Sales staff in Halfords.

PostieJohn

Jesus wept.

I wonder how many bikes CB would sell if they had a competed staff behind them.
I was in my local 'frauds, earlier.
Team Monkey 1 had just said to Team Monkey 2:-
'they call me Animal cos if I can't budge it I just hit it really hard'.

Then a fella comes in enquiring about the CB bikes.

The guy had done his homework, 'these are the best specced bikes, for the money?'.
Plus a couple of other comments. Sadly for him though he got TM1, I couldn't leave as I just couldn't believe how bad this guy was.

He knew NOTHING about the bikes, spec, weight, size, the specific bikes use.
All he managed to do was slate LBS' and say any £200 bike was rubbish.

I genuinely wanted to take over, because I'm sure I could have sold a bike, but this guy just left bewildered.

JustinLeeAtkinson

On my recent visit to the local Halfords I noticed an Ultegra cassette priced at £60...

And on enquiry the cost of a boardman bike computer fitting kit was £24.99. I said I'd leave it. Fleabay has the computer and kit for £29.99...

sloppyschleckonds

Sounds like CB bikes and Halfords are a good match.

Want a proper bike, go to a bike shop.

Mad Roadie

Halfords are Halfords - fine if you know what you want and they have it - and introduce many to cycling I am sure... but ATEOTD they are a high street retailer not a specialist - although to be fair, they have come a long way and there are some staff who really are roadies

LeicesterLad

Mad Roadie wrote:

Halfords are Halfords - fine if you know what you want and they have it - and introduce many to cycling I am sure... but ATEOTD they are a high street retailer not a specialist - although to be fair, they have come a long way and there are some staff who really are roadies

I would agree with this, however, with all the 'bikehut' sh*t they appear to me to be immitating a specialist.

STEFANOS4784

1 bad member of staff and the whole company is useless. Good work Nob. My local halfords are actually pretty good. It's well known that it's luck of the draw in those shops.

Novomix30

And it's a real shame, as I love my Boardman Team Carbon, it's a great bike, rides well and was a great price in comparison to some less well specced 'better' bikes.

Not all Halfords are Bad, not all LBS are good!

durhamwasp

Got a Ltd Edition Boardman road bike on Cycle2Work a couple years back, didnt have much to do except pick it up, so no problems encountered!

Then earlier this year i saw the Ladies Boardman roadbike in their store reduced by 40% - seemed too good to be true, but my wife wasnt with me. The bike shop lad assured me the price was correct and said they had two in stock, bring your wife back tomorrow and try it out, no need to put a deposit down.

Next night straight from work, went up there and what a suprise, both had "been sold". I put my argument across and they said they would look at other stores, however on ringing round they were forced to admit the price had "gone back to normal now".

I ended up emailing their customer services centre and eventually got 20% off the bike and a £20 voucher. Usually i would have walked straight out due to their messing around, but those bikes are such good value for money, and it the sub-£800 price bracket theres nothing comes near to it for ladies bikes.

meanredspider

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Sounds like CB bikes and Halfords are a good match.

Want a proper bike, go to a bike shop.

Bizarre comment

PostieJohn

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

1 bad member of staff and the whole company is useless. Good work Nob. My local halfords are actually pretty good. It's well known that it's luck of the draw in those shops.

I didn't call Halfords useless.
But someone with even the tiniest bit of commitment to their job, would have been able to sell the fella a bike.
But this employee, at that time was a representative of Halfords, and was woeful, to the point of embarrassing.
He was also 50% of the available workforce.

cougie

Ive been in plenty of LBS and had crappy service too.
A LBS isn't an automatic guarantee of quality.

Bordersroadie

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Sounds like CB bikes and Halfords are a good match.

Want a proper bike, go to a bike shop.

I can see that Halfords has a problem with consistency of staff (I have experienced it, but it's no different from almost every other national retailer, be it B&Q, Comet, Currys, PC World or whatever - there's wheat and there's chaff) but there is no basis in saying that Boardman bikes are poor quality or bad value.

Like any person with any knowledge of bikes, I'd say Boardman bikes are good quality and very good value - a well thought out range.

I have no affiliation with Boardman nor do I own one but they are certainly on my radar for my next purchase.

It seems that it's all too easy for impressionable people without a mind of their own to jump onto the Halfords/Boardman knocking bandwagon because they haven't the brain capacity to see beyond what is fashionable and actually see good quality and value when it's staring them in the face. I guess, like all sheep, it's just more comfortable to go with the crowd, no matter how stupid it is.

I realise that the quoted posting was effectively a troll, but the subject is a disease worth commenting on, I think, so I have not quite resisted the temptation to respond.

Keith Oates

I have heard many adverse comments about Halfords and no doubt people have had bad experiences in some of them. However, in August I was back in the UK and visited two Halford branches in the Cardiff area and can only say that the people I talked with were knowledgeable and very helpful. In one of the banches a sales lady was very pleasant but could not answer my question so she said "I don't know" but then called over one of her colleagues and the question was answered.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

meanredspider

£40 worth of vouchers arrived from the CEO of Halfords yesterday in recompense for shocking service I received from my local Halfords. Having met and spoken to the manager of my local store, I'm not surprised there are issues. Their one bike mechanic seems to be competent and a nice bloke though. With a very good Alpine Bikes 300m away, Halfords won't be getting any more of my business.

dilemna

There is good and bad in companies such as Halfords except they seem to have an unusually higher proportion of bad staff. Perhaps this is indicative of their poor recruitment practices. But then again a 16 year old lad is only going to be paid peanuts £4 some thing an hour so one is not going to expect much. He is only there really to stop people nicking stuff or there because of fire regualtions to shout "Fire!" if the building catches light. Any more than this and his brain will over heat, short circuit and explode.

dilemna

durhamwasp wrote:

Got a Ltd Edition Boardman road bike on Cycle2Work a couple years back, didnt have much to do except pick it up, so no problems encountered!

Then earlier this year i saw the Ladies Boardman roadbike in their store reduced by 40% - seemed too good to be true, but my wife wasnt with me. The bike shop lad assured me the price was correct and said they had two in stock, bring your wife back tomorrow and try it out, no need to put a deposit down.

Next night straight from work, went up there and what a suprise, both had "been sold". I put my argument across and they said they would look at other stores, however on ringing round they were forced to admit the price had "gone back to normal now".

I ended up emailing their customer services centre and eventually got 20% off the bike and a £20 voucher. Usually i would have walked straight out due to their messing around, but those bikes are such good value for money, and it the sub-£800 price bracket theres nothing comes near to it for ladies bikes.

The phrase "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" springs to mind. Why didn't you buy one of the bikes, but say you were coming back to collect it the next day? Take your wifey with you to try it and then if it didn't fit get a refund. There was nothing wrong with what Halfords did as they are trying to sell bikes.

DavidBelcher

Novomix30 wrote:

Not all Halfords are Bad, not all LBS are good!

Indeed. I was once less than impressed with a quite well known independent bike shop in the days when I lived further north, after they dismissed stocking Campag and Campag-compatible kit as "too much bother" on hearing my request for a certain Campag part (I think it was a Mirage front mech) for my road bike.

David

Redhog14

STOP THE PRESS _ GOOD HALFORDS EXPERIENCE

whilst searching the net for a Gore Phantom II jacket I foudn one on Halfords for £80 (RRP£120) reserved in store, they phoned and said it was not in their store (Stirling) i asked where was it, they called again "it's in our Southampton store - do you still want it?, it's the only one left and we are not stocking them." Yes please i said. it duly arrived and i paid for it. Job done. Other than that they are gennerly a bit rubbish. like my spelling. :roll:

Yossie

DavidBelcher wrote:

Novomix30 wrote:

Not all Halfords are Bad, not all LBS are good!

Agree completely: I have 6 LBS': one Bianchi/Ridgeback dealer, one Cervelo/Orbea dealer, one Raleigh/GT/kid's bikes associated dealer, one Specialised/Cannondale dealer, one Trek/Moda dealer and one Argon/Kuota/Cippolini/Italian exotica/etc dealer.

All shops stock everything: tyres, oils, frames, etc - the full lot.

I only ever use the Raleigh shop: the rest are either staffed by rude people who think they are Dopestrong, are over priced and staffed by rude people who think they are Dopestrong, or are just plain rubbish.

None of the guys in the Raleigh shop are roadies (all mtb'ers for their sins), but they are excellent mechanics, extremely friendly and really nice guys, their prices are good when I need lubes etc, they will fit you in in an instant if you need something doing even if they have a full day and everyone I have recommended them too, after the initial "Them - are you sure?" have all come away really happy. Labour prices are also half the cost of the other shops for twice the quality.

They will also fit everything I order off the 'net: they are not a road shop, they do not stock road stuff, they can't match the prices even if they order it in but they know that workshop money is as good as any other money and a happy return customer (and his mates) keeps the tills ringing.

Example: one Saturday morning, 10:30, three of us on a ride rock up. Shop is full and teh workshop book is full. One of us has a shot rear mech cable on his Pinarello that's messing the ride up: they take the bike off us, tell us to go for a coffee and comeback in ten. £11 later: new cable, new outer, all set up, chain cleaned and oiled. Everything set up and running perfectly. Freakingly good service. And the guy who's bike it was had never used them before. But he does now.

You can also go there and just sit off with guys and chew the fat while the mad world outside gets madder (like I did today).

Just because a shop is flash and sells expensive bikes doesn't make it good. Much like a fancy bottle doesn't make a better product than a bland bottle.

Halfords is what it is: I've only ever dealt with them when buying bikes in boxes and have never had a problem: I've had issues with bikes from other specialised online bike retailers though. Halfords are also easier to haggle with a chuck random stuff in for nothing if you ask them (pumps, multi tools, etc)

You get good shops, you get bad shops: don't put up with a bad shop because it's bling: after all, you can't polish a turd.

twistedmetal

IME of Halfords if you get a sales assistant who doesn't know what he/she's talking about they usually just call in the resident expert in bikes. The stores all have them and they're often on a break or something but they do come in a minute or two when called. Once these people come over I have almost always found them to be as much a keen cyclist as in any LBS. Heck! In my local Halfords the guy sounded just like one of the guys in Biketreks in Ambleside. A keen MTBer and Roadie too who admitted to owning too many bikes. He knew the stock and even told me straight to go to another local bike shop for one of the items I wanted as they sold it cheaper or had the next model up which would suit me better. IMHO the test of a good sales assistant in any shop is when they are honest enough to tell you to save your money and get something else from another shop. That is what has happened to me in one Halfords. You have to take pot luck with staff but if you don't get a good one then how hard is it to ask for someone with more knowledge of bikes?? You can be that abrupt you know, you are the customer. Bear in mind Halfords sell so many different types of products and often use staff from one area to cover for missing staff in another. It is not hard to work out the assistant's level of knowledge and ask for a more competent person. You'd do it and even expect it in other shops like a department store.

nwallace

Was in a few weeks back.

Taxi: Taxi Driver in front of me
Gadgie: Halfords staff member

Taxi: "I need a 3 pinned headlight bulb"
Me Thinks: "H4 or H8"
Gadgie: "What is it?"
Taxi: "TX4"
Me Thinks: "LTi TX5 taxi"
Gadgie: "What make is it?"
Taxi: "It's a taxi"
Gadgie: "Oh dunnoh, um um, I'll need to get assistance and he can have a look"
Taxi: "It's ok I'll go and get the bulb"
Gadgie to me: "I'll serve you just now sir, Nightmare"
Me: Stifles any response as best as possible
Taxi: Clearly out at an LTi TX4
...
Me: "Thanks"
Taxi: Returns with an H4 bulb.

They really are useless, they aren't trained to do anythingo ther than bash their touchscreen to find what is possibly what they think you are looking for.

whitebait01

Went into Halfords for a rear reg plate bulb, their catalogue/parts list had the wrong bulb type listed for my car. The Halfords chap knew what I needed (told me code off the top of his head and apologised for the catalogue being wrong).

Snapped my seatclamp bolt, went to Halfords in Harlow for a new clamp and the bike kid in there took pity on me when it became apparent that they only had QR ones in stock. Nipped out the back and grabbed one off a bike that hadn't yet been assembled. Refused to accept any money for it and seemed like a good kid.

There'll always be good and bad staff and good and bad stores, but in my experience they're generally helpful and willing to go that little bit further.

beverick

cougie wrote:

Ive been in plenty of LBS and had crappy service too.
A LBS isn't an automatic guarantee of quality.

No, but if you find a poor LBS you can avoid it and go somewhere else knowing that, if everyone has the same experience and does the same, they won't last long. Meanwhile, Halfords can treat customers with absolute disdain and offer poor service but they will still be there like the wart on the elephant's ar$e it truly is because it has such deep pockets.

Bob