Halfords

[Fnaar]

Bought some cycle roof bars for car recently, and the guy who fitted them told me it might take a while, as he also had to keep an eye on the bike section as "the kids there don't know what they're doing"

I buy bits and bobs of kit (e.g. tubes, the occasional tyre, a peump () and lights too) but I'd never get them to service the bike for me! Heaven forfend!

 

[KEEF]

Never had a problem with anything I've ever bought there but I have not bought a cycle from them or had one serviced. Twice I have been charged the wrong price at the till and when I questioned this I was refunded the difference. The staff do need more training because when asked cycle related questions I have found most of them lights on but no one in

 

[Kestevan]

Expensive. Their parts/consumables/clothes are generaly very expensive, unless they are selling at a discount (which happens regularly). I get the distincy impression their standard prices are artificially high in order to make the frequent "sale" prices sound good.

Staff can vary from being very good, to absolute muppets. Sister in law bought an apollo MB from them last year. It was badly built and almost unridable. Brother in laws bike from the same store 2 weeks earlier had been built perfectly.....

Anoying that they wont let you test ride the bikes... no way on earth would I drop £1500 on a Boardman without at least riding it round the carpark.

 

[iLB]

c) i'm fairly sure they know longer have an actual team, they sponsor the tour series and the leading team wears their orange tops.

 

[Armegatron]

I'm not looking for essays, although, if you've got something to get off your chest, then be my guest. I just want to know what you think of Halfords.

I'd like to know
a) your personal experience - and putting a date to it would be interesting
your perception based on other people's experience
c) whether your opinion of Halfords has in any way been shifted by the racing team

And, if I may prevail upon you further
d) your suggestions

my starting point is that having a decent high street bike chain is/would be a good thing.

a) Approx March 2010 - Bought the mrs a bike from there (http://answers.halfords.com/answers/4028/product/159882/questions.htm) for less than £100. I knew there would be issues with quality etc due to the low price, however the issues seemed to lay more with the build quality from Halfords.

Firstly, I had reserved the bike online and called them up to say that the reserved period (IIRC 3 days) wasnt enough and Id collect it in 4 days. They were fine with this and said it would be built up and ready for me to collect in 4 days.
On the morning before setting off to collect it I called the store to make sure it was still kept and built - they hadnt built it yet but assured me that it would be built by the time I got there (RUSH JOB!).
Sure enough, when I got there I noticed a couple of little things that were rushed during their assembly, namely the brake and gear set up. Of course, Halfords wouldnt let her ride it without me paying for it first. The mrs was still happy with it though after buying it and riding it and let me tinker with it before she had a proper ride. The jobs were pretty straight forward but something Id have expected them to have noticed and fixed in the 4 days they had.

The bike is still going well, and we decided not to allow Halfords to mess it up in the free 6 week service so havnt took it in.

My perception of the company has always been that they are overpriced or underquality and have poor service, sales and technical knowledge. However I went through with the purchase knowing this, and expecting to do some minor fixes myself.

c) Not at all. BTCC had the "Team Atomic Kitten" - and that didnt make Kerry Katona a decent singer.

d) As has already been said, the ability to have a test ride. Its a large company, and when Im going to spend alot of money on a bike I dont want to be disapointed. Smaller bike shops allow test rides. If Halfords provided test rides, and trained / passionate / happy staff then people would probably be more inclined to shop there. Instead when I go in its like the staff just want rid of you.

 

[Globalti]

Halfords is for people who really are at the entry level of cycling and feel secure buying from a national brand.

The poor service is the consequence of the crap quality of the British work force. Any employer will tell you how difficult it was to get reliable workers until the Poles, Czechs and Lithuanians arrived.

 

[phaedrus]

a) Around four years ago I bought a Carrera Subway 8 at a heavily discounted price. The quality and value for money are outstanding. I'm still using the bike for my daily commute and so far it's been totally reliable and fun to ride.

Last year I bought a Carrera Virtuoso road bike, with which I am absolutely delighted. Again, excellent quality and value for money. Both bikes were perfectly set up when I collected them from my local Halford's, and the staff were very pleasant and helpful.

I think there are genuine questions to be asked about the staff employed in some branches, and I deplore the "no test ride" policy. Having said that, I am somewhat suspicious of bike snobbery in all it's guises, and I think anti-Halfordism is one of them.

c) I'm not that interested in bike races so, no, it makes no difference to me.

 

[phaedrus]

Halfords is for people who really are at the entry level of cycling and feel secure buying from a national brand.

I'm sure that's true in a lot of cases, but certainly not in mine. Do you see it as a bad thing?

 

[doctorj]

I'd like to know
a) your personal experience - and putting a date to it would be interesting
your perception based on other people's experience
c) whether your opinion of Halfords has in any way been shifted by the racing team

And, if I may prevail upon you further
d) your suggestions

a) Being new to the country and uninformed on all things cycling, I bought a bike from their Putney store about 6 weeks ago. The staff were polite, helpful and friendly and at the time, I left with a shiny new bike for a price I was quite happy to pay. Sadly, it didn’t take me too long to change my opinion.

Knowing nothing about bikes and not being the most mechanically oriented person, I too took their safety sign off at face value. Less than 1 mile down the road I noticed both the seat and handlebars were very loose. Fortunately I noticed before I fell off in front of a bus like that other poor chap mentioned above. I managed to fix those issues myself, but the more I cycle, the more problems I notice. Gear changes are a disaster – 1 gear doesn’t jump in at all and occasionally the chain comes of entirely when changing (and gets stuck between the gears and the guard on the outside of the gears at the pedals). Also, both front and rear brakes seem to leave a lot to be desired, with the back ones barely activating at all by the time the lever touches the handlebar. As a newbie, I’ve got no idea how to fix these can only hope I score a less useless “mechanic” when I drop it off in the store to be fixed.

n/a – new to the country

c) Never heard of them, but based on my experience to date I can only assume it’s a bit of a joke?

d) Halfords need to employ staff with the training, experience and technical skills to give me the confidence that they take my safety seriously. The margin for error when cycling on London’s streets is so small and the consequences so dire that it’s almost criminal to knowingly provide a lesser service.

 

[montage]

I'm not looking for essays, although, if you've got something to get off your chest, then be my guest. I just want to know what you think of Halfords.

I'd like to know
a) your personal experience - and putting a date to it would be interesting
your perception based on other people's experience
c) whether your opinion of Halfords has in any way been shifted by the racing team

And, if I may prevail upon you further
d) your suggestions

my starting point is that having a decent high street bike chain is/would be a good thing.

a) I tried to look at the boardmans, but I was met at the door by absolute mugs who couldn't even identify sram from shimano. The boardman is a good bike but you get the worlds worst service.
Only hear bad about halfords with the odd one or two remarks.
c) yes - having a racing team makes it seem more interested in cycling rather than selling.
d) All employed must know what a bike is. All employed must have an IQ in double figures. All employed must not break into a sweat because they are nervous talking about bikes

 

[montage]

perfect analogy - trying to get useful service and information out of Halfords is like trying to milk a male cat

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Did any of you see The Weakest Link tonight?? (I normally don't watch it seeing as I can't stand it, but other people weere watching it tonight and I saw a bit of it).

There was a woman on it who works for Halfords and she said that men come into the store and walk right past her because they think she doesn't know anything, and the guys at the store send them right back to her.

Somehow I managed to resist making a sarkey comment at the telly about it!!

 

[Benthedoon]

I bought a hardtail jump bike from Halfords a few years ago, only 1 of the 4 bolts on the aheadset was properly tightened, the brakes weren't adjusted so the rear was ridiculously tight while the front was so slack it was as good as useless, one of the pedals had been forced into place and was cross threaded (don't leave inexperienced staff with a long arm socket and an initial setup).
Needless to say I was not impressed, shockingly poor staff, no knowledge of the product and you have to double check everything.

 

[Mac66]

In my experience Halfords is OK if you just need to go in and pick something like a can of GT85 up.

However, over the course of many years, when I have been in a number of Halfords bike sections, I have never been asked once by a member of staff if I needed help. I can only conclude either that the staff (invariably teenagers) dont give a monkeys and are more interested in talking about their upcoming night out or, that if I was to ask a question they would not know the answer. Either way, the customer service I have received is non-existent.

 

[GazK]

a) bought a carrera subway one for my mum about 3 years ago. Was well aware of the staff's awful build reputation so insisted on having it delivered still in the box. Built it up myself, all went went well until confronted with my first aheadset stem. Tried to tighten as though it was a quill, steerer was really tight.

However! unlike most Halfords employees, I recognised when I was out of my depth, stopped what I was doing, got on t'internet to find out the correct setup, and 20 mins later all was well. The bike is excellent value for money and is used by both my parents without any problem.

Other than that, as others have said, I will use them for low value items or in an emergency but I won't use them if I have the option of visiting any of my 4 good local bike shops.

c) hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha no. what good would their racing team be to my mum when she's in hospital having fallen off a badly set up bike?

d) same as everyone else has said: stop selling heavy bikes with poor fit - esp. for kids - train your staff and incentivise them to give good consistent service, allow people to ride the bikes (would you sell a £20 pair of trousers without allowing a fitting? no), stop the spurious "sales" and try offering good value all year round. And stop putting the 3 worst bikes you sell next to the cash tills in a desparate attempt to shift them...