Evans Halshaw, Edinburgh, Midlothian

I keep this review up as this company are bordering on being sham. I was sold a used car and traded my old car in. Within weeks the car I bought had to go into the garage every week and at times I was charged for repairs as they said it was outwith the warranty. I was without a car for long periods of time and eventually they gave me a courtesy car. During this period I was calling constantly about my car repair and was given false information and told it was at another garage for repair and all the time it was left lying out the back of the garage in Livingston. The Livingston Garage told me the car was not repairable and that I should get my money back when I phoned the garage in Edinburgh where I bought it they agreed and I went to the garage in Edinburgh to sort out only to be told you need to buy another car we cant give you the money back. I eventually gave up and cancelled the agreement and they refused to give me the money back for the car I traded in so I walked away with nothing. Any good reviews are only to do with customer service selling you a car. If you get a faulty car from them forget any good customer service and keep money aside as you will need it to keep yourself mobile if this lot take your car in for repair. You will also just receive an automated message saying they will improve the training and nobody will read the review as they dont care once they have your cash. I hope this saves one or more people from the misery and cost of these people.

My Renault Zoe has now been booked in with them for the 3rd time.

There was a problem with my heating so booked it in in April only to be told when I arrived they could not get any parts so to take it away.

Booked it again 2 weeks ago and was told it needed re gassed. Charged me for the repair and I drove home. Absolutely no heating so rang them straight away. Left 5 messages that day and was told the person who knows about this is on another call and will call you back in 30 minutes (That was 1 week ago). I put in a complaint through their Resolver system which they ignored. Resolver sent them a reminder which again they ignored. So today I rang them and explained what happened Not a word of apology nor an explanation as to what happened, I could not get a courtesy car due to Coronavirus (Curious this does not stop them selling cars).This must be the worst company ever. Rude unhelpful staff, no apology or explanation as to why they did not even check the repair.

Absolute nightmare, bought a used car in good faith even purchased service plan etc. From first day we received the car there has been issues real issues. Seven weeks on never get replys from emails keep taking car back to garage keep gettting told its fixed. Few days later back again. Next step social media/news papers would make a good story. Think a refund is well within my rights.

Please be very carefull when using this company.

On Sunday 12 February 2017, my wife and I visited Evans Halshaw’s Edinburgh Baileyfield Road branch in the hope of finding a new car. We found a Ford C-Max in the forecourt. It was in immaculate condition, had very low mileage and had the engine specification we preferred.

We arranged to test drive the car. As we set off, I noticed the yellow engine warning light was on. I pointed this out to the salesman, who said that he did not know what the problem was, but that it would be dealt with if we decided to go ahead with the purchase of the car.

As the C-Max was otherwise exactly what we had been looking for - and because we had confidence that a Ford dealer would be able to competently deal with whatever was causing the engine warning light to illuminate in a 9 month-old car - we paid a deposit and arranged to collect it on Thursday 16 February.

On Thursday we received a telephone call from one of the branch staff, explaining that a part necessary to rectify the warning light issue had not arrived and that the car would not be ready until much later that day. We arranged to pick it up the following day.

On Friday 17 February we called at the branch and spoke to the salesman. He explained that the fault had been traced to a faulty O2 sensor, that this had been replaced and that the car was now running as it should be. Coming from a Ford dealer, this seemed reasonable at the time, so we completed the purchase paperwork and took the car home.

The following morning (Saturday 18 February), my wife started the car and saw that the engine warning light was on again. She contacted the branch and was told that the earliest that the car could be attended to was on Thursday 23 February.

On that Thursday, she dropped the car off at the branch. The following day (Friday 24 February) she received a call from the branch. The person she spoke to said that he had run diagnostic tests on the car but could find nothing wrong. He had reset the system and the engine warning light was now off. Later, she picked up the car and everything seemed to be in order.

The following morning (Saturday 25 February) she started the car and saw that the warning light was on yet again. On Monday 27 February she telephoned the branch yet again and explained the situation. Arrangements were made for the car to be collected from our home on Thursday 2 March. Having regard to the circumstances (the return of the car for the same problem), and the fact that my wife would then be without transport, I am surprised that the branch was not prepared at that time to also offer a courtesy car – the option was apparently one or the other.

A member of staff from your branch picked the car up on that and said that we would be kept updated regarding progress.

On Wednesday 8 March – almost a week after handing the car over – my wife had received no contact whatsoever from Evans Halshaw. She telephoned the branch and, after passing through a call handling centre, eventually spoke to one of the staff. This person explained that service staff had, they thought, rectified the problem but that the following day the warning light had come on once again (the third time this had happened since we took delivery of the car). They were able to confirm that the problem again seemed to be with the O2 sensor. She also explained that that the branch was in contact with Ford Technical with a view to finding a solution but that all communications were done by e-mail and that this meant ‘very slow progress’ (her words).

As this was becoming a frustrating process, I e-mailed the Dealer Principal, on 10 March 2017, listing my concerns about our car and the apparent lack of progress in rectifying the problem. I was able to do this because, on taking delivery of the car, we had received a glossy pack which included a letter from the Dealer Principal asking us for any feedback – and including his personal e-mail. At the time of writing (2 June 2017) this person  - occupying a management position - has not as yet found time to do me the basic courtesy of acknowledging receipt of my e-mail.

By Friday 17 March 2017 - by which time the branch had had the car for just over two weeks - the branch had still not managed to rectify the problem. I therefore notified the branch by e-mail (to Head of Service) that we were exercising our Short Term Right to Reject the car in terms of Section 20 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and asked for a full refund .

This notification was within the initial 30-day period specified by Section 22 of the Act. I received an e-mail acknowledgement of receipt of this rejection from the Head of Service the same day.

It would be fair to say that the Head of Service did take ownership of our problem – sadly, the only person from Evans Halshaw (including the Dealer Principal) who had bothered to do so since we first raised it on 18 February 2017.

On Monday 20 March 2017, I received a further e-mail from the Head of Service within which she offered me a reduced refund of for the car, citing length of ownership and mileage as reasons for the reduction. I replied to her the same day pointing out that my entitlement under Section 20 was to a full refund and reiterated my request for this. I understand that this offer was made on the advice of the branch Accountant – who appeared either to be unaware of our rights under the Consumer Rights Act (which strikes me as unlikely) – or else was trying to pull a fast one on us and save Evans Halshaw some money.

Eventually Evans Halshaw agreed to give us the full refund to which we were entitled.

So – my overall views of Evans Halshaw?

1. As an official Ford dealer, they were unable to rectify an apparently simple fault, meaning that we had perhaps 5 – 6 days use of our car during our first four weeks of ownership

2. I hold the view that a senior manager – such as a Dealer Principal – should pay attention to customer service. As he has still not even acknowledged receipt of my e-mail of 10 March 2017, I have been forced to conclude that, insofar as after-sales service is concerned, he is either uninterested or does not care.

3. I would expect an Accountant – another reasonably senior position within any organisation – to have an understanding of the financial entitlements of customers, particularly where recent legislation (The Consumer Rights Act came into force in 2015) is concerned. I remain of the view that his offer of a reduced refund was made in the hope that we were unaware of our rights under the Act and would accept it – thereby saving Evans Halshaw some money.

4. I have award this review one star – this is simply because there isn’t the option to award none. Overall (and I have to say with the exception of the Head of Service) Evans Halshaw Edinburgh’s after-sales service is simply appalling. My only recommendation to potential customers would be to go elsewhere.

I purchased a car which cost 5k on a Saturday I was told that the car may have a slow puncture and the pressure monitor on the dash should go off soon, two days later I find out the tyre needs replaced at a cost of £120 plus a sensor at £55 the dealer just washed there hands of it and said it was my problem not there's.

Went to view a car had an appointmentioned made to wait 45 minutes then salesman made me feel like I was stupid. Couldn't even give me a print out of their offer told me to take a picture on my phone. I have now bought another car and would not deal with evans halshaw again. They even had the cheek to phone me and ask me if I wanted another appointment lol, would not recommend this dealership

Turned up to Evans Halshaw Edinburgh and had a courtesy car booked (had booked appointment 4 weeks earlier).

They could not insure any courtesy cars because the internet was down!

I offered to let them use the internet on my phone, and also suggested they telephone the insurance company but my suggestions were dismissed.

I was told wait and the van service will be done in 1.5hours maximum.

I was still waiting 5 hours later, entrance doors were wedged open as they were faulty so I was freezing. I arrived at 10am and it was well after 3pm that my van was ready.

The coffee machine was broken, staff all had coffees but I was never offered one.

After all this I was then told my van needs discs and pads front and back after only 25k miles. When I questioned this the head mechanic (I assume) was hostile and dismissive.

Avoid this place if you would like to be treated with any degree of professionalism.

They were all soooo nice and accomodating till the moment I paid for my car. After that been ignored like I was a thief!

Bought a 2nd hand car at the Edinburgh Renault/Dacia branch. They sent it to check at their garage and once I get it back there were missing car jack and a citroen trolley that came with the vehicle.

I had phoned and emailed many times the customer service, the sales man who I dealt directly and each time I was bounced to somebody else. The last conversation I had was with N.1 arrogant employer who refused to give his name His explenation was that possibly those parts I was looking for, being lose parts of the car they might have been left on a side at the garage and because nobody claimed them, they might have been thrown away.

Now it cost me an extra £60 to replace what I'm missing.

Was passing so went in to have a look at the new Clio a few months ago. A complete and utter waste of time. Salesmen were only interested in making phone calls, arranging balloons and trying to look busy doing nothing to bother with customers. Out of sheer curiosity I asked one salesmen who was sitting at his computer to give me a quote. He immediately fired up the computer but then quickly abandoned the idea of giving me a quote when he realised I was not prepared to sign up and part with thousands of pounds then and there. How any salesperson in their right mind expects customers to part with thousands of pounds based on, "You've had a look at the cars then?" without even bothering to get off their backside to show a single car is truly beyond belief! Needless to say, Evans Halshaw Renault Sighthill did not get my business and never ever will. I would not recommend them if they were the last car dealer on earth.

I took in my car under warranty to get a small electrical fix, which I could have done myself probably if I had the part. I left the car in first thing and expected a call in the afternoon but nothing. When I eventually got through to somebody (passed to 5 different people) i was told that they had received the part but broke it before it could be installed. So I picked up the car and took it back the next day. Again no calls from them despite me calling to ask for a return call. This time they had apparently got the part delivered but it was only an empty box! So I got my car back and was told they would call me once the new part had arrived - again no calls, for 3 days this time. Eventually I called and the part was there so took the car in and they fixed it after few hours. This is a short version of the episode and I have not gone into detail about all of the events, however I hope never to have anything to do with this company again.