what do you know of the stock system to brand it so awful?
Every time I've reserved a product online to pick up, I've turned up at the store and they haven't had a clue what to do. Twice they didn't even have the item I'd reserved. When my cousin bought his bike from Halfords he was told four times that it had arrived in store, only to travel there each time and find they didn't have it. Other posts elsewhere on this forum suggest the online operation doesn't integrate properly with the in-store operation.
And when we recruit for specific jobs we do aim at people with skills, but obviously we also hire sales people, we sell things, it makes sense.
Here is a job advert for a BikeHut mechanic. It's a little worrying that the only mention of mechanical skills comes as the penultimate item, and even then you only need the "ability to achieve the Halfords BCA qualification". Odd that they don't use Cytech like everyone else. Obviously the ad doesn't sum up everyone who works there, and a good manager will hire the right person for the job, but it doesn't inspire confidence.
The website used to give a price history for every bike, and it was common to see own brand bikes sold at "RRP" for a matter of days then dropped back to "30% off". You're right that a lot of other stores do it too (especially the big supermarkets), although I've never seen it in another bike shop.Prices are never raised -that is the normal price - but some of the sale prices do hang around for a long time! Not unlike other stores though.