written by Quaker2 on 19/01/2024
Sold my 8th car with the usual 1st service free. Lied to me and failed to add to contract. Salesman sacked and branch refusing to honour whati was told. How bad is this. Told me to call the useless phuck wits at the call centre. WHY? they are the most useless bunch of idiots on the planet. DO NOT USE AC IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY
written by Fagan50 on 25/05/2022
I totally get all the negatively from people buying cars from arnoldclark. Try working for them then treat you even worse constantly back stab you. But the main factors are for instance . If for talking sake you buy a car and the salesman says things like bring the car back and I'll put acp Arnold Clark protect on it for you as a good will gesture. It will never get done all they will do is ask valet team to give it a wash and valet so it looks and smells nice. They put the cheapest parts on sometimes take parts of other cars . They are disgraceful as a company . Treat all there staff like christ knows what all except the salesman that are to far up with the head of business. They need sorting out there policy are shocking . When your stood there listening to them on the fone to people and thinking why you lying to these people just to get a sale to line your own pockets. And as for the way they treat people who never had anytime of and went above and beyond. I would sincerely recommend staying away from this company
written by daknightuk on 16/04/2022
I’ve worked in a customer service delivery environment for over 20 years and understand the importance in good customer service; so I feel I’m in a good position to comment/feedback others. I’ve bought a number of used cars in the past before and appreciate that cars sometimes come with faults or develop soon after purchase – it’s how the cookie crumbles, so to speak. I purchased a car in August 2019 from Arnold Clark– this was biggest mistake of my life! Not only was the vehicle not fit for purpose but I also encountered some of the most abysmal customer service ever! It has taken me 12 MONTHS to get the car to a point where it is safe to drive with no flashing warning lights… The vehicle was loaded with a catalogue of issues, including: • Arnold Clark did not carry out the FULL Service as per the manufacturer recommendations for over 40k miles. • Purposely not disclosing the vehicle’s history to me. • I faced significant delays in getting the car booked back in every time I had issues. I cannot help but think that they really lack experience in handling the brand of vehicle and their problems. • The Service Advisor advised he had rescheduled my MOT for which I paid for in advance didn’t actually book my MOT in at all - I had to pay for it myself elsewhere. The above has compounded the issues which the car probably attained during its life as a “rental vehicle” which consequently meant that I had nothing but problems with this car. The car has had to have a whole host of parts replaced, including: 1. Fan belt 2. Battery 3. EGR Valve 4. Turbo 5. Carbon Clean Had I not bought a 3rd Party Warranty and been able to get the manufacturer to contribute upfront towards the repairs would have exceeded 50% of the sale price of the car! I later discovered, by finding a “rental agreement” in the boot of the car, Arnold Clark had bought the vehicle from British Car Auctions of Peterborough which came from Hertz Car Rentals fleet in 2015. For anyone who has worked in the car rental industry or driven a lease car knows they are mistreated and often driven aggressively – at the end of the day, why should they, it’s not their car. The one positive comment I have, and it is only the one, the Customer Service Advisor, had been very helpful over the last year. Given that I had third party evidence that Arnold Clark had failed in its duty and responsibilities in selling a used vehicle and I did eventually get reimbursed for some of my costs. I would never purchase a vehicle from Arnold Clark as this experience has made me rethink the whole process and in future will only buy from a dealer who specialises in the brand of car I want. ***Avoid Arnold Clark like the plague/Covid-19!***
written by Harry133 on 17/08/2021
Arnold clark Oldbury Birmingham offer a no quibble money back guarantee when you pay a deposit to hold and view any car, what they don not tell you is that getting your money back will take as long as they want. So if you want to send endless emails and make many calls, leaving countless messages give them your hard earned cash, OR DO NOT USED THIS COMPANY. Have a good hard think before you buy and goods or services from Arnold Clark.
written by AlexaBriggs on 22/07/2021
They completely shafted me! They agreed to sell me a van, but it needed some work doing. I told them that I needed it to take my family on holiday in two weeks. “Don’t worry” they said “it’ll be ready in two or three days”. Then it needed more work than they thought, and it would be ready later that week. Then some of the spare parts were going to take a bit longer, but it would be ready next week. Then it required 15 hours of work and couldn’t get into the workshop yet, but it would be ready on Thursday. On Wednesday it would definitely be ready tomorrow, it just needed a valet. Now it is Thursday. “Someone crashed it coming down the ramp from the workshop. It needs panel work, it’s not useable, it will not be ready until next week”. I do not find this believable. More like they had not realised how much work it needed and now they don’t want to sell it to me at a loss. “But I am setting off to Scotland with a family of six, on Sunday. I NEED this van. I have to use it to take my aging mother to hospital for cancer surgery on Monday. You have completely shafted me! I have missed the opportunity to buy other vans in the eleven days I have been waiting for you to do nothing for me. I have not got my old car serviced, because what’s the point when you were only going to give me £550 part exchange? I could hire a van but it would cost me £4000! You have completely shafted me, and you can offer me nothing!” Good luck Arnold Clark. I for one will NEVER again be your customer.
written by XX123456 on 26/02/2018
As many others on here have said, sales service is good but after sales shocking! I bought a Jeep Renegade with a three year service and MOT package. Came to book the third service and first MOT and they couldn't fit me in! Sent me to the Stourbridge branch. The car failed the MOT on warranty work and Stourbridge branch claimed they couldn't do it as they are not a Jeep Dealer! Took the car back to Oldbury and they still couldn't fit me in, Jeep themselves suggested Stoneacre in Wolverhampton, took it to them but the whole sorry situation dragged on and I ended up out of warranty and paying for the repairs. Arnold Clark are not interested and won't call me back. They conveniently never have any managers around to deal with customers! Do not use these guys for service or warranty - you'll regret it!
written by 230Boyle on 03/12/2017
Avoid this garage/company. Had faulty brakes fitted in jan 2017. Been ringing to get them sorted in mar 2017. Keep getting fobbed off. Manager will call you back etc. Finally after 10 months I personally went into branch and was refused to speak to manager on 3 occasions when asking. They said we will look at your brakes or deglaze them at £51. I refused this straight away as I spent £225 on brakes and was not looking to spend any more of something that had been a fault with them. Anyway finally got booked in to deglaze the brakes at no cost by the manager. Went down having taken day off work to find out that it needs to be rebooked as there’s no ramps available. Yes you heard it right. Why would you book me in to just tell me my brakes do actually squeak? I been telling you this for 10 months. Manager said service team took wheel off checked brakes and pads and there fine but it’s the piston that’s seized and needs replacing. So after being told it’s now rebooked in jan which makes it exactly 12 months they are no saying it’s £51 which I have in writing and verbally it’s free. I walked over to my car and looked at my alloy. It’s so dirty that there’s no hand print or any sign of the tyre been taken off so when I asked the manager where’s the locking wheel but he said in the glove department. I actually hid it in the boot. What absolute liars. No work was carried out. Car was just left in the workshop conning everyone. Avoid. No one ever should deserve this service.
written by 166Huber on 09/11/2017
I have received the worst customer service of my life with this garage. My car was recalled so have no choice but to have to use this garage. They won't do the repair work on the faulty car on a Saturday as they don't have the right technicians so I book 4 weeks in advance for a week day and struggle to get the leave from work as I work 5 days a week. Then a working day before the work is due to be done they phone to say they haven't got the parts they need! They've had 4 weeks notice how can they not have the parts. So no I have to try to arrange another day off work and still driving around in a faulty dangerous car. They won't make any exceptions and clearly don't care about customers, only profit margins. Avoid this garage at all costs.
Written on: 03/12/2017
I am too in the same boat. Told to come in to service my car. Came in nice and early in my day off which I booked off as holiday for them. They said customer will not be waiting but I did to see what actually goes on behind close doors. Omg after 40 min wait they told me my cars ready after inspecting the brake squeal. They were meant to deglaze the brakes and clean the dust. They told me they can’t do it today as there’s no ramps available. Just you heard correctly. Why book my car in if there’s no availability. Then there was a report to say they inspected the brakes. Wheel off check brakes and pads and they seemed fine. So when I had to rebook for another day for no reason I’m still driving round for another 2 months with the same problem. It gets better. I went to my car and looked at my front allow as they were very dirty anyway and there was no glove or hand print in my allow to show signs of the wheel being taken off. I asked the manager and told him did he look at my brakes and pads with wheel off? He said yes how else would we have seen them? I said will my wheels are still dirty and can you tell me where my looking wheel but is? He said in the glove department. That’s funny cos I hid it in the boot!! Please AVOID AT ALL COST. No one deserves that experience ever from any company. Especially paying £10k on a car off then.
written by 162Chavez on 29/09/2017
Shocked and appalled. I recently brought a car from this branch. Sale team were fine however the aftercare was/is shocking! I had my car for less than two weeks and 3 major problems occurred. Why was this not checked before the sale?! My car has now been with the service team for over a week and a half! I was even asked to return the hire car I was given..... As they had sold it! How ironic! So I gave up my time to return the car to branch and have been given a different hire car. They are quick enough to call you when they want you to do something..... But take days to call back when you want any answer! I would never recommend using this branch. Would rather have my money and time!
written by 269Orr on 27/09/2017
The customer service is great up until the point you're about to purchase a vehicle, however after you have made the purchase and try to call Arnold Clark for assistance during any problems the great customer service goes down hill. I was promised a call back several times and this never happen, and the call handlers always blind transfer you to alternative departments that never pick up so you end up waiting on hold for a bit before the line is cut off. I recommended a family member buying a vehicle from them but now after my experiences with Arnold Clark I will now cut off any family member of mine that ever purchases a car from them.
written by Camren38 on 06/05/2017
Poor customer service, dodgy salesman trying to push a sale through and the managers are clowns of the highest calibre. They have no people skills or respect for customers money! Best avoid or they will mis sell you a car that works just beyond a little the two month warranty!!
written by Roccor139 on 24/05/2016
I went too buy a suzki jimny this sunday, when I got there I looked around the car went for a test drive and all was good. The sales guy was great and really helpful.We were disucussing things and going trought the paperwork.Whilst doing this some other people arrived interested and just because they had cash in there pocket they had priority of the sale even through we were going through the sales. We spoke too the manager who was a disgrace and all he had too answer was that 'that's how we do business'. The sales guy was really annoyed as this sale had been stolen under our eyes just because they had cash. AVOID THIS CAR DEALERS AT ALL COSTS. THE MANAGER IS A DISCRACE.I WONT BE USING THIS GARAGE AGAIN AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE.
written by Juliab213 on 22/03/2016
After being told to come down to sign my papers and view my new car as it was ready for collection I got told I could collect my car the following day. Perfect. Got home sorted out last minute insurance to only be told hours before collecting my car that this was not actually my car that the chasse numbers did not match. I feel very belittled by the sales team and disrespected. Then after phoning to find out where my car actually was I was told I needed to be patient and that I must wait. I feel the way this has been dealt with is absolutely disgusting and will be expecting to have my £200 transportation fee refunded. As a first time buyer I can safely say this has put me off using Arnold Clarke again in the future, if I were not so desperate for a car I would discard their services straight away. Also when asking where my car is now I have been told "I don't know I think its on the way". The only reason I have given Arnold Clarke 1* is because I need at least 1* to write a review. I DO NOT RECOMMENDED THIS SERVICE TO ANYONE. How they have lost a brand new car is beyond me. Extremely disappointed
written by ShamarSandoval on 26/01/2016
Avoid buying from this company they are sharks. Poor after sales service and still have a car that is not working after 10 attempts at repairing but will not replace unless i pay more for a different car!AVOID AVOID AVOID.
written by DiamondParker on 19/09/2015
Biggest cons mechanics are all liars DI not buy car
written by nochancematey on 25/06/2015
Went to part ex my car for another at this dealer and they offered me less than the scrap value even tho my car is immaculate and serviced yearly. The car I was looking at had filler visible and I was told that's expected for a car from the value range.do I have mug written on my forehead that is only visible to them? Having read the bad reviews from other customers they can keep their car and I will go elsewhere. They must honestly think we are all stupid and so desperate that we believe everything they say.
written by breft on 13/05/2015
My daughter bought a Citroen C3 from the "Value" range at Arnold Clark in Oldbury for £3,500. Ten months later it failed to start and we took it to a local garage for diagnostics and repair. They described it as "a can of worms" as there was so much wrong with it and my daughter had to foot a bill for £1,139 worth of repairs. Weeks later, the battery went and the garage that replaced it said it had previously been fitted with the wrong sized battery. Eventually, in frustration and despair, I wrote to Arnold Clark (the Oldbury branch, and the man personally), not in the hope of anything being done about it, which is just is well, as precisely nothing has been done about it! Someone from their executive office e-mailed and asked if he could ring "to discuss". However, it turned out that there was nothing to discuss, as he said that ten months was not an unreasonable length of time for a car to last "commensurate with age and mileage"!! I suggested that the supposed pre-sales checks either were not carried out at all, or were not thorough. He refuted this, but could not explain how so much had been missed, even things that should have been obvious to a trained eye. Other reviewers who have said that Arnold Clark are only interested in maximising their profits and shifting cars off their forecourt as quickly as possible are right. So much for their mission statement "to offer genuine value for money and create high levels of customer satisfaction." A shambolic outfit, morally dubious and thoroughly unprofessional. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
written by AimeeHatch on 13/04/2015
Supposed to pick up new car today. Told by AC that reg docs delayed inScotland because of bank holiday so couldn't collect but wanted my car that I am part ex'ing to go into the workshop for safety reasons. Drive down there to find out what the hell is going on. Asked to see the car I was supposed to pick up today - shown a car totally not roadworthy. Couldn't get straight answer from rude staff so went home and called HO in Scotland. Informed my car still at docks, hadn't even been delivered. Not impressed at being lied to plus on their advice had arranged insurance for the new car from today and can't cancel without incurring massive admin charge. Terrible customer service
written by Selffi490 on 27/03/2015
Aggressive and arrogant sales team who despite numerous requests refused to return the service history on my proposed part exchange.I walked away as soon as I had tricked them into returning my document but I'm sure they've pressure some people into terrible deals. Almost comically bad service delivered by what appeared to be extras from Deliverance. Give them a wide berth and read other peoples reviews.....I got away unscathed but others weren't so lucky.
written by reeves26 on 18/01/2015
well, I really do not know where to start.....what appalling service I have received from Arnold Clark. Purchased my car from them last September a Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 09 plate so only 5 years old, picked up on the Friday evening after work from the Oldbury branch in the west midlands by the Monday morning the vehicle was returned to Arnold Clark having had to have the AA out to it. It appeared that the head gasket had gone on the car something which was not picked up when it had been serviced the car then stayed with them for 3 weeks, I had the car back for 4 weeks before it had gone back in for another issue, which I was told there was nothing wrong with it. this continued to have no power wouldn't pull off, wouldn't start and was shaking aggressively. The car then went back in to have the lamber sensor changed the throttle adjusted and error codes corrected. I've now had the car back 2 weeks and guess what.....I had to be recovered by the AA today back to the garage as the same ongoing issues are still happening this tells me the work isn't being done and they are fobbing me off and are completely incompetent. I will be returning to the garage tomorrow morning to hopefully collect yet again another courtesy car.... Please please please be aware if you are buying a second hand car from this dealership they are a nightmare and will not help or rectify the issue, I will be writing to trading standards after this to get this resolved and making as many people as I can aware of them and the horrific service
Do you have a question about this product or company? Simply type it in the box below and one of our community will give you an answer
Once we've checked over your question we will put it live on the site and our strong community of experts will hopefully give you some great answers that you find useful.
We will email you when the question is on the site
As rated by our community of reviewers
Celtictom1965's Response to daknightuk's Review
Written on: 25/05/2022
Good on you I worked there and the whole place from top to bottom are corrupt