Terrible customer service followed by being threatened by Watson Cars……..after having a test drive and putting a deposit down on a Ford Focus, all seemed well. We had agreed a price and shook hands to seal a deal pending on the result of the MOT. Unfortunately, the Focus failed the MOT, it was a victim of the new diesel emissions tests. I accepted that this was not Watson Cars fault it was just unfortunate; it was what happened next that amazed me: Test drive and deposit done on Friday the 1st of June, MOT failed on Saturday, I received call on Saturday concerning Failed MOT and was told I would receive a call on Sunday concerning up date of retest, however I didn’t receive any call on Sunday. I rang and spoke to Pete on Monday for an update and was told they were looking into it, but was baffled as to what to do. 72 hours went by and no courtesy call from Watson’s. So I rang again, but was told we are still working on the issue, so I asked if they had a courtesy car I could borrow whilst they sorted out the Focus (because of work commitments I have), but was told they didn’t do courtesy cars. By Friday the 8th of June I rang again (I didn’t receive any courtesy calls from Watson’s, I had to do all the chasing up) and received the same news ‘we can’t get it through the MOT’. For the next 24 hours I thought about what to do, I felt it was just unfortunate concerning the Focus and that I would have to let it go. I had a look on the web page again to see what other fords they had; Saturday night I put a deposit on a Ford Fiesta, I rang and spoke to Pete on Sunday to book a test drive for Monday morning at 10 am. On Monday morning, I notice the Focus in the far corner of the car lot surrounded by other cars, the car was covered in drew drops from the over hanging tree above it, indicating it had been there most of the week and not in a garage being worked on to get it through it’s MOT like I had been told. After the test drive, I asked Pete about my offer, but was told he was still waiting to talk to the boss but he won’t be in until 1 pm, at 2 pm I hadn’t heard anything so I rang for an up date, I was told by Pete that the boss hadn’t come in yet, at this point (over a week of very poor customer service) I got frustrated with Pete, highlighting Watson Car web page: ‘Customer service is very important to us and we pride ourselves on keeping our customers happy by offering a genuine helpful and friendly service’, I stated that this was not my experience to date. I also quoted in connection to the Focus: ‘All our Vehicles are prepped to a high standard and go through a rigorous inspection which stands us out above our competitors’. At this point Pete stated he felt it best to give back my deposit and for me to go else where, I said to Pete is that really customer service, to tell the customer to go away because they got slightly frustrated, I stated to Pete I would like to speak to the boss when he comes in, and that was how it was left. At about 4 pm, I got a call from a gentleman called Rob; he identified himself as the owner. He spoke about the Focus and admitted only changing the air filter and running a cleaner through the system and getting a employer to drive it home and back again. Also during that week he admitted he hadn’t touched the DPF, as he wasn’t going to spend money on it to get it through the MOT. Concerning the Fiesta he stated the advertised price is the only price he was going to let it go at, when I pointed out about Fords recommendation concerning the cambelt he stated he wasn’t interested about the cambelt as it wasn’t a concern to him and again he didn’t see the need to spend money on the car. In response to this I asked for my deposit to be refunded and that my review will highlight my experience from Watson Cars, at this point Rob said “I make it a point to hunt down anyone in the Sussex area who puts a negative review up about us” I was a genuine customer with money to buy a car, but ended up with a week from hell from a nasty man. Engage at your own risk.

I bought a Peugeot 307 from here back in August. The car was clean and just as described and up to now I have had no issues with it at all and the dealers have been really helpful. I would happily recommend.