On the 11th June I sent back the duff rear wheel from my SCR2 to
Halfords Head Office. It had started breaking spokes after just over a week, so I contacted the Bike2Work team and asked if they'd get it rebuilt or replaced. They told me to take it to the shop, who'd send it back to them and their 'expert wheel builder' would turn it round asap, probably in just over a week.
I should have known that the signs were bad when the shop staff couldn't understand why I was bringing the wheel back or what they should do with it, even though I explained it to them. They said, "We could have a go at rebuilding it here if you like, since they'll probably just give you a new wheel anyway. I don't know why they want it sent back !" I declined and told them to phone their HO on the Monday and they'd tell them what they needed to do.
On the Monday, I emailed the B2W team and told them the wheel was at the shop, and could they reply and give me a clearer idea of when I could expect it back. Two weeks later, I got an apology for the delay, saying that they were very busy but the wheel was now with them and they'd get it turned around (no pun intended) asap and they'd contact me when it was ready.
Still nothing, and still no contact from Halfords. I despair. A mate at work has been waiting since mid-April for a screw for his Rockhopper brake. Halfords broke it when they set the bike up for him, and tried to hand it over saying it was fine. Two months of non-returned phone calls, then promises to get him a whole new brake lever have still come to nothing. And this is despite the Halfords B2W rep assuring my work that all of the customer service issued reported in the past two years had been put right and there'd be no repeats this year.
Never, EVER, trust Halfords to do ANYTHING with a bike. They can't even connect the brake cables and set the brakes up on a pre-assembled bike properly, and the free service on my first bike meant that it was put in a back room and never touched, since the problems it went in with were there when it was handed back - and they claimed they hadn't noticed them when I pointed them out again afterwards....
