British Car Auctions Avis 254

Vehicle sold to dealer without full service history.I contacted BCA and was told that they we are only a selling platform.Dealer had already contacted them with no success.
Operator told me that even if I was the official owner they would not release the relevant documents.Van had suffered a premature engine failure and this documentation was critical in its repair

this company doesnt care about 1 star reviews, we have been trading for over 10 years but they refused our account and kept the £50.00 for signing up
no reasons just no we dont like you and were keeping your money

WARNING!!!!!!!!!
Everyone stop and think before you sign up they will take your money then tell you there is a problem and you can not sign up then will steal your sign up fee and tell you it’s non refundable total scammers stay away red flags 🚩

Advised my lease company to charge me £256 for a missing service log book despite the fact Teslas have no physical paper work.

Contacted for advice and said it was nothing to do with them despite the fact they performed the inspection on behalf of Lex, COWBOYS

I purchased a car from BCA with an Essential Report showing everything as “OK.” However, upon receiving the vehicle, the engine was making a loud knocking noise, and there wasn’t even a drop of coolant in the system.

I reported this to the site manager immediately, but I have never encountered someone so unhelpful and dismissive. There was no support or responsibility taken.

To make matters worse, when I contacted customer service, I was met with a careless attitude ,essentially, “You bought it, now it’s your problem.”

As a result, I’ve lost £1,000 in just one day on a vehicle that was clearly misrepresented in the report.

I am writing this review to warn anyone thinking of buying from British Car Auctions (BCA). I’m based in London and purchased a car through BCA, which I had to collect from their Edinburgh branch. The listing showed the car as drivable and in good condition, but after purchase, I contacted their support to confirm details and was told the car was actually not drivable. Despite multiple calls and emails to their customer service, I received no clear answers for over a week. Eventually, they changed their story again, saying the car might be drivable — still with no certainty. Because of this confusion and delay, I was forced to pay extra storage fees for the vehicle sitting at their Edinburgh site, even though this was caused by their poor communication and misinformation.

When I questioned the unfair charges, they shifted the blame to me, hiding behind vague and confusing terms and conditions I was never clearly informed about. Then they passed my case to their so-called sister company, who started threatening me, insisting I must answer their phone calls and pay even more money or face further consequences. Their aggressive and unprofessional behavior only added to my stress. After researching online, I discovered many others have faced the same problems: misleading listings, poor or no customer support, extra fees, threats, and a complete lack of accountability.

This is not just bad service — it’s a clear pattern of exploiting buyers using unclear policies and ignoring their responsibilities. I strongly urge anyone who’s had a similar experience to report British Car Auctions and their sister company to Trading Standards and Citizens Advice and to share their story in reviews so others don’t fall victim. I regret trusting BCA and advise others to avoid buying from them altogether.

Complete scam, you pay a years fee to bid, then the choice of cars is twice the price of the one you can buy anyway.
SCAM DONT SIGN UP

I’m being chased by BCA for over £900 for a car I never bought, using an account I barely used — and linked to a phone I’ve never owned, from a place I’ve never even visited.

The bid was placed using a Samsung Galaxy S20 from Barnet. I only use two iPhones, live miles away, and have never bought or sold anything through BCA.

Yet BCA’s Head of Credit, Emma Slade, called me and:
• Claimed “all devices including the Samsung accessed your account from day one” — which is completely false (and I have proof)
• Refused to treat the issue as a formal dispute, even though it clearly is
• Laughed at me when I asked for the complaints procedure
• Then escalated the issue to debt collection despite knowing there’s a dispute, false device activity, and data errors

I’ve since:
• Filed a Subject Access Request under GDPR (which they’ve now acknowledged)
• Submitted formal complaints to the ICO and Trading Standards
• Logged and recorded every call, email, and false statement made by their team

BCA never verified my identity properly, never informed me of this bid, and has failed to provide any real evidence that I placed it. Instead, they’ve used threats and silence, assuming I’d just give in.

They messed with the wrong person.

If you’re thinking of using BCA — beware. If this is how they treat private individuals over made-up debts, imagine what happens when something truly serious goes wrong.

⸻

📌 Companies like this only stop when customers speak up.
I’ll keep fighting until this case is dropped or exposed publicly.

Adam Al-Zohbi

#BCA #ConsumerWarning #DebtDispute #Fraud #EmmaSlade #UKSearch #ICO #GDPR

Worst company you can ever imagine that's all I can say be aware

Their customer service I think must have special training to be as unhelpful as possible. Spends tens of thousands and want to see if you can get a delivery date of a vehicle you’d think you were asking for the world. Sort it out BCA as you are pissing a lot of trade customer off. Alice is customer service special mention for how unhelpful a person can be

Bidding up cars to make them more profitable, yep worked there for quite a while and yes the bid up the cars , among a lot of other factors that would be frowned on in the motor trade , the company needs a deep investigation into the underhanded tactics they use to push profits and it’s not legal .

I just get tricked on non refundable payment.
Stay away from this company. They refuse to open account for no reason.
They just collect money.... Even if you think your Ltd will match all criteria...

Let's break down the issues with this company.
* Reliability: The core problem seems to be their unreliability, particularly with missed appointments and lack of communication (issue #1). This is incredibly disruptive and disrespectful of your time.
* Customer Service & Professionalism: The "arrogant staff" (issue #2) and the outright false reporting (issue #3) point to a severe lack of professionalism and integrity within the company. Falsely claiming items are missing is particularly egregious.
* Petty and Unreasonable Refusals: The reasons for refusing pick-up (issues #4, #5, and #6) are frankly ridiculous and demonstrate an unwillingness to be flexible or understanding.
* Low Tyre Pressure: Expecting a perfectly inflated tyre on a car that's been static for three months is unreasonable. A simple top-up is a minor issue that shouldn't halt a collection.
* EV Charge Level: The refusal to pick up an electric car with a 150-mile range or 95% charge, especially after being told 95% was acceptable, is particularly frustrating. This suggests a rigid, unhelpful policy or a lack of clear communication within their own ranks.
It's not surprising at all that a company with these practices would have a 1.4-star rating. My experiences strongly corroborates that low rating. It's a shame that consumers are forced to deal with companies that demonstrate such poor service and lack of accountability.

I worked as a driver for this company for 3 days. I had no training, no preparation to show me anything that is part of the job description. I had to collect a car from a certain area and parked in another. The last day I worked with a guy DAREN who is very racist also a driver. I made a mistake on a route. I apologized profusely for my mistake of course although I was not shown any training beforehand. The next shift I was sent home. When I told them that no one showed me any. route they lied that I was using the phone. I asked to check on cctv, to do investigations but they did not want to. A large company of easy morals as well as the employee DRIVER named DAREN. This is the company BCA AUTOMOTIVE ROYAL PORTBURY DOCK BRISTOL.

Arranged to collect an end of lease vehicle, had 4 emails and text messages leading up to the day. Took unauthorized time off work to be here, no one came. I called them and said the driver had not turned up. Said they would try get someone before the end of the day. No one came. Next day, got a call to say they'd try to get someone here. Got a second call to say they'd be here 10:30. No one came. Got a call from another driver saying the first one had cancelled. And he'd be here b lunchtime. So i had 1 1/2 days unauthorized off work. Customer service absolutely hopeless. Like other reviewers, if I could have given zero starts I would have. They have repeatedly broken promises and inconvenienced me, and there's nothing I could have done. Utter rubbish

I purchased a car and when bidding on it, it said just a rear washer issue, however today I have collected the vehicle and the abs light is on, the coolant is leaking and the gearbox light isn't illuminated, don't know if you in park reverse or drive, the handbrake light is on constant even with the handbrake disengaged and speaking to them has got me no where, I have never had a problem with bca before however this the worse experience I have had with any car company let alone a big company like bca. My money does not grow on trees and its being treated as such, the customer service from Tina at the branch was still half decent as she had some sort of human morals and empathy and knows its not on as she said to read the terms and conditions where the essential check is like sold as seen but when i bought it didn't say anything about abs or coolant leak or the handbrake or the gearbox but at collection all these issues are there so it's not on how bca is treating customers, it's just now that I read the reviews and from the looks of it they have done this to many people before me. Do your own checks if need being and try other auction sites, worst car auction experience ever. I would rate them 0 not even 1.

Avoid at all costs

If could have given 0 stars I would have. honestly one star is too much to give this company. They are very quick and happy to take my money on registration but trying to get a response to my application and non refundable payment has been near enough impossible. Stay well clear there are far better companies to use. its been almost a month now.

I buy regularly from BCA. On occasion you have need to ask for very simple requests and every single time they refuse. To the motor trade, they are the most unhelpful, rude and ignorant supplier to deal with. It seems like the answer is no, now whats the question. There are way better auctions to use than BCA these days.

Terrible company to work for clicky childish employees management clueless about how to solve problems with staff just bothered about figures

Stay away