Carplatesdirect 

Dreadful! Never use this company they will screw you.

Ordered what I thought to be ordinary road legal replacement number plates for my wife's car through this company's website and received illegal 'show plates' instead without the necessary postcode and British Standard number. Nothing was mentioned about 'show plates' on the order confirmation email from the company - if they had done so, I would have cancelled the order immediately. £50 down the drain, buyer beware.

AVOID THIS SELLER

Car Plates Direct supplied number plates that were not road legal, missing all mandatory DVLA markings (BS AU 145e, supplier name and postcode). These plates cannot be used on any UK vehicle.

Their website defaults to a “Custom Plate” option which gives the impression of a normal number plate configuration, yet quietly produces non-legal plates with no clear warning during the order process. This is a misleading design choice that would catch out any customer expecting a standard, legal plate.

When I raised the issue, the company provided a single dismissive response and then stopped replying entirely. No resolution, no explanation, no willingness to put things right.

I'm now having to recover the payment through my credit card provider and report the matter to Trading Standards.

The product was unusable, the communication was unprofessional, and the lack of responsibility is unacceptable.

*UPDATE*: No response. No help. No surprise. This company vanishes the moment there’s a problem.

*UPDATE*: Update: Still nothing from them. Ignored since the 2nd. At this point I’m convinced they only reply when money is coming in, not when there’s an issue.

Update: Another day, still nothing. Not even a “we’ll look into it.” If this is how they treat customers, I dread to think how they run the rest of the business.

Update: No response since 2 Dec. Says everything you need to know.

Update:
1★ – Utterly useless once they’ve got your money
Ordered plates. Got non-legal rubbish I can’t even use.
Pointed it out. They replied once, then vanished completely.
Website quietly defaults to “custom” (apparently meaning “illegal”) with no proper warning. Feels deliberately misleading.

I've reported them to trading standards and will get my money back from credit card but for anyone else there are plenty of companies sell plates without this nonsense — this isn’t one of them.

AVOID unless you enjoy wasting time.

REPLY:
Hi,
Your system DOES NOT automatically default to road legal at all and you know it, that is a blatant lie and I have several screenshots as examples.
This is exactly the issue. The option selected was “Custom Plates”, not “Show Plates”.
At no point does “Custom Plates” clearly state that the plates will be illegal for road use, nor is there any explicit warning during checkout or in the order confirmation that selecting this option results in non-compliant plates.
“Custom” does not reasonably mean “not road legal” it is misleading.
The plates supplied are therefore not fit for purpose and not as described.
Please confirm whether you will issue a refund.

Reply 2:
Hi,
You’re still missing the key issue.
Your builder defaults to “Custom Plates”. I did not actively choose “show plates” — that option was already selected by default. At no point was it made clear that the default selection would result in plates that are illegal for road use.

If adding a slogan automatically makes the plates non-legal, that must be explicitly and unavoidably stated at the point of entry. It was not.

A default option that produces non-road-legal plates, without a clear warning, is misleading. The plates supplied are therefore not fit for purpose and not as described.
Provide a refund and update your process.
Read the reviews on here and you can clearly see it's not fit for purpose and you are misleading customers.

Reply3.
Hi,
I have checked the website.
It now defaults to Legal Plates, however this was not the case at the time of my order or on the picture and video evidence I provided to trading standards. The builder defaulted to Custom Plates throughout the process.
The fact this has since been updated confirms the original default was problematic.
My order was placed under the previous setup, where the default option produced non-road-legal plates without clear warning. The plates supplied remain not fit for purpose and not as described at the time of purchase.

Please process the full refund.

Update:
Funny how the website now defaults to “legal plates”. Shame it didn’t when I ordered. Still no refund.

Excellent . Quick delivery and quality plates. Would highly recommend.

I placed circa. 3/11/25 and as yet I still have to receive my plates. Order #2187814

I have sent numerous emails without response

Absolutely shocking customer service orded over a week ago and still not received them after paying for expenses delivery AVOID

Not very successful with this one. Plates were ordered 2 November. The first delivery seemed to have disappeared. The second order was promised with express delivery. Still no show. Apparently the delivery driver could not find my address ! That a new one considering the amount of shoes my wife orders online ! I cannot find a tel. no. for Car Plates direct... Is this a Scam ? .

I ordered five number plates on the evening of 11th November, then realised I needed to add one more. I emailed customer services that same evening and received a helpful reply just after 7am the next morning. All six plates were dispatched that day and arrived from Jersey within just two days via Evri.
I’ve yet to fit them, but they look excellent. Each plate includes the maker’s name, postcode, and the correct British Standard marking, so they are fully road legal.
All in all, excellent service and a very smooth experience — thank you!

Ordered number plates in good faith, when they arrived I was happy with the plates. However I noticed that the manufacturers name and post code on the plates was missing meaning they are not road legal.
After several attempts to get this rectified the company are just not interested. They say it was my fault for choosing “Show Plates” . However as you can see on their website there is NO option for SHOW PLATES even though their Customer Support Agent insists there is an option for show plates.
Most , if not all, other number plate makers show road legal or show plate options clearly. I understand that there is a heading which states Custom, but Road legal is not shown neither are the words SHOW PLATES. The plates are well made and I would be happy to recommend them if it were not for the treatment I received from their customer service agent. You cannot even talk to them on the phone as there is no number available and getting replies via email is a nightmare. So the whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth and I cannot recommend this company, because of the way they treated my request for road legal plates.
David South……

Plate came pretty promptly. The pink border is not as bright as advertised but I don't mind that. Unfortunately there is a hair ingrained into the plate that is not that big a deal but a bit off putting and a detail I can't help but to keep noticing. I don't believe the sizing or spacing of the letters is legal either despite being advertised as 'standard sizing'.

I ordered a new set of plates on Saturday 8.11.25, I forgot to include the spacing on my number plates, but managed to correct my order before manufacture. My plates arrived today, 11.11.25, very well packaged and when opened superb quality. Really pleased and would heartily recommend to anyone. Great company.

I’ve ordered from Car Plates Direct twice now over the last couple of weeks and both times my number plates were delivered quickly and exactly as described. The quality is great and the plates look professional and have held up really well.

I've seen the negative reviews on Trustpilot but personally, I’ve had nothing but smooth & reliable service. My orders were processed fast, dispatched promptly and arrived within a couple of days. I’d happily use them again and would definitely recommend them based on my experience.

Show plates sent,not what I ordered, not British standard plates, emailed company but no response. It is clear they do not want to engage in communication

Paid for same day despatch with express delivery at 8.30 in the morning, THEY DID NOT DISPATCH ON THE SAME DAY AND THEY USE EVRI! Online chatbot goes round in circles and doesn't put you through to a human and they ignore you on email.

AVOID! Their 'same day dispatch' claim is lies, I paid £9.99 for this service and 48 hours later the plates still hadn't been sent, let alone arrived. They denied even offering that service, so I sent them 8 screenshots confirming their advertised same day dispatch false promise!! Funnily enough I didn't hear from them again.

Absolutely crap. Ordered plates, money taken, no contact, order number,beer, email, nothing, waiting to se if anything turns up in the post..

UPDATE, moved to 4 stars from 1. Problem with double order resolved, plates arrived after a few days. Customer services still vague as was order status. Scammed? Ordered plates, never received an email confirming order, money has been taken from my account. I sent an Email enquiry asking to resolve, this has not been responded to, trying to speak with somebody is impossible as it's either leave details and somebody will call back - they don't! or told to go back to web site.

AVOID AVOID Absolutely rubbish company. The number plates are rubbish.. they come from overseas and you will be lucky if they ever arrive!!!
Do not buy from this company !!

Ordered a plate within the next day delivery window. To ensure the delivery was next day, I opted for the 9.99 express delivery. Following day (Supposed delivery day at 17:45) I received an email telling me that the plate had been dispatched.
called the company 09:50 the following morning to request info, put on hold, then an automated voicemail asking me for my contact details promising someone would respond. Went onto the website for the online chat, only to find a pre-set response "We do not offer a guaranteed next day delivery" Load of rubbish. Go to halfords counters. Cheaper and they make it whilst you wait.

I have paid for x3 sets of plates.

Nothing delivered.
No replies to emails or calls.