Arnold Clark Horror Stories

[Romeo]

The wife bought her last car through Arnold Clark and got 2 services included although I usually get servicing or any other work done at a garage I have used for years. I got the wife's cars brakes changed at my usual garage and it had it's service at Arnold Clark a couple of weeks later. Much to my surprise when I sat down with the guy "to look over the report" the brakes needed changed, obviously this was to be carried out at double the price my normal garage charges. when I challenged the guy he said he'd made a mistake and it was the brake fluid that he "recommended" be changed. One of the wheel trims was missing and they offered to replace it for £26.

Chancers of the highest order. They also keep calling to ask if the wife want's to look at a new car to be told every single time that we won't be using Arnold Clark again, I delight in giving them the full story.

[tree house tam]

14 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

 

No shock to find out youre an Arnold Shark employee...

 

I am nothing of the sort you c**t!!

 

Wash your fucking mouth out son.

[Gaz FFC]

33 minutes ago, Romeo said:

The wife bought her last car through Arnold Clark and got 2 services included although I usually get servicing or any other work done at a garage I have used for years. I got the wife's cars brakes changed at my usual garage and it had it's service at Arnold Clark a couple of weeks later. Much to my surprise when I sat down with the guy "to look over the report" the brakes needed changed, obviously this was to be carried out at double the price my normal garage charges. when I challenged the guy he said he'd made a mistake and it was the brake fluid that he "recommended" be changed. One of the wheel trims was missing and they offered to replace it for £26.

Chancers of the highest order. They also keep calling to ask if the wife want's to look at a new car to be told every single time that we won't be using Arnold Clark again, I delight in giving them the full story.

Having bought my 1st 3 cars from Arnold I used to allow them to service and MOT my cars as they usually didn't take the piss regarding faults.

This all changed 1 day when I got a call from them saying I needed new brake pads and discs and the cost was a little hefty. 

I genuinely didn't have that kind of cash at the time so told them to just service it and I will bring the car in for the parts at a later date.

A week later I took the car to a friend of a friend for new brake pads and asked him his opinion. He nearly pished himself laughing that I need new discs and said I had a good few miles in the brake pads too.

To this day Arnold Clark would still be doing my service and MOT but they took the piss once and I'm now 10 years without giving them a penny.

[mizfit]

This.

I've also got an Astra. Had it in for its MOT and it came out with the engine making a squealing noise. Not sure if they had done something to one of the belts but the noise wasn't there before it went in. Argued with them for days until they eventually fixed it.

When I was checking to see exactly what the noise was I noticed they hadn't even refitted the engine cover properly - simple stuff I'd have thought.

They actually phoned me when the 66 plates came out and asked me to come down and look, I told them why I wasn't using them again and the guy instead of saying "sorry" and ending the call decided to have a go at me for breaking it then hung up on me.

Sounds daft but I had wanted an Astra since I passed and I felt massively let down when I finally got one, won't be buying a Vauxhall again.

[Diamond8]

I have an on going situation with Arnold Clark. Can't fault the guys that sold me the car but it's the incompetent guys in their workshops that have caused me my problem. I pointed out that it needed two new tyres on the drivers side, so that got done and I picked the car up, foolishly I didn't check their work. A little later on the tyre pressure warning light would keep appearing although the pressures were correct but the tyres they had fitted were the wrong size, causing my abs to fail on more than one occasion. I contacted the branch late November and it's pending investigation, I've yet to hear back but with winter coming I've forked out just under £300 to correct their fault.

[The Moonster]

I've bought all of my cars from Arnold Clark and never had an issue with them. I don't use them for servicing or MOT's though, did so once and the guy tried to tell me this, that and the next thing was wrong with it so I told him just to do the standard stuff and took it to a local garage. They then confirmed there was hee-haw wrong with the car, been going to them ever since with no problems.

They always try and punt 2 or 3 years servicing when you buy the car, just tell them to ram it.

[Sergeant Wilson]

On 1/14/2017 at 14:32, port-ton said:

 

I wouldn't recognise half my family if they walked past me and I'm a lovely person.
 

 

I pretend not to have seen mine.

[invergowrie arab]

Play for today.

Went on today with missus she is getting Kia serviced.

Girl at desk says " because of 7 year warranty we recommend manufacturers service £289"

Me "what has manufacturers service got to do with warranty?"

Her "we change air filters spark plugs..."

Me "what's that got to do with warranty"

Girl "we recommend it"

Me " if we  get standard service (£119) it's still in warranty isn't it?"

Girl "yes"

Me " one of them please"

I get even at service desk they are sales people and have to push premium products but conflating it with the warranty for confused people like the elderly and my missus is cheeky as fuck.

It's also a fucking Kia , I don't believe what is going in the car is any different to standard service and certainly not 170 quid different.

Will still use them, they are fine if you don't listen to the sales patter.

[BallochSonsFan]

Shark isnt alone in trying to carry out work that isnt necessary.

Had my car in for a service at Henrys Skoda. Was told I needed 2 new tyres and brakes to be done on all 4 corners. Front brakes supposedly had a lip on them but would be ok for a couple of months. Rears needed done ASAP. I got the tyres done as I knew what Black Circles would have charged and the price difference wasn't much but I didnt get the brakes done as I wanted to go to my local independent garage. I knew my local garage would be cheaper and he's always been first class with his price and his service whenever he's serviced my cars in the past.

He took the car in, cleaned out the rear drum brakes because they had been a wee bit sticky and told me they had at least another 15,000 miles in them. All he charged for was stripping them down, clearnng them out and re-assembling them rather than doing anything that wasn't needed. About an hour labour cost tops.

I chinned Henrys about this. Their answer - "well, our diagnostics computer estimates how long is left on your brakes given their current state of wear and our mechanics make a recommendation based on that diagnostic report".

Chancers. They kept calling me to try to get me back in for another service/MOT despite me telling them I'd never be back.

 

[Gaz FFC]

When I bought my Hyundai brand new from the local dealer they tried to get me to sign up to the service package. 

As a non mug I ask what this will cost?

£750 added to the finance over the 4 years I'm paying.

What kind of Service are they doing at £190 a time? It would also mean I'd need to keep the car for 4 years.

Got it serviced for £120 locally and sold it after 14 months.

This isn't an Arnold Clark horror story but goes to show that all dealers are only interested in screwing you over.

[RandomGuy.]

The fabled "service plan". Charge you huge amounts for a service every year despite the fact they won't change anything until the recommended mileage in the service book.

Easy money.

[Flybhoy]

Kwik Fit are just as bad in my experience, took an old car of mine in when I was about 18 to get the tracking adjusted as it was pulling to one side slightly, it was an old C reg Ford Fiesta, they told me it needed a steering rack and two ball joints at a cost of £800, before id responded they started pushing for me to take out finance for the repair, saying it was dangerous to drive. Took it to a friend of a friends garage who diagnosed a worn rubber at the end of the steering column and replaced and fixed it for £60 ! People I know have had similar experiences, they seem to have special rates for young females and the elderly i.e those easy to hoodwink. 

In my experience most dealerships and chain garages are the same, always go to a smaller independent garage with a good reputation.

Edited February 8, 2017 by Flybhoy

[D.A.F.C]

Got a cheque for £40 for all the shit they caused. Fair play.

Today though, just received a text from them saying that my MOT is due soon. On the gov website it says December can the site be wrong?

DAFUQ

[Dee Man]

12 hours ago, D.A.F.C said:

Got a cheque for £40 for all the shit they caused. Fair play.

Today though, just received a text from them saying that my MOT is due soon. On the gov website it says December can the site be wrong?

DAFUQ

Sounds like they're at it. Tell them what the government website says and ask them to explain themselves. Then at night go back and spray all their cars with brake fluid to see if they like paying out money they don't need to.

[Irish_Seán]

Passes serious faults onto the customer - Dishonest practices

 

I bought a car from Arnold Clark in 2016, I realized that the windscreen had a crack on it covered by pigeon poo. Trying to get this repaired was like pulling teeth but eventually they authorized the replacement of the windscreen.  Not long after I noticed after the first bout of wet weather that the windscreen wiper was violently hitting the pillar,  then soon after the car started losing power.  My brother took the car in for repair, I asked him to make sure the wipers get fixed, he was told at the time "Thats common and nothing to worry about."  I was not happy with this explanation though and told the Arnold Clark rep that I wanted it fixed. I was promised a call back (which never came). 

Fast forward to February 2017 and the car maintenance light comes on, I took the card to Arnold Clark as its still in warranty and amongst other problems they tell me that the wiper linkage is worn and needs replaced at a cost of £485 pounds. I tell them that I had already reported this and they have denied all knowledge that I had previously complained and because my 60 year warranty had expired then I would have to pay for it.  I was told that I must have told the wrong person and they told me they have no record of this conversation. 

I even mentioned that a worn wiper linkage is mentioned on the advisory from 2014 but despite all this I am expected to beleive that the problem magically fixed itself between 2014 and  June 2016 when they done another MOT just before selling it to me then in February 2017 its worn again? 

Its clear to me that Arnold Clark in are in the business of ignoring faults in order to pass the cost on to the customer.   The complaints department were a waste of time and also told me this conversation where I complained about the wipers may or may not have happened but theres nothing that they would be willing to do. 

I was warned about Arnold Clark to be fair so more fool me but personally I would never ever deal with this company again and if asked I would advise others to steer clear. 

[Cardinal Richelieu]

26 minutes ago, Irish_Seán said:

Passes serious faults onto the customer - Dishonest practices

 

I bought a car from Arnold Clark in 2016, I realized that the windscreen had a crack on it covered by pigeon poo. Trying to get this repaired was like pulling teeth but eventually they authorized the replacement of the windscreen.  Not long after I noticed after the first bout of wet weather that the windscreen wiper was violently hitting the pillar,  then soon after the car started losing power.  My brother took the car in for repair, I asked him to make sure the wipers get fixed, he was told at the time "Thats common and nothing to worry about."  I was not happy with this explanation though and told the Arnold Clark rep that I wanted it fixed. I was promised a call back (which never came). 

Fast forward to February 2017 and the car maintenance light comes on, I took the card to Arnold Clark as its still in warranty and amongst other problems they tell me that the wiper linkage is worn and needs replaced at a cost of £485 pounds. I tell them that I had already reported this and they have denied all knowledge that I had previously complained and because my 60 year warranty had expired then I would have to pay for it.  I was told that I must have told the wrong person and they told me they have no record of this conversation. 

I even mentioned that a worn wiper linkage is mentioned on the advisory from 2014 but despite all this I am expected to beleive that the problem magically fixed itself between 2014 and  June 2016 when they done another MOT just before selling it to me then in February 2017 its worn again? 

Its clear to me that Arnold Clark in are in the business of ignoring faults in order to pass the cost on to the customer.   The complaints department were a waste of time and also told me this conversation where I complained about the wipers may or may not have happened but theres nothing that they would be willing to do. 

I was warned about Arnold Clark to be fair so more fool me but personally I would never ever deal with this company again and if asked I would advise others to steer clear. 

I hear your pain bro but I'd question the validity of any company offering a 60 year warranty 

[D.A.F.C]

I wouldn't go back there unless I was buying a new car for a good deal and it was under manufacturers warranty.

I hope they get watchdog or another program exposing them, it's immoral and borderline illegal practice.

[DA Baracus]

I think it IS illegal practice, but they must hide cover it up well. There's no doubt to me that they regularly sell dodgy/faulty cars and regularly create faults, as well as regularly overcharging for things.

Sadly as you can see from this thread, they are still pretty popular seeing as so many folk have used them.

[monkeyblair]

1 hour ago, D.A.F.C said:

I wouldn't go back there unless I was buying a new car for a good deal and it was under manufacturers warranty.

I hope they get watchdog or another program exposing them, it's immoral and borderline illegal practice.

I agree with this.

I bought a pre-registered Mazda 6 for a great price in 2015 including a 3 year service plan and 1st MOT.

Had no issues at all since then (all minor blips being fixed under warranty) and would return to them for a similar type deal in the future.

Wouldn't go near them for an older second hand car (especially if they are like the one I traded in).

 

[RandomGuy.]

I agree with this.
I bought a pre-registered Mazda 6 for a great price in 2015 including a 3 year service plan and 1st MOT.
Had no issues at all since then (all minor blips being fixed under warranty) and would return to them for a similar type deal in the future.
Wouldn't go near them for an older second hand car (especially if they are like the one I traded in).
 

Service plans are a waste of money, they'll only actually service it every 20,000 miles regardless of how many years that takes.