Have I been Halfordsed ?

steveevo

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply to my "Please help me choose a bike thread".

I haved decided to go with the Boardman Hybrid Pro Ltd, definate that I wanted a flat bar and this looks a good value bike and has received good reviews.

Placed my order online with the dreaded Halfords and was given a delivery date of no later than June 5th.

Rang up a local"ish" branch and spoke to a guy there who had previously told me if I got a bike online they would check it over for free, this branch seems to know how to set a bike up from reports I have heard.

When I told him what bike I had ordered he told me there was no way I would get that bike within 6 weeks, I told him my delivery date and he was still sure of his opinion.

Credit to him he rang me back an hour later after making a few calls to Halfords distribution people and told me there wasn't any in the country and I would have to wait until probably August for it.

So I e-mailed customer service (no hope of geting through on the phone), all I have so far is an automated response saying they will get to me in 48 hours.

Not feeling too confident at the moment, anyone else any experience of this with Halfords?

spasypaddy

this is a better bet:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... %20synapse

Ive had a bike from Halfords and the delivery date and when i actually got it were completely different. It was 18months ago so i cant remember how much difference there were but it was at least 2 weeks.

steveevo

Well, as it looks like I won't be getting a Bordman bike I need to look elsewhere.

Do you really believe this is a better bike than the Hybrid Pro Ltd? or just a viable alternative that I can actually go out and buy?

If you honestly believe it's better I am very interested why you think so.

spasypaddy

its the same frame as the Synapse road bike but with flat handlebars. So its essentially a road bike. Its got Tiagra on it and the same road bike with drops and the same groupset goes for £950. If you can afford there is a higher version with 105 for £1015.

prj45

It's triple though.

Aren't we supposed to not like triples?

Or was that yesterday?!

spasypaddy

i have no problem with a triple.

prj45

spasypaddy wrote:

i have no problem with a triple.

Gah, I bought a double because I though it was the in thing.

Took me bloody weeks (and two sets of postal chrages) to find a replacement outer ring too.

Kieran_Burns

prj45 wrote:

It's triple though.

Aren't we supposed to not like triples?

Or was that yesterday?!

CX.....


Triple....


You know it makes sense.... :twisted: 8)


Never underestimate the POWER of the dark side.....

The Rookie

It aint called Halfrauds for nothing.....

lost_in_thought

steveevo wrote:

Well, as it looks like I won't be getting a Bordman bike I need to look elsewhere.

Do you really believe this is a better bike than the Hybrid Pro Ltd? or just a viable alternative that I can actually go out and buy?

If you honestly believe it's better I am very interested why you think so.

Have you actually had this from the horse's mouth, so to speak?

Give them a couple of days before getting all despondent - perhaps Halfords guy #2 is the one who's got it wrong...

MrChuck

lost_in_thought wrote:

steveevo wrote:

Well, as it looks like I won't be getting a Bordman bike I need to look elsewhere.

Do you really believe this is a better bike than the Hybrid Pro Ltd? or just a viable alternative that I can actually go out and buy?

If you honestly believe it's better I am very interested why you think so.

Have you actually had this from the horse's mouth, so to speak?

Give them a couple of days before getting all despondent - perhaps Halfords guy #2 is the one who's got it wrong...

Yeah, it's not the 5th yet! Hang on and see what happens.

Jay dubbleU

Kieran_Burns wrote:

prj45 wrote:

It's triple though.

Aren't we supposed to not like triples?

Or was that yesterday?!

CX.....


Triple....


You know it makes sense.... :twisted: 8)


Never underestimate the POWER of the dark side.....

I have a triple - triples are GOOOOD

fury21

I waited 10 months for a bike from Halfords (Cycle 2 Work)

Ordered: late June '08

Given delivery date: "no later than 25th July 08"

Actual delivery: 13th May 09

Admittedly it was a special order (i.e. a bike they don't normally stock) and most of the delay wasn't their fault but their handling of it was very poor and I question why they gave a delivery date that it turned out they hadn't a hope of delivering the bike by.

I did think about canceling the order many times, but they kept feeding me the line that it was just a couple of weeks away... :roll:


Still, from what I've heard, my case was very much an exception to the rule

jedster

spasy,

given your sig. surely the right advice is a planet-x flatbar kaffenback or uncle john build - should be able to get either with 105 for less than 800.

steevevo - have a look at the planet-x website and give them a call. They are very helpful and will spec a build for you for a very competitive price.

Cheers,

J

steveevo

OK, time for an update.

I called the customer line this morning (got through in less than 2 minutes, not bad at all).

First thing I was told was that I needed to be telephoned by them to confirm my order, WTF is the point of having an online sales system if they have to phone you to confirm the order????

Anyway, as I was paying for the call they put me on hold for 5 minutes then confirmed my order.

I then asked if they actually have the bike in stock and told them what the guy from the branch had said to me, another few minutes on hold and I was assured that the bike is in their warehouse. The reason for the "confusion" from the store is that the bikes are not available for the stores to order, only for online ordering for home delivery, WHY?????

Next, I asked about delivery, originally I was quoted "no later than 5th June", since it's now the 3rd and my order has only just been confirmed would it be delivered on June 5th still? Probably not I was told as the order has only just been confirmed and the next stage is processing. I politely but firmly request he made sure that it is delivered on time or I will cancel my order and was met with an offer to put the bike on "next working day delivery" at no extra charge to me. Should be here Friday after all.

Fair do's, my thoughts at the moment are that they have crap systems but the people are OK and willing to try and help, you need to keep on top of them rather and sit back and expect things to happen like they should.

If the bike comes Friday I will be happy.

By the way if anyone is thinking of buying online from Halfords, if you enter AFF5APR in the promotional code box at checkout you get 5% off, not massive but saved me £50 on my bike, valid until 16th June.

steveevo

It's here, arrived today, not toobad, just a working day late. Can't really co,plain at that.

Bike looks great, gears set up OK, only slight snag is both discs catching so the wheels don't freewheel to weel.

Don't know if they will free off after a few miles or they need setting up by someone who knows what they are doing?

Bike still feels very quick compared to my MTB, looking forward to my 27 mile round trip commute tomorrow.