Beating Halfords with a big stick.......anyone fancy a go?!

gtvlusso

Hi All,

The saga of my C2W goes on. Ordered Focus Cayo - was sent e-mail saying that it could not be ordered by Halfords C2W, pick something else.

Spoke to Halfords, it is the old "we don't make any money on it" scenario. Spoke to admin girl at Halfords, who was lovely, but there was nothing she could do as the bike had been dropped from the ordering system a week ago for above reason. Sent mail to my HR rep (I work for a company with at least 4,000 employees just in the UK). Apparently nothing could be done, do I want to cancel my LOC? Said no to cancellation - too easy!

Halfords state that they can source almost anything (so I checked bfore taking my £1000 LOC out that they could get Focus bikes - yes they said!). They will source Focus bikes, but dropped the Cayo.......Therefore, they can still source it, but are unwilling to - breach of contract perhaps?! Mis-leading marketing statements?!

Halfords account manager has so far not responded to my mail asking for clarification and what he intends to do. Escalated internally within my company and now threatening Office of Fair Trading......any other thoughts on what I should do? I am a bit miffed to say the least!

I am not expecting a response back from Halfords account manager, will give him time, but I will escalate as far as necessary until they change their C2W wording and policy (his ass is mine!).

Will be making Friday my cut off before phoning him and making his day miserable!

Anyone else had this issue or been through this? Any ideas on the legal side or how I should approach them? Anyone work for them?!

I am not a complainer by nature and usually don't give a frig about much, but this is ridiculous......and completely mis-leading.

gtvlusso

I should probably have put this in Soapbox - sorry!

spen666

gtvlusso wrote:

Hi All,

The saga of my C2W goes on. Ordered Focus Cayo - was sent e-mail saying that it could not be ordered by Halfords C2W, pick something else.

Spoke to Halfords, it is the old "we don't make any money on it" scenario. Spoke to admin girl at Halfords, who was lovely, but there was nothing she could do as the bike had been dropped from the ordering system a week ago for above reason. Sent mail to my HR rep (I work for a company with at least 4,000 employees just in the UK). Apparently nothing could be done, do I want to cancel my LOC? Said no to cancellation - too easy!

Halfords state that they can source almost anything (so I checked bfore taking my £1000 LOC out that they could get Focus bikes - yes they said!). They will source Focus bikes, but dropped the Cayo.......Therefore, they can still source it, but are unwilling to - breach of contract perhaps?

What contract?

Offer?
Acceptance?
Valuable consideration?

Without these there is no legal contract

Mis-leading marketing statements?!

Halfords account manager has so far not responded to my mail asking for clarification and what he intends to do. Escalated internally within my company and now threatening Office of Fair Trading......any other thoughts on what I should do? I am a bit miffed to say the least!

I am not expecting a response back from Halfords account manager, will give him time, but I will escalate as far as necessary until they change their C2W wording and policy (his ass is mine!).

Will be making Friday my cut off before phoning him and making his day miserable!

Anyone else had this issue or been through this? Any ideas on the legal side or how I should approach them? Anyone work for them?!

I am not a complainer by nature and usually don't give a frig about much, but this is ridiculous......and completely mis-leading.

Nuggs

I don't mean to piss on your chips but:

I don't see how you have formed a contact with them for them to breach.

Their marketing may be misleading, but how much are they going to care about that? They can source plenty of other bikes (okay, maybe not as decent as the Cayo) and I should think that the number of people who get something they want through their C2W scheme massively exceeds those in your position.

For me, the issue is with employers who just walk closed-eyed into the Hellfraud's C2W scheme, while there are better schemes out there which are (i) good for LBSs (ii) good for the consumer - more choice, better access to knowledge and skill (cf. Hellfrauds).

If I were you, I'd feel more inclined to complain about my employer taking the approach they have, rather than complaining about Halfords unwilling to do something which is probably a pain in the arse and is unlikely to generate any profit...

gtvlusso

I have complained to the relevent team at my employer and will chase through them - had a mail basically saying they did not care - So, I have escalated to a higher authority.

I think it is completely unfair the way Halfords deal with this, they are basically pushing people into their own stocked brands as thats where the cash must be for them.

At the end of the day I signed the paperwork for £1000 for a bike that they can supply, but won't......

I think that is pretty crap.

spen666

gtvlusso wrote:

I have complained to the relevent team at my employer and will chase through them - had a mail basically saying they did not care - So, I have escalated to a higher authority.

I think it is completely unfair the way Halfords deal with this, they are basically pushing people into their own stocked brands as thats where the cash must be for them.

At the end of the day I signed the paperwork for £1000 for a bike that they can supply, but won't......

I think that is pretty crap.

signed what paperwork with whom?


To go back to my earlier post which you have avoided - what is the contract you are claiming Halfords have breached?

What was the offer?

How was it accepted?

What was the valuable consideration?

Without these 3 things ( either orally or in writing is ok) there can be no legally binding contract.

Businesses do not have to supply something just because they can supply it

gtvlusso

I signed my LOC agreement and will have to sign my LOC on collection of goods.

Anyway, suffice to say that the higher authority has decided that they will review whether they use Halfords at the next c2w run (we do it in stages as we have so many employees). Sounds like I am not the only person to have complained about this internally and I would guess that HR are sick of dealing with it, so a change is likely.

From my e-mail:
I think my main point is that the bike can be sourced by Halfords and has been previously (was dropped from the range on the 14th March), they just won't buy it in now as they have realised that they will not make anything on it - I did ask them before I ordered my LOC if they dealt with Focus range - and received a positive answer. It sounds like they have failed to negotiate a trade price from Wiggle on said model and therefore do not make a profit. It is so competitively priced that Wiggle probably do not make much of a profit themselves on direct sales.

I think that their statement is wholly untrue in light of this - as they can source, but won't.

And thats the end of that saga.

spen666

gtvlusso wrote:

I signed my LOC agreement and will have to sign my LOC on collection of goods.

I presume you mean a letter of credit- that is a financial agreement relating to credit- it is not a contract for Halfords to supply you with a specific bike.


Who is the LOC signed with? I presume it is with your employer as the other party- in which case Halfords are not a party to that document

Anyway, suffice to say that the higher authority has decided that they will review whether they use Halfords at the next c2w run (we do it in stages as we have so many employees). Sounds like I am not the only person to have complained about this internally and I would guess that HR are sick of dealing with it, so a change is likely.

From my e-mail:
I think my main point is that the bike can be sourced by Halfords and has been previously (was dropped from the range on the 14th March), they just won't buy it in now as they have realised that they will not make anything on it - I did ask them before I ordered my LOC if they dealt with Focus range - and received a positive answer. It sounds like they have failed to negotiate a trade price from Wiggle on said model and therefore do not make a profit. It is so competitively priced that Wiggle probably do not make much of a profit themselves on direct sales.

I think that their statement is wholly untrue in light of this - as they can source, but won't.

what statement are you referring to?

And thats the end of that saga.

And back to my original question what is the contract that Halfords have apparently breached?

Nuggs

Spen666 - you are a litigator AICMFP...

benvickery

Get a Planet-x superlight pro instead. The latest models even have some Dura-Ace parts. I know it's not what you wanted, but you won't be disappointed.

pipsqueak

Lusso - you said that you work for a large UK company. If you have a company final salary pension scheme, check that this C2W scheme wont affect any future pension rights.

I vaguely remember getting bored with a thread recently, where taking part in this scheme may affect future pension - but i assume only if you are in a company pension ?

gtvlusso

Hi Pipsqueak and BenV,

Glad to say it does not affect my pension!!

Halfords C2W are now not dealing with Planet X again (after the previous debacle) - apparently PX bikes do not meet (or have not been tested to) some British road standard - therefore Halfords cannot sell them at the moment. Sounds like an admin cock up as opposed to any quality issue (I don't think anyone would argue with the high quality of PX bikes!).

So, no Cayo's and no PX SL Carbon Pro :-(

As for Spen666's comments I cannot be bothered to answer (although I do remember asking for advice and help rather than smart arse, clever dick comments, but then again I married a lawyer so I understand that clarity is of prime concern - even when operating the dishwasher, however, I have 3 million other things to do)! Suffice to say I am annoyed with Halfords standards of service and there marketing strategy/statements - they are simply untrue (as they can and have sourced a bike previously (Cayo), but won't now after my LOC arrived).

Very sad Panda.

Nuggs

gtvlusso wrote:

As for Spen666's comments I cannot be bothered to answer (although I do remember asking for advice and help rather than smart ars*, clever dick comments, but then again I married a lawyer so I understand that clarity is of prime concern - even when operating the dishwasher, however, I have 3 million other things to do)!

Spen was making some valid points. It's no good coming on here and expecting everyone to agree with your point-of-view. I can understand your frustration, but shirley this is a discussion board...

gtvlusso

I did not ask people to agree - I asked for help and advice......I was asking if they had possibly breached a contract rather than stating "They have breached contract"......Engineer - not lawyer.

spen666

gtvlusso wrote:

I did not ask people to agree - I asked for help and advice......I was asking if they had possibly breached a contract rather than stating "They have breached contract"......Engineer - not lawyer.

For there to be any chance of a breach of contract- it is a requirement there was a contract.

You can't breach something that doesn't exist

So what is the contract you think might have been breached?

Who are the parties to the contract?


I am a lawyer. I am happy to advise, but you have to supply sufficient information to enable that advice to be given

spen666

gtvlusso wrote:

...

As for Spen666's comments I cannot be bothered to answer (although I do remember asking for advice and help rather than smart ars*, clever dick comments, but then again I married a lawyer so I understand that clarity is of prime concern - ....

you really are a prize pr*ck

You come on here asking for help

I am happy to providethat help, but if you are not prepared to provide sufficient information, then how can I advise you

As an engineer you weould expect to be provided with sufficient information to carry out your work.

All I have done is to repeatedly ask you what this contract you think may be breached is and who the parties to it are.

If you think that is being smart arsed then you really are more stupid than you sound

If you can't be bothered to provide sufficient information to the people you are asking for pro bono help, then why should anyone be bothered to help you

always_tyred

spen666 wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

...

As for Spen666's comments I cannot be bothered to answer (although I do remember asking for advice and help rather than smart ars*, clever dick comments, but then again I married a lawyer so I understand that clarity is of prime concern - ....

you really are a prize pr*ck

You come on here asking for help

I am happy to providethat help, but if you are not prepared to provide sufficient information, then how can I advise you

As an engineer you weould expect to be provided with sufficient information to carry out your work.

All I have done is to repeatedly ask you what this contract you think may be breached is and who the parties to it are.

If you think that is being smart arsed then you really are more stupid than you sound

If you can't be bothered to provide sufficient information to the people you are asking for pro bono help, then why should anyone be bothered to help you

Repeat 100 times:

May I always remember where I came from and retain some empathy with my clients....

gtvlusso

And thats exactly why lawyers have such a bad name......."I am a lawyer, I know everything........" Cockmonkey fucking smart arse twat!

You don't and you simply have not provided any useful information, or even read what I was asking in the first place!

You simply asked my why I thought Halfords had breached contract - I was asking if anyone knew if that had breached a contract or code of conduct....

I bet your quite short too...

gtvlusso

And, it is worth pointing out that life does not work like a business.......not everyone reads the agreement they make with the gas board when they sign up! Not everyone knows how the wheels of business or agreements work - although I do deal with mediation.

Thanks for your pro bono efforts, but I will stick with Osbourne Clark when I need a lawyer to be a lawyer - I would rather get the thoughts of a cyclist or someone who has had similiar dealings and experiences.

So, stop acting and sounding like a lawyer and someone may be your friend.....Just answer the question with humility and a humble nature - and if you feel there was no contract breached say so rather than asking me why I think one was breached, cause I don't know!

Carbon0777

Also Halfords are treating potential customers really badly here - I was told numerous time before I ordered my LOC I could have a Focus then, when the offer closed I was told I had to buy a carrera!

Well pissed off!

Gonna hold out for the planet x or scrap cycle 2 work completely!

Carbon0777

Also have to say I agree with gtvlusso - Spen666 is a complete c*ck!

Carbon0777

Also have to say I agree with gtvlusso - Spen666 is a complete c*ck!