Hartwell plc Anmeldelser 370

Watch out for Chris Howard in Service at Grimsby. He is full of lies but thinks he’s doing customers favours when it’s not wanted.
Have recently had some work done on my car where they were waiting on my parts to arrive apparently for 2 weeks even though when I booked my car in they had a whole month to have the parts there.
I have taken my car for a few bits of work to be done this year and so in total they have kept my car for 4 weeks and the first time claimed they didn’t know my car was there for work to be done even though it was booked in and my keys were handed over to them and not put in the self serve terminal!!
I have found them to be very unreliable.
Whoever has worked on my car this time had caused damage to my car but they claimed it came in like that when it didn’t. They didn’t like to be told that if they looked back on their system they would see my car was in not so long before from where I had all the front of my car replaced because of damage. This garage likes for the customers to be made liars when actually it is them.
I’ve had great service from the body shop side and if you can deal with Holly, she is absolutely brilliant, but I’d avoid service at all cost and if you cross paths with Chris Howard, I’d be very careful and don’t fall for his poor excuses and Lies!

Bought a new car from Hartwell. Complained twice in the first 30 days that it was not performing as it should. At first, the garage agreed with me but then did a complete u turn. They now tell me the car is perfect and won't take it back or do anything to improve its battery's dreadful sub-standard performance. Avoid this company!

100% unless diagnostic and repair

I’ve bought the van in Dunstable Hartwell , 71 plate, with 55000 miles 5 months ago, I still had a manufacturer warranty, and I’ve extend the warranty for another 2 years, in 4 months the clutch gone. Now I would expect that this would be under the warranty, BUT NOT, they made me wait 3 weeks to investigate the problem, and 1 week to fix it, AND THE wort think, is that this problem apparently not warranted.
So I had to hire the van for 4 weeks, pay for it, and I had to pay for investigation, and I had to pay for clutch to be fixed.
So van under the warranty cost me: £1400 for hired van( because I needed for my work) and I had to pay them for fixing it £1760.
Also I’ve only made in 4 months around 3000miles.
Now I’ll be cancelling my extended warranty (not worth to have), and realistically I would want to have my money back for repairs and hire van.
Very disappointed, it’s a huge company, would never expect that. They look after you when you buying (so they can sell) after that they don’t care, don’t even want to talk to you.
I would not give even a 1 star.
Planning to get solicitor, any advice, or maybe someone had similar situation.

excellent service from the team at Hartwells

Ford Hartwell in Watford are terrible for ordering parts.
Whenever I ring their main number and select Parts, no one answers, and then I leave my number with reception but no one rings back. Have tried three times this week, I have now given up. My next car will not be a Ford.

If I could have given this company a 0 star rating I would!! Avoid Hartwell kidlington at all costs! Unfortunately I've learnt the hard way.
I bought a 2019 plate smax back in march 2023, after 9 months of having it I had major problems- took it to my local Ford dealer who said it required a new engine 🤬 35k miles, 4 year old! I sent it back to hartwell to have this work carried out as luckily I took out the extended warranty with them- thank god I did!! They basically fobbed me off with a set off new spark plugs and told me it was fine- after 6 weeks of no car, no courtesy car I had to take their word and take the car back- even though my Ford garage said it was a ticking time bomb and would happen again! Low and behold 4 months later on the motorway to the airport the same issues returned- took it back to my local Ford who said it needs a new engine!! Luckily they used hartwells warranty and replaced the engine for me. In total my car was off the road for 4 months. The warranty company have forked out just short of 11k in total on that car! Hartwell couldn't give a stuff- thankfully the engine went bang in my Ford garage and not while I was driving it with my children in the car! If they had replaced the engine in the first place it would never have got to where it did! Instead fobbed me off with a set of sparkplugs till the engine went bang! Absolutely disgraceful garage!
Please avoid at all costs!!

Booked my car in for MOT at Watford back in July on a Friday. Dropped off at my allotted time and was told it should be ready mid afternoon. Numerous calls later they finally got back to me at half four to tell me that it had failed and required 4 tyres and an emissions test. No tyres in stock so would be in by a Monday at 10am meaning I would get car back mid afternoon. Gave okay for work to be done. Asked about a courtesy car but was told they don’t do them.
Monday morning came and went, left numerous messages and still got no call back. Tried again Tuesday morning and was finally told at 11am that car had passed its MOT the previous day. Why I wasn’t notified nobody could explain. Few days later got an email asking me to compete a survey about my experience. Explained everything to them and was told someone would be in touch about my complaint. Got a phone call a few days later asking if my complaint had been dealt with to my satisfaction to which I said I’d had no contact from anyone at Hartwell. Then got an email saying my complaint had been sent to senior management. That was 15th August. Despite numerous written requests asking for an update on my complaint I’ve still not heard a single word since 15th August.
They are a joke of a company and I would suggest that anyone considering using them to avoid them at all costs

Hartwells reply means Nothing. I have written to there customer care department and heard nothing. Their Customer Care Doesn't Exist.

I bought a used Mini countryman from Hartwell at Grimsby, James Thorpe made this a pleasant experience. When an unexpected problem with the vehicle occurred soon after purchase James and Mark Remnant helped sort it out quickly and effectively.

Absolutely terrible after sales service. Purchased a vehicle from them which had a cracked windshield and a couple of other issues. They promised to resolve the issues as everyone should however after 1 month of chasing them they simply ignore calls and ghost you. Had to visit them 3 times from Leicester to sort out other 2 minor issues and they only compestated for fuel for one visit. Would definitely be taking legal action against them in an event of a mishap due to the windshield as I have all evidence of the vehicle purchased in that condition. They will be very responsive before the deal one they get your money they wont even bother answering or replying.

Used Hartwell Dunstable for my timing belt change on an ecoboost Fiesta. Job done quickly at a higher cost than other mechanics due to being a "trusted" dealer. After the job was done, my vehicle started making a whining noise, and when I tried to get back in touch with Hartwell, the contact centre were very helpful and told me to take it in whenever and someone will look at it. Since talking to the people who work in Dunstable Hartwell, they would like me to authorise £150 to look at the car in case it's not something they did on their job. Trying to explain to them that this is not reasonable, the response you get from fake friendly staff is condescending and rude. They talk over you when you try to speak and repeat themselves over and over with "Ford's policy" until you give up. They constantly talk about their reputation, yet are happy to let a defective repair go unchecked unless the customer commits to £150 "inspection" and talk to customers like dirt. All it would take would be to look at the car and see if it's something done during the work, without extorting the customer. Could do well to learn something from the contact centre as they are much more friendly and empathetic. I expect a similar style of reply on here as I got on the phone, if they even bother to read feedback on their business.

Drove a 3 hour round trip to look at a Transit connect that was described both in the advert and on the phone with the sales exec as great condition, 51k miles and full service history but when I got to Abingdon transit centre the van had been badly sprayed and with the paint bubbling, had damage to front and rear bumper and chips everywhere, had actually done 69k miles and had part service history and wasn’t first serviced until 37k miles. Absolutely nothing like described and sales exec couldn’t care less, even told me there is another buyer if I don’t want it.

DO NOT RECOMMEND!

I initially enquired about a 2nd hand model 3 tesla for sale that I wished to take for a test drive, this first enquiry via email was never answered, after 4 days of waiting I decided to call instead, after a fairly long wait on hold I was put through to a sales representative and a test drive was arranged.
On test drive day everything went smoothly and at no point did I feel pressured to purchase the car.
I went away and did some research and came to the decision that I would be after a 2022 long range model 3, the only available one that fit this criteria was present at another Hartwell branch in Hemel Hempstead. I discussed this with the sales rep and was informed that this could be shipped to Reading and we would take the process from there.

The estimated delivery date comes and goes and 2 days after it was meant to arrive I sent an email to enquire about the delay, no answer nor out of office reply, I tried to call and was informed the sales rep was on their day off and to try again the next day, I tried the next day was told I would get a call back and did not receive one. The following day I chased and eventually got a call back late in the day with an updated delivery time almost a week after the initial expected date.

I arrive on the updated delivery date and go through the handover process, hand over the keys to my part exchanged vehicle and head out to inspect the tesla, as the car is being shown to me we notice the back left tire was rather low in PSI, this was then refilled and off I went after being assured this was not a puncture. During the drive home the car was pulling heavily to the left whenever any form of acceleration or breaking was applied. I emailed that night to inform the sales rep. Following morning the back left tire was checked over and the valve was repaired and the tire now held PSI, I then took the vehicle to a local trusted garage to give it a once over and this is where I discovered the hidden issues.

The vehicle has clearly been In some form of collision, a large 6-12 inch dent was shown to me under the passenger side and the 4 wheel tracking was so out of alignment they advised they wouldn't be able to adjust it. The vehicle also appeared to be an ex rental for Hertz, this was not disclosed. I immediately emailed the sales rep and branch manager and informed them that this vehicle will be coming back for a full refund. The garage engineer advised to not drive the car due to how dangerous it would be.

The process of returning the car, having the finance finally paid off on the old part exchange and getting an almost full refund took one whole month.

After many emails being sent by myself to multiple members of the team in which sometimes days before a reply has been given, I was advised I would need to attend in person for a refund for the cash portion of the purchase. I waited for over an hour which went beyond closing time for the branch and in the end had to find the needed member of staff so that I could get this completed and leave.

I have still yet to receive my full payment as discussed for what was my part exchange was worth when changing over to a sale and at this point its not worth the hassle and I have taken a loss because of it.
I did mention this via email and not even an acknowledgement email was sent to myself in reply to apologise or offer a solution.
They had possession of my previously part exchanged vehicle for almost a month without paying off the finance but I was no longer the registered keeper 1 day after the initial sale, meaning I have had to contact the ex finance company multiple times to keep them updated on the whole situation of which they expressed concern.

All in all, I would say avoid Hartwell ford at any and all costs, yes the members are staff are friendly however they appear to be constantly on the go and all of their attention is on sales but if you have ANY issues you can expect no return of emails and calls for days at a time and in the end you will still not get your problem sorted in full and will likely be left out of pocket.

This is a complete Joke of a supposed Company. I’ve been waiting over 4 Months for a spare key from this Mob. I’ve been put in the promised land many many times. The last effort was to get the key done at my local Ford garage & they would pay. After huge Aggro. I managed to get the morons speaking. After booking my car into the local Ford dealer. I decided to check it was all ok. True to form the local Ford dealer would not accept Hartwell’s payment (to risky). Can’t deal with this excuse of a dealer anymore. Complete Liars! Their Business practice is non existent. When they shut down I will Laugh.
You have been warned Double Dodgy!
Hartwell Ford Dunstable the very worst dealer in the country.
DO NOT USE.

Top service again!!!!
I have just bought my third car from Hartwell Kidlington always dealing with Simon Pitney Baxter..Iwanted a Tesla but wasn’t 100% sure which model Simon spent many hours explaining the pro and cons of each model with great knowledge, test drives no problem all three times nothing was to much trouble even when i scared him in the performance model !! it was refreshing to have been given time to make the right decision. So well done Simon
Which is why I will always be a repeat customer 5 star service.

I've waited a long time before posting this, to give plenty of time for things to settle.

In short - every kind of lie, malpractice, poor customer service and blatant illegality you can possibly imagine, every kind of horrible experience you could get when buying a used car from a back-street wheeler-dealer - I received that from here. From my own research and an engineering report I commissioned from a highly-respected independent Ford specialist, I have proof that this dealership knowingly sold me a defective vehicle, and deliberately hid the diabolical fault/service history - and I reported them to Trading Standards.

Car had a slow puncture and electrical problems on the way home, and had the wrong plates. Faulty gearbox, numerous other problems, botched replacement gearbox, 2 engineer inspections, lies and lies from the dealership, 13 month battle... and finally got my money back and the undrivable/immovable car went off on a lowloader for (most likely, the driver told me) auction. Hartwell Ford head office no use whatsover during all of this, just kept delegating back to dealership. My first and last time buying a Ford - utter hell from start to finish. Avoid like the plague.

I was after buying a used car. I spoke to Darren at Watford. He kept ringing me asking what deal he could get for me. I told him what I wanted and asked him to put it all in an email. Then he got his sales manager to message me. What a set of cowboys! Looking at other reviews, I am glad I didn't buy from here.my advise KEEP WELL CLEAR!!!!!!

Following the purchase of a second-hand 2021 Mach-E in January 2024, I encountered recurring issues with one of the tyres, which would lose air every 2-3 weeks. Initially, I would refill the tyre at a local petrol station before taking the vehicle to my local tyre repair shop in early April. The repair shop found no nails or blistering but informed me that three of the four tyres had been replaced before the sale. Predictably, the problematic tyre was the original one fitted in 2021.

The local workshop also identified inner side tread wear and tyre misalignment. They advised me to return the vehicle to Hartwell Watford for further investigation, which I did immediately.

I reported the frequent air loss to a front desk staff member, who suggested that I might have been driving over speed bumps too quickly. I raised a complaint with the Dealer Principal, questioning why a sales representative (not a service team member) would ask me such a question. I felt my concerns were dismissed from the outset and have since escalated this issue within the franchise.

The Service Manager assured me that all standard vehicle checks had been completed before the car was handed over to me. However, despite my reports of a recurring tyre issue, they did not offer to inspect the tyre. Instead, they took photographs of the tyre tread depth and dismissed my concerns.

The problem persisted, and while driving, the car again alerted me to the tyre losing air. I visited another mechanic who found that the tyre valve needed replacement due to erosion, which is unusual for such a new vehicle. I was again advised to return to Hartwell Watford.

Since raising these issues, I have been accused of providing inaccurate statements and misleading information, which has called my integrity into question. I firmly believe my concerns about tyre wear and condition were not taken seriously, potentially influenced by my gender and race.

The Dealer Principal claimed to have offered to inspect the tyre following my complaint, which is untrue. My complaint has since been closed, and I have been advised to take the matter to the Motor Ombudsman.

My family and I have been loyal Ford customers for nearly two decades, but this experience has been the most disappointing, leading me to consider taking my business elsewhere.