Markhams Garage Ltd, Leominster

Have just moved to the area so this was my first time using Markhams. Booked my car in for MOT, which it failed. Had no advisories last time, but it's fairly old, so this wasn't a massive shock. They asked if I wanted them to do the necessary work. Logically, I said it would be dependent on how much the work would cost, and asked whether they could give me a rough estimate. I was told that they couldn't provide me with an estimate but that it was not a bad fail, and that a couple of the brakes just needed looking at. I found it rather odd that they couldn'y provide me with an estimate (as my old garage could always do this), but, on assurance that it was nothing major, said for them to go ahead and carry out the repairs. A week later I received a text to say the work was complete. I phoned up and asked for the final cost and was told by the receptionist that they were just typing up the invoice and would send it over to me shortly (again I found it odd that they couldn't just tell me over the phone). A day later no invoice was received so I emailed them again asking for it, and was told that (for some reason) they couldn't provide it until the person who did the work was back on site in two days (...okay). Invoice was finally received and was for £830 - certainly not what I would classify as 'not a bad fail'. I made it clear that if I had actually been given an accurate idea of what the actual cost of the fail would be when I had asked initially, then I probably would just have let the car be written off and just use my wife's car. In response, a paltry £84 was knocked off the bill, leaving it as still one of the most expensive MOT bills I've ever received, but certainly not for the most work I've ever had done. Given that most of the fixes were just replacing wiper blades and a couple of lights (which takes minutes), it would seem that the bulk of the cost was for fixing two worn brakes. When I collected the key, the receptionist took the low road of trying to blame a trainee mechanic for not communicating properly, even though responsibility for the error clearly lay with her. She pointed me to the key. I asked where my car was. "Somewhere in the forecourt," she replied. Yikes. The whole experience seemed highly dubious, totally chaotic and left me feeling thoroughly scammed. Won't be using them again. Would be zero stars for customer service or price, but am going to go out on a limb and assume that at least the work has been done to a sufficient standard

I took my Audi A1 for an MOT and some diagnostic work for an EPC warning light. They carefully went through likely issues - possible turbo or actuator problems, so the car is booked in again later in the month. I've been there a couple of times now and they are consistently excellent.

I've been using Markhams for the last 6 years and they have always provided an exemplary service

I have used this garage for 9 years and always find the staff helpful and knowledgeable. The new service bays opened a year ago are very up-to-date and very clean. They don't just offer you a replacement if something is broken. They do their best to solve the problem at a reasonable price. For example, I had trouble with a sidelight bulb which had failed and melted its holder. No replacement holder could be obtained. I was faced with buying a complete new headlamp assembly, costing over £200. But Markhams repaired the bulb holder for a small charge! That's service.