Halfords Autocentre Washington

I've been employed by halfords at various locations all over Cumbria and the North of England. Watching scams and rip offs through out the years. Best avoid as they will never change. My old manager runs a McDonald's rather than halfords.

On the 16th of June, I booked my car into Washington Autocentre for an air-conditioning recharge. I was informed that, as part of the service, my air conditioning unit would undergo a diagnostic inspection to identify potential faults.I arrived on Saturday, June 19th, and waited an hour while the work was completed. I then collected the car and paid £76.50 before driving away. However, I soon realised that there was an issue, as, even with the fans on full, it did not appear to make any difference. I then returned to the Autocentre on Monday morning and booked the car to be rechecked on Friday, the 23rd.Following the inspection, I was told that there was a fault and that the garage would try to source a new compressor for me. I was informed that, as the car had an old type of air conditioning unit, if the part could not be found, the garage would refund me the cost of the A/C gas.Later that day, my wife phoned to tell me that one of their engineers had turned up at our doorstep, asking to check inside my car as a key from another car had gone missing. The engineer suggested that it may have been left inside my engine bay, as my car was the last one to be inspected that day. As I was away from home, the engineer left his contact details and asked if I could have a look around the car for the keys. I checked in every place the engineer suggested the keys may have been, but to no avail. I then phoned the engineer on the mobile number he passed on, and, as I had a busy weekend, he asked if he could meet me on the 25th, near Washington, to double-check. That Sunday, I had to come away from my son's football tournament just for the engineer to affirm that the keys were not in the car.I have a history saved of each of the THIRTEEN phone calls I have had to Washington Autocentre since that date. Each time, I have been told that the part had not been found and they were going to call Peugeot this week". They informed me each time that they would call me back as soon as they had an update. The last time I called (Monday

This was my first visit, very friendly staff. They couldn't do an MOT that I had booked as Van was too big. But they called around and booked me in with their Sunderland branch for me. So got an appointment with them. They had called me and left a voicemail to let me know the problem but hadn't listened to my voicemail message before I turned up. But staff were very friendly and attentive (Andy)

Had to take my TT for a wheel alignment then my Audi 80 for its MOT, both occasions they were fantastic, top service. The 80 required a retest and they managed to sort the couple of issues free of charge, above and beyond what I expected, highly recommended.

Took my car for its MOT, understandably they failed it for numerous reason then they told me they could fix everything apart from the welding. I then found somewhere to do my welding for me then took it back to Halfords, they then told me that they couldn’t fix barley anything on my car although the manager said that they could, so this put me under a lot of stress as I had been lied to. Lots of people told me not to go to Halfords but I still did, that’s a mistake I will not be making again.

Con: -- Failed my MOT; asked for a rough pricing for repairs; was kept waiting for more than a week. Made five increasingly antsy phone calls over eight days asking for an update - not even for any work: just for a pricing - and was told every time that someone would call me back; nobody ever did. Nine days and six grim bus-commute Continental shifts later, I cut my losses and arranged to take my car elsewhere.Pro: -- They did let me keep the car in the car-park until I could have it taken away.Con: -- Although, that said, how much could an extra few days have really bothered anyone after they left the poor thing outside for the pigeons to use as a lav for nine days anyway?Pro: -- The few staff I actually managed to interact with were polite, and as useful as they could possibly be in the circumstances.And, I mean, who knows? The place might well be staffed by competent mechanics who are just awful, awful communicators. I'll never know. I'll certainly never be back to check.

Lost our car keys under their safe, took nearly a month to get some replacement keys. They still have not returned our original set, which is pretty disgusting, then after we'd already had this ordeal we had another minor issue, which for weeks they dipped and dodged our phonecalls, every time promising to call us back, lead us to believe they were ordering parts that were never ordered, let alone even necessary.In the end I took the car elsewhere, who repaired our car that same morning, no parts required.We've cancelled our Halfords membership due to the consistently bad customer service - we will be pursuing the return of our keys through head office via your complaints process.

Arrived, having booked a slot and paid in advance, to be told that they might not have the battery as they don't keep them all in stock. After sitting patiently for over an hour with no communication or apologies for the delay I was eventually given my keys back ( which had been thrown and subsequently dropped onto the floor). Come on guys, you can do better. Would have been one star but the battery seems to be working.

Had the MOT done here as we have had many times before. Made the appointment online and prepaid £ this method suits us but phoning or calling in are other options. There is car park spaces . The MOT is very reasonably priced. The staff are very pleasant . There is the convenience of a waiting area too

Had to go back twice, my car couldn't be found on their computer. Problem came back after a couple of days, looks like a trip to a real garage to get the DPF out and cleaned....