Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
A lot of wheels are made in France - Rigida, Mavic ........... need I go on?
Halfords earning their nickname...
- Thread starter CopperCyclist
- Start date
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A lot of wheels are made in France - Rigida, Mavic ........... need I go on?
Hip Priest
Veteran
Yes, and I was of course being deadly serious.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
There is another alternative. Set up your bike yourself. It's not exactly hard. AFAIAA the bikes are pretty much assembled in factory. Out of the box all you have to do is turn the handle bars, put the wheels on, adjust the brakes and gears, fit pedals, anti-seize paste on the seat post, saddle on, pump up tyres and you are riding. Piece of cake. What is hard about this? If you want to take the BB out to grease it then you can by all means but you'll have to take the chain set off first.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Or not made in France, as the case may be these days.
OP
OP
CopperCyclist
Veteran
'Twas a reference to the excuses some French athletes made for losing to the UK in cycling.
If you got the joke it was very funny - brought a smile to my face anyway!
OP
OP
CopperCyclist
Veteran
After a visit to his LBS, and 30 quid later , mate now has his bike setup up for him and fixed. Nearly everything that could be adjusted needed to be, and they swooped the broken stem for one 20mm shorter too.
They said it was the worst set up bike they'd ever seen apparently. My favourite quoted exchange was:
LBS: "The only thing they got right for you was the frame size - literally."
Mate: "They told me to get the next size up. I got this size as it was in stick and felt fine to me."
We've suggested he write to Halfords and complain.
They said it was the worst set up bike they'd ever seen apparently. My favourite quoted exchange was:
LBS: "The only thing they got right for you was the frame size - literally."
Mate: "They told me to get the next size up. I got this size as it was in stick and felt fine to me."
We've suggested he write to Halfords and complain.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Do you think the people who deal with complaints at Halfords are any better trained or of better quality than their colleagues in the bike department?
OP
OP
CopperCyclist
Veteran
Yes!
I suspect that like most larger companies trying to enclose more than one speciality, their customer service is likely to far surpass their mechanical skills.
I suspect it's far easier to placate the occasional customer with a few vouchers, than it would be to pay for a true bike mechanic to work full time at every store they have.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
My previous Carerra had a terrible Problem with pain quality. The lightest impact was chipping it off like you wouldn't believe. I went to the store to bitch but made no headway, so I wrote to their customer services... who advised me to take it to the store. I have up and had it powder coated.
Electric_Andy
Heavy Metal Fan
- Location
- Plymouth
This is the point - if you are paying for an assembled bike then it shouldn't need checking. Lots of new riders buy from Halfords and would assume that the employees know what they are doing. If he'd taken it at 40mph down a hill and the handlebars folded, they'd be in big doo-doo. Besides, who checks their car over when it comes back from the garage "fully serviced"? Not many I'd say.
Psycolist
NINJA BYKALIST
- Location
- North Essex
I may as well pop my two peneth worth. As I have posted before , the only time I enter Halfords is A) if I have no choice B) To take advantage of the untrained weekend/evening staff. A recent example, I visited my local branch on saturday evening to source a Topeak Redlite, my one fell apart when changing batteries and I know that my LBS dont stock them.. Upon seeing the price for a single rear light at £19, I turned to walk out in disgust but found myself facing thier "bargain bin". I spied a couple of saddles, marked up with a big red sticker at £2 ea, a handlebar bag also sporting a big red sticker for £2 and a waterproof saddle cover for £0.50 They will do for me I thought, and took them to the till. When the cashier had finished texting on her phone, she started to ring through the four items. Alas, one of the saddles, identical to the one she had already scanned, had no barcode. So, to my amusement, she called over the tannoy for a supervisor, who appeared, and having had the difficulty explained to him, did a bit of magic on the till and scanned the first saddle a second time, then, with a look that would have frozen water, stalked off down the shop again. My young lady then scanned the remaining two items and asked me for £5. Rather stunned, I looked at the till display to make sure I had heard her correctly. It also had the figure of £5 on the display, So Halfords till added up three lots of £2 and a £0.50p item to make a total of £5. I paid and was very awkward in asking for a carrier bag, then left the shop. On getting home and checking out my purchases I realised that the handlebar bag didnt come with the mounting bracket, oh well I thought, thats probably why it was cheap, anyway, the following lunchtime, Sunday, I returned to the shop to see if I could buy the bracket seperately. Blow me down with a feather, there was the very thing on the shelf marked up at £5.95, perfect I thought, still going to be a good deal, so off I went to the till. The supervisor that had sorted out the young lady the previous evening happened to be todays cashier. When my turn came I offered up my item, having a £10 note and a pound coin ready so that my change would be a note instead of a load of coin. "Thats a pound please guv" he said "pardon ?? " I said quizickly "Thats a pound please" he said again. So I passed over my pound , but I didnt ask for a carrier this time. I just made sure he gave me a reciept, in case it was the wrong one you understand. 
" Cheers" I said and left the shop with a broad grin. With staff and systems operating on this level of efficiency, you will understand my first sentences of this post and why I would never let Halfords anywhere near my bike.
" Cheers" I said and left the shop with a broad grin. With staff and systems operating on this level of efficiency, you will understand my first sentences of this post and why I would never let Halfords anywhere near my bike.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Years back I bought a tool chest from Hellfrauds. It should have been £100, but was 50% off because it was an ex display model.
I couldn't believe it when the dozy mare on the till had to use a calculator to work out 50% of £100.
I don't blame the staff themselves, not their fault they're thick. Pay peanuts as that's what you get.
I couldn't believe it when the dozy mare on the till had to use a calculator to work out 50% of £100.
I don't blame the staff themselves, not their fault they're thick. Pay peanuts as that's what you get.
markharry66
Über Member
If I want Beer I go to an off licence or a pub. If I want a holiday with to travel agent.
If I want newspapers I got to newsagent. If I want a bike go to halfrauds (s** off)
If I want newspapers I got to newsagent. If I want a bike go to halfrauds (s** off)
scotbiker
Veteran
- Location
- Perth, Freezyrainland (Scotland)
I'll ignore the implied insult in your 'It's not exactly hard' comment and say I have bugger all mechanical knowledge apart from the basics. If I buy something I expect it to work properly straight away, or am I being unreasonable? Do you fix everything non bike related you own? Why not, I'm sure it not that hard right?
