Oh my god Halfords

[GBC]

It has been said before on this forum, but the service that you get from Halfords depends very much on which store you go to. I bought a Carrera Virtuoso online during a recent 10% off promotion and arranged to pick it up from the Rutherglen branch. When I got there, they tried to palm me of a with a shop soiled display model. The manager wasn't there for me to speak with and there was no one else who could deputise for him, so if I wanted to take it further, I would had to have gone back in,or phone, next day.
Instead, I re-ordered and nominated the Braehead branch for pick up and everything went perfectly. The staff were great, nothing was too much trouble, and the bike was exactly as I wanted it.

 

[festival]

Halfords today have come out as the worst for customer service and a host of other criteria in a survey out of 100 leading chain store retailers across the UK by Which magazine. Nuff said.
Oh, and the manger was out of order.

 

[400bhp]

, and the manger was out of order.

Well, he was away.

 

[Nearly there]

Halfords today have come out as the worst for customer service and a host of other criteria in a survey out of 100 leading chain store retailers across the UK by Which magazine. Nuff said.
Oh, and the manger was out of order.

I read that also

 

[Electric_Andy]

I have had similar experiences with Halfords. Most of the time the mechanics in the BikeHut ignore me and evidently have not been trained in customer service. It's not all their fault though - the place looks to be poorly managed and there aren't usually enough staff at peak times. I have now boycotted these stores and started to use my LBS.

 

[Recycler]

My local shops.

LBS 1. Helpful and knowledgeable. Everything full price

LBS 2 Unhelpful and always make me feel that I am an inconvenience. Expensive

LBS 3. Helpful when you can get somebody to serve you. They all always huddled up in corners nattering to each other. Not cheap, but they do have some good offers from time to time.

LBS 4 Helpful, very knowledgeable but limited stock. Mostly full price, but occasional offers

Halfords. Some staff are very helpful indeed, one or two are a bit miserable but they always try to help. Friendly manager. A reasonable range with lots, possibly too many, of offers. Not sure that I would want a top end bike from them, but I'm not sure that I want to spend that much money anyhow!

You takes your pick and pays your money

 

[subaqua]

LBS 1 run/staffed by people who's accents I really cant understand , but the body language says i am an inconvenience to them. expensive compared to Evans limited stock , unwilling to order

LBS 2 run/staffed by people who's accents I really cant understand , but the body language says i am an inconvenience to them. expensive compared to Evans. they also tried to tell me i needed a new bike and tried to sell me a £700 hybrid as it would cost nearly £300 for the parts to fix my old beater ( ( which needed 2 new cables and an index of the gears but i didn't have the time at the time) but i used it as an excuse to buy a new bike from decathlon) looked at my kids like they were pikeys ready to fill their pockets with stock. limited stock and what they do have is definitkey aimed at the Wanstead set.
NSLBS1 (Decathlon Lakeside) cheap , some staff know me and will chat, good range of stock reasonable prices , kids welcome to ride the bikes.
NSLBS2 Cycle surgery average prices, very helpful staff, good stock and will order stuff in from the SRAM techbook (when the freebie dished washers they gave me didn't work properly) sensible service prices

Halfords- Barking - poor stock poor staff
Halfords Chingford -better stock better staff
Halfords Lakeside- very limited stock unless you want a light or a lock, no visible staff

guess where i go.

Daycocks on Leytonstone high road used to be a proper old school bike shop- was always busy in there and they would get stuff in very quickly if you needed it. dunno why it shut though

 

[400bhp]

dunno why it shut though

There's no money in high street bike shops - was going to buy one then looked at the figures.

 

[subaqua]

There's no money in high street bike shops - was going to buy one then looked at the figures.

but they did repairs,it was always busy, even after the new road opened and the high road was a lot quieter . it didn't make any logic . although they could be mad busy and running at a loss i suppose

 

[400bhp]

Yes, margins very tight.

 

[subaqua]

Yes, margins very tight.

I have had a bit of a google and it looks like they reigned it all in to a online warehouse type thingy in Basildon.

and have just seen the new halfords advert- brilliant tune and great advert