Halfords Complaint - Advice / Am I correct in next steps

clennuk

Sorry, It's a bit long. This is the chain of events of an ongoing compliant to Halfords which we have still not had any contact from in over a month regarding the situation - Just generated emails and us chasing for no information. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We had our car serviced with our Hyundai garage and as part of this our NS Front tyre flagged up that it would need to be replaced. We ordered a new tyre Via TyreShopper to be fitted at our local Bexleyheath branch of National Tyre Centre as we were due our MOT.

I ordered a 225/60 R17 103V All Season Tyre to be fitted on the 16.09.25. When my wife arrived at the appointment, she was told that we had a summer tyre on the other side and that we would have to either have a summer or replace both to all season tyres on the same axle. The Technician really reiterated this point. They changed our order onsite to a Summer 225/60 R17 99V.

My wife left the vehicle at the garage while the new tyre was fitted. Upon her return, she was told-rather forcefully by the young technician, XXX-that she needed two more tyres, as they would make the car fail its MOT. She responded that she knew the tyre depth on all four tyres and so she was well aware that this was not the case. She was able to advise Terry that OS front was at 3mm, the OS rear was at 6mm and the NS rear was also at 6mm. She was very angry because she felt this was scare mongering and if she wasn't aware of the tyre depths she would have unnecessarily bought more tyres on the spot.

She also felt that if she had been a man taking the car in, then they would have behaved differently. She filled out an online "how did we do?" questionnaire later that evening and put all of this in it-we have heard nothing back about that. There was another man working at the garage at the time called XXX and he sat with his hood up the entire time my wife was speaking to both him and his colleague-neither were very professional in her opinion.

10 days later on the 26.09.25 our car was booked in for its MOT at Ancaster Eltham. We received a phone call to say that our car had failed its MOT due to our NS Front tyre being the wrong size tyre for our vehicle. It was a different size to that of the other not only on the same axle but as the other three. We explained that we had just had this replaced by National Tyres and they informed us that the size on there was 215/60 R17 and that they would need to put the correct size tyre on for it to pass.

Whilst at Ancaster Eltham, my wife contacted Halfords to complain about the fact that the wrong tyre had been fitted on the car and as such, it had failed its MOT. She reiterated what she had been told at National tyre (when the tyre had been replaced regarding the conversation about Summer/All Season tyres with Terry) and was informed that had we been involved in an accident, then the insurance would not have been valid. Your Customer Service agent pointed out that we had been effectively driving around without insurance due to the incompetence of an employee of National Tyre/Halfords. She logged a complaint that he was so quick to tell her that she needed more tyres to be replaced for one reason or another but was still unable to notice the fact that he had put the wrong size tyre on her car. This just seemed like a bigger insult in addition to the complete incompetency that he had demonstrated.

My wife returned home and went to speak with the Store manager at National Tyre Centre, Bexleyheath who told us to bring the car in and they would replace the tyre for the correct one. However, she explained that our car was still in with Ancaster being worked on as it was already booked in for its MOT and that we had already filled a complaint with Customer Services.
He apologised for what had happened. He explained he was not in that day and if he had been then this gross oversight would not have happened. He asked if the garage had been busy, as sometimes things can be missed if there is a lot of work. My wife said it wasn't and when she returned to pick up the car, there were no other vehicles/customers in the garage and both workers were chatting in the office. The manager responded that in that case, the work should have been checked as there was clearly time to do so. He was very helpful and commented that how calm my wife was considering the situation.

Ancaster replaced our tyre with whatever tyre they were able to order into store at short notice and that was the correct size for our car. This ended up being a budget tyre-which we would not have chosen-just to pass the MOT and for us to get our car back. They also returned the incorrect tyre for us to hold onto.

We contacted customer services on the 03.10.25 for an update and we were told that someone would contact us within 48hrs - no one did

We contacted customer services again on the 10.10.25 for an update and we were told that our case had been resolved, we explained that no one had contacted us since the beginning of the case being opened and we would appreciate someone giving us an update and were told that our case had now been esculated to the Store Manager (XXX) and the Regional District Manager to reply.

I asked for the following questions to be answered:

1). The Regional Store Manager to confirm what would of happened if the car would have been involved in a RTA which may/maynot have resulted in a fatality.

2). The Regional Store Manager to confirm what damage would having an incorrect size tyre on one side of an axle caused to my car if it had not been booked in for its MOT and not picked up for a year.

We were told that someone senior would contact us by 8pm that evening 10.10.25 - No one did.

We chased for an update on our case on the 13.10.25 and also 21.10.25 and was told on both occasions that it was being looked at

On the 13.10.25 I received an update email addressed to Benny? I don't know if this was meant for me, if so it is lack of attention to detail on Halfords part.

We chased customer services again on the 26.10.25 and your advisor told us that our file had been opened/looked at on the 23.10.25 but thought it bad that no one has contacted us in nearly a month.

28.10.25 We received an email from yourself (Jasmine Brown) asking us to elaborate on our case as it doesn't detail much, which in our eyes is another lack of attention to detail on Halfords part.

I hope that this email give you enough detail to look into our case, answer our questions and resolve, taking into account everything we have lined out, time, concerns, expenditure, etc. I have also included relevant documents and images.

1). Images from Ancaster Eltham showing the incorrect size tyre on the car. (attached)

2). MOT failure certificate and reason for failure and Vehicle Health report from National Tyres. 

3). Transcript from LiveChat on the 10.10.25.

Can I finally bring to your attention the following statements from your website and National tyre Centres Core Values and ask you if you believe these have been adhered to.

• We will keep you updated on the progress of your complaint at regular intervals, so you always know the status of your case.
• Halfords prides itself on offering quality products and services, which is why when things don’t go to plan, we want to make sure you get the support needed to solve any problems you may have.
• Our Commitment to you - Our whole operation is based on one very simple premise - that we go that extra mile to make sure that every single one of our customers is totally satisfied with the service we provide.
• We work better together when we interact quickly and positively.
• We focus on the customer.
• We take responsibility.

We look forward to an acknowledgement upon receiving this email and hearing from you in response to this complaint in the very near future, otherwise we will look to escalate this to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Aylesbury_Duck

Where does Halfords come into it?  Isn't your complaint with National Tyre Centre?

There's no need to overdramatise things.  There was no accident and it doesn't sound like there was any damage.  I don't believe your insurance was invalid, either.  Focus on what actually happened, rather than what might have happened.  As I see it, you have valid grounds to complain to National Tyre Centre and presuming you now have the correct tyre in place and aren't financially any worse off than you should be, you may get a goodwill payment/vouhcer/free service, etc.

ButterCheese

Firstly, and don't get me wrong, I feel your frustration and why you want a complete and thorough response from Halfords.  However, what is it you are really asking for?  They are very poor at admitting they were wrong, and will usually only do the bare minimum i.e. fit a correct size tyre for you at no extra cost.

At the very least, I would calculate what financial loss you have suffered (another MOT cost due to their tyre failure?) and present them with a figure and supporting evidence that explains why you are out of pocket to that extent.

Anything else is words and feelings which I'm afriad most places will ignore.

Just for the record, I contacted the area manager for Halfords a few years ago to complain about their pitiful stock availability and general lack of customer service.  I chased them twice and got no respone.  They just don't care because they are a large chain and many people unwittingly think they are a good "high street garage" to go to.

Jumblebumble

The regional manager would not have a clue about the outcomes in your questions
Question 1 They have no idea of your arrangements with your insurance company
How Terry knows if your insurance is valid or invalid is anyone's guess
Question 2  They have no idea what damage might or might not occur by fitting the wrong tyre has on a car

I am not surprised they ignore hypothetical  questions to which they cannot possibly know the answer

Renfrewman

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Where does Halfords come into it?  Isn't your complaint with National Tyre Centre?

There's no need to overdramatise things.  There was no accident and it doesn't sound like there was any damage.  I don't believe your insurance was invalid, either.  Focus on what actually happened, rather than what might have happened.  As I see it, you have valid grounds to complain to National Tyre Centre and presuming you now have the correct tyre in place and aren't financially any worse off than you should be, you may get a goodwill payment/vouhcer/free service, etc.

Halfords owns/is part of the same group/is the parent company as National Tyres.

Yorkshire_Dangermouse

NTC is part of the Halfords group now, and I'd agree with AD about focussing on practically what you want to happen now, rather than having them respond to theoretical scenarios.

I'd perhaps suggest that NTC/Halfords supply and fit the tyre which you've already paid for, to replace the budget one you have at the moment, along with some goodwill measure, such as a discount on a (matching!) NSF tyre.

fatbelly

I hope that you are clearer to Halfords than you are to us in your first post.

What are you actually looking for? Can you spell it out, in as few words as possible, in a 1 2 3 format?

Yorkshire gives some ideas above

born_again

TBH.
Would have been far simpler to have MOT done at same time as Service.

eskbanker

clennuk said:

We look forward to an acknowledgement upon receiving this email and hearing from you in response to this complaint in the very near future, otherwise we will look to escalate this to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

FOS has no jurisdiction over Halfords for unregulated activities so wouldn't accept a complaint about tyre fitting.