RAC Shop Avis 466

On 13th May I ordered a battery + fitting service for my car from the RAC shop.
On 15th May I went to the garage that was supposed to fit the battery (Partworn tyre Warehouse in Timperley), but they told me that since their only contract with the RAC shop was for tyre fitting and NOT batteries, they could not install the battery in my car. I spent almost 1 hour speaking to the mechanic at the garage and the RAC shop customer service representative on the phone, and at some point we even had a 3-way conversation over the speakerphone. Both were very polite and professional, but the issue remained: I could not get the battery fitted, because the garage that I booked on the RAC shop website could not provide the service advertised and sold by the RAC shop itself. RAC shop offered a £10 Amazon voucher as a gesture of goodwill, which I declined as I was not looking for a cheap freebie, but to getting the service that I had paid for. RAC then decided to cancel my order and process a refund, which might take up to 6 working days.
Clearly something went wrong on either the RAC shop or the garage side, but in any case my contract was with Colewood Automotive Ltd. (the company behind the RAC shop). Right now I am £207 out of pocket through no fault of my own, apart from having purchased goods and services advertised by RAC Shop. Fellow customers beware...

Nextbase 522GW 2K Front & Rear Dash Cam Bundle
great value great service. called for info and all question answered. Helful and friendly.

Fitted quickly and how to use told in simple terms.
Would highly recomend

All good thank you. MJS

Bought some car mats, didn’t fit despite them having exact model of my car.
Mostly ignored but eventually Told to post back at my expense, as item was not as described seller should cover cost, told rac shop this back to being ignored.

Came quickly and was easy to find when searching up about what we needed for a family holiday. Made something that was quite daunting feel easy and stress free

Re. Where are my Audi A3 car mats?

At the time of order, the delivery time quoted was up to 5 working days. I placed the order on the 21st, which means it has already been 5 working days and I have not received even confirmation of despatch from you. Indeed, your chosen courier's tracking information confirms that it is still waiting to receive the item. I expected better from the RAC. I want to know when I will receive the order. If you are not sure or if it is likely to take beyond this week, then I want to cancel the order and receive a prompt and full refund.

Purchases are actually bought from RS Connect / Collective Automotive who have a trust pilot rating of 1 . They were awful and RAC were of no help. You are not buying from RAC even though it’s their shop and their shop app. I do not recommend because of this.

I ordered a tyre inflator which arrived in good time from a supplier, rather than the RAC shop. However, the pressure gauge was inaccurate and I requested a refund. Although the T&Cs state that RAC will arrange collection of faulty goods, they insisted that I arrange a return to the supplier, at my own expense, which I did. The fault was accepted and a refund of the cost of the item paid. However, despite a promise to refund the Royal Mail return costs, this never happened and I was left out of pocket.
Communication with Abbie at RAC was good.

I ordered from the RAC Shop a battery that I was told had the benefit of a three-year guarantee, paying a nominal deposit. Apart from the fact that the RAC Shop had considerable difficulty with the phrase, “All being well, I can be with the Kia from 14: 00 onwards on Friday, but not earlier”, the RAC did indeed deliver and fit a battery. I have nothing but praise for the RAC mechanic who fitted the battery and ensured that all was well before taking a payment for the balance due. Before he left, the RAC mechanic told me that a receipt for the payment that I had made and the guarantee would be e-mailed to me.

I wasn’t certain that the RAC Shop had my e-mail address – I had ordered the battery by telephone – so I e-mailed the RAC Shop to ask for a receipt for the payment that I had made and the guarantee.

That was the beginning of a frustrating and time-wasting experience during which I was told by the RAC Shop to e-mail this address, only for the e-mail to bounce back; or to telephone that number, only to be presented with a telephone menu that had no appropriate options. Fed up with being pushed from pillar to post by people who were clearly unable or unwilling to take responsibility for resolving the problem, I asked that the matter be treated as a formal complaint – a reputable organisation would take that as an opportunity to look into the matter and to put things right – but to no effect.

So, three weeks later, and despite many requests, I still have neither a receipt for the payment that I made, nor the three-year guarantee.

That is not only appallingly poor customer service: it is, I believe, also a trading standards issue. The RAC Shop sold a battery on the basis that that battery has a three-year guarantee: but it has failed to provide that guarantee.

Obviously, I shall avoid dealing with the RAC again; and, if you do not have time and energy that you particularly want to waste, I strongly recommend that you do likewise.

Ordered a Nextbase camera, and needed it fitting.
The package arrived promptly, was well wrapped, exactly what I had ordered.
I was a little surprised that as I have RAC cover through my bank, I wasn't entitled to a customer discount as it wasn't direct. Surely a customer is a customer no matter who pays them?
They would do well to have an alternative to RS Connect who they use for fitting. Appointment made, company didn't turn up.

Arrived safely and swiftly.
In it's own holdall to stow in car. Ideal for my trips to Europe by car. A necessity for any vehicle eventuality.
Thank you RAC.

Zero stars would be more appropriate.

Battery supplied and fitted by RAC failed after just ONE MONTH, despite being sold with a three-year warranty.
Independent evidence confirming the battery is faulty has been provided. RAC have still refused to honour the warranty.
The response has been delays, deflection, and no accountability.
A warranty has no value if it isn’t upheld.
Poor product. Poor aftercare. Consider alternatives.

When you write a review on trust pilot for the RAC Shop the first thing you see is "tell us what went wrong this time?". I purchased a battery in July 2025, it arrived with no problem, but it has started to go flat and not hold a charge, so I contacted the RAC Shop and they said I had to take it back to my nearest Euro Car Parts shop, I said my contract is with you and you have to arrange to come and make the exchange. They said no it was up to me, I said you are acting illigaly under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, they said they were not and their procedure is for me to take the battery to Euro Car Parts. I checked with Citizens Advice and they confirmed that under the act the RAC Shop should indeed organise collection and the exchange. I can see this ending up court!!
Bit of an update the RAC shop are now arranging collection and exchange, posted original on 8/4/26, todays up date is on 11/4/26, this is 30 emails later, we will wait and see! update 16/04/26, old battery was collected by a courier and yesterday the replacement arrived, I must say the person I was dealing with by email, was very proffesional through this painfull process and was following the RAC shop procedures unfortunately these do not line up with the Consumer Rights Act which has legal standing in England. The RAC shop reviews are about 50% 5 star and about 50% 1 star.

Kearon came to fit the camera. Not only was he here exactly on time but he was polite and professional.

The camera was fitted in 30 minutes and was a really neat job, no cables, no mess etc.

I order the European Driving Kit. It came quickly and was reasonably priced

We were away from home and stranded on a Sunday morning due to a flat battery. I had a massive struggle trying to book a breakdown report as the phone number isn’t a human and says to report online. I couldn’t do this as the website wouldn’t accept my group scheme reference
Despite this I decided just to get a patrol to fit a new battery, expensive but really helpful. I bought the battery about 8am, they said they would be there between 10 and 1pm
The patrol attended about 0910hrs, he was a lovely guy and we were on the road with a lot more confidence that we would get home before 10am
Call out service 4 out of 10.
RAC shop service 8 out of 10 would have given 10 except for the price. They had us over a barrel

Please don’t buy from rac shop they won’t change and also they won’t have u refund
Absolutely rip off

RAC engineer arrived on time and replaced battery.
Friendly, efficient and got the job done, happy customer :)

I have found this service excellent and to have someone come to the house to do the job was so much better than trying to find a garage that wouldn’t overcharge!
Had a few jobs done with RAC mechanics and overall so far been very satisfied.
Very friendly, courteous mechanics, arrived on time, Excellent!

Really pleased good products at a competitive price with fast delivery