Formula One Autocentres - Hemel Hempstead Reviews 90

Ordered tyres told they would be in the next day, got a phone call from them the next morning to confirm fitting and told to go in for 13:30 that day arrived to be told we haven’t got them!!!!
Going to cancel and get them at a reliable tyre fitters!!!!

Pleasant to deal with, expert staff, great results - a smooth-running reliable car.

“Unreliable company”

Booked to have my tires fitted something like two weeks in advance.
I arrived at reception area 10 minutes before my appointment and the man at the front desk told me that there was no one available to fit the tires. Just like that.

The team at the Hemel branch are amateurs and lack any sort of professionalism towards the customer. It took one of their employees an hour to change a single tyre on my car today. Whilst observing his idiosyncratic behaviour, he’s also managed to somehow lose a MOT customers car keys and when asked how long before she has to change her tyres..given a completely inconclusive response

I attended today, with the hopes they would be able to check my tyre, that I found flat in the morning (pumped back up to get me there). I was about to begin a 250 mile trip and I was asking for someone to fit me in there and then. And they did, not only did they take the car straight away and start on the tyre, they found a leak. Fix it and didnt charge me. Back on my way in 30mins.
This will not be the last I attend this garage.
Professional, helpful and saved my trip.

Ordered 2 tyres online and turned up on time at Hemel Hempstead branch to have them fitted. After waiting over an hour in a freezing cold waiting room I decided to see what was going on. I found a very stressed and apologetic apprentice searching for the 2nd tyre, he had been looking for a while and it was clear to see that the other tyre was not there. I asked him to speak to his manager but he indicated that he had already done this and did not want to get shouted at again. I proceeded to enquire with the other person that appeared to be in charge and was met with a very bad attitude that he was busy and there are other customers and only 2 of of them in today. I had no alternative but to cancel and now go somewhere else. I received no support and no apology for the failure to deliver what I had paid for. I was made to feel I was in the wrong for politely enquiring. I will never use this organisation again. Dreadful experience, wasted my Sunday morning and petrol for this.

Edit: Further to my review and the subsequent response that Formula One Autocentre has tried to appear as though they have resolved the situation swiftly and even offered a goodwill gesture and they’re surprised I have left a review!

Firstly, no such offer had been made UNTIL after I submitted this review, I had been waiting for a response since last Wednesday but they had already emailed previously stating they were not going to pay for the remaining works. It is not a good will gesture when the company caused the fault.

I am taking them to court, they have not paid the full costs to put my car back to the condition it had been prior to visiting them. They have caused me hell for two weeks. On the 5th occasion my car broke down I narrowly escaped an accident. I had already allowed them 4 seperate occasions to correct the ‘minor’ issue they state in their response below. I hope anyone reading will now see their underhand tactics for what they are. The way they have treated me has been appalling.

This isn’t going away, no matter how you try and paint yourselves in your responses - the truth will prevail….

Do not use this garage. It should be shut down before they kill someone!

I unfortunately chose F1 for standard full service on my car. My car is fairly new, and only has 25,000 miles on the clock. Never had a single issue until this visiting F1.

After leaving the garage my car broke down within just a few miles, they came out and ‘fixed it’ and then 2 miles down the road it broke down again. Without going into all the details (I’ll update this review fully after it’s been settled in court) but my car broke down further 3 times over the subsequent days following my visit there. On one occasion it was leaking huge amounts of engine oil, the other occasions were coolant. Each time the garage reassured me they’d fixed the issue and it was safe to drive.

The final breakdown happened in the middle of a roundabout. Another car had to slam its brakes on and swerve to miss me. The effect this incident has had is profound.

F1 agreed to have Vauxhall look at my car, who found multiple coolant issues. F1 has decided to only take responsibility for the cheapest fix. Even tho, Vauxhall clearly told them there’s no way I could have damaged the vehicle the way it was damaged and that I would have known about the issue prior as it was bad.

The workers at the F1 garage informed me on several occasions that the man that worked on my car had caused lots of issues on vehicles and they’d got rid of him. Why he was allowed near my car on his last day, I do not know.

I am currently taking F1 Autocentres to court to reclaim all of the damages I’ve paid out for and now all the associated costs.

I’ve lost 4 days work, but more importantly the toll it has taken is huge. I advise anyone looking for a garage to steer well clear of this whole company. A simple service has turned into a living nightmare.

After what the company put me through you’d think they’d have at least covered the costs to fix it. Not try and worm your way out of it.

Photo is from my drive way showing two of the leaks.

You could have killed me or seriously injured me and my child. This isn’t going to go away.

The young men were so friendly kind and supportive of what needed to be checked on my car. I felt reassured once I left that my car was relatively safe to drive.
I would definitely return to this Garage.

Had my air con regased brilliant friendly service,great price would highly recommend 😊

Today I took my Wheels and tyres after booking them for a 8.30 am booking to this well I can only describe as a joke shop .I turned up before time and dropped of my Wheels with them and said I will be back in s hour to collect the guys said that plenty of time to get them sorted as I left I said look after them as I don't want them damaged as they are only a few months old .
I returned after and hour and half later only to be told they couldn't do them in Hemel they went to st Alban's and to wait a phone call I called them at 11 15 and was told they are no ready when I see my Wheels the was covered and when I say covered in white putty like substance and asked is this how you leave your customers wheels I paid £50 as I was leaving one guy said if there is any damages it was your mate laughing went home to fit them when cleaning the Gow off them I noticed how damaged the wheels had been now realising why my Wheels was such a mess to hide there shoddy work I will never step foot or get a y one I know to use this company again you jokers

Horrible experience with this garage went for a normal regas of the aircon, which was working fine. They made me wait for three hours, and then they told me the machine was broken and to go to another F1 in St Albans. I went there they said I had to wait for 4 hours. While I was driving there 25-minute drive, the aircon was on, but they forgot to tell me that they had emptied the installation of gas and my compressor was burned. £500+ repair. They where smoking while working

Update i was contacted by their manager which was really professional to try to identify the problem i will keep updating
Went there another day off work after 4 hours again they sayid the compressor is not working hahaha i knew i am going for nothing i got legal advice i will claim loses from work and repairs

Sam and another young man were very helpful and sorted out my emergency tyre issue quickly, really grateful and highly recommend this garage

MOT booked online. Morning of MOT got a call saying that one of there team has gone to Hospital & they need to move the test to another day. OK not a problem. 1 week later all booked, again get a call saying that one of there team has gone to Hospital.
When I said that I was given that reason last week the voice changed he he did not know what to say. I said cancell the MOT & give me a refund. He then said what ever. Will never go there again as they Lie & then get funny with you.

I had a very frustrating and disappointing experience with Formula One Hemel Hempstead.

I originally booked an appointment for 3rd April to get all four tyres replaced. A few days before that, I had a completely flat tyre at home. On 1st April, I contacted Green Flag Rescue, who confirmed that Formula One is a recognized garage in their network and offered to book me in for the same day. I agreed, and within the hour, I was at the Formula One Hemel Hempstead branch.

To my shock, the staff there refused to even look at the car, saying they had no record of any booking and wouldn’t do anything before my Thursday appointment. I explained the situation in detail, but they were adamant that they had no relationship with the rescue company and no booking was visible on their system. Even after Green Flag provided a booking reference, they continued to argue and refused to help, even when I requested that they just change one tyre so I could drive back safely. They flat-out denied that as well.

With no other option, I had to leave my car in unsafe parking overnight at their location.

When I returned on 3rd April for my original appointment and gave my registration number, I was told I did have an appointment on 1st April via Green Flag after all. This was a complete shock since I was refused service on that exact day. When I confronted the staff, they brushed it off saying that Green Flag never “called to confirm,” so the appointment was not valid.

To top it all off, I later discovered that the jack pads from my car were missing. I’m not directly accusing anyone, but this was the first time I’d ever left my car overnight anywhere other than home—which makes it very concerning.

The staff were rude, dismissive, and showed zero empathy for someone stuck with a flat tyre who had a valid booking through a trusted rescue service. This experience has completely destroyed my trust in Formula One. I will never be returning and would strongly advise others to think twice before using this branch.

Fantastic service from Formula One in Hemel, easy to book in online, dropped car off at the agreed time, phone call an hour later to tell me the work had been completed and the car was ready to collect. Great value, I couldn’t believe how cheap it was to get me back on the road. Very friendly staff too. Top service all round!
Thank you

All I can say is a massive thank you to both Sam and Harry. I arrived with no appointment and in a bit of a panic as my car had just failed its MOT over at Halfords due to it “overheating and smoke coming from the engine” and Halfords had also recommended a recovery vehicle! Sam the manager told me to drive it round and he and Harry looked at it right away. As a new, young driver that knows nothing about her car I was super stressed as I’d never taken it to get an MOT by myself before. Both Harry and Sam had excellent customer service reassuring me and made me feel a lot better knowing the car was in good hands. We opened the bonnet and Sam immediately identified the issue. I was very relieved as it was a pretty straightforward forward fix. I had emphasised that I was due to be at work in Harpenden in a hour or so and Sam said he’d try his hardest to get me to work on time. He immediately got on the phone to see if he could get the part in time. Unfortunately despite Sam’s best efforts, the quickest it could arrive was the next day as it was a main dealer part only. I left the car overnight and arrived today and everything was running smoothly.
I don’t know much about cars and both of them were great at explaining not only every issue but what they were going to do to sort it. I will definitely be returning in the future!! Enjoy your chocolates! Thanks SOOO much!

Took my car in for a service, was met by a very nice young man, his name was Harry if I remember correctly. He told me everything that was needed to be done to my car and cost for it all in a well spoken manner, which showed that he knew his stuff. All went well and I will 100% be using them again in the future! Highly recommend!

Didn’t catch all the names. I originally went to this place for a puncture, which I have done on multiple occasions as they are always so good. The guy who did the puncture noticed my exhaust wasn’t sounding great (I already knew this and was planning on getting this fixed) said he could look at it quickly no charge etc.. the whole team helped me out, got a quote and even suggested I could get my own exhaust if I just wanted them to fit it - which is the way I went - purchased the exhaust left my car with the garage, I work locally so came over, saw them start the service it was in n out within around 30 minutes.

Great service.

Forced me change good tyres with their own brand. Tyres are below standard and fitted so bad needs pumping weekly. Have been back to shop 5 times and get the usual excuses from manager but no resolution. Considering had no issues with tyre or wheel pre-change by their technician you would think they take some ownership and remedy the situation.
Avoid this shop not worth the hassle you will have post visit

Brought my car down for tyres and tracking, the team was professional. I was dealing with Sam, Centre manager, exceptional customer service also, spoke to the technician and deputy manager Harry. They were very polite, they brought me to the tracking ramp and explained why my tire was wearing on the inner edge they put it back to manufacturers specification. Very happy with the customer service and would recommend to everyone !