Thumbs up for Halfords

[Venod]

Halfords gets a lot of bad press for its bike service, and some of it rightly justified from the reports, but credit where its due.

I went out on New Years Day on an old MTB, I was off road and something felt wrong with the left pedal, I thought my cleat had come loose, but on closer inspection the crank arm had come loose,its a square taper, I had probably not tightened it enough after a recent strip down and rebuild.

I didn't have a socket to fit the bolt so tightened it as best I could with the fingers and set of home, I noticed as I passed on the way out that Halfords was open, as I had to pass it on the way home I thought I would nip in and see if they could tighten it.

I had no cash, the lad on bike repairs not only tightened it to the correct torque but fitted a new allen key fitting bolt, all with a smile and FOC.

I carried on and had a very pleasant NYD off road ride, so a big thank you to Halfords Pontefract.

 

[MartinQ]

On a 1/2 similar vein, went to the one in Chester a week or so ago and bought a cheapie ratchet screwdriver. Broke after 1/2 an hour usage (not good), but took it back to the shop and they replaced it with the next one up as they'd run out of that one. Hope it holds together longer :-).

 

[gaijintendo]

I nipped into a branch today, and I'm not sure if there has been some sensitivity training, but the guys serving peppered their advise with "as you probably already know" and "as you know". It felt ever so slightly strange, as I don't know much really but I appreciated it.

I heard tales of the proprietor of the local ebike shop being quite condescending to my female friend who had researched the field extensively and planned on using a local supplier... But he said he'd "dumb things down" or words to that effect... So she ended up just getting what she wanted from Halfords. So well done them.

As for all that progress... I got distracted when calling the store and guessed the correct number to dial. A helpful woman answered and I explained I hadn't heard the options and was that the bike department. I did worry she thought I assumed she couldn't work in that department. Oh well, I'll listen harder next time.