Hartwell plc Avis 

I purchased a BYD Dolphin from Hartwell Hereford in November 2024 and reported a fault with the car’s software updates just weeks later. Over seven months on, the problem is still unresolved.

Despite multiple appointments, delays, broken promises, and even having the car taken in and returned without the correct repair, the fault remains. Most recently, I was told the car would be collected again to fix it properly — the dealership simply didn’t turn up, with no explanation.

I’ve raised a formal complaint and am still awaiting a response from Hartwell’s customer care team. Disappointing experience, especially for a brand new EV

hartwell ford dunstable what can i say that went right nothing i phoned 3 times in may to get a new key and coded for a puma nobody could help on any occasion then the next time lady ordered one and were told to bring it in 20th june 2025 that was another 2 weeks but hay great WRONG my son took the car in only to be told it was for coding the key he had and booked him for 7th july 2025 so i phoned spoke to a very abrupt lady manager who said she would have to listen to the telephone conversation i said go ahead only coding was booked i said how much would that be 125 ish i said well thats funny because i was quoted 239 so obviously i had ordered key and coding so the next day when she phoned back i said can i stop u there i phoned hartwell hemel hempsyead who ordered key the next day and we were having it done that friday i will also write a review for hemel as they were brilliant today all done and car cleaned in and out free in an hour avoid dunstable ford

Chris M and Josh L @ Abingdon made the purchasing process a simple and pleasant experience. They provided exceptional service and support. The whole process was straight forward from initial clear pricing to an excellent collecting experience. Highly recommended.

We drove over from Suffolk to purchase a car and we are so glad we did! Simon was one of the nicest people we've ever dealt with, he made the entire process an absolute pleasure. He was exceptionally knowledgeable and took us through all the features of the car in great detail. We did same day drive away and the experience was seamless. Well worth the 4 hour drive each way! Would highly recommend.

Unacceptable service I received for the recall repair on my Ford Tourneo continued poor handling, lack of communication, and further concerns following the return of my vehicle.

If only we could do zero stars!! Did a soft search credit app passed with 80% wanted to do a full finance application and it was like pulling teeth. Branch manager decided to lift some furniture rather than sell a £30k car. Absolute joke this company. Right snotty receptionist. Stay away!!

I dropped off a van for minor work and had to pick up a pool van at 8am. The pool van was dropped off last night and the key left with the sales team, apparently the service team / reception didn't know, or want to know where it was, it was in the unlocked draw of the first sales desk. But I had to sit around for 40 mins to find this out. During which time I was told to help myself to a coffee from a coffee bar which only had dirty cups. It was like the staff didn't want me there. Dreadful customer service.

On April 26, we decided to purchase a Hyundai Tucson, plate 73, with only 2,100 miles on the clock. During the test drive, we noticed that the car’s audio system was not functioning. However, considering this a minor issue and reassured by the sales agent Stefan that the car would be serviced and in perfect condition at delivery, we proceeded to place a deposit.

The car was meant to be ready for collection on Monday, April 28. Around noon, we received a message confirming pickup for 5:30 PM, with assurance that all issues would be resolved. Shockingly, at 4:00 PM—just 90 minutes before the scheduled handover—Stefan called to inform us that the audio system could not be repaired. We were presented with two unacceptable options: either take the car as-is and deal with Hyundai ourselves (despite the car still being under warranty), or let them send it in for repair with no clear timeline.

When asked if we would receive any compensation for the inconvenience, the answer was a flat “no.” I asked Stefan to confirm how long the repair would take. On April 29, no one contacted me. I had to call myself, only to learn that Hyundai couldn’t schedule the car until after May 20. When I asked why no one had provided this update earlier, he had no answer.

At that point, I told them to cancel the deal and requested a full refund. Stefan said he’d get back to me with the refund details—but after that phone call, he vanished. No more replies, no returned calls, no accountability.

I contacted Hartwell directly. They promised a manager would call me the next day. That never happened either. On May 1, I followed up again and was connected to a manager, Matthew, who finally asked for proof of the payment so they could “officially process” the refund. That alone is shocking—until that point, no one had even started the refund process.

Today is May 8, and I still have no refund and no update.

Hartwell Dunstable has shown zero respect for customers. Their interest ends the moment a commission is lost. They listed a car that was not fit for sale, took a deposit on it, and then tried to shift the burden of repair onto us. When the sale fell through, they completely dropped communication.

This dealership is not focused on customer service, only on profit. Their behaviour is careless, dishonest, and frankly unacceptable. I hope that both Ford and BID take notice of the kind of people representing their brand.

Avoid Hartwell Dunstable at all costs. They do not deserve your time, your trust, or your money.

just now
New
Leaving 1 star as cannot leave minus stars, they seemed great when purchasing the car as I guess they wanted my money however since purchasing the car they have been less than helpful. It is a fairly knew car so expected no issues however purchased the warranty just in case, it had broken down now 8 times ( battery keeps draining and the car needs jump starting) with the same problem when I call the garage they tell me they cannot assist as it is not a problem as it is working - they tell me they don’t have any availability to look at the car as they are fully booked so I book in a service which funnily enough they had space to look at as I was paying and would be able to look at the issue. Great, I get it there they tell me they do not have time to look at the problem and only do the service I said well can you look at the problem and not do the service nope no availability. I then have my service done and they say there is an issue with the updates not being done causing the battery to drain I get it booked in for weeks lates jump starting my car while we wait. Get to the garage at the agreed time as they said 5.30 I said I can’t make 5.30 but will be slightly after due to traffic and she said that’s not a problem someone will be there. I need my car as travel for work however when I arrive no one is there there is no one able to help me despite multiple people being in the building. Now I have the expense of getting taxi to work despite having a courtesy car book more cost for rubbish service and the lady couldn’t even be bothered to come over and talk to me and just sat in her office yelling across to me to say she couldn’t help and it wasn’t her problem…. So I pay for warranty which is a waste, now have to pay for work transport as the courtesy car I was promised is non existence and not a single apology just well we have lots of paying customers and can’t help everyone.

Terrible customer service (non-existent) and it wasn’t great even when trying to work with sales!
No support for car service such as collection and delivery - not helpful for those working.
I now regret buying a Ford at all.

Excellent sale and after sales service from the Hereford branch of Hartwells

Hartwell Dunstable’s, Stefan Pruteanu needs serious investigating and I urge this company to do this ASAP
Otherwise I can only assume that the whole team/company is in on this together…

Sent enquiry through Auto traders for used car on finance on 9th February 2025
Received response on 10th responding to my interest. Spoke with Stefan over phone about car. Expressed interest in wanting to view car . As in London and car in Dunstable, Stefan suggested a £99 reservation fee for car which would be non refundable if I applied for finance and it was accepted. I wasn’t 100 per cent confident in this arrangement but went with it. However before paying I did express to Stefan that I was not happy with having no refund if I didn’t end purchasing the car through finance. Stefan and I quote responded that, “he would not argue over £100 quid and would refund if I decided against purchase. Paid over phone with my card details. Looking back plenty of red flags but I ignored as I kept thinking it’s a “reputable and legitimate” car company, I’m sure everything will be fine.
Didn’t end up going to see the car and didn’t apply for finance - went with a different company instead the same day-Evans Halshaw Ford Manchester who were brilliant by the way and GAVE BACK my £99 deposit even after applying for finance, being accepted and collecting and driving car home.
When I changed mind I informed Stefan by text, he asked why I had decided against purchasing from him and what the other company was offering in terms of APR etc. I responded politely that this was my decision and I would like to be refunded. Stefan agreed to the refund.

Three days went by, no refund. I text Stefan enquiring when to expect refund. His response, up to 5 working days. A further 5 days later no refund, I text Stefan, no response until 1st March after some pestering from me in between through phone calls and texts in which he would also answer appeared very polite and professional (disguised compliance) with excuses about why the refund had not happened including him thinking it had been processed and promising to get back to me after checking with his staff/accountant to trace payment and even questioning if I was sure I hadn’t already received it. This went on for more than a month! On my second to last conversation over phone, after saying that he would be tracing refund request with accountant which would take some time due to hundreds of thousand of pounds going through their accounts including the purchase of the car I didn’t go through with by another client 😑🙄. I then called again some days later with which would be our last conversation where he confirmed with me over phone the card I used to pay the reservation fee of £99. And again looking back I should have thought things through better but by this time I was so focused on getting my money back I didn’t think things through properly. He said he wanted to confirm my card details as there was one other card that also had not yet received their refund and he needed to clarify which was which. So as I did when paying over the phone initially, I confirmed long card no expiry date and CVS number.
Straight after the call I came to the realisation of what he may be planning to do so I quickly removed all money from the said account in to one of my other accounts and froze my card and activated a replacement card via my online banking. Freezing my card still allowed for other transactions including direct debits and refunds…
My last attempt to call Stefan was I believe 11/12th March and by this time I am sure I had been blocked as it would ring once and then go to voicemail. At this point I decided to claim back from my bank which I did some weeks ago now. My bank promptly refunded the money however if the company responds and challenges it then I may have to give the money back to my bank. So far there has been no response from them so still ongoing….

I say all this to say stay well clear of Hartwell Dunstable! Yes I may be viewed as an easy target or con on here, however people who read this need to know the kind of heartless and ruthless people or person is working at this company.
Stay well away!

I've wasted 2 days with trying to get my car fixed here now with a further day still required, so not only the cost to have the car fixed but also the cost to me not being able to work. Car went in for an issue Dec/Jan and was supposedly fixed, however, barely 2 months later had the same issue with exactly the same error codes, but supposedly a different problem... due to this my own warranty will barely cover 30% due to it being a continuation of the issue and Hartwell obviously don't have any guarantee on the work they've carried out, as they're claiming its not actually the same issue...

On top of which there cost is extortionate, £694.18 for brake pads... I've bought these myself for just under £100 and a mechanic has installed them for £120. Tires and wheel alignment £530.88, had the tires and alignment done at John Wood Tyre's (highly recommend) for a total cost (Michelin Tyre's) £431.88. Definitely go elsewhere for your car needs, as Hartwells is not the place for any mechanical issues. 2 stars purely for the customer service of Sophie, otherwise it would be 1!!!

Couldn't fault our recent experience. Sales staff were helpful without being pushy. We got a fantastic deal all round. Everything they said they would do they did, it was a pleasure to do business with them. Thank you Jack, Andrew, Shane and the rest of the staff who helped make our purchase go smoothly.

Brilliant Hereford Ford Dealership. Visited the Hereford beach today and met ELLIS, BYD salesman. Easy to talk too. Knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Definitely will buy a BYD from this site via Ellis. We also had our car serviced + MOT, by Paul ( MOT tester) Thank you + Sophie in service: Brilliant attention to detail and speedy service. And ‘ Thank You ‘ to The Dealer Principal, Ian Willmore. who always ‘ welcomes ‘ ALL new and existing customers and ensures all customers are happy and served. Thank you Ian. Brilliant Team. 10/10 highly recommended.

Booked prepaid service for 10am. With no explanation car finally had service at 2pm, finishing at 3pm. Had to wait 5 hours for something that had a booked time.
Can only assume that because it was prepaid, so they were not receiving any money that day, that paying customers were put in front of queue.
Not acceptable way to treat customers.
Ford sell you service plans where buying a car and then treat you this way.
Appalling service.

I had my car booked in at 0830 this morning 24/03/25 at Hartwell Grimsby for a simple MOT…or so I thought!

When I turned up the service team member at the front desk informed me that the car was not booked in.
I explained that I did it on line and showed him the email. He then said there is no way he can fit it in! As they were v busy today. He then said it was my fault! As I booked the car in on Saturday to be MOT’d first thing Monday 0830 and looked at me like I was the stupid one!

Wow so you can book on line for a time and date…at Hartwell. It doesn't actually mean that is the date and time you will get, it means preferred! Who does that? As the time and date they have now sent me is a week later. I took the day off work to do this. I do not have anymore days off to take!

This is the second time I have been severely disappointed by Hartwell Grimsby. The first time was when I purchased a car from Hartwell 3 month ago and it took them 2 months to pay me my trade in value for the car that I traded in.

I want to support my local garage as I own 3 Fords! However this will be the very last time I have anything to do with Hartwell Grimsby. I will take my custom elsewhere!

Hartwell Ford Grimsby
"Caveat emptor" (Buyer beware) should be at the entrance to the showroom. Having booked an appointment to view the car we were kept waiting for over an hour. Before a test drive, we listened to the many “products” we could add, finance, warranty, paintwork protection, upholstery protection etc. We enquired about the cost of road tax and the sales person checked the advert and said it was £180.

As the part exchange valuation was so low we decided to proceed with the deal but without the addition of any “products”. We then felt under considerable pressure to take out the nearly £1000 warranty (the car was less than 2 years old).

We collected the car a week later (17th February), and while completing the final paperwork, we were shocked to be asked to pay £590 road tax. We pointed out the on-line advert for the car stated “Road Tax £180”. The manager was then called over and we suggested this was somewhat misleading. He was clearly not a happy. His belligerent response was “The road tax IS £180 the rest is ECS; it’s not misleading at all. What do you want to do?” We asked what he suggested and he replied “You will either have to pay it or you can walk away and then he left (a man of few words). The sales person looked embarrassed and I wanted to walk away but as we had struggled through this far and liked the car my wife decided we should complete the sale.

We were told the vehicle had been serviced but were not given any paperwork. We were informed the DSR (“Digital Service Record”) is all online now. It wasn't and the My Ford App / My Ford Account didn't recognise the registration number only the VIN number but there were no service records. After numerous emails and phone calls it transpired the vehicle had not been serviced. We were informed “We do not routinely service a vehicle prior to sale”. Then we were told that “as we had been messed around ‘Jack’ would complete the service for half price”. We declined this as we have lost patience and all faith that this would be completed in any satisfactory manner.

During some final paperwork it was discovered that at some point a calculation error had occurred and we had overpaid by £175. The sales person said this would be repaid within 3 to 5 working days (it took several emails and two weeks).

Our “Ford Main Dealer” experience has been of poor customer service, low part exchange valuation, questionable advertised road tax sum, no vehicle service prior to sale, a ridiculous refund wait and an unpleasant sales manager. At the age of 65 I have completed many vehicles purchases but this has been by far the very worst. We are hugely disappointed in our local main dealer and needless to say, we will not be redeeming the £75 referral voucher and will not be back.

Communications are the key to any business I feel. Especially in sales. Well where do I start this doesn't exist. Two weeks in to buy a used car and now cancelled it due to lack of respect and communications and waiting for refund. Word of warning read the trust pilot reviews I didn't to begin with but will do moving forward. Reason for lack of communications lack of experience and no staff to cover sales.

Cars not prepped for resale purposes either. Asked for MOT asked for service, advised breathing pipe cracked and no further correspondence since. NO WARRANTY UNLESS YOU BUY AT A COST OF £942 for 3 yrs but reading the reviews this doesn't get followed through correctly.

Would I go back NO. 1/10 for this reason.

Purchased car from this garage and it was great had my first service done and it was good however booked my car for first MOT
On the 18 th December I booked it in for 1 st of February. Today 31st January I received a phone call telling me that they could not do it.
That’s great you had month or more to tell me and they leave it till the last minute
NOT A HAPPY PERSON !!!!!
1star is to much it should of been no stars