ALPHERA Financial Services UK Reviews 

Staff are clearly instructed to obfuscate liability when complaints are made. I was ignored, accused of not sending evidence of a clearly faulty vehicle (when I had sent it all, really they just couldn't open pst / PDF files…), was sent stroppy emails from day 1, and treated unfairly for months until the ombudsman gave her view that Alphera they had misinterpreted consumer rights legislation amongst other things showing they did not treat us fairly - and like magic they accepted, got in touch with me after months of being ignored, and had to take back my vehicle and reached a resolution based on FOS recommendations.

They could have avoided all of this if someone sensible had looked at my very clear claim with respect to a faulty vehicle. So disappointing.

Thought I'd just stick up for Alphera here as actually I had a decent experience with them. Took out a PCP a few years ago, decided to terminate early (voluntary). I'd taken good care of the car though it obviously had some wear and tear. Nice bloke came out and went over it with a fine tooth comb. He flagged up some very minor issues to HQ but they waived all of them - nothing to pay! I thought this was very fair and reasonable, as though the car wasn't in flawless condition, I had taken care of it (main dealer serviced etc) and I think they recognised that it was still a very good example for the age. They could have taken a few hundred quid off me but they didn't. Also I was always able to get straight through to someone on the phone and they were very polite and helpful. Website works well too, can always get an up to date balance on there. Keep it up Alphera and maybe you'll string a few 5 star reviews together before long!

Do not use this finance company!

I have managed to win the case with financial onbudsmen for the car to be rejected with my full deposit and no termination fee. Now Alphera have ignored me and the financial onbudsmen for over 5 weeks to arrange a collection date for the vehicle. I have rang 3 times and never get an answer for a date or passed on to anyone to discuss the matter. Awful company and horrendous customer service!

Still no call back, Left a review about the service and the lac of contact. Well lack of anything customer service with this company. Had a reply on the review to say they would contact me. Guess what they still haven’t weeks later! A joke of a company.

What can I say that hasn't already been said about this business? six weeks I've been without a car now missed a family holiday and lost my money on it, customer services is non existent, they never ever call you back.

I ended up calling out one of their directors on LinkedIn which got a half hearted response from my case handler, who promises the world but delivers nothing, the number he calls from you can't call into it, and the sphincter police on customer services either won't put you through to the case handler or they make up a fictitious reason why they can't come to the phone.

6 weeks without a car, and now even if I could get the car to Volvo, they can't look at it until after the Christmas holiday period, so we've not got a car for Christmas and we were supposed to be going away again but this has now been cancelled.

Please run for the hills if you are told that you need to use this business, like others if I could give them a minus rating I would!

UPDATE: 31/01/2025

Alphera eventually said that they'd pay for the repairs to my car and paid for it to be recovered to Volvo Chester on the 5th Dec 24, Volvo assessed the damage and quoted for the repair, then on the 17th Jan 25 they did a 180 and said they will now NOT pay for the repairs!

So I now have my car at Volvo with a £360 diagonstic bill to pay and no one will take responsibility for any of this.

I've not had a car since 27th Oct 24 which is 14 weeks, because of Alphera constantly lying to me, never calling me back (ever!) never replying to emails and never doing what they said they were going to do.

I've ran out of negative narrative about this company also the dealer who sold me the car (not Volvo Chester, they are amazing) sold me it knowing it had a bad oil leak, did nothing about it but put a 3rd party warranty on it to cover themselves but didn't tell anyone, so they will be the next review on here!

Where do I start with this company, could it be the worst company you’ll ever deal with in your life? Yes hands down easy!
They’ve actually left myself and 3 kids homeless, they’re charging me for a car I handed back 6 months ago putting me into negative credit, I’ve sold my house and can’t get anything at the moment due to this company having me as missed 7 payments in a car I don’t have and handed back months ago.
I’ve called and called and the promises of someone calling back is criminal. If you hear this name Alphera, RUN!
I have the ombudsman dealing with it and they’ve never knew anything like it.
Next month they’ll charge me for a car I don’t have and I can’t do anything about it, it’s causing me extreme mental health issues and I’ve had to move in with my mother due to this company?
Can anyone help or advise as they’ll not answer me back with any help.

Jamie Reid
Helensburugh
Car BF18 ODY

I agree with the other 1* reviews. This company's communication with customers - or lack of it, does not inspire confidence. Last time I rang, I was still number "24 in the queue" after 15 minutes. I was under the impression I could pay a lump sum off my loan and then continue making monthly payments. 2 months after doing this, nearly £10,000 was taken from my account as a "final payment" which they said I had been verbally told about was part of the partial repayment deal, so it could not be returned to me. Happy Christmas.

If I could give minus stars I would. I have never dealt with a company so bad in all my life, they are unbelievable bad. They don’t care about customers they don’t understand customer service, they repeatedly lie to you. The point blank refuse to speak to customers you literally need to beg to speak to your case handler. Please go elsewhere for your needs you would thank me later honestly I can’t believe what they have put me through the last few months, it’s disgusting.

Most awful company I’ve ever dealt with! Don’t reply to emails, call and they cut you off. They call back and lie that they can’t hear you then cut you off also!!! Bloody disgusting !

We had a great experience with Alphera - Our car was stolen and then written off and they made the whole process incredibly smooth and stress free. No issues throughout our contract prior to that.

Writing this review as I was shocked at so many negative reviews when we had such a good experience.

Terrible customer service. Several times left on hold over an hour each They don't seem to care I will just have to go to ombudsman and see if they can help.

Contract ended on a sunday and called on the monday to make final payment ( on the online portal it said the final payment would come off by DD, that why I didnt call till the day after) and already sent to collection had to be sent through 3 agent and 27 call in que to part with £9000, what a terrible service. Not a great end to a service I would not use them again as I was made to feel like I was in arrears dispite never missing or having a delayed payment. Poor show if you ask me.

I would give the score a zero if that was an option! The worst level of customer service i have ever come across. Still awaiting a reply from emails i sent in over 2 weeks ago and not 1 single acknowledgment.

All i want to do is terminate my contract and they are making it impossible to do so, i will be complaining to the financial ombudsman as surely they cannot continue to operate such a terrible service.

DO NOT USE! Awful company!

Total lack of customer service. The way their escalations team is set up for customer complaints is horrendous! Only "call agents" are customer facing. All management, internal FOS team and case handlers are none customer facing so you CANNOT get information on your complaint from this company. LONG on hold waits only to be told "your case handler is dealing with this, I'll send them an email hopefully that will get them to look at it" or "sorry you cannot speak to that team, they are not customer facing", they NEVER reply to your emails. Even when they have a final decision from the FOS they still don't communicate - it is shocking that this structure/conduct is allowed in 2024! I will have no option but to complain to the FCA and all I want is basic information after waiting 6 months without the use of a car!!

I'm currently in the process of a complaint, and today marks the 14th week since it started
my car was 4 months old when i noticed a issue starting that is covered by a special manufacturer warranty but, in order to get the warranty the car had to show a check engine light which it did not, but i didnt want to drive the car further since the issue will result in destroying the engine completely, the dealership confirmed the part should be replaced asap but said they cant do it under warranty due to no check engine light.... yet, they told me to keep driving it till it gets more damaged but i wasnt ok with this.
i started my complaint with alphera and the advisor said i had a strong case and agreed with my reasoning, he gave me a lot of hope after being very stressed dealing with Vauxhall customer service.
My confirmation of complaint was added to my account 1.5 weeks after my complaint actually started, which delayed my case with the ombudsman.
i gave them space at first but after countless phone calls and being on hold for hours every week, i got to the 8th week and asked where my 8th week letter was to take to the ombudsman because my start of complaint was sent late.... I rang 3 times this week and I asked for a call back from my case handler 3 times, none of which was returned.
On week 8 I called up and asked where my 8th week letter was again, which I was told he would get the case handler to send it to me, he also said Arnold Clarke had taken note of the complaint.
The following week I rang and asked to space to a manager…. The adviser call my details and said they actually had an update for me.... but the update was not an update at all, just asked me why i didnt take my car to the selling dealer appointment i had (arnold clarke), which they already knew i told it to my local vauxhall dealer, but sounding like something was actually happening I left them to it.
Week 11, I had had enough of no updates at this point, so I started my case with the ombudsman, using my letter confirming the start of my complaint because they still hadn’t sent me my 8th week letter yet…. Few days letter the letter showed up on my account surprise surprise, 11.5 weeks, 3.5 weeks late.

on week 12, alphera rang me for the very first time, it was my case handler who seemed to have half the information, he asked for a invoice quote of the repair, which I gave on day 1, he said it was a wear and tear part, and with the tone it was implied this isn’t going to work out, but I believe the fact that this part has a special warranty, its started to fail at less than half its rated life, and that the only reason these belts fail so early is due to wrong oil… but its been serviced by Vauxhall since new so shouldn’t have happened. He also implied that ive basically abandoned my car at a local garage, not realising this garage was a main dealer…. Which again I told them exactly where my car was, and if its been abandoned…. Its only been there as long as they have abandoned me with the complaint. I sent the invoice again after the call.

I rang back a few days later to share my concerns with the call I had with my case handler and was told they will get him to call me….he didn’t

and that brings me to today, week 14, since the complaint started.
my car has been in the main dealer sat waiting since mid june 24 and we are not mid November.
Ive had no transport for this time, Ive had to call them every since time, which sometimes when they needed information it was taken when I called them
they only contacted me once after I got ombudsman involved.
since my car has been off the road till now, ive continued to pay my finance payments and I’m now at the point where the total of these bills would have paid for the repair if I had just got it fixed myself

I rang them this morning to no update for me

Very disappointing and frustrating company to deal with

Edit -
the call back they promised below, didnt happen

Edit 1 -
I stopped chasing my case in november 2024 as it was causing too much stress, i left it to the ombudsman, the ombudsman come to a conclusion in march 2025, between november and march, i didnt hear from alphera once, they never bothered to keep me updated
from the start of this process in august 2024 to now, alphera rang me 2 occasions, on the back of pushing them, had a few occasions where i made complaints and i would get a call after 5pm, it would ring for a second and then stop, and when trying to call back you get the "we are closed...."
I would avoid this company at all cost, and if you are stuck with this company already and going through a complaint, get the ombudsman involved at your earlist point, the ombudsman process can be lengthy in itself but you will get an out come, they forced alphera to wrap my case up and i got the outcome i wanted, but the whole stress of it was not worth it

Good luck

Absolutely disgusting what this company puts you through. My vehicle died after just a couple of months of ownership yet its taken 8 months to get a final response letter with an apology and an offer of £150 compensation, that is an insult to how much money and stress this has caused me. Paying each month for a vehicle to sit in a garage with a dead engine. Over 30 calls made to alphera but nothing, had to use savings to buy another vehicle, so was left paying payments on a vehicle, two lots of insurance and tax then offered £150 compensation. Stay well clear of this company. I've had to get the ombudsman involved because what they are doing here is day light robbery.

Vehicle has been returned due to the engine blowing up after just a couple months of ownership, then to be told they are keeping the last 4 payments that I made because I ended the agreement early, even tho I didn't have the vehicle because it has been sat in a garage since july. I did not end or break the agreement early I was simply sold a vehicle that was not fit for purpose that had to get returned after the engine blew up.

I had personally asked for the payments to be put on hold whilst the situation was sorted, I was told this couldn't happen. Now I know why so it could get dragged on and alphera would make more money.

Agreement number: 3990495

Absolutely abysmal, and don’t let Cinch get you to pass the buck ( Cinch don’t like bad reviews and try contacting you but don’t, both these companies are in it together!!!!) Was struggling financially asked for…
Was struggling financially asked for help with lower payments, first through Cinch who passed me to Alphera, Alphera agreed to lower payments but had to do own leg work and ring Conch to ask for a lower balloon payment and reduced payment method ( basically scrap one I had and get new lower repayment out) ( alphera is there finance company but they don’t communicate at all very well, or at least that’s what they like you to think anyway as they pass you back and forward hoping you will give up the ghost!!!!!!). Even suggested new car lower payments but was given a very blunt no. Had to take car back and got handed a very heft £10000 ( YES £10,000 and I rang because I couldn’t offered the monthly fee, not very helpful!) charge for termination that they quite quickly send to there solicitors so they can charge the hell out of you even further, seriously DONT, walk away there plenty of better car finance places out there I’m sure .
Trust me on this avoid if possible, save your cash or get a cheap one these companies are all the same if you get into trouble they don’t want to know.

You've been chasing a dead person for almost a year now for a £600 debt have you got any morals. It's bad enough us losing our dad to cancer and then you guys are still chasing a £600 debt when we paid the account off before he passed and said is that everything paid for you said yes. Then a month after he passed you started chasing for this supposed debt. It's absolutely disgraceful, there is no money in the estate if this debt is not written off, we will be going to citizens advice about it. It's beyond a joke. Reference number 3177425

In the process of rejecting a vehicle via alphera, 9 weeks, over 30 calls and emails later and still no further forward. The case handler refuses to contact me, the agents that do finally take your call either can't provide any information or lie. Now reported to the ombudsman.

Generally happy with the service from Alphera. Had a PCP agreement with Alphera for around 6 months. Decided not to keep the car so settled the finance and sold on.

Used the online portal to get redemption figures and letters a couple of times. Also used the online portal to make the settlement payment which all went through without any real problem. I’d suggest doing everything through the portal as it’s seems to be the most effective way of all running smoothly. The portal was inaccessible from time to time which was a little frustrating.

I did have to chase up the settlement payment as it took a little longer than it should but spoke to someone easy enough and they were happy to email the confirmation of account settlement.

No great hassle at all.