halfords mot

northernstar007

hi guys, this is more of a rant than anything
cut a long story short, i booked my car in for a mot at halfords 2 weeks in advance
also paying a extra £3 to choose my time slot, for 8.30am this morning
paid for the test online email a confirmed payment goes through, everything great so far
email all confirmed booking, 2 days ago a txt confirmed expecting me for my booking
so off i go to halfords turn up 10 mins early, and informed the testing machine isnt working and hasnt been for a few days, i said ok i will have a full refund, they tried to get me booked in else where but not for a few days, then a snotty remark saying the current mot dosnt expire for another 2 weeks, i just had to bite my tounge, i said and what happens if it fails its going to give me no time for a repair, i got back was a smerk, i said a phone call or txt would have been nice to save me the journey
ive put a complaint  into halfords and they agreed on live chat that standards have not been met, i await for them coming back to me
anyway i found a local little back street garage thats getting great reviews online its in there now get it back today

lisyloo

That's just not acceptable.
I would have wanted to speak to the manager (don't call me Karen, I give nice feedback too).

Why hold your tonugue.
They should have called and it's perfectly reasonable to book MOTs in advance with todays supply chain issues and staff shortages.

northernstar007

cheers lisyloo
ive had a call back from halfords customer support, got nowhere with them, sounds like reading off a script
offered me £10 off next years mot, i said ive drove the car this morning about 20 miles to get the engine warmed up for the mot is now a waste of time hunting a garage down that would do it straight away
now its been sent to the escalation team, in other words more thinking how they can fob me off

they did ask what would be a good enough gesture i said a free mot next year which has been refused upto now

will keep you all posted

Mildly_Miffed

The simple answer is not to take your car to a bicycle shop for an MOT, but to use a proper garage.

lisyloo

Mildly_Miffed said:

The simple answer is not to take your car to a bicycle shop for an MOT, but to use a proper garage.

That doesn't excuse snotty, sarcastic staff when the OP did nothing wrong.
I would have spoken directly to the manager at the time.

XRS200

Do you need to warm an engine up for a MOT? 

daveyjp

XRS200 said:

Do you need to warm an engine up for a MOT? 

An engine does need to be at normal operating temperature for the emissions test.  If the engine is cold most testers leave the engine running during the test so it warms up and the emissions test is done last.

XRS200

daveyjp said:

XRS200 said:

Do you need to warm an engine up for a MOT? 

An engine does need to be at normal operating temperature for the emissions test.  If the engine is cold most testers leave the engine running during the test so it warms up and the emissions test is done last.

Which would use less petrol do you think?

Mildly_Miffed

lisyloo said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

The simple answer is not to take your car to a bicycle shop for an MOT, but to use a proper garage.

That doesn't excuse snotty, sarcastic staff when the OP did nothing wrong.
I would have spoken directly to the manager at the time.

I've always found that staff in retail tend to return the attitude they get, although undoubtedly there are certain national low-end chains that do seem to hire based on surliness and disinterest.

northernstar007

passed its test no probs at all 

Ibrahim5

Halfords are a truly abysmal company. One to avoid. Seriously.