Halfords Autocentre

My Experience with After-Sales Care at Halfords Auto Centre, Saughall Road, Chester I initially purchased two front tyres from the Halfords website and was booked for fitting at a National Tyres workshop in Chester. Within the first month, the driver’s side tyre began losing pressure, and I found myself inflating it weekly. After three months of this, I decided to have the tyre checked under warranty. I called Halfords Chester and spoke to Elliot, one of the managers, who told me to return to National Tyres. The issue? Elliot knew the site was closed for refurbishment for three months but sent me there anyway. Upon arriving at the closed location, I was met by confused workers. Frustrated, I drove to Saughall Road and confronted Elliot. Reluctantly, he agreed to check the tyre. They supposedly fixed it, but to this day, I’m still unclear on what was actually done. The story kept changing—whether it was resealed or glued—nobody seemed to know for sure. While waiting in the garage, I overheard the staff discussing how they had run out of time to complete work on several cars that day. Instead of being honest with the customers, the receptionist began calling them and providing a list of excuses—such as parts not arriving or wrong parts being delivered—completely forgetting I was sitting there and hearing everything. It became clear that I was dealing with a team that had no problem lying to customers. For the two weeks following this visit, the tyre continued to lose pressure, despite their supposed repair. I regularly checked the dashboard readings: the tyre should have been at 33, but it steadily dropped to 25. I kept inflating it, hoping it would hold, but the issue persisted. Then, while driving home from work on the motorway, the tyre pressure dropped drastically to 19. The car started to feel unstable, so I slowed down, put on the hazards, and pulled over onto a kerb. When I mounted the kerb, I heard a loud clashing sound, likely from the wheel hitting the ground with a semi-flat tyre. Fearing I had damaged my alloy, I abandoned the car for the night. The next morning, I returned with my dad to try to get the car back to the Saughall Road garage, just three miles away. We dismounted the kerb—again with awful noises—and drove slowly with the hazards on. Upon arrival, Elliot was there again. After hearing the story, he agreed to replace the tyre under warranty. This was on a Saturday morning. Over the weekend, I chased updates and was repeatedly told they were waiting for a tyre. By Monday, I received a call from Kevin, a more senior manager, asking me to come to the garage. When I arrived, Kevin pointed out damage to the tyre wall, likely caused by driving on a flat tyre and mounting the kerb. He claimed the warranty no longer applied due to this damage, but he offered to discount the tyre from £89 to £66. At this point, I accepted, just wanting to get my car back after what felt like it was being held hostage. I also requested to speak to the regional manager, but he never bothered to return my call. Key Takeaways: 1. Dishonesty – I witnessed the staff running out of time to complete work on customers’ cars and then lying to those customers about the reasons. They were clearly unconcerned about lying, even with me sitting in the waiting room listening to everything. 2. Inconsistent Explanations – Kevin insisted the valve wasn’t faulty, yet no one can tell me what was “fixed” the first time. How do they know it wasn’t a manufacturing fault with the tyre causing the air loss? No testing was ever mentioned. In summary, my experience with Halfords Saughall Road has been frustrating and disappointing. I would caution others before using their services.