Where to start with this review. I was enticed by fact I could get a full service and MOT for around £90 (£30 discount by paying up front) just after filling in all of my detail this was increased by around £25 for various other fees that were tacked on at the very end of the process. This should have been my first clue to the type of company I was dealing with.

Another reason I thought this company would be appealing was that they will pick up and drop off your car after servicing. The car was booked in to be picked up between 8:00-10:00. The car was actually picked up around 15 minutes later than the expected range with no indication from company.

Once the car was picked up I received no updates until around 16:30. When I was contacted by the company representative on the phone. They spoke as quickly as possible, randomly spraying numbers and issues down the phone. I had to get them to repeat this list 3 times to write down the problems and corresponding prices. This is a blatant sales tactic to fluster people into paying the extortionate prices. I was quoted £1140 to fix the issues to pass the MOT. When I added up the figures I had been quoted and added VAT their sum should have been £1090 so I have no idea how they managed to arbitrarily add £50.

Obviously I told them this seems extortionate given that the repairs weren't major at all. I told them I'd like my car delivered back so I can decide how to progress. The representative then seemed annoyed, but told me they would deliver the car back if I paid a final oil change fee (£25) as my had car required specific oil. Amazing that this was added after my had been serviced even thought they knew 2 weeks in advance the exact make and model of the car.

When I got the report back for my car I noticed half a dozen of the servicing checks hadn't been completed and were just marked with N/A instead of a tick.

The following day while I was at work I received a phone call in the morning from the same representative who told me that I needed to pick up my car as they wouldn't transport it given it was no longer under a valid MOT. This hadn't been told to me the day before and I believe they withheld this information until I had paid the final charges of the service.

I ended up taking the car to another garage that made all of the repairs and had it re-MOT'd there for £186 total.

Do not trust servicing stop! They're the literal scum of the earth that will try ever method possible to extort you. I have nothing good to say about my experience and would advise everyone I meet to steer clear of this cancerous organisation.

Servicing stop pricing
What an absolute rip off! Here's why...
My car, a BMW 520d went for it's annual service through these cowboys and the reviews seemed good and it was convenient as they collected the vehicle and dropped it off. The service and MOT came in at around £125.
Later on in the day, I got a call from servicing stop giving my the news that on top of the service, my car required several other bits of work. Renew my brake fluid, change my auxiliary belt (due at 100k miles which seemed right) and an engine flush due to carbon build up. They appear to have snuck in a fuel treatment too?
The work was completed and my car returned. A couple of weeks later, I went for a drive (I'd been using my new motorbike to get to work so hadn't driven the car). When I switched it on, it flashed up service due in 390 miles? This confused me so I got in contact with the garage who did the work and asked if they could reset this as they may have forgotten. They agreed so I went straight up. The chap at the garage pointed out that this was the rear brake pads that needed changing... Why on earth wasn't this done during the service?
Servicing stop agreed a £20 refund for this inconvenience.
This got me thinking. If they'd missed this bog standard check, what else have they missed?
I got an independent mechanic out to check the work. The first thing that struck him was the costings of the 'extra' work that was carried out.
He pointed out the following...
Auxiliary belt change including labour should be no more than £150. I was charged £322.93
Renewing brake fluid at the very most £100. I was charged £167.54
Fuel treatment and engine flush, again, at very most £60. I was charged £162.05
That is more than double the price that it should have been!
My independent mechanic did actually change the rear brake pads and discs for me and wouldn't you know it, the nipple to change the brake fluid (that needs to be removed for the work to be done) hadn't been touched in years... So this clearly hadn't been done and yet I had been charged £167 for the work!
To confirm this, my mechanic has tested the brake fluid. New brake fluid was tested and had a boiling point of 271 degrees. My brake fluid was tested and it had a boiling point of 227 degrees. I'd only done around 300 miles since the service and the degradation in the fluid was way out of the parameters so supporting the fact that it wasn't touched!
Off my own back, I've sorted the brake fluid issue out with the garage. They will be doing the work soon and we're very apologetic.
When I've emailed servicing stop to complain about the costings, the cheeky woman, Hayley, stated that I should get a quote for the work from a BMW garage and send it to them.
How on gods green earth is that comparable? If I'd wanted to be ripped off, I would've taken my car to BMW.
I've actually used the garage my car went to before and found then reasonable. No where near the prices of a BMW garage.
I will never use this company again as they just rip you off.
My advice... Get your car serviced by them but DO NOT get any extras unless you want to get thoroughly ripped off!
You have been warned.

The Saga of using a Car Servicing Discount Web Site.
Now I live in a small rural village Near Kettering Northamptonshire and since my car, a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is no longer covered by Local Garages, I googled "Local PHEV Servicing Garages".
Google suggested I try Servicing Stop as a Booking Firm.
Their Website requested my Car Registration Number and correctly identified my make and model being an EV.
They Quoted for both Interim and Full Service and as an extra option also a MOT.
I opted for the Full Package of Service with MOT and being a disabled pensioner was pleased to accept that the "Local Garage" would arrange collection and delivery on the agreed day.
Now here is the first problem. The Garage that does the work is not disclosed until after you pay and a confirmation email sent.
The allocated garage for mine was in RUGBY Leicestershire. 50 miles away! Not exactly local! But the booking firm state in the small print that any cancellation will result in a charge?
So the CATCH is as follows.
The Booking Firm takes the money.
The allocated garage puts the car on the ramp and does some quick checks to fill in the Tick Boxes in accordance with the "Interim or FULL service agreement.
There is a clause that states there could be additional charges for "Special Oil" (low ash would be regarded as special).
The garage will then continue to do the MOT test if that is required?
Once the exercise has been completed by the Garage they send the results off to the Booking Firm.
The Booking Firm then get High Pressure Sales to ring the MARK (that's you) and nicely tell you that you car has/has not passed the MOT however "as per the contract" there are extra charges, ALWAYS because of the oil clause.
Now for the clever bit, "we also have some ADVISORY notices that we recommend be done now whilst the car is in the workshop"!
These will be worded carefully according to the well used script. In my case "a car of this age should have 1) brake fluid replaced. 2) anti freeze replaced 3) a full engine flush etc, plus any other options they can think up.
Now comes the RANSOM bit! Depending on how you hold out they send an email with a payment link to pay for the extras, and there are always at least one extra because of the oil! The link includes a short warning that any delay in payment may affect the timed return of the car (held until the funds are in their account).
Back to me having refused all but the "special oil" I waited the return of my car between the agreed CONTRACT time of 4 - 6PM. And waited, and waited etc. By 7:30 I was in a panic as none of the contact numbers were answering. Now the mind goes into every option case from they have crashed and burned on the M1 to it is already dismantled and shipped out.
Time to act with a few chosen words to every web site and email address that was available and no they were not complements. So with the new day comes the call from the Booking Firm manager explaining how there was no excuse why the Service Garage had failed to return the car last night and he would get it returned ASAP now.
Well 13:20 hrs it arrives. "Nothing to do with me mate I am only a contract driver they called me today" I restrain myself and enquire "have they reset the service light and stamped the book?" Yes all done! I check the dip stick and comment that whilst the level is correct I have no way of checking the quality? All other fluids are where they should be but then again they were before it went anyway.
I check my car computer which confirms the collection and delivery mileage and also that 3 gallons of fuel has been consumed.
Further checks of the on board computer show that whilst the Service Warning Light has been reset none of the other settings have been reprogrammed. My Dashboard Display keeps telling me that a Service will be required in 400 miles!
The paperwork required for my Service History consists of a Tatty Photocopy of an MOT certificate and some emailed PDF files listing the car as a Petrol Outlander and no mention of any EV checks or testing?
Gutted.

Booked my car for mot and service with servicing stop as I thought what a good idea picking my car up and bringing back to me. ( big mistake). Booked online and they said if I paid straight away I would get £25 off. Got a text message with a phone number I was to put in my phone in case they needed to get in touch once they had my car. Car was picked up as arranged at 8.30. At 3.30 a London,number was trying to phone me but it was coming up suspected spam on my phone but when it rang again I answered it and this chap said I needed a timing belt,a engine wash out there was so much that I couldn't take it in. I knew my car didn't need a timing belt as it had only done 14,000 miles. I told him I wanted a copy of all the work he said needed done and I didn't want any of the work done and I wanted my car back,he told me if I didn't get the work done it would damage my engine and all sorts of things would happen,then i suddenly thought I don't know where my car is so I asked him and he couldn't tell me,at that point I panicked I thought my car had been stolen,I put the phone down on him and phoned the number that I was to put in my phone in case the needed to contact me. I got through and asked if they knew where my car was and he said we have it here over 20 miles away.I asked what was wrong with it and he said it had passed the MOT with a advisory that one of my tyres was near the legal limit and the service was done. I told him all that had been told to me and he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. He did say once you've paid I will release the car,I told him I had paid upfront he said there is a hold on your car. He gave me a number to phone and said once you spoke to them call me back and I'll get your car back to you. Well the number I was given doesn't let you talk to anybody in person it was a form and you put your Job number on it and it tell you how much you've to pay on it was £29.99 for oil and £39.99 to join their club to get money off when you use them again😂😂 you were able to remove that which I did. I paid the money for the oil as I just wanted my car back. Phoned the garage that had my car and told him about having to pay for oil and he said the oil was in the price of the service but they would get round it by saying it was special oil. He said he would get my car back to me. Then the spam number phoned me again saying I wasn't getting my car back until I paid and I told him I have a email saying it was paid and if he didn't release the car I was going to the police. Never again will I be so silly as I didn't do a review on them something I alway do when I buy anything.
I don't think the garage that was used is part of the scam but I don't trust anyone anymore.

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!

This company is an absolute scam and a shambles!

Booked car in for a full service, confirmation email of booking recieved but no further information (drivers details, garage the car is going to etc. all the key promised information missing... (1st red flag)

Day arrives for the service. No collection time agreed, no communication from the driver whatsoever, so chase "customer services"... if that's what you want to call them! (Useless mostly automated system) suddenly the driver calls... running late. Time is now 1040

Less then 2 minutes later "driver" arrives... no ID, no paperwork, no sorry for being late. Nothing (2nd red flag)

He quite literally ran around the car doing a "video", dumped his mini on the road, took the keys and went to leave (3rd red flag)

I asked him politely to not leave his car dumped in the middle of the road and to put it on the driveway... he did after he huffed and moaned he was too busy!

Day goes on. Nothing from the "garage" at all, for the entire day. Left it until 5pm and messaged "customer services" to ask where my car was as I hadnt heard from the garage. Auto message about all communication should come from them (4th red flag)

Obviously expected delivery time passed at 6pm. Still nothing so tried to call the "driver" back... nothing. No answer, no reply to texts. Literal radio silence (5th red flag)

21:00 panic set in. Has my car been stolen, was he even from this shambolic company. I didn't give anyone permission to take my car, keep it over night wherever it is and not return it...!

It's now 22:17 as I am writing this I have just filed a formal police report with the CCTV from my home of this "driver" turning up at my house and clearly stealing my car as I have NO proof this was ever taken to a garage for its service.

The irony is. The car he turned up in and dumped on my driveway has NO TAX & NO MOT! (6th red flag)

Will the garage miraculously phone tomorrow, try to charge me a small fortune for work that wasn't needed over and above the full service or will it suddenly reappear at my home address... who knows!

The mini is now blocked in by a van which will force this driver to knock the door if he wants to get it out rather than just turning up and driving off in it!

No way to properly communicate with this company, no way to follow up in these situations as conviently "customer services" closes at 6pm...!

Do yourself a favour and book directly with a local garage and if you can't get it there yourself. Ask someone to help you DO NOT use this company.

Police on there way and I'll be going to trading standards.

Wow it really is frustrating that 0 stars isn't an option...

I had booked my car (Jaguar XF) in for a service today and I feel pretty disgusted with the charges for optional extras/advisories that I needed to get done, and I'm really angry at the fact that a carbon flush while the oil was being drained was implied that it was mandatory for the service.

The flush did not need to be done, and the customer service representative explained to me that because 6L of oil is used in my car, when they drained it they only found 5.2L and so the remaining 0.8L was obviously gunk stuck in my engine. Old diesel cars do burn small amounts of oil. If 6L goes into a car at service, you will never get 6L out.

I've been charged £67.80 + VAT for something that was implied I needed to do when it wasn't. So I'm pretty angry.

I called the advisor out on it after calling my brother to check (who works at JLR and has been a mechanic in the past), and the advisor apologised for the "miscommunication" and explained that he never used the word "Mandatory" directly... but having looked at the other prices for the optional extras that were recommended, I don't think that his aim was to treat me to fair pricing, instead I felt like he was doing his best to take advantage.

The first issue I have is with the additional charge for the engine oil used. In the terminology used on their website it states "Specialist if Required £24.99 + VAT".
And when I asked what was "Specialist" about it, I was told that it was because my car had an "EGR valve on it"... well to be honest I don't know too many diesel cars that don't have EGR valves... So calling it "Specialist" I would say is fairly misleading. Making a customer aware of the charge if they own a diesel vehicle I would say would be a much more honest way of explaining that charge don't you think?

The second issue I have is with the ridiculous prices I was being asked for the optional extras, which again I felt was being over sold to me.
Ive done some looking around and ive found prices of other garages for doing the work vs their ridiculous charges.

This is for the exact same model car that I own:

Auxiliary drive belt £197.82 + VAT... The average cost elsewhere was £118 and that included VAT.
Brake Fluid Change £120 + VAT... The average cost for this elsewhere is £45 again including VAT
Fuel Filter change £117.46 + VAT... The average elsewhere £80 including VAT

Its a joke.

So added to the original charges that I felt bullied into of the Carbon flush and the oil specialist charge, including the recommended extras and including VAT... the total amount the garage was asking me for was £834.66! That's ridiculous. I could have gone to a genuine dealership and had it done for cheaper.

And it makes me angry that people who are less familiar with cars, are being fleeced out of money like this.

Genuinely the worst service experience ive had in my life.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Please trust the reviews and do not use. They are criminals.

I don't have time to write out all that happened here but let the following bullet points suffice. For referenc my car was in for mot and full service.

- I was called on the day and advised/quoted for - tracking rod changed £367.72, oil replacement £24.99, brake fluid flush £139.99 and recommended an engine flush and fuel treatment at £100. This is all pre vat.

- I called some other garages. They said they'd do the tracking rod for £50 Inc vat, brake fluid they'd take a look at but wouldn't be more than £30, oil shouldn't cost that as part of a service and the treatments were upsell. In fact the other garages were incredulous at what I was quoted.

- I went back to servicing stop. Said I just wanted my car back. Initially the operator said I couldn't have my car delivered as it had failed mot. And pressured for the work. I found out this is a lie, it was not a dangerous fail so this was untrue. Ended the call saying they'd 'speak to the garage'.

- after this point I could not get through all day. I had my calls cancelled and hung up on. I did not know where my car was and was preparing to call police.

- 6pm my car arrives. Guy dropping it had apparently demanded ss release my car as he needed his own which was parked at my place

- he worked for the actuall garage. Asked why I didn't go ahead with repairs. I mentioned price. And here's where it gets fun...

According to the guy, and invoice I was later supplied with, The garage was told to only do a basic oil and filter change and mot. Nothing else, no recommendations for flush, oil or anything. And they didn't do what was paid for, the full service!

What's more, the garage was going to do the fix for £50.

Let that sink in. Under a 7th of the price quoted by ss. With them pocketing the extra 310.

So to list the crimes of service:
- prices inflated as much as 7x industry standard

- upselling for products not required

- not doing the task paid for

- not responding to calls or complaints

- holding my car 'hostage', and pressuring.

Everyone involved should be brought to criminal charges. Don't risk it. Would be interested in raising charges if anyone else has something going.

Don't make the same mistake I did and believe the reviews on their website. It was not until things started going very sideways for me that I checked other sources for reviews and could see the wave of unhappy customers.

All started to go wrong the day before collection, I get a text saying to save a particular number in my phone as the garage will be calling me to arrange collection the following morning... There was no call.

Day of collection I have an email saying collection will be between 8am.and 10am. I wait all morning, no sign of anyone. Try calling service stop and give up after 30 mins of hold message saying they are experiencing a high volume of calls...

Using deduction I was able to work out the local garage doing the work, service stop give the address but not the company name doing the work or a phone number. So I call the garage directly who advise collection was always going to be 11am. Thanks for letting me know service stop and thanks for misadvising the collection time.

If only this was as bad as it got!

The chap who collected the car was really nice, intact the garage seemed great. Its service stop which seems like utter rubbish.

Anyway, my car failed it's MOT, 2 bulbs and a CV boot, they also provided a list a mile long of things that were not advisories for the MOT but for the service.

I paid for a full service and MOT and cars can fail MOTs I get that... But the pricing I was quoted was absolutely insane...

They wanted to in addition to the MOT work change an auxiliary belt, replace coolant, replace brake fluid and the fuel filter.

I wont get into the argument about if the work needed doing or not, I'll just point out that the car actually has two filters and I replaced them myself about 800 miles ago as it's a doddle of a job on this vehicle. I will just say that servicing stop wanted just a hair under £1000 on top of what I had paid!

The CV boot replacement alone was over £240 which is a lot for a £15 part... The agent I spoke too could not have been more unpleasant about the whole thing and was very much of the opinion that they could just return the car as a failed MOT and refused to give me a breakdown of what the parts cost was and the labour cost.

I have no proof but very much suspect that the garage charges one amount and servicing stop takes a cut off the top that.

This afternoon I called 4 local garages to price the same work, all came in at less. It would seem the going rate for the CV boot is around £150 to £180

Annoyingly for me I had no choice but to tell them to proceed with the MOT work as I need the car back and on the road, something I suspect servicing stop are bargaining on.

Now I have the invoice I am shocked at the costs... £40 for 2 bulbs to mention just 1 example... I'll word it this way, my full service, MOT, CV boot and 2 bulbs has cost me over £500!

What's ironic is the garage itself has nothing but positive reviews and my interactions with them were all positive.

Servicing stop is convenient yes, but they will Rob you absolutely blind on the cost of any work that needs doing.

Avoid Avoid Avoid!

I'm very frustrated
I booked my car in for a service on Monday
It was postponed until Tuesday so I had to reschedule everything losing out on work, paying for extra childcare etc.
No one came to pick up my car for hours further disrupting me, because I couldn't go anywhere or do anything whilst I waited for about 3hrs after my booked slot
After it was collected, I waited all day to hear back and get my car back for the evening so I could pick up my child and plan for work etc the following day but I heard nothing
I called around 5.50pm and was on hold for half hour before I tried the online AI. The online robot told me that there is no one available after 5. So WHY ON EARTH was I on hold all that time being told they were busy when there was no one even there to take my call.
I phoned the garage and they told me that my car had broken down en route to the garage. That would not have happened if my original booking was accepted. But saying that, I'm not confident that it did break down at all but I can't prove anything as some other person was driving my vehicle. I was led to believe that my car would be collected on a another vehicle, not actually driven by a stranger.
The garage said they informed service stop at 2.30pm on Tuesday that it was broken down and that they needed to contact me to get approval so that they could start investigations, but I didn't hear from anyone. I asked if I could give them approval but they said it has to come through service stop.
I called them back at 8am when they opened again and was told that a service advisor called Gary or Gerry or Glenn would call me back after he began work at 9am and he would be told it was urgent and that I could expect a call back around 9.30am.
I didn't get a call back. So I phoned up again at 10.15ish and was on hold for an hour. When my call was finally answered I was told that I would need to speak to management. I was told that the agent would email management and I asked if I could call them and she said that's not possible. I pointed out how bizarre it is that its MY CAR but I can't approve work without speaking to management but there is no way of me even getting hold of management. Then the line started bleeping as if I was in hold or something and then the line went dead as if she hung up on me.

I have no idea what is going on, who is going to call me or when (or if!). Every time I've been given a day or a time it hasn't happened. Communication from them is absolutely disgraceful. I need my car back. I'm only in the area until the end of the day. Who is paying my loss of earnings? Who is paying my extra childcare costs? Who is going to pay for my transport back home or to put me up in a hotel for the night if I can't have my car back today? I've been told that I won't hear back from my complaint email for 2-3 days. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO FOR 3 DAYS? And going by their track record I won't hear back at all.

Right now I'm not sure this company is even legitimate. I can't speak to anyone and I'm being pushed around and I had to pay up front then someone came and took my car and now I can't do anything about it. I'm so stressed and I'm furious and I'm so so so upset because I don't know what to do.

I don't know where to go for help. They took my money, they took my car and now I'm stuck.

My vehicle was serviced and the MOT done at an additional cost of 313.93, bringing the total to 411.49 Pounds for a hand brake adjustment and cleaning of some parts. They suggested a payment plan over 6 months, to which I agreed, but on completion of the forms the bank I use (Starling Bank) was rejected, same card I used to pay for the full service and MOT.
I let them know what was happening and was told that they would revert to their finance department and get back to me which didn't happen.
So I loaned some money and made a full payment this morning as my vehicle was not released yesterday 18/10
I have tried phoning them repeatedly to let them know that the payment has been made, only to get the engaged tone or unanswered calls and no one has bothered phoning me back either.

After writing this review, one of the Servicing Stop Managers Michael was in contact on Tuesday the 19th October to try and resolve this matter.

I was told telephonically that the vehicle would be delivered today the 20th October 2021 between a window of 9am-10am or 1pm to 2pm, and till now no call and no response as to when delivery will take place

On the 22nd of October, I had still not received my vehicle and phoned the customer care manager Michael. I received a call from the garage 5 minutes later to say my car would be delivered in 15min, if not for the call, I do not think I would have received my vehicle.
I was also told by him that he would give me a full refund for any inconvenience caused. After inspection of my vehicle I see that the service light is still on, making me wonder if the service was actually done.

The following is the correspondence mail

Michael Nathan
Tue, Oct 19,5:33 PM (1 day ago)
To me

Dear Matias,

I hope this email finds you well.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today.

Once again I am sorry for any inconvenience caused due to the lack of correspondence from us in relation to your vehicle. I will endeavour to keep you updated and get your vehicle back to you as soon as possible.

In the meantime can you please send me over your Bank details so that I can reimburse you for this matter.

Also If you would not mind writing a short review on trustpilot based on myself and how I handled the situation leaving my name in the heading I would appreciate it.

--
Regards,

Michael Nathan
Service Care Manager