Halfords Autocentre Universal Tyres Chelmsford

Shouldn’t be using the ‘Universal Tyres’ brand name.

The take over has been a disaster and I will never use a Halfords Autocentre again.

- they overbooked so had to leave my car overnight
- mixed messages between day staff on when my car would be ready
- when I picked the car up the guy through his colleagues from the previous day under the bus saying ‘I always come back to chaos when I’ve had a day off’
- they have no data or history from my 5/6 years as a Universal Tyres customer - tried talking to me about replacing spark plugs I had only replaced the previous service
- over charged me because his computer system had crashed. Refund for the difference still hasn’t come through
- mentioned to me four times he had thrown in a job for free - as if that makes up for the dire service

I don’t write reviews often but I wanted customers who had used Universal Tyres previously to be aware that this is no way shape or form the same company.

Disappointed with this branch. Quoted me over £1k for 4 tyres and said will throw in wheels adjustment for free. Was planning to go with Tesla but decided to go with them. Big mistake. Went to collect the car and they said couldn’t do wheel adjustment as a special tool is needed and they don’t have it. Ended up paying more to get wheel adjustment done separately in Tesla. Seems like they don’t know what they’re promising so I would advise not to deal with them.

Having booked my car in for an MOT I was pleased that being a member of their "free" motoring club it was £29.99 instead of £39.99.
Pleased to be greeted by a friendly receptionist and stayed in their comfortable waiting area with free drinks.
A quick and efficient MOT.

Can’t recommend this garage enough. Staff polite, courteous and very professional. The receptionist even greets you with a warm smile. Most unusual these days. Definitely going back.

Always used this garage before it became Halfords but it has now gone downhill from an admin point of view. Booked my mot at 17:15 and insisted this was correct after I questioned how late it was, had an email confirming the same time as well. Turned up at 5 and was told they dont do slots at that time and it was booked at 16:40 even though I had the email to prove the original time. Refused to admit the phone call where they'd confirmed it even though it was the same person. And this isn't the first time recently we've had issues with bookings since Halfords took over so we and everyone I've previously recommended will be going elsewhere in future.

Extremely overpriced brake pads and discs (£370 plus VAT) was quoted for a first time MOT on a three year old car with less than 25,000 miles on the clock. MOT print out stated that all four tyres show slight wear, and was written in a way that made it look like four new tyres were needed on top of the break pads and discs. I got the breaks and discs done by my own reliable mechanic for £145 (inc VAT) and took it back to HALFORDS a couple of days later for a retest - which actually took a mechanic all of 3 minutes to walk to my car parked outside the showroom and back again.!! Needless to say I won’t be using HALFORDS again any time soon and most certainly wouldn’t recommend them as value for money.

Speak to Ryan. Knows his stuff and friendly too. Taking the car in for a brake check. It sounds detailed and I feel reassured it'll be sorted with him on the case. Amy is on point and very friendly. Managed to price match another quote and is a great communicator.

Check out their Brakes For Life scheme. Very good value in the long-term.

Suggestion to Halfords: send a reminder text or confirmation email of the drop off/booking time so customers can see if there is an error.

Had my MOT there great friendly service thanks