days no reply so I rang them up and the guy said I have no proof it was down to the battery and they won’t make me any payments. So I don’t know what to do as I have proof they have agreed to make me the payment once all invoices were received so someone please help here what can I do thanks  

elsien

I’m struggling to see how you’d ever be able to show that battery issues would make the slightest bit of difference to needing to realign the wheels. For example. 

Can you clarify what was the “something else” you had done and who told you that it was a) necessary and b) a direct result of the battery being loose?

Halfords aren’t going to pay for things that are nothing to do with them. You need to evidence any costs you are claiming from them and ensure they are valid. 

KimJongUn88

Was the battery loose or the connections to the battery loose?

If the battery wasn’t physically fitted properly, it would still have functioned but may have been a bit dangerous if you collided with something.

How do you expect a loose battery to be responsible for wheel alignment? What do you mean by having your car programmed? 

selinakhan

The battery wasn’t fitted properly that’s what the Aa said and also Iv never had issues in my car and all of sudden all those lights appeared. One was driving stabilisation and one was about tyres

JJ_Egan

You mean the onboard  tyre indications ??

Wheel alignmant usually caused by hitting kerbs , nothing to do with the battery .

selinakhan

Yeah iv got no idea about cars myself much but had problems after having the battery fitted at Halfords and having to get the car jump started few times and then after all that calling aa for help. It was all down to the battery not being fitted properly and then these lights coming up after the aa fixed the battery properly. Halfords admitted on the aa report that it does say they haven’t fitted it properly. So that’s why I emailed them regarding all this and they agreed to pay and now refusing I have all the emails even if they don’t pay for the work done they should do something as they’ve caused me issues for not being able to use my car and having to get it jump started and calling the aa too 

elsien

How old is your car? 

I’ve had to have my battery changed more than once but it’s never needed reprogramming. Things do fail sometimes if their own accord and the timing could be coincidence. .

Going back to my first questions, who did you take the car to to identify the work that needed doing and did they tell you it was battery related or not? 

facade

An intermittent battery connection caused by a loose terminal can certainly wreak havoc with "modern" cars, from putting on warning lights to damaging ECUs.

The problem is proving it was caused by loose terminals, and that Halfords left them loose.

Odd that the problems appeared after the AA fixed it- presumably by tightening the terminals.

Also why didn't anyone notice that the terminals were loose when jumpstarting it?

selinakhan

It’s a 2013 model series 1. We never thought it would be down to the battery not being fitted properly my partner was thinking Iv left car lights on or done something that’s why it keeps happening. I mean Halfords are well known so didn’t think battery would have been loose the connections were not tightened properly which aa said so they put it in place and tightened it all up for us 

selinakhan

Someway they have agreed when we went to Halfords too they said lights have come on due to battery being dead car not starting and suggested take it for a drive for a couple of miles and lights will go away. Which still didn’t help so I had to get further help. And then I emailed them with the consequences and they’ve said in emails send in invoices and even travel invoices so they can make me the payment so there must be some reason they have agreed to pay and then on the phone they refused 

JJ_Egan

Refusal as they believe they are not liable for your claim after considering the evidence .Especially as it was two months after the work done .

AA came out and fixed the problem of loose connections .

Reprogramming yes its required on some cars after a disconnected battery .Can be a very simple task .

Wheel alignment not caused by Halford's .

Something else  not caused by Halford's .

Nothing to stop you quantify your actual loses and taking Halford's to the Small Claims Court .