Formula One Autocentres - Andover Reviews 65

DO NOT GO HERE
My partner took her car here to get the brake pads changed. Dropped off early afternoon and was told we would receive a call when done. Early evening comes around and no call! They had closed and didnt even tell us they were keeping the car overnight. When we went down to check, the car was left outside in the car park UNLOCKED! Bare in mind this was a Mercedes. Next day get a call to say its all done. Went to collect and paid. As i drove off a brake warning light came on, returned and they said oh we didnt do the work, your calliper is broken (why did they charge me for the work then??) and said they would fix it and only charge labor costs. I did not trust this, i asked if my car was safe to drive to a different garage and they said yes. Took it somewhere else and they said the car was NOT safe to drive at all! And to make matters worse, a screwdriver had been taken to my calliper in order to remove it, which broke it! Escalated this to area manager who found every excuse to not deal with it every time we called. Was assured it was in hand and he would look at CCTV, then never heard anything again!!!!!!!!!!!!

don’t come here the service is bad and they find something wrong with yr car just to get more money off u

I want to give a big shout out to AJ at the Andover branch .Such a polite helpful knowledgeable great guy .He went above and beyond getting the appropriate part needed for my car .
He saved me lots of money thank you AJ you are certainly a credit to your profession and Formula one .

The good, the bad and the ugly!

Having read good reviews on Trustpilot I decided to give these guys a go. They were relatively local (about 5 miles from home), reasonably priced and I was able to book a ‘slot’ for fitting. I placed web order for 2 tyres with ‘Precision Balance Upgrade’ on a Wednesday for fitting at the Andover store that coming Sunday.

The Good:
Throughout my experience, the staff were pleasant and appeared helpful. The location was easy to find and waiting area basic but clean.

The Bad (customer service!):
Arrived the requested 15 mins before appt and expected to be there for maybe 35-45 mins max. About 40 mins in I was now the only customer, the car was still outside and I could see through viewing window they were searching for tyres. After a while the chap (who it later transpired wasn’t normally at this store) was apologetic but could only find 1 of the tyres. We agreed they will fit that one as this was a replacement for a pot-hole damaged and the regular manager was left notes on a couple of customer issues (mine included) to follow-up on his return on Monday. I had been there for over 1.5 hours at this point.
-Monday came and went and I didn’t hear anything.
-Tuesday I called in the afternoon to find out status. He was pleasant and checked. “Nothing has arrived, should have been dealt with yesterday, doesn’t look like it was. Will arrange now, should be here tomorrow. Will call when it’s here”.
-Wednesday – no call.
-Thursday – I called again in the afternoon “Delivery due tomorrow morning around 8.30ish”
-Friday – I called again in the afternoon. It’s arrived! “Difficult to fit in today” so I booked in for the Sunday again for fitting. Unfortunately, at this point due to family emergency, I needed to cancel that appt and re-booked for the following Thursday.

The Ugly:
Arrived on Thursday morning as planned. Mechanic came outside with me to confirm which tyres were changing (I was requesting new onto front offside, move old front to rear nearside and dispose of poor rear). All seemed good. They were quick to get into garage and I was so far pleased. Within about 30 mins car was ready, I asked if there was any paperwork to take but was told nothing to take (I assume the online receipt is my ‘guarantee’ and proof of purchase).
When I arrived home later that day I noticed that the wheel centre on rear nearside was missing so I called them. I was told they would have a look but if they can’t find “guess they’d need to purchase another for me”. I explained they were custom design. He said he’d have a look and “please call back in about half hour”. I didn’t manage a call that day and hoped if they found, I’d get a call as it would be hanging around on the desk and getting in the way. That call didn’t come.

In summary, whilst I appreciate the final element could be resolved be me calling them AGAIN, it would also result in another 10 mile round trip.
My experience:
1. The saving I thought I was making wasn’t real due to the multiple trips. If I wanted the final problem resolved a further trip was required.
2. Whilst pleasant, the customer service was poor and fully relied on my chasing and making calls for something that was clearly their error.
3. Not only was the car returned without 1 of the wheel centres, but I have since noticed that all the locking wheel-nut covers on front offside (new tyre) are all missing. Both of these will cost me to replace.
4. I’m not entirely convinced I received the additional ‘precision balance upgrade’ that I purchased, particularly as they were reluctant to give me any paperwork to show work done.
I won’t be returning.

Update 4.15pm 17/2
Thank you for standard 'please contact us' response below. Also for the personal email on 12/2 @ 13.42 confirming that Area Manager will be in touch within 72 hours (3 working days) to discuss and resolve. I can confirm, no call has been received to date.

Dropped the car off for a service, thought I'd give these another go after two years ago I had to take it back to get the service light reset then again as I'd asked for a copy of the service check sheet but it wasn't within the service book.
This year was slightly better, service light reset but again no service check sheet for my records. Seems as though they might be reluctant to clarify the activities actually carried out...............twice bitten and all that.
Send a complaint online, just said that the local center would be in tough, as expecting, still waiting.

I paid for a brake fluid change, but I have serious doubts that the work was done properly.
After the first visit, I noticed no change at all in the brake pedal feel. From my experience, a proper brake fluid change should result in a firmer pedal with no sponginess. When I returned to the garage to complain, they told me to bring the car back the following week.

On the second visit, I was told again that the brake fluid had been changed. After driving the car, there was still absolutely no difference in how the brakes felt. I asked for proof of the work, and the garage only provided a purchase order, not any detailed service report or evidence that the fluid had actually been replaced. The receptionist claimed they personally witnessed the technician doing the job, which I find hard to believe given the lack of results.

Whilst I was there, I also noticed other customers coming back after repairs, saying they paid for parts to be replaced but found out they were not replaced. This pattern left me even more frustrated and distrustful of the garage.

Brake work is safety-critical, and this repeated lack of transparency and results is unacceptable. After giving them two chances, I left feeling misled, disappointed, and cheated. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this garage.

Lovely and helpful staff! Very straight forward and thorough

I've been into the Andover branch on 4 occasions for mots,servicing, tyres, brakes and general repairs. Always a friendly atmosphere and very welcoming. They get the job done well at reasonable cost. Went there this weekend and Pat, as always, went that extra mile to help me out. Thank you

Absolutely awful experience at Andover Formula One.
MOT fail on Emissions…. Firstly I was told that after having it attached to diagnostics machinery, they couldn’t find anything wrong. But it would either be a sensor or the catalytic converter. This took them 2 days of having the car to tell me this. The following day (day 3) all of a sudden they couldn’t do the diagnostics (that they said they had done the day before) as the machine was away for repair.
I was advised I would need a new catalytic converter at the cost of £500+ which didn’t include labour.
I took it to the dealership for a second opinion. First thing they checked - the spark plugs weren’t fitted properly …. A little fiddle around with them and all has been resolved. Oh and these were the spark plugs fitted by Formula one in the previous service!
Had a trusted Formula Ones advice and replaced expensive parts that I didn’t need, which wouldn’t have resolved the problem. I’d be hugely out of pocket. For now, I’m only £40 out of pocket for an MOT - I decided to take it elsewhere instead of retesting for free with a dishonest, unreliable company!
Also to mention, they also said I needed brake discs and pads…. Which was also untrue! AVOID!

The Andover branch broke my calliper back in February when it was in for a break change but tried to make out it just broke but would fix it ant labour costs only (seemed a bit suspicious to me) and left my car unlocked overnight in a car park that anyone could go to, oh and they charged me for the break change and when I went back to say a warning light was on they say “oh yeah, we didn’t change the breaks, your calliper is broken”. The area manager was in contact with me but kept finding every excuse as to why he couldn’t speak to the person he needs to and now has gone totally radio silent!! Terrible experience and £500 down fixing what they broke!

I’ve been using the Andover branch for around four years now and always found them to be obliging and transparent. Work included repairs, services and MoT’s. Similarly their tyres are very competitively priced. The icing on the cake today: I dropped a puncture repair off and when I went to pay the manager said “it’s on the house” Thanks Mark!
Richard VW Tiguan

I booked mot for Saturday 14th June @ 11am. Arrived 20 minutes before to be told they do not do mot's on the hour, even after showing the booking confirmation was told could only rebook for later in the week. Absolutely useless. If I could give a zero I would. Be warned stay well away from this company!!!!

Aaron was really helpful at the Andover branch, an example of excellent customer service.

Absolute nightmare with these guys. If you want your car back in worse condition than you left it feel free to hand over your keys! They will damage your car and deny all knowledge even with proof it was them. I feel sorry for the centre manager Aaron as he tried to help. HIs manager Joe is a sarcastic bully and windup merchant. Avoid at all costs.

I booked for mot and service so I drop my car 9am and was told to pick up the car around 5pm and when I arrived the car was still up due to a parts not available which I can understand but they failed to communicate to me before I arrived there. Poor management. Then the next day I was told to come at mid day but when I came at 2:45 pm and the car still not done so another 1 hour wait.
And during payment I was told to pay £649 but was quoted before £550. It was a huge let down on the management that day.

Just want to give Aaron Ray @ Andover Formula One Autocentre a huge shout out. He very kindly done a diagnostic scan on my car at short notice and done this FOC for me! Something he didn't have to do, he's a top guy and should be recognised. Even though the centre doesn't deal with the potential issue he helped as much as he possibly could. Thank you Aaron! You made an awful day better with the kindness you showed.

My elderly father booked his camper in to have repairs, already advised on what required for MOT. Dropped van off at 8:30 gave keys over no phone call. Went back at 3:30 to be told haven’t done anything to van as operative had to go home. Left there overnight. Rang next morning to be told we don’t fix campers. Collected van going elsewhere. Absolutely terrible service

Very helpful and didn’t take long too change a tyre also checked the car over
Will definitely use this garage again

Done my tracking- paid cash and was told it won't go through the books so the lad put the cash straight into his pocket. Took car for m.o.t it failed as they left it loose and been told i could have had a serious accident and lost my engine ect. I habe a child in my car. I will be going further with this. Trading standards ect.

Andover. I called the garage to confirm the booking (booked via whocanfixmycar). They had to call me back after a price check, which they agreed on. I dropped the car off at the opening time and asked them to take a look at the rear pads too and carry out the work if needed. I called at 5pm as I hadn’t heard any update, they advised that they were not able to get the parts until the following day - good job I phoned as they didn’t seem to wish to let me know. When I collected that day they said they won’t be in until 10:30am the following day, I enquired as to whether the backs need doing, they didn’t even look at them so no parts were ordered. I attended at the agreed time the following day which they said one part had arrived and the rest would come later in the afternoon. They said they will call when the parts arrived so I could drop the car off then. I have received no phone call informing me, clearly didn’t want the work (or extra possible extra work). Car was never moved/started according to tracking. Complete waste of time, lack of customer experience and communication.