How to lose a good reputation Mr Boardman

[jig-sore]

Jig Sore - what a shame your post is so disrespectful after all the helpful and well-informed comments of other cyclists. My bike was offered and sold to me assembled - so I have every reason to expect it to be done competently. It's not a question so much of 'after sales' as selling it in a useable state in the first place. Learning to 'look after things yourself' has nothing to do with accepting shoddy goods that are under warranty so you have totally missed the point, I'm afraid.

this is halfords we are talking about... this is where you went wrong. you can bleat on all you like about could and should... the fact is they can't and won't and they don't care either

 

[Rob3rt]

Forgive me if I am wrong, but Mickle's point reads (to me) that he would not ride a bike that has associations with Halfords and that people may recognise comes from there due to its image, not whether the assembly by Halfolrds is adequite.

If I am reading it right, then fair play really, I dont see why thats a pathetic opinion, its just a different opinion.

 

[Adasta]

Forgive me if I am wrong, but Mickle's point reads (to me) that he would not ride a bike that has associations with Halfords and that people may recognise comes from there due to its image, not whether the assembly by Halfolrds is adequite.

If I am reading it right, then fair play really, I dont see why thats a pathetic opinion, its just a different opinion.

The problem with that view is that it shifts a lot of gravitas onto the retailer. Does it matter where the bike comes from? Isn't it a type of snobbery? Shouldn't the bike on which you are riding be more important than the shop from which you bought it?

I can understand avoiding Halfords because of their service, but it's unfair to write off a bike simply because it's being sold through one particular outlet. It puts the cart before the horse.

 

[jig-sore]

The problem with that view is that it shifts a lot of gravitas onto the retailer. Does it matter where the bike comes from? Isn't it a type of snobbery? Shouldn't the bike on which you are riding be more important than the shop from which you bought it?

I can understand avoiding Halfords because of their service, but it's unfair to write off a bike simply because it's being sold through one particular outlet. It puts the cart before the horse.

couldn't have said it better myself

reminds me of the old "im not listening to abba/bee gees" crap that we used to sprout when we were kids

boardmans are very good bikes. forget about halfords (they don't come with halfords labels on them) and you can get yourself a well spec-ed bike at a very competitive price.

to disregard the boardman range only because they are sold at halfords is in my opinion.... pathetic ... get over it !!!!

 

[som3blok3]

I own a Boardman and wouldn't hesitate to buy another

+1 for that.

As for the whole Halfords experience, never again will I pass through their doors. I reserved mine online and phoned the branch to check they had it in stock. Got the bus down there with the vision of bringing it back in the box and building it myself.

Got to the shop and they didn't have it (this is a common issue with the collect at store option, that's another story). Seems the one that was showing as 'in stock' was the display one, so they offered me that at a discount.

RESULT!! Cheap(er) bike and no need to get the bus back, I'll ride it back, I'm sure it's been built well......

Both disc brakes were rubbing, bolts were loose, bar ends were put on upside down, the list went on. It was an interesting 2 mile ride back, put it that way.

I wrote an email to Halfords to explain my bad sales experience, didn't want an appology, just an acknowledgemet.... No reply!

Now I've basically dismantled the whole bike and re-built it, it's bl00dy gorgeous.

The quicker CB gets out of Halfords the better.

 

[Rob3rt]

The problem with that view is that it shifts a lot of gravitas onto the retailer. Does it matter where the bike comes from? Isn't it a type of snobbery? Shouldn't the bike on which you are riding be more important than the shop from which you bought it?

I can understand avoiding Halfords because of their service, but it's unfair to write off a bike simply because it's being sold through one particular outlet. It puts the cart before the horse.

A lot of your questions/points are very subjective. To some people certain things matter, to others they dont.

Whilst it may be seen as a form of snobbery and riding is of course the most important aspect of owning a bike, you will feel (through choice or not) a certain way about your bike or self image when using it (as influenced by many things) and it will effect how often you ride it.

People should buy a bike from wherever they are comfortable (for whatever reasons are right for them), as they are more likely to ride it often.

 

[jig-sore]

Got to the shop and they didn't have it (this is a common issue with the collect at store option, that's another story). Seems the one that was showing as 'in stock' was the display one,

exactly what happened to me, only i didn't accept the bike as it was scratched and had no front brake !!!

 

[jig-sore]

Whilst it may be seen as a form of snobbery and riding is of course the most important aspect of owning a bike, you will feel (through choice or not) a certain way about your bike or self image when using it and it will effect how often you ride it.

unfortunately this may be true... but that dont make it right. i would certainly feel "a certain way" about myself if i couldn't rise above such attitudes

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

He chose them because the independent trade, and other chains, were not interested in a new brand. Their message to him was basically 'once you've made your brands reputation and proved your products are a winner then we will take the risk of stocking and selling them, until then we won't touch them with a bargepole.' At the time the prescient Halfords CEO was predicting a cycling boom and was investing heavily in trying to align his own brand as a reseller of high quality cycles 'doing a skoda' so he stepped up and took a huge risk invested in a startup and sold them alongside Condors and Van Nicholas and other premium products. The strategy proved difficult (impossible) to implement, in part becuase of resistance from the potential customer base, in part becuase of the unexpected investment required, and in part because of external pressures outside a CEO's control, the company has failed to move its position accordingly. They call it the execution premium. Great strategy but implementation comes at a price.

Greg thanks for that background.

To me the problem here is beyond that of Boardman's reputation if safety on the road is an issue as some posters have pointed out.

Halfords sells roughly 1 million bikes a year (and they build 95% of what they sell), i.e. around 30% of bikes sold in UK, plus around 8 million bike accessories. Of those 1 million bikes, 21000 or 2% were Boardmans in the year to April 2010, a number that had grown sharply since it started only 2.5 years earlier and which they believe to be at the same level as other more established premium brands.

They state that cycling is a high margin segment amongst their sales portfolio, meaning well over 55% in gross margin and 14% in pretax margin, because those figures cover all sales. Having read their audited statements I would consider the company to be in rude health financially.

Some of us undoubtedly are savvy enough to be able to protect ourselves from unreliable mechanics and poor after sales service. Unfortunately I suspect they are the minority. What should we do to help the rest?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Greg thanks for that background.
....

Some of us undoubtedly are savvy enough to be able to protect ourselves from unreliable mechanics and poor after sales service. Unfortunately I suspect they are the minority. What should we do to help the rest?

Thanks for the reasoned response.... I think a lot is about being educated consumers

First off all consumers should be aware of their rights and know how to escalate a complaint through a retailers hierarchy regardless off if that is a chain or a small local shop imo. Just going off on one, or in a huff, does nothing to hold the shop to account.

Second I feel the myth that people will get wonderful service from an LBS over a Halfords, or other chains, simply because LBS's are inherently superior to chains is a myth. There are great LBS's and awful one's, and what an informed consumer finds to be a great shop can be a dreadful experience for a noob.

Third, if you accept being handed a display bike and just ride off on it assuming it will be fine, without checking it over, then you're almost as dumb as the schmuck that handed it to you.

Much of which implies our educated cyclist consumers should know what a well prepped bike looks like and should be at least capable of doing an M check.It is a vehicle after all. ideally I'd then like them to be able to put things right if they find something wrong as for me that is part of the joy of the relationship between rider and bike; a large measure of self reliance and self sufficiency

 

[Garz]

Whilst I understand your annoyance on this matter I would have got the LBS to sort out the wheel and got the receipt for the branch to pick up the bill for. That is after I read a few of these lead times that are ridiculous, and having more experience on road bikes would be the route I took so I could at least use the bike whilst recouping the costs.

Good luck anyhow, I love my boardman comp, to me was an awesome value purchase.

 

[Jim_Noir]

So far no issue with mine... though the guy who served me when handing over my C2W letter was a bit of a tool (he was the manager!) so look foward with having to deal with him with any issues!

 

[Fab Foodie]

Our Halfrauds experience purchasing Mrs FF's hybrid was pretty poor and I can't be arsed to write about it ...

But the bike's fab!

 

[Cubist]

I got mine from Halfords as our firm only dealt with them under C2W, and anyway I love the bike. However, the first thing I did was set it up and check it over. The discs rubbed a bit, but I think that's starting to look like a generic Avid nightmare, and the gears needed ticking over, but only to fine -tune.

I didn't take it back for its "free service" as it was running beautifully by then, and the last thing I wanted was for some spotty 'erbert messing with the gear cables.

Shame about the retailer, but you cannot fault the bikes.

As for Halfords? Well, my great Aunt Agatha went into Halfords last week for a tube of coppaslip, and by the Friday her incontinence pads had self-combusted in the airing cupboard.

 

[som3blok3]

[attachment=2555:Copy of IMG_1669.JPG]Our Halfrauds experience purchasing Mrs FF's hybrid was pretty poor and I can't be arsed to write about it ...

But the bike's fab!

Bloody great bike, F version of the one I ride.
Bloody great beer, love Tanglefoot