Formula One Autocentres - Norwich Reviews 

Very friendly and very helpful staff great job

Excellent service and enthusiastic, positive approach from Adam Smith at F1 Norwich. A great 'can do' attitude, so rare these days.
A pleasing level of commitment and refreshing approach, we need more like Adam.
Thanks again, I will return as a satisfied customer.

Absolute joke of a company, avoid at all cost !
Booked my car in online at the Norwich branch for air con clean and re- gas. Dropped my car off the evening before for a 9am appointment , I returned in the afternoon to be told that the car hadn't been booked in despite receiving two confirmation emails. Then they didn't have the new type gas to do the job anyway.

I'm telling all my customers and everyone I know to avoid this company .

Used Formula 1 for an MOT - dealt with on time and by very polite and efficient staff - thank you

Have a 6 year old car, now out of manufacturer warranty so whilst wanting to maintain car properly I am reluctant to pay main dealer levels for MOT and services.
F1 Norwich did good job, fair price. Nice guy on desk, clearly explained all.
Didn't leave feeling I d been ripped off.
Thanks

Pre paid MOT online, made to pay again on Saturday in branch, even though I provided showing my credit card statement the Manager would not accept this . I was told to pay again and and Monday he would contact head office to arrange refund of the overpayment.

On Monday he had not called us back and when my wife rang he told her that hadn’t dealt with the refund and was not going to do anything about it and just gave us a number to ring at head office.

Tried various times to get hold of head office but the phone kept ringing and we got no answer.

Sent a email and no response, finally we rang again and did speak to someone who promised to give us a refund back to credit card.

The refund has been done but for the lower amount that was originally paid online and not for the higher amount which we paid on Saturday.

The service we received from the Norwich branch Manager was extremely poor and we will never use F1 again and will tell our friends not to use them.

Brilliant friendly knowledgeable staff. Happy to help and couldn’t do enough for me. Thanks

I write following my previous complaint.

My new complaint is of much seriousness, and I thought I would write this whilst it was fresh.

Today, my fuel filter housing has snapped after being glued together. I don’t think there is a need for me to explain the seriousness surrounding this.

On the 25th January 2022, my car was serviced and MOT’s with the addition of a fuel filter change, pollen filter change, new tyres and wheel alignment, at the Norwich branch.

At the time, the technician failed to correctly align or balance the wheels and tyre’s and possibly broke my pollen filter housing (as was not reported). I was refunded for these works to be completed correctly elsewhere due to the poor service.

I have already explained previously how I was feeling uneasy about such poor workmanship, and what else wasn’t done correctly on the vehicle.

For around two months, my partner and I have noticed a smell of diesel in the car. This smell started as a passing waft, which could have been other people’s cars nearby, to a very significant smell the last few days.

Today, after returning from a journey where we experienced strong diesel smells and a juddering engine, I thought I would take a closer look at areas previously touched by F1 Autocentre (the last garage to touch under the engine).

The smell was very strong near the fuel filter area, which is located under a cover. Here I firstly noticed pooling of diesel around the top of the housing. The clip for the outflow of diesel also looked to be loose, possibly causing the pooling.

To my shock, this is when I went to touch the clip closed, and the pipe pulled out from the housing.

On closer inspection, it appeared the housing was corroded which led to the pipe “snapping” out of place.

I called the F1 Autocentre, to check if this was under warranty and mentioned I would need it to be recovered to there, as was undrivable. (This was preliminary agreed for Monday).

After the phone call, I have had the multiple opinions on several photographs, videos and 1st point of view of “corrosion’ on the housing. These are all professionals or hobbyists of the trade. We all agree it looks to be glue (something like plastic weld).

This is highly concerning, and I am extremely livid that the car has left F1 Autocentre in this condition.

There are only two scenarios:
The housing was already glued together, and not reported by your technician. This would be highly unlikely, as it’s part of the fuel system. Even a novice or apprentice would question the condition of this component.
The housing was snapped at the hand of a F1 Autocentre technician and crudely glued back together. This seems very likely under the circumstances and the poor workmanship of the previous works.

I will be calling F1 Autocentre Norwich tomorrow (Sunday) to confirm the car can be viewed on Monday. I would also like to remain with the car whilst it is being inspected, so I can hear first-hand their views.

However, if someone can call me Sunday to discuss this with me, as a matter of urgency, then I would be most appreciative.

In terms of possible outcomes from this, it would be extremely hard for F1 Autocentre to defend this issue in relation to previous problems.

Excellent customer service skills from Phil Haughton and Anthony, day before I flew away car failed mot on tyre bulge, phil ordered and Anthony came in on his day off to re test to ensure i went on holiday with a passed mot. Excellent service from both of you. Many thanks Julian Westnage J444MPF.THIS IS FOR PENDLEBURY STORE NOT NORWICH, WOULD NOT FIND ON SEARCH FOR PENDLEBURY, SWINTON. PLEASE CHANGE FOR PENDLEBURY STORE.

Ordered and paid for 4 new tyres using their website. I picked a time slot of 11am. Receipt informed me that I needed to arrive at 10:45 on the chosen date, I arrived at 10:30. The guy behind the desk asked me to leave the wheels with them and he hoped to be done by 1200 and would call when done. By 1400 I had heard nothing so I went to see if they were ready. On arrival I was told that they had not been started and probably wouldn’t get done that day because they were too busy. I could however, leave them to collect the following day. I live 1 hour away from the fitting centre. I explained I wasn’t prepared to do this as I had booked the 11am slot for a reason and therefore, I would like a refund. This was refused as I booked online. I asked for the Area Managers contact details and again was told, due to GDPR, that I couldn’t have them. An appalling service. Not only have I now paid for 4 tyres that have not been fitted, I have also had to travel 2 hours the the centre and back and lost a days work.

Update: I have tried numerous times to contact Customer Services, over 2 days, as requested by the standard email response below and no one has come back to me. Even the CEO has not responded.

This just confirms what I am saying and you should not touch this company with a barge pole!!

I was let down by blackcircles.co.uk, the guys at the Norwich branch sorted things out and were very helpful.

Really helpful diagnosing the issue with my exhaust today. Thanks

Been using the Norwich branch for years , great for mots , good prices , can highly recommend.

Norwich f1 auto center changed my date Mot twice, the first time: we can't do because something is broke and the second time we can't do the mot because someone is sick I lost two weeks and now I don't have time to do a mot, I do not recommend

Can’t argue with the price I was charged for 2 new tyres but I wasn’t impressed with the service 1 hr and 25 minutes to have 2 tyres fitted and when I mentioned this to a member of staff his reply was well it’s not the quickest of places to have work done also whilst sitting in the reception the language coming from the workshop was a little choice, not the sort of thing a female or children would want to hear.

I had my car booked in for a MOT, tyre to be fitted and service.

As a result of the service there were a few bits that needed to be done. I agreed to them carrying out the work and was told my car would be ready for 5.30 to collect.

When I arrived to collect it Sebastian the Manager informed me the parts company had sent the wrong brake pads so they were just awaiting new ones. Unfortunately this happened a further 3 times!

At a few minutes to 6, when the parts company was due to close at 6, Sebastian called them to rectify the problem again, he himself then went to collect them as they were about to leave for the night so left them out for him.

Sebastian and his mechanic were also supposed to be finished and on their way home at 6 but instead both stayed behind to ensure my car was finished so I didn’t have to be inconvenienced any further.

The issues with the brake pads were due to the parts company making mistakes, not Formula One, but they still put themselves out to complete my car that day for me.

Thank you very much. Great service!!

Went into the Norwich Branch and saw Danny, I was going on a long journey and wanted my tyres checked over, not only did he put it up on the ramp to thoroughly check them, he topped up my screen wash and checked my oil for me. It gave me peace of mind when I went away. Thanks Danny

On my mot in April the company who did it put on as a advisory that my front tyres had cracks in them and would need changing sooner rather than later.
I am going on holiday this week were i will be driving a lot of miles so I decided to get the tyres changed at formula l in Norwich
I left my car with them while I went for a coffee with my partner, while we were having our coffee formula 1 phoned to tell me my tyres were perfectly OK.
I was very impressed with there honesty because not all company's have the same attitude and also the staff were brilliant.
I would certainly recommend formula 1 not just for there honestly but also for the work that they have done on my vehicle in the past
Anthony White

In my experience, Formula One always provide a straightforward and honest service. I can't fault the guys at the Norwich branch.

Took great care, kept me updated and the car is now brand new. Thanks again!