AA Approved Garage Network  Avis 

I was booked in to the garage for a 9:30 appointment for my MOT
I arrived at 9.15am
I had to sit and wait for two and a half hours for my car to be done and receive feedback.
I paid for Smart Care for one year in advance. In that year I have had two cars towed away for scrap. I have had no contribution or assistance from Smart Care. I will not be renewing.

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I paid for a car service through the AA and the windscreen washers were empty on my cars return. I tried to chase this up with the AA and didn't get anywhere. I have arthritis in my hands so find doing things like opening the bonnet and changing fluid difficult so after paying a lot of money (£200) to the AA for a service I will now have to pay again to someone else for the work to be done which is not right. It makes me wonder whether the service actually happened and I have paid for a scam. The AA have not helped at all in this matter

Friendly if rather casual staff.

Close to my home so very convenient.
My appointment was on October 14 but I later received several Smartcare emails referring to my “forthcoming appointment on October 20” Why???

No mention of the Service on the invoice, just the MoT pass. I will check online that it was serviced. I am used to a more detailed printed report on both aspects of the appointment but if all is correct I will use this place again.

Great mechanic. Friendly and hard working.

Easy to book, trusted service with lovely staff. Can’t beat the price. Must book!

The garage sent communications and I never received them until the next day.
I picked up the car having gone to the garage for not having received any updates. The garage informed me that they are not allowed to contact the customer and all communications are done through AA Smart Care.
The car was ready on the Monday and I took it.
On Tuesday at 16:00, I received a text saying my car was ready to collect.

Booked a home, service, with AA Smart Care for a week later, 1/2 hour before due got a phone call saying they can’t get the oil for a Peugeot 2008 2023. So cancelled but can rebook for the following Thursday. I then got a e-mail saying the mechanic found some defaults while doing the Service!!(which they Cancelled)Which they would be happy to repair, ( a week later), I noticed that the payment I made was put on pending by the AA, then 3 days before Service due I got an e-mail saying Service cancelled. A wasted 2wks waiting for a Service I never got !!

Will use them again

Excellent customer service with an honest reliable service

Tge AA were really helpful and garage were efficient and quick

Use AA approved garages and AA Smart Care at your peril and do not believe that they are honest just because they are AA approved. They are not. I chose the nearest garage to me from the AA approved Smart Care list for an MOT and service which they arranged. The garage - Hackney Car Centre - told me my car needed "brakes all round" to pass its MOT. It did not. He charged me £450 for new brake pads and claimed I had to pay him direct, unlike the actual service and MOT for which I paid the AA. He refused a receipt which made me suspicious and I found he had not done anything to the brakes. He lied and said he had entered the brake pad replacement "on the Mercedes data base". In the face of my proof he offered to refund, then did not. I submitted proof of the fraud to the AA. What did the AA do? Nothing. It didn't look at my car. It claimed to have launched an investigation which left me hanging for two months. Then it said it was my problem because I had paid the garage direct when the garage should have failed the car on the brakes and informed them and they would have charged me. Instead he did the so-called repair without failing the car. The Motor Ombudsman has backed them. I am a journalist and have proof of what I say, including the car's maintenance history/mileage and photos of the so-called replaced brake pads showing they are not new at all in a written report from an honest garage. I also have the texts between Mehmet and I in which he first claims the car needed brakes, then refuses to give a receipt, then on seeing my proof, offers a full refund which he did not give. And don't bother with the Motor Ombudsman. They turned down my complaint because I had paid the garage not the AA even though the brake work was part of the AA arranged MOT and the AA admits that their garage had not followed its proper procedure. Because Mehmet of Hackney car centre did not inform the AA of the alleged brake failure - they were in fact in good condition - and because he refused a receipt saying the AA would send me one, he has got away with it. What else did this AA approved garage do? Did it check the seat belts, change the oil, change the filters? So be careful, I'm sure most of their garages are honest but in view of my experience, it's best to check the work before you pay because you won't get help from the AA if things go wrong.

Had an MOT for my car. No issues. The garage did the checks quick and professional. Had to wait a little longer than promised, but not excessive.

Service and MOT. The garage itself was fine - they communicated OK and the work done seems to be fine. The issue I have is that every decision had to go through the AA first leading to delays. In the end my car had to be kept overnight which was not expected. Additionally, for one piece of work the garage informed me it was needed, but I had to chase the AA myself to prompt them to send the approval through. When they did, they sent it with a zero price (which I approved to get the work done) and the AA then had to send another one through with the correct price on. Not a great experience.

Absolutely fabulous experience, professional, polite and super efficient garage. Best service n mot ai have had after 40 yrs of driving. Fast and brilliant garage.

Thank the garage on my behalf.

Whilst the collect and drop off service was appreciated, there were no status / progress updates throughout the service/mot day.
Despite numerous chases to the AA and the garage, I couldn’t obtain confirmation that relevant hybrid battery checks had been performed - not on the service paperwork and then fobbed off/ignored after. Both garage and AA websites stated that Hybrid checks were included. Extremely disappointing at misleading info and lack of response so wont use again and a warning to all Hybrid car users expecting what should be a standard service check.
AA reply - I have reached out to the garage and AA smart care team with no / unsatisfactory response - another example of lack of proactive customer care.

Booking car service was easy, but during service was not. I didn't receive any updates also I was not notified when my car was ready to be picked up.

It’s so easy and reliable, they come and take your car away , full service and mot and then deliver it back .A1 5*****

Best price through AA, good communication at every stage. CATs Ipswich, helpful receptionist, prompt service and feedback. (2nd yr using AA...had a full service last year too, fraction of the price compared to going independently anywhere else )