Why is Halfords hated so much????

Cluelessbiker

Ok, I admit I am new here, and while I do have a Marin Stinson, I am not tha enamoured to ride it often, usually I am busy doing other things, lol. But it often makes me wonder why people knock Halfords, and Carrera and the like so much, can anyone explain this?

MattJPaul

It's mostly because the staff are sales assistants rather than bike enthusiasts who know what they're doing.*

There have been countless testimonials on the boards where Halford's bike set-ups have been totally inadequate (gear indexing wrong, simple things like screws not tightened, etc). Essentially, if you're thinking of buying a Boardman you should budget to have it looked over by someone at your LBS after purchasing.

*That's not a blanket statement, though. Some of the staff have been A+.

Duffer65

It's because the service and technical ability of SOME of the staff has been poor. Additionally, some of the bikes they sell are of low quality. However, lots of good things have been said on these forums about the Boardman and the Carrera brands.

ThatBikeGuy

MattJPaul wrote:

It's mostly because the staff are sales assistants rather than bike enthusiasts who know what they're doing.*

There have been countless testimonials on the boards where Halford's bike set-ups have been totally inadequate (gear indexing wrong, simple things like screws not tightened, etc). Essentially, if you're thinking of buying a Boardman you should budget to have it looked over by someone at your LBS after purchasing.

*That's not a blanket statement, though. Some of the staff have been A+.

+1 You get some numpties working there however there are also some top-notch mechanics at least in some of the stores...There was another thread kicking about somewhere about Halfords, try reading through that, it should explain a fair bit.

solosuperia

I think people are just being a bit snobby.
OK I can understand people getting wound up a bit when the bike they bought was set up badly by the Saturday staff.
Last year I bought a Carrera Gryphon, The disk was not aligned correctly and I am being really picky here, but two minutes with an allen key bob's your uncle.
I dread to think how much the equivalent bike would have cost me from an LBS.
That is my take on Halfords, save some money but learn to do a bit of fettling.
I cant believe people get their bikes set up properly first shot, it always takes me a few goes to get the saddle at the right height, handlebars brake levers correctly positioned etc.

Peddle Up!

As above, generally. Our local store used to have a guy who was pretty good, but his replacement is probably happier selling screen wash.

giant_man

Because Halfords try and pass themselves off as knowlegeable bike shops via Bikehut by advertising etc. when they're really just car accessory centres who happen to sell bikes. Plus the staff factor of course. Boardman bikes helped their cause but you are still getting $hit service.

saprkzz

Totally from stories of people that have purchased bikes from them.. Wheels/handlebars/stems not tight.. gears/brakes not working etc etc... the list goes on..

From personal expereince I had to correct the "expert" advising him that Gear cables and brake cables are not universal and are not the same.

Halfords employ young staff as assistants which of course there is nothing wrong with that, but they need to get someone with knowledge and experience to help those "tricky" questions.

Halfords in Bicester (oxon) have a guy working there who is awsome! and I even mentioned this to someone, it will totally lift their profile. He know exaclty what I was after, helped and advised perfectly with real knowledge. A true bike nut! Fair play.

Flamez

I bought a Boardman Team road bike yesterday from halfords.

10% off, a great bike and well set up. Halford's staff now receive training from Boardmans' for maintainance of their bikes.

In my opinion they are as good as anywhere else...

have you visited tredz recently?

cougie

I know plenty of horror stories from the LBS too - perhaps my favourite was the time the brake blocks were fitted back to front on a mates mountain bike and he had almost zero stopping ability. And he found this out on a mountainous descent.

markos1963

As a lot have said some are better than the others but in general I would hesitate about buying anything from them.
I got a Boardman SC from them via my companies C2W scheme and whilst the service was good the prep on the bike was diabolical. Not a smear of grease anywhere and the lockring on the fixed sprocket was loose!! :shock:
Have to say some LBS's can be just as bad, hence I do most of my own spannering leaving more speciallised stuff to my trusted LBS( Speciallised Cycles,Norwich)

CRAIGO5000

It's not just Halfords to be fair. Although they are generally EQUALLY poor with regards to motoring too.

I've seen a bike come from Evans with both directional tyres fitted backwards.

Easy mistakes to make if you're not paying attention to what your doing and I'd imagine most places don't do that unless they are really into their jobs.

Is assembling bikes all day for not much money your dream job?

It pays to go over the bike yourself as a precaution and double check the obvious things like brakes, handlebars, pedals etc.

MountainMonster

Just as many people say that Halfords is so terrible, i've had the same amount of bad experiences from LBS's around the world. Nothing these days is perfect, and people need to stop expecting 100% quality from somewhere that is known not to have it. Just sets you up for disappointment.

MountainMonster

Just as many people say that Halfords is so terrible, i've had the same amount of bad experiences from LBS's around the world. Nothing these days is perfect, and people need to stop expecting 100% quality from somewhere that is known not to have it. Just sets you up for disappointment.

Berk Bonebonce

The monkey-brained Halfords employee that might one day sell a car radio might the next sell a bike. Just as shops like Tesco's should by law be banned from selling bikes, so should Halfords.

t4tomo

Its Wiggles fault.

JRooke

they buy bikes from taiwan at the cost of around £20 each, and were talking 200,000 thousand of them, and sell them on for £200 plus, this is why they don't employ bike mechanics, because its cheaper to issue people with new bikes then to fix them and chuck the old one away. We know one of the directors in our club and he tells us the ridiculous tales of how they operate and its insane beyond your wildest dreams.

Flamez

JRooke wrote:

they buy bikes from taiwan at the cost of around £20 each, and were talking 200,000 thousand of them, and sell them on for £200 plus, this is why they don't employ bike mechanics, because its cheaper to issue people with new bikes then to fix them and chuck the old one away. We know one of the directors in our club and he tells us the ridiculous tales of how they operate and its insane beyond your wildest dreams.

But very profitable.....

navrig

Whilst I don't doubt the reports on here about poor PDI and dodgy setup I do wonder if there is a perception issue.

Halfords, I believe, are the biggest retailer of bikes in the UK with the widest and most numerous of outlets. Therefore there is every chance that they will have the highest number of bike related customer complaints.

As the biggest they are the softest and easiest of targets for complaints especially if people are retiscent to name and shame their much smaller LBS when they also screw up.

Look around the forum - threads about poor service from Evans, CRC, Merlin, Ribble and so on. Big retailers - online and shop based.

How many direct complaints about Fred Bloggs on the High Street. Few and far between.
Add to this, that many new cyclists buy their bikes before joining a forum and reading about Halfords. Where do they buy their next bike? Probably not Halfords and certainly after complaining on line about the setup on their first bike.

jaxf

I love my Boardmans, but I hated the process of buying them from Halfords - check that they have stock on website, phone and confirm with the store that the website is right, and they have them in stock, go to store, wait 2 HOURS to be served, to find they don't have stock. hmmmm . Buy bike, which takes HOURS. (and I know exactly what I want, how can it?) Phone to confirm that they have built the bike when they say they will have. Assurance they have, drive all the way out, find they haven't. They assure you they'll build it now in less than 30 minutes. 1.5 hours later, still waiting. And when I get the bike, think they've built it right? Of course not ...... so trip to a proper bike shop (BikeWorks in Edinburgh are great) to sort it out. Think anyone would acknowledge at any stage that they might have jerked me about a little?

That's why people don't like Halfords.

lemoncurd

cougie wrote:

I know plenty of horror stories from the LBS too - perhaps my favourite was the time the brake blocks were fitted back to front on a mates mountain bike and he had almost zero stopping ability. And he found this out on a mountainous descent.

Is the LBS at the top of a mountain?

interpol

Had to get my bike on the C2W scheme from Halfords. The Saturday girl was so pleased with her efforts she took a photograph of it. Imagine my surprise when I saw:
The seat post the wrong way round
No space between the top of fork and stem
Fork cut too short despite being told to leave it a tad longer
handle bars at ridiculous angle
Brake levers loose
Gear cables crossed
Chain too long
Both front and rear mechs needed adjusting, gears not changing
Bar tape wrapped top to bottom, with a cut end not pushed in plug
Brakes needed adjusting.

The check list was all ticked and double checked. It is difficult to image a worse set up other than the front wheel on the back and the back on the front. Brought it home and sorted it myself. Daren't take it back for the after sales free service.

sagalout

I'm not a huge fan from my limited experiences with them, but its good to see a company investing some of the profits back into cycling (well, racing)

Bar Shaker

interpol wrote:

Had to get my bike on the C2W scheme from Halfords. The Saturday girl was so pleased with her efforts she took a photograph of it. Imagine my surprise when I saw:
The seat post the wrong way round
No space between the top of fork and stem
Fork cut too short despite being told to leave it a tad longer
handle bars at ridiculous angle
Brake levers loose
Gear cables crossed
Chain too long
Both front and rear mechs needed adjusting, gears not changing
Bar tape wrapped top to bottom, with a cut end not pushed in plug
Brakes needed adjusting.

The check list was all ticked and double checked. It is difficult to image a worse set up other than the front wheel on the back and the back on the front. Brought it home and sorted it myself. Daren't take it back for the after sales free service.

I am sorry but I just don't believe you.

Halfords take bikes out of boxes. They don't manufacture them in the store.

Neither does your LBS, but they are just as capable of royally f***ing up a customer's bike... at sale point or during service. Plenty of LBS horror stories out there, just ask around your bike club.

What are you trying to achieve by making this rubbish up?

whitestar1

Poor bike service

JRooke

The bikes out of the boxes still need building up and everything adjusted, as I said they mass buy them, your crazy if you think they arrive ready to role with perfectly tuned gears, everything in his list is sadly believable.

wombar

It all comes down to the individual stores. I visited about 4 stores round Bournemouth, most of which were staffed by non-bike enthusiasts, who were pretty non-interested when I went in mid-week.

Then I found the Christchurch store which has a few bike mad staff members who obviously love their bikes. Bought a Boardman Pro and the setup was 100% spot on. Not a single complaint, so I would have no hesitation going back there.

On the other hand, I bought a road bike from CRC and the setup was absolutely appalling and downright dangerous. The rear derailleur was hitting the rear spokes so I'm just glad I didn't try to ride it out of the box.

You just have to remember that people will always remember and complain about a store that gives bad service, but it's not often people come here to say they received good service.

Martincan

wombar wrote:

It all comes down to the individual stores. I visited about 4 stores round Bournemouth, most of which were staffed by non-bike enthusiasts, who were pretty non-interested when I went in mid-week.

Then I found the Christchurch store which has a few bike mad staff members who obviously love their bikes. Bought a Boardman Pro and the setup was 100% spot on. Not a single complaint, so I would have no hesitation going back there.

On the other hand, I bought a road bike from CRC and the setup was absolutely appalling and downright dangerous. The rear derailleur was hitting the rear spokes so I'm just glad I didn't try to ride it out of the box.

You just have to remember that people will always remember and complain about a store that gives bad service, but it's not often people come here to say they received good service.

'Tis true. The stats are something like: 1 in 10 will speak of good service, where as approx 8/9 in 10 will complain of bad service.

ned_wills

Halfords are great when you need a cable or inner tube in a hurry but I made the mistake of asking if they had a 295mm spoke. The assistant said they diddn't sell spokes.
Not really a bike shop are they. Just a shop that sells bike shaped objects.

mattrixdesign2

Good value products (Carrera/Boardman) - poor customer service.

I ordered a Carrera Vulcan online, went to collect it a week later, checked it over, and there was instant rub on the disc, it was making the wheel stick... so they tried to pass it off as ready when it wasn't... and hour later, they gave up trying to fix it, they rang another store, got them to prepare one, gave me £20 voucher and sent me on my way - so that was a bit of mixed experience.

Recently ordered my lad a Carrera Blast, collected in, checked it over, rear wheel wasn't true, pointed it out, and I was told its within tolerance... MEH! Had to take as it was for my lads birthday, but they will be sorting it out on the next check up - a great kids bike Btw!

Its a shame as the Carrera brand is now a truly good value option.

What is said for Halfords can also be said for Currys etc, it gets worse when you hang around specific forums/enthusiasts, as its easy to pass comment then. As "we" all know better and can be smugg about it.

RC76

About 12 months ago I met a novice rider at a club MTB ride in Northampton with his new bike fresh from Halfords.

The fork had been installed facing backwards! He had even questioned the sales assistant regarding it and been told the bike was built correctly.

I'm sure some of the Halford staff are excellent but there is a risk involved if you don't know enough to spot dangerous bike assembly.

Not what you want or expect from a company that states "Every new bike gets a complete safety check" several times during every Top Gear repeat on Dave.