St3V3_C

Anyone else had issues with these clowns?

I already had the impression you shouldn't touch with a bargepole, but I had no choice.

Wife's car came with an RAC warranty.

CV joint has started making a noise, and the door sometimes doesn't unlock on the central locking.

So, to begin a claim Halfrauds must inspect and report to RAC. So, it needs 30 seconds of a tech's time to hear the noise and (hopefully) see the intermittant lock.

"drop it off and leave it for the day"

No. Just get someone to look at it, then we can start the ball rolling with the warranty - I had every belief they would riggle out of it.

So, manage to convince her(!) at Halfrauds that I actually knew what was wrong and needed minutes of their time.

Get there at 8:30, and an hour later ( ) ask what's going on.

Tech couldn't hear any noise in the workshop (really ) so was going out for a road test.

2 miles later (trip computer) he's back and I run outside. Did he hear it? No.

Fuck sake. stand there and give me the keys.

Full lock, drive off.

Hear it? Oh yea

How about the door lock? Couldn't find anything.

I lock and unlock 4 times before it sticks. Maybe I should go buy a scratchcard eh?

So, all sorted, they will contact RAC and call me back.

Get the call - lock they will fix (surprised - so good) CV not - wear and tear.

So, I call RAC moaning and in an effort to demonstrate not wear and tear, say how come other side is OK?

Halfrauds have told them both sides need replacing

So, had to call the garage and get them to call RAC back and tell them (admit?) that it's only the one side.

Still waiting to hear...

Fil

used to be nationwide autocentres didnt they? Full of useless cunts, , spose its still the same cunts with a new set of overalls



Misses droped her car off for a MOT at 8am, still not done by 3pm! then they did it after she got a bit angry, as they knew she needed her car back by 4pm.

Failed, it needed £600+ of work!

( note , i gave it the once over, said it would need a tyre on the front )

no mention of the tyre on the fail list!.

renewed the number plate bulb and i took it to a local place, re mot'd, failed on a tyre! which was done and passed 30mins later

St3V3_C

Doesn't surprise me at all mate.

In my hour waitng I heard all sorts. You can't book MOT's they will do it when it suits them. Fuel cleaner -

"Car this age injectors WILL be getting blocked up, and thet WILL lead to a big bill. Would you like cleaner for £19.99?"

"Oil change - you really need to have it flushed. £19.99"

Cunts.

Fil

http://www.bitterwallet.com/we-car-a...ocentres/25875

St3V3_C

No. They would tell you it's fucked and you need a new one.

bristol_fez

iTrader: (1)

We use them through work but only for very basic fitting jobs and they are ok at that but everything else they are shite

St3V3_C

They just seem to have lost sight of who's paying their wages.

It could have been real easy:

I could have taken it down at any time.
They could have just done what I asked for and I could have gone home again 2 minutes later.
They had the chance of work for fuck all effort.

Not hard is it...

DAN P

iTrader: (1)

same here fucking usless though just like to rag the cars i think

Mark Barber

woa woa woa here dont slag halfords off just because of a few cetain centres i run a very good one in stoke and also alot of cosworth owners bring there cars to me from all over the uk and my reputation is pretty damm good so please dont tar us all with the same brush as i take pride in my work and so do my staff

Mac247

I would just like to add that the lads at the stoke and tamworth halfords have saved me hundreds and put in overtime to help me out on saturdays to make sure my family runner is safe!

I have no doubt that a few centres are probably shit you can say that for many places/franchise garages.

I can vouch for the quality job the lads at marks place do and the tamworth lot are a pretty good bunch.

juicy 666

I normally take my cars to the leeds branch. one that used to be autocentres not one installed at halfords. Only reason i still go there is the main two mot testers have a mk3 capri, a mk2 escort and a mk2 escort rs2000. at least for now ill keep taking them there but i always like to keep my eye on what they have done but to be honest most things they change need doing. by rule of thumb wouldnt use halfords but on this occation i dont mind. there are always the odd few that ruin it for others!

St3V3_C

Sadly, it seems the other way around...

MSMCKA Price

My letter to Halfords and their reply
---------------------------------------------
I have just had my Cambelt replaced by a local independent mechanic.
On completing the work he phoned to tell me that on the Cambelt he was replacing “the diesel injection pump was 1 tooth out on the timing belt”.
This of course means nothing to me but presumably does to you.
This previous Cambelt was fitted by Halfords Autocentre Canterbury in August 2011 (see enclosed documentation).
Various concerns arise. My car is now a lot quieter than it has been for years, and is performing better. My mechanic says he always thought the car was noisy, even for a diesel, and is professionally delighted (as I am) that it is running so much more quietly and smoothly.
Which brings me to my concerns.
In retrospect it is clear to me that in 2011 your trained mechanics at Autocentre Canterbury would have been aware that my car was not running as it should after fitting the Cambelt;
and further they:
1) Decided against informing me at the time that the belt had been incorrectly fitted, presumably to save themselves the time and effort of having to refit it correctly.
2) Assumed (correctly) that I would not be confident in judging for myself that it had been done incorrectly.
3) And further, presumably, felt that if I had raised concerns at the time they would be able to brush my concerns off, they being the “experts” and me just being a motorist.

It is of some relief that my mechanic informs me that, apart from some noisy years of underperformance, no serious damage to the car has occurred.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am sure you will appreciate due to the length of time elapsed I cannot investigate this matter in any great depth, we no longer hold our internal paperwork additionally the technician no longer works for our company.
However, I can see from our records that you attended our Canterbury Autocentre 4 times since the cam belt replacement in 2011. I have checked these invoices and there is no mention of a problem with the running of you vehicle. I can assure you that had you raised concerns these would have been fully investigated under the terms and conditions of our National Guarantee and any remedial work undertaken at that time.
I really am very sorry that you feel my colleagues at Canterbury have not acted honestly and professionally and that their workmanship was not to the standard we expect.

fuzzy

only if its not covered by their warranty otherwise its fine.

gcfcos

I have a few stories myself. I worked in one of their branches in Bournemouth many many years ago when it was nationwide Autocentre. The centre was run by an ex master technician and all the guys in the workshop were top notch when I first started, everything was done properly and we all went on regular training courses to learn about modern electronics etc that were coming in on the newer cars, I also gained my mot tester qualification while there. 6 months in and all was going well until the centre manager decided to move to Ireland. As soon as the new manager started that's when the problems started. He was from a retail background and not a mechanical one, I always say never ask a man to do a task that u can't/wouldn't do yourself. Anyhow it all of a sudden became a job of targets this and targets that and no longer about fixing the customers vehicle. Within 2 months out of the 6 workshop staff 3 left as they couldn't take any more of this guy (he cut all our breaks and made us stay on unpaid overtime to meet "his" targets). Then a month later he pissed off one of the other guys so much that he left. Now we were down to me and one other chap in a 6 ramp workshop! Cut a long story short I had 4 Ramps taken up with my own jobs and a few vehicles half in bits and dotted around inside and outside and was getting rather stressed and not being able to find my tools dotted around all these cars. I thought sod this we've had no lunch I'm going out for a smoke (the manager would stand out the back door smoking all the time with it blowing in at us but never allow us a break for one) and within 30 seconds he came bombing up the workshop asking where I had gone and then stood there having a pop at me saying we need to get all this work done. I simply put my fag out (after I had finished) and told him "there's my toolbox and if u can find any of my tools around the place your more than welcome to use them to finish the work yourself, oh, and you can stick your job up your ass!" Got in my car and fucked off and within 10 minutes my mobile phone was going nuts with the area manager asking me to go back. Anyway cut another long story short I went back as didn't want to leave my mate in the shit and I told the manager I'll finish these cars but don't book me in any work for tomorrow as I'll not be in. Anyway I took a week off sick as I'd had enough. On my return they had taken on a couple of lads from fuck knows where so I thought great that will help. Oh no it didn't! These lads had zero clue and I ended up spending more time fixing there fuck ups than my own work! So anyway I left my employ there for a garage up the road. It just goes to show that with the right team these places can be great to work in but u add one bad apple and it spoils the whole cart.



On another note I did some temp mot testing for an agency and they sent me to Halfords Autocentre in Poole Dorset. The guys in there were top notch mechanics and were all over the age of 35-40 and even one mechanic was 69!!!! Great team and saw them produce some top work. When I went back a few months later they had employed 2 Romanian "mechanics" who went on to cause over £20,000 worth of damage to customers cars not to mention the tools they broke, lost and nicked off the guys there. Shame really

TommysKeeper

iTrader: (2)

I use a really good Autocentre in Dunstable - Look after my car collection and I'm happy.
Sure there any rogues about but not this one.

Cheers, John

studabear

Shit first post to join this site with, do you think that company is gonna be arsed about your cambelt nearly 6 years later.

markie t

WELCOME TO THE FORUM ,ITS ANNOYING AS YOU TAKE IT TO SO CALLED PROFESSIONALS AND FIND OUT AFTER ALL THIS TIME ITS NOT BEEN DONE CORRECTLY,IVE SEEN IT SO MUCH OVER THE YEARS WITH MANY ASPECTS OF WORKMANSHIP THAT WHEN A PROBLEM ARISES ITS TO FAR DOWN THE LINE TO GET ANY REDRESS.

CHRISP

Six year thread bump ffs

gcfcos

It's so dead on here these days I think that's the only way to get any action now lol

ajamesc

These places all depend on the guy looking at the car lol my tdi golf broke down outside the Halford shop I had no tools nothing I was stuck I suspected the lift pump in the tank as I could not hear it buzzing. I had to call them I needed it towed. The aa guy turned up I told him what I thought he said right we will see if it runs on easy start I laughed and said what's that going to prove of cause it will run on easy start can you not check the fuel pressure. To him I was talking alien and he could not understand what I was on about.

Adam-M

Pmsl at the fastlife tag

ray barker

halfords arround my way have probs getting mechanics. no wounder by the way they advertise for them they seem to look for more novice or wona be`s and give them some sort of crash training. i was head tech for another place nr here who couldnt get staff never fuking again.one fuking chump in one hour couldnt get a drive shaft nut of ask me for help so i lent him my impact gun he said fuk thats a good one i said no m8 they work better at undoing when you put them on undo. latter same bloke fuk me ray never seen a bulb like this one so i sent him to the stores to look he had pulled the bulb out but the bezal had stayed behind. if you havent got fully trained mechanics in your work place its just as well close the fuking doors or just do basic general repairs. i worked at another place for along time there was two of us fully experience with 383`s the other six were four fishing farming brockley mechanics and two apprentice but the two of us were fixing there fuk ups to often so the owner on uor advise or we were going was to get shot of them and we had a boy each that was at colleage one day a week he didnt loose money but the work we were doing was quality couple of years on the boys were becoming very good

gcfcos

I've spoken to a couple of the Halfords mechanics recently who are now leaving because their centre is going to start opening on Sundays so they can compete with the likes of kwik fit. When I was temp mot testing at the site near us I was offered a full time job and went through the application process and was thinking about it untill they said u have to work every Saturday untill 4.30pm and then they said they have changed the opening times to 6pm instead of 5.30. No thanks. Working Sundays would be a big no no too

studabear

No Sundays with the RAC?

gcfcos

Oh yeah working shift patterns but Halfords would get u to work 7 days straight and they never ever let u take the days off in lieu that they say u can hAve. Plus with the Rac I'm on £15k a year more than Halfords we're offering even before overtime and bonus

ray barker

well done for getting the job i worked on the rac contract down west for a while they gave it to independants from landsend up for the first twenty mile fuk me they got some members i remember when it first came live on the system we were playing space invaders in the office i just happened to glance at the screen i thought where of all these jobs come from didnt here any allerts or pings and then came the horrible noise that got me late home for my tea for months on end

gjh

Brilliant!

furry

same here, I used to run the newbury and Swindon sites and I had an array of cars through the work shop inc lambo's porsches lotus Cortina several cosies and rs turbo's

they're not all the same just certain sites!!