Halfords

[Cycleops]

It does depend very much on which one you visit with Halfords. If their cycling department happens to have a cycling enthusiast or two, then you will usually get decent service. If they don't then good luck.

There doesn't seem to be any attempt on the part of Halfords to get consistency, or particularly to employ people enthusiastic about cycling.

This is absolutely the heart of the matter with Halfords. I call it Dirty Harry syndrome, each time you use the store you have to ask yourself ‘Do I feel lucky punk? Well do I?’.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The other problem with Halfords is, of course, you could get great results one time - then go back a few months later and someone has left and it all goes to pot

But the same applies to an LBS - if the manager at the local one left it would all change - either for the better or worse depending on who the owner chooses - but I would think an LBS would have more idea of who to recruit - maybe

 

[Brandane]

25p in every £ for cycling is spent at Halfords which could equate to up to 40% of bikes sold in the UK

Popular doesn't always mean good. McDonalds is popular, for example. It just means that there is some clever marketing going on, helped by a gullible public.

 

[Kingfisher101]

I personally think the gullible public are those that spend ££££ on a bike when they could get one a lot cheaper £ for their ability and needs. I think like with everything in life you have to pick and choose wisely when making a big purchase.

 

[Brandane]

I personally think the gullible public are those that spend ££££ on a bike when they could get one a lot cheaper £ for their ability and needs. I think like with everything in life you have to pick and choose wisely when making a big purchase.

I don't think anyone is criticising the actual bikes they sell. Not much wrong with Carrera or Boardman bikes, but the experience of buying them or after sales can be a bit hit and miss. It's a pity that the bikes aren't available anywhere other than Halfords (or Tredz, aka Halfords in disguise).
The saving in price isn't worth the risk, IMHO..

 

[Cycleops]

As you say nothing much wrong with Carrera and Boardman but the Apollo bikes I've had or worked on have very poor quality components with a short service life.

 

[freiston]

Would a call centre employee sitting at a computer screen in Newcastle, say, be able to give more information than an employee sitting at a computer screen in Durban? They both have access to the same information.

There is perhaps a separate argument to be had about the use of overseas call centres by many UK companies, but it's all about money savings and that horse has long since bolted. Not a reason to moan about Halfords.

Well over 10 years ago, I was instrumental in setting up a new team at a call centre (UK). The team was to take engineer calls but the call-centre mostly dealt with the public/customers. I remember the manager telling me that for every 7 seconds he could reduce the average call duration, the "savings" would be £50,000 per annum.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Well over 10 years ago, I was instrumental in setting up a new team at a call centre (UK). The team was to take engineer calls but the call-centre mostly dealt with the public/customers. I remember the manager telling me that for every 7 seconds he could reduce the average call duration, the "savings" would be £50,000 per annum.

Yup - that is the way they work
I used to work on the IT systems for a big call centre
We used to get consultants etc in and they would critisise the main screen we designed as being far far too 'busy'
but changing screen took a few seconds (it was a long time ago) which cost real money
and also impacted customer satisfaction as the call seemed more fluid if the telephone operator had all the information available immediately

call centres are all about reducing call duration
but a good company should be able to do that AND achieve customer satifcation


Oh - and keep 'call waiting' times down to a few seconds - we did it in the 1980s/90s - if we could so it then they can do it now (mutter mutter grump grump - " back in my day" and all that!!!)

 

[freiston]

Yup - that is the way they work
I used to work on the IT systems for a big call centre
We used to get consultants etc in and they would critisise the main screen we designed as being far far too 'busy'
but changing screen took a few seconds (it was a long time ago) which cost real money
and also impacted customer satisfaction as the call seemed more fluid if the telephone operator had all the information available immediately

call centres are all about reducing call duration
but a good company should be able to do that AND achieve customer satifcation


Oh - and keep 'call waiting' times down to a few seconds - we did it in the 1980s/90s - if we could so it then they can do it now (mutter mutter grump grump - " back in my day" and all that!!!)

I think a big part of the problem now is that companies want to pay as little as possible and spend as little as possible on training - they expect low paid exploited staff to be nigh on fully operational within days rather than weeks. They also expect this to happen via scripts and protocols, rather than in-depth knowledge and experience. The last company I worked for (on a "permanent" basis) only had mentor-lead on-the-job training - and the mentor was still expected to hit their targets; the new starter was expected to go it alone in less than a week. In my opinion, a lot of good people were "let go" within a month of starting, whilst the ones that succeeded rarely properly understood what they were doing, even a year later but were considered to be good for their ability to stick to scripts, protocols and exceed their targets. Very good when there's not a problem/complication but awful when there is - but as per protocol, the buck gets passed. I'm sure this will be mirrored by the customer's experience too.

 

[Time Waster]

I was driving down the road from Lancaster to j34 of the morning and saw a "Halfords owned company" sign, or words to that effect on the pavement. There's no halfords, autocentre, cycle Republic or tredz there. What other company do they own? There's a National tyre centre about 200m up the road from where the sign was. There's not much else.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I was driving down the road from Lancaster to j34 of the morning and saw a "Halfords owned company" sign, or words to that effect on the pavement. There's no halfords, autocentre, cycle Republic or tredz there. What other company do they own? There's a National tyre centre about 200m up the road from where the sign was. There's not much else.

 

[Time Waster]

Not one of them down that road. I wonder where the sign came from.

 

[gzoom]

I love how much snobbery there is towards Halfords by cyclists whom usually are a bunch of people that love value for money. I've never had any issues with using Halfords for bike servicing, have bought x4 bikes from them in the last few years and got them to service my 10 year old Trek Madone. But praising Halfords to self declared 'cyclists' is like telling a BMW driver the speed limit isn't guidance you can choose to ignore but its actually the law .

 

[gzoom]

Popular doesn't always mean good. McDonalds is popular, for example. It just means that there is some clever marketing going on, helped by a gullible public.

Too posh for McDonalds!!! I've just demolished this after spending a week trying to 'diet', also commuted to work on my Halfords bought pedal bike. I must be the most gullible person on here .

 

[Rusty Nails]

but a good company should be able to do that AND achieve customer satifcation

So all the companies with call centres cannot be good companies? You could make a fortune advising them.