Halfords Autocentres Reviews 135,442

I had a very bad experience. I recently had my car booked for full service and MOT at Halfords Autocentre Chingford. I had been using them for 5 years. However it seems the quality has dropped drastically. I was told they would let me know what the outcome of the MOT is and if any work is required. They never called me and noted lot of observation in the MOT. This has ruinded my car's MOT record. The quality of car servicing was very poor. No greecing of the hinges was done. Car throttle was also not working properly. They did not even called me once servicing was done,I had to call them up to confirm. I would never recommend anyone. They even stamped my Service booklet wrong. On contacting them about the poor service, I was told to go there and they will check. When i vistied them, I was told that there is no one by the name "Daniel" and I should have booked a slot. very upset...it seems like waste of my money. I could have gone to any local garage rather.

Halfords Winchester refused to service my van as the engine was dirty. Jokers stay well away

I am absolutely appalled by the service at my local Halfords Autocentre. During a visit last month, the branch admitted to losing my locking wheel nut key, could not find it, and then told me I would have to pay for a replacement out of my own pocket.

I escalated the issue to Head Office because of this local refusal to take responsibility. Customer Support promised that a Regional Support Manager would contact me within 48 hours to investigate and process a reimbursement. Instead of contacting me, Halfords simply closed the case without any resolution. Replying to the email thread just returns an automated "this case is closed" message.

The local branch has admitted fault, yet corporate is completely stonewalling me. I expect the executive escalations team to reopen this case immediately and authorise compensation for the replacement locking wheel nut key.

Tried to book 2 new tyres.
Nothing is made clear on their website.

Booking a time slot for mobile fitting costs from £16-£29
Booking a free 8am-8pm mobile fitting stated 'not available in my area"

Booked a time slot to take my vehicle in and asked how long it would take to fit 2 tyres only to be told this is a drop off time only and not a fitting time, and I would have to leave it there at that time and come back and collect later.

What an absolute joke, none of the above was suitable for me so I took my business elsewhere.

Leicester Abbey Lane- Avoid this place if you need bulb changes. They completely botched this simple job. I arrived asking for a straightforward bulb installation, but it turned out to be far from simple, making the situation worse. The technician broke the wires connected to the board, then said in broken English that I needed to go to a garage to fix it. As a result, my car was left without lights, indicators, brakes, or hazard lights. I had to pay an additional £155 to get it repaired.

I’m very impressed by the high standards of service and customer care offered by Halfords Wokingham, and Tom in particular who takes such trouble to ensure customer satisfaction. I have used them for standard services, MOT and several minor but urgent repairs and each time I have been received courteously, they have listened, given a sensible quotation and done the work quickly and efficiently. Unusual these days. I thoroughly recommend them.

Purchased tyres online. Experience in the fitting centre was awful. To top it all off, they didn’t balance the wheels right so my car now shakes. Impossible to get them redone as no one wants to help!! Avoid at all costs - it’s total chaos

Please do not trust Halfords Autocentres, they do not know , what they do, and they can damage your car , they can not even service the bicycle, they are not qualified, I have bad experience with Halford Autocentres in Walsall, , The Manager , Mr Mo, should open the Kebab shop, not servicing cars

Bought a dash cam plus in-store fitting online through Halfords. Price for a good quality dash cam seemed reasonable, as was in-store fitting charge of £99.
Turned up a few mins late after appointed time, and it took 5-10 mins more for fitter to appear. He asked me what car it was, and said he needed to take a look as some variants of the model are more complicated than others. He took a look, and told me that he couldn't do the job on the day - it would run over the allotted 2 hr time slot even if we'd started on time - so he'd need to book me in for another appointment; the earliest appointment is in 3 weeks time.
I pointed out that when I ordered the dash cam and booked the fitting, I did not have to give any information in respect of the car, model, variant etc; he agreed that was the case and said it was one of the biggest frustrations of his job, and that this had been fed back to "head office" on numerous occasions.
IF ANYONE OF ANY INFLUENCE IN HALFORDS HQ EVER BOTHERS TO READ THIS, PLEASE AMEND YOUR ONLINE BOOKING SERVICE SUCH THAT YOU COLLECT RELEVANT VEHICLE INFORMATION AT THE POINT OF BOOKING, AND SO DON"T WASTE CUSTOMERS' TIME & FUEL, AND FITTERS' TIME ON APPOINTMENTS THAT CAN"T BE FULFILLED.

Went to Halfords Horsham to get a relay and fuses. I. Have problems walking and find stair difficult they put all the cycles on ground floor and the car part on first floor which is silly. Most people that can ride cycles are ok with the stairs. I did manage to get up the stairs and get what I wanted but struggled to go back down. The staff sore I was struggling but just ignored me. Will not use Halfords again

Booked and prepaid for four premium tyres and wheel alignment at Halfords Autocentre Banbury. Received full booking confirmation with a specific date and time.

Arrived for the appointment only to be told the wheel alignment machine had been broken for two days.

So Halfords knowingly accepted payment, maintained the booking, and allowed me to make a completely unnecessary 35-mile round trip despite already being aware that a key part of the booked service could not be provided.

The wheel alignment was the only reason I booked an in-centre appointment. Had I only needed tyres, I would have used mobile fitting instead.

I rearranged work commitments and wasted over 90 minutes of my time for an appointment that Halfords already knew could not be fulfilled.

No attempt was made to contact me in advance.

What made the experience worse was the dismissive attitude when I reasonably questioned why nobody had informed me before I travelled.

To be fair, the refund was processed promptly after I complained. However, Halfords refused any goodwill gesture whatsoever and hid behind a policy of not compensating for customer time or inconvenience, despite this entire situation being completely avoidable with a simple phone call.

Mistakes happen. Equipment fails. But knowingly allowing prepaid customers to attend appointments that cannot be honoured, without warning them, is poor operational management and poor customer service.

Very disappointing experience.

Trying to get a refund on order no A978B012010 for two tyres since 20 April. Two visits to the chat room where refund was supposedly actioned, but as yet not forthcoming. Last time I bother Halfords with my custom, better stick to Kwik Fit. Maybe a "human" is monitoring this site and will get in touch!

ZERO STARS AVOID HALFORDS GO TO A LOCAL INDEPENDENT GARAGE WHO WILL RESPECT YOU ANS GIVE YOU PROPER CUSTOMER SERVICE

DO NOT BUY THERE MEMBERSHIP SERVICE.

Extremely poor experience at Halfords Autocentre Cambridge Clifton Road I booked an MOT using my Halfords Premium Membership (which clearly includes a FREE MOT) and received confirmation by email.

When I arrived, my appointment had been cancelled without any notice no call, no email.Head office rebooked me for the next day.

I dropped my car off and returned 90 minutes later, only to be met with very poor customer service. No greeting, no professionalism. I was then told I had to PAY for the MOT, despite clearly showing proof that it was included in my membership.

Two staff members refused to accept this and said THEY would contact head office, but I would need to wait up to 2 hours for confirmation. Completely unreasonable.

Only when I started documenting the situation did their attitude suddenly change and they apologised.

I also tried to raise a complaint and was cut off three times by customer service.

Avoid this branch and think twice about Premium Membership – it’s not honoured properly.

I AM NOW OUT OF POCKET £54.85

And below is there response

Auto response from Halfords says it all they address me in someone else name!

Hi Courtney,

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review regarding the service provided. We appreciate all feedback, as it helps us to improve the service we deliver. We understand how disappointing it is that we did not meet our high standards on this occasion and we would love to put things right.

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us using the following link, including any helpful information like booking reference, email address, etc. This will help us ensure we can resolve your issue quickly:

We hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you
Courtney

Had a tyre fitted and a 'Health review' The review showed the depth of tyre tread on a tyre as 5mm, 5 weeks later the MOT showed that the edges of the tyre on both sides were dangerously low. The health report looks great in principle and there is even photos but the photos were just pointless (not photos of anything significant, not even the tryes!) . My car alarm was going off when I went to collect the car. They ticked a box saying road test done but this wasnt true. The report is just a box ticking excersize and potentiall dangerous.

Review: A Systematic Failure in Service and Support – Avoid Halfords Autocentres

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5)

My recent experience with Halfords Autocentres was an exercise in frustration, defined by a broken online system, incompetent customer service, and a complete lack of technical flexibility.

Digital and Booking Nightmare
The ordeal began on their website, which I can only describe as dysfunctional. Immediately after booking a set of tires, I received an error message via email stating that a problem had occurred and I needed to contact customer service. This set off a five-day saga of stress. I made over 20 calls and spent hours on hold, yet I still couldn't get a straight answer on whether my booking actually existed. The system is so unreliable that I eventually had to book a backup slot through National Tyres just to ensure I wouldn't lose my appointment time.

Incompetent Customer Support
The customer service experience is arguably worse than the website. The agents seem completely lost and lack the tools or knowledge to resolve basic issues. There is a glaring lack of communication between departments; remarkably, they are unable to transfer calls internally. Every time a new department was needed, I was told to hang up and redial. This "siloed" approach is incredibly outdated and shows a total disregard for the customer’s time.

Rigid Maintenance Policies
To top it off, once at the center, they refused to perform a simple tire rotation. Rotating less-worn rear tires to the front is a standard way to extend tire life and save money, yet they refused to accommodate this request. It felt less like a service center and more like a corporate machine designed to maximize sales rather than help the driver.

Verdict
Between a "disgusting" online interface, a customer service team that is effectively useless, and an average level of physical service, Halfords Autocentres is a company I can no longer trust. Save yourself the hours of phone calls and go to a provider that actually has a joined-up system.

I walked into Halfords Autocentre at Leppings Lane in Sheffield asking for help as I have a puncture and am driving to Telford on Tuesday. I said can you help me and explained and the guy behind the desk just replied "No".

My husband pointed out they are advertising a mobile service and he replied, "Yes but you have to book online". Nil customer service.

Spent £260 in Kwik Fit instead then.

I had a shocking experience with Halfords Hardwick after a battery replacement on my SEAT Ateca (2021) on 28 December 2025. They fitted the wrong‑capacity battery (65Ah instead of 59Ah) and refused to perform the required battery coding, even when I specifically asked for it. The technician simply plugged in a device, cleared the errors in front of me, and claimed everything was “done.”From that moment, my car began suffering serious electrical faults: low‑voltage warnings, immobiliser not recognised, the vehicle going “sleepy,” and multiple system errors while driving. again i went their and they were doing 10‑point check instead of battery issue also it was clearly not carried out just emailed marked as “Passed” with no evidence infront of me.
After repeated complaints,with hard wick refused I was pushed to the King’s Lynn branch, where they confirmed the new Yuasa battery needed charging again — only three months after installation. Despite this, the same issues continued.Worse still, my infotainment system crashed immediately after Halfords’ work: Wi‑Fi shows “Internet not available,” user profile won’t sync, factory reset fails, online services and Full Link stopped working, and vehicle security features relying on online connectivity no longer function. this is consistent with incorrect battery coding or voltage drop during Halfords’ procedure, which caused the OCU and MIB3 gateway to lose configuration.This negligence has caused months of electrical instability, loss of security features, repeated inconvenience, and significant mental stress. My vehicle is now partially unusable because of Halfords’ poor workmanship.
Extremely disappointed and strongly advise avoiding this service.

I had a replacement bulb fitted in my car. Adrian was efficient friendly and very professional. I had a great experience.

To whomever it may concern,

Hello,

I am writing this review to inform you of my experience during a recent visit to the Halfords Autocentre (The Leicester Aylestone Road branch [463 Aylestone Road]).

On Friday (2nd Jan 2026) I had visited the autocentre for some work required to the rear drivers side wheel specific to the TPMS sensor.

Initially I had visited ‘Mr Tyre’ which is a Wheel and Tyre specialist located next door to the Halford Autocentre, unfortunately they could not help because of certain equipment to component limitations. So I decided to drive home.

It was then when I had noticed the Halfords autocentre centre, so I pulled in. I am extremely disappointed… at myself, for not visiting this autocentre previously given the fact that your employees at Leicester are setting the standard for exceptional behaviour, skill and customer service

Upon my arrival I was greeted by Aaron (Assistant manager) who was very pleasant and arranged a slot for me for the following day. Whilst discussing the work required to Aaron he was very happy to cover all of my questions (of which I had several), but also reassured me that the job will be possible and introduced me to the technician that would be carrying out the work (His name is Nabs). In addition to this Aaron provided the quote for the job which was not only competitive but better than all other garages that I had previously contacted.

On the following day I arrived at my scheduled time of 11:30am, the autocentre was extremely busy and I expected my waiting time to be very long. On this occasion I met Simon (Centre Manager), Again an extremely polite speaking pleasant individual. Simon informed me of the work on-going at the time eluding to a potentially longer waiting time which was very helpful as it allowed for my day planning. In the end the wait time was less than expected and the work on my car commenced.

I completely understand sometimes when customers stand over a workman it can be intrusive and can hinder the progress, I did exactly that.. I stood with the technician Nabs whilst he meticulously checked things over before starting any work, I asked several questions which he happily answered all whilst carrying out the work on my car, a true multitasker. From my time spent talking to Nabs and watching his work I could clearly see he is a knowledgeable and experienced employee, usually I perform all of my vehicle work myself as I have a certain standard I feel only I can uphold but in this instance Nabs performed the task better than I could have (something I do not admit to easily). The job was completed to a fantastic standard.

I have found that such professional behaviour, knowledge and experience is not readily available, and given it was the day after new years, which is typically a busy working day in general, it was even more impressive. The competitive pricing that Halfords offers is yet another bonus, I will definitely be coming back and will be recommending to friends and family.

Simon (Centre manager), Aaron (Assistant manager) and Nabs (Technician and Acting manager on Sunday), have gone above and beyond to ensure high standards are met, please join me in congratulating them, I would hope a large corporation like Halfords will deliver some form of recognition to them for their efforts. I will be checking up with the autocentre in due course to see if this review has been conveyed to the three members of staff.

Good reputation of a company relies on individuals like these and the initiatives they take.

Kind regards

Ray

My review relates to Halfords Garage Services, Byfleet, Surrey.
Realised I had a tyre puncture after 4pm on a Wednesday, knew I needed the car for work the next day and so was concerned. Drove car to Halfords Garage Services, Byfleet and was seen straight away. Car taken in, and problem seen to and sorted in 1/2 hour. Communication excellent, I was informed of possible outcomes at the start (repair - cheaper, replacement - more expensive). I felt reassured and felt that the service manager/staff were trustworthy. This impression was justified as the tyre was repaired rather than replaced - they could have easily just decided on the more expensive option to boost sales! Would definitely use again! Thank you!!