Bloody Halfords. Inept - no - Damn Dangerous. And Ham-Fisted.

[Drago]

Its the same in other jobs too, most don’t give a dam as long as someone is stupid
enough to keep paying their wages.
Halfords needs to incorporate a points based system into the employees contract,
x amount of failures means x amount of points and they are gone,
it might sound drastic, but my local Halfords is a disaster, and it can only be a matter
of time before they close, would you rather see the store closed or the useless lumps
that are good for nothing sacked, I know which I would choose.

Or, even better, they could ensure all staff are correctly trained before requiring them to do something safety critical. A significant number of them have had no training, and most hold no formal industry recognised ticket.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

and most hold no formal industry recognised ticket.

Don't go down that route, Oh you can't tighten that nut & bolt up you have had the correct spanner training course, you're only certified up to 10mm & that bolt is 12mm. It's total brollacks, the whole of the HGV, Building, & Electrical industry now is being crippled because of the myriad of forms that have to be completed, most of it serves no purpose other than to keep trainers in work & have closed shop insurance schemes.

 

[Shadow121]

Or, even better, they could ensure all staff are correctly trained before requiring them to do something safety critical. A significant number of them have had no training, and most hold no formal industry recognised ticket.

Agree, it’s a complete mis management from start to finish,
no proper accreditation, and it has got to go all way up the
chain otherwise the jokers they have would never get employed.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

no proper accreditation,

Total ballcocks, having a piece of paper saying you can do something doesn't mean you know how to, some of the most stupid thickest people I know have degrees I would not ride/drive in anything they have had a spanner to

 

[HMS_Dave]

I found this employee review on glassdoor. "Training is out of touch with the real world. New staff coming in are never properly mentored or supported. Pay low and turnover of staff is mind blowing. Career path hmmm. It is one of those places that will suit to pay your bills"

The review further offers the Halford management some advice "Give new staff a mentor ! Don't make offers you do not intend to follow through on. Put bike hut mechanics through CYCTECH and not an in house course. Pay the right money to keep the right staff after all we keep getting told Halfords wants to be the best !"

He/she seems like the kind of employee Halfords might want to keep and take notes from!

 

[Shadow121]

I found this employee review on glassdoor. "Training is out of touch with the real world. New staff coming in are never properly mentored or supported. Pay low and turnover of staff is mind blowing. Career path hmmm. It is one of those places that will suit to pay your bills"

The review further offers the Halford management some advice "Give new staff a mentor ! Don't make offers you do not intend to follow through on. Put bike hut mechanics through CYCTECH and not an in house course. Pay the right money to keep the right staff after all we keep getting told Halfords wants to be the best !"

He/she seems like the kind of employee Halfords might want to keep and take notes from!

I guess if they don’t see the abysmal efforts of their staff, telling them is likely to
fall on the deaf ears of the same blind management they have, pointless, you will
not get out what’s not in there in the first place, sad really as there are ample stores
that could have lots of satisfied customers if they swept the floor and hired credible
mechanics, one good mechanic would do double the work of Two wasters,
yet the Two wasters will get rid of every customer they come into contact with,
and they get paid to do it, unreal outfit.

 

[tom73]

Or, even better, they could ensure all staff are correctly trained before requiring them to do something safety critical. A significant number of them have had no training, and most hold no formal industry recognised ticket.

You mean invest in your employees and value them as an important part of the business and not some disposable bit of packaging?
That would never do it makes too much sense and would mean management letting staff get on with the job.

 

[Drago]

Total ballcocks, having a piece of paper saying you can do something doesn't mean you know how to, some of the most stupid thickest people I know have degrees I would not ride/drive in anything they have had a spanner to

So you think providing no training would make them better staff?

Thick is as thick does and always will, but the most able person will struggle to master a technical discipline without being trained to do so.

 

[Shadow121]

So you think providing no training would make them better staff?

Thick is as thick does and always will, but the most able person will struggle to master a technical discipline without being trained to do so.

Proper training and certification is the way to go, that roots out the ones
who are not up to the mark, either they make the grade or they don’t,
then at least the employer has a chance of employing a suitably qualified person,
but why stop there, give them a contract that states they go when they have failed
at their tasks or their tasks have fallen to others to complete or correct.

There is no point in paying people to run your business into the ground.

 

[tom73]

Running a business with a culture of fear won't help either. look after staff and on the whole you don't have to worry about running a business into the ground. Good business worked that one out long ago or had it hard wired in from the start. Often it's management that run things into the ground or greedy owners and or share holders creaming off every last penny.

 

[HMS_Dave]

Proper training and certification is the way to go, that roots out the ones
who are not up to the mark, either they make the grade or they don’t,
then at least the employer has a chance of employing a suitably qualified person,
but why stop there, give them a contract that states they go when they have failed
at their tasks or their tasks have fallen to others to complete or correct.

There is no point in paying people to run your business into the ground.

I agree, there has to be certification and training. I understand that in some industries it can go too far but on the flip side, untrained and unskilled people could cause serious harm. Id put it this way, If there was no other way, who would you rather trust to build your elderly parents bicycle? a 20 year old 'dude' or a trained and certified bike mechanic? Until you get to know people, trust them and have proven themselves sometimes these pieces of paper are all we can rely on...

 

[MontyVeda]

I never had a problem as a kid, we used to ride regular that way, only issue was wheel catching feet or sometimes frame when we put 26" wheels in frames designed or 24" wheels.

When i was a kid we used to reverse the forks because it was a problem... the twitchy steering amused us for a while. I guess it'll vary a lot depending on the forks... not all have the same castor angle. Reversing the fork can eliminate it altogether resulting in a very twitchy ride.

 

[DCLane]

I know this is an old thread, but I feel I have to add my 2p's worth... I am a Halfords cycle mechanic/techie/what-ever-you-want-to-call-it. I've spent a lifetime on bikes (being 42 now, having started cycling, in the true sense of the word, at 10 years old).
...
The fact that OP's bike left the store in the state that it did, actually disgusts me, for the very fact that someone can care so little, not only for their client, but also for what they do. And as has been said in this thread, it comes down to people just doing a "job". It's not a passion to them, so why care?
...
1 reason I'd like them to care, is because it makes all us "Halfrauds" mechanics who DO actually care, look bad!! And pi***s me off no end. I have one of those working in my store - I don't let any bikes that he has worked on leave the store without me having given it the once over...and he just doesn't get it, when I get so annoyed with him.

When I bought SWMBOs Boardman from Halfords in June, the mechanic did torque the bars, stem, seat-pin clamp, & cranks in front of me. However, I was too bemused to mention the tilted rack that I'd asked them to fit (so took it off at home, re-fitted it level, after copper-greasing the bolts). It was at a local (very) historic town, with a castle, & a racecourse opposite the branch

I know that branch

@James_York : in the Dewsbury branch there's a decent mechanic as well. Plus a couple of the alternatives. It's clear who is who when they haven't a clue what parts go where: I'd asked for a straddle cable for cantilever brakes and the pair of idiots looked at each other and said "we've never heard of those, they're not real".

 

[FaustoCoppi]

Sadly none of this is news. The level of competence is on a very long sliding scale in a bike hut workshop. The product, Boardman, Carrera, are sound and offer value for money, best advice is if you’re uncertain about any work needed then go to your LBS and have the bike checked over and assembled safely. This isn’t confined to Halfords, there is a concept store locally whose workshop has a bad rep . Find a trusted LBS and use them, cultivate a rapport with the owner/mechanic (s) it’s worth it.