A car owner has been left with a £500 repair bill after Halfords in Sittingbourne allegedly gave her the wrong type of paint for her vehicle.

Leslye Mott, 58, asked her partner, Mark Simmons, to go to the Mill Way store and buy a tin of blue paint using a colour match service.

After painting half of the car on the weekend of November 8-9, he went back to the shop with the tin and the unique colour code sticker on the side to get more.

The couple claim a shop worker who keyed the code into the store computer missed a digit off and handed over an incorrect shade of matte blue.

It was only when Mr Simmons had painted a large portion of the car that he noticed the error and went back to the shop to complain.

He says he was advised by the store manager that if he got quotes for a professional repair job the shop would cover the costs.

However, after the couple took a day off work to get prices, a Halfords’ representative said the chain would not pay for the cost of the damage.

Ms Mott said: “Their attitude was that we should have tried it somewhere [small on the car] first. But we had already done that. They told us to go and get two quotes, and then the next time they talk to us they say they wouldn’t accept liability.

“We’ve lost money because of the time it has taken us to get quotes, and it has just completely messed the car up.

“We’ve got the email saying they won’t even talk to us. How is that professional for a big company like that?

“I’m really furious about their attitude.”

When contacted, Halfords said it would look into the matter but no one was available to provide an official comment.

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