Avoid Cambridge Car Solutions
I wish to recount an unpleasant experience with a company called Cambridge Car Solutions, so as to warn others.
My car broke down in a quiet Cambridge street, nowhere dangerous, but on a double yellow line. I booked into a nearby garage for diagnosis and repair but they had no facility to collect the car themselves. So I Googled for a car recovery truck, found Cambridge Car Solutions, and called them, explaining I would like the car to be moved around 2 miles from its breakdown location to the garage. They quoted £118+VAT, which I agreed to.
The truck driver duly turned up and met me at the car (1/2 late for the appointment). Without getting out of his truck, he stared at my car and asked if it was an automatic. I confirmed it was. He immediately said "That's going to be an extra £65". When I enquired why, he explained that the car was probably stuck in "park" so the wheels would not turn, so he needed to put the car on skates. My response was that this should have been explained beforehand, to which he answered "You should have told us it was an automatic".
So have a think about this: the so-called expert is suddenly blaming the customer for not having said the car was an automatic. In fact, I had provided the car details, make, model, age, and answered all question asked, when I made the booking on the phone. But the truck driver did not want to know.
I explained to the truck driver that the price I had been quoted was what I was willing to pay, but no more. Very quickly, he became aggressive and rude. I then called his office, and encountered an equally rude person, who said "If you don't pay the additional £65, you will have to pay a call-out charge". I was neither rude nor abusive to him, and responded that I would not be paying either of those things and that if they continued trying to increase their price by £65, I would find another company to move the car. His immediate reaction was astonishing: "I hope you find it really difficult to find someone to move your car, and that it doesn't work out for you at all, and..." I cut him off at this point.
I then went back out to the truck driver and explained he was no longer required. The truck driver then became irate and rude, but that conversation was so puerile as to not be worth reporting.
It took me 10 minutes on Google to find another local company willing to do the job for £70. Moreover, the new company immediately told me the wheels would NOT be locked and that no skates would be required (he was correct).
Bottom line: Cambridge Car Solutions is evidently the sort of company that tries to take advantage of someone's predicament, i.e. having broken down somewhere awkward, bolstering their prices on the spot after having quoted lower to get the job, expecting most customers to reluctantly cave in just to get out of an awkward situation as quickly as possible. This company should be avoided like the plague.
July 12, 2025
Unprompted review
