Halfords stereotype!

tarbot18

Popped into local Halfords a few days ago to spend a £20 voucher some kind soul bought me for my bday.

Had a little perv at the Boardman Team fs and decided to ask the helpful assistant how much travel the forks had out of interest , he looked at me and said its the gap between the little rubber band and the top of the forks and looked like 2 inches ! He then looked at me vacantly when i tried explaining again and had to go and ask the other assistant !

Thought he might be the yts lad so decided to spend my Voucher and asked the other assistant who was working on a bike how much they where selling slx shadow rear mechs for ............. asked me who made them .........

Is it just me or is this not basic stuff anyone who works with bikes for a living should know, if i was chris Boardman i wouldnt be happy with numpties like these selling my bikes .

Bought some wiper blades for the mrs car instead :roll:

The Rookie

Halfords can be very hit and miss, not just store to store, but day to day, my daughter is an experienced MTBer and has built her own bikes with only a little help from the family bike mechanic (yup, dads come free!), she dispairs of some of her colleagues, she only gets 8 hours a week despite wanting more which is why she works a second job. The trouble is one way of keeping costs down (and ultimately the prices they charge) is to keep staffing costs down, you have to remember that probably 95% (if not more) wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about either.

Most stores have a few good people, pot luck whether you get one or not.

oxocube1

It really does depend on what store you go into and which members of staff are in at the time! I'm the mechanic at my store and work with 3 other guys who have all been mechanics at other stores so we know our stuff. We are all into a combination of MTB, Road, and BMX but i know for a fact every store is not like this. The majority of part timers Halfords employs are just that, part timers, just working to make some money. A lot of them don't ride bikes themselves or have the passion that some of us do. Albeit he should have known what travel the Team FS was but he was probably one of the guys who works 7 hour a week contract shifts and dosen't think about bikes out of work!

It is a shame how it's so inconsistent across stores but that's what they get for not supplying any training for new employees! They are very tight with money and I often have to fight to get my correct wages at the end of the month!

The Rookie

oxocube1 wrote:

They are very tight with money and I often have to fight to get my correct wages at the end of the month!

Now that sounds familiar, took my daughter 10 months to get one lot of O/T paid once, it was only 3 hours, but the store asked her to work it and she went out of her way to help......

tarbot18

See the point about part timers and minimum wage, i think i get spoilt as there's a lbs near me and they are avid mtb's and roadies plus own the business, wheras halfords is run to feather the nests of shareholders somewhere.......

omegas

tarbot18 wrote:

Bought some wiper blades for the mrs car instead :roll:

Went in Halfords to get some wiper blades for the wife car at the weekend and came out with 2 pairs of baggy shorts, makers labels still on £30, giving them away at £2.50 , when back the next day and got some more . Fantastic shop with the best bargains around when you check them sale baskets they have.

JMcP92

I've been a Halford's customer, which was a mistake :P Quite high prices for pretty poor parts, then I needed some work done on my rear mech and such. When I cycled to work (12 miles round trip) the chain jumped off half way there and jammed between the wheel and the frame. Had to take it back to them (On the way to work) to fix it.
Came back after work then they tried to charge me? I had to go to their manager and tell them they broke it in the first place so why were they charging me? He attempted to justify it, I simply refused to pay and walked out with the bike.

supersonic

It's a bad answer - he should have found out what it was rather than guess. I don't know the travel of every fork and bike out there!

The Rookie

JMcP92 wrote:

I've been a Halford's customer, which was a mistake :P Quite high prices for pretty poor partsbike.

Eh, as the parts are all sold eleswhere, why are Halfords poor and someone elses same part OK?

Prices are 'high street', now worse or better than many others, in fact some of the bikehut stuff is very good value compared to other high street prices (noting that 'bike hut' is branding, the exact same parts are available elsewhere under different branding).

Briggo

supersonic wrote:

It's a bad answer - he should have found out what it was rather than guess. I don't know the travel of every fork and bike out there!

I dont think you're capable of doing your job.

montyburns56

While it's true that Halfords staff can be a bit hit and miss like others have said, Halfords don't actually sell the SLX Shadow instore, so unless the employee keeps up to date with all the latest MTB groupsets he/she would be unlikely to know what it was.

boristhespie

I don't accept the idea that because someone is part-time that they should know nothing about the business they are working in. Partually this is down to Halfords and a lack of basic training and partially down to an attitude that "as I am doing this shitty job I care nothing about, why would anyone expect me to know diddly"

It is an attitude that permeates many companies in retail. Look at PC World or old Dixons.

Pride in ones job. The wish to be helpful and not look an idiot should really be part of a persons outlook. Whether on minimum wage or not. A couple reads of a mag and a look at bikerader would clue interested people up on these questions in 5 minutes. The problem is "interested"

Stu Coops

tarbot18 wrote:

Popped into local Halfords a few days ago to spend a £20 voucher some kind soul bought me for my bday.

Had a little perv at the Boardman Team fs and decided to ask the helpful assistant how much travel the forks had out of interest , he looked at me and said its the gap between the little rubber band and the top of the forks and looked like 2 inches ! He then looked at me vacantly when i tried explaining again and had to go and ask the other assistant !

Thought he might be the yts lad so decided to spend my Voucher and asked the other assistant who was working on a bike how much they where selling slx shadow rear mechs for ............. asked me who made them .........

Is it just me or is this not basic stuff anyone who works with bikes for a living should know, if i was chris Boardman i wouldnt be happy with numpties like these selling my bikes .

And now we have Pinarello who have jumped in to bed with Halfords, obviously a sign of the times were in, that's the snobbery gone out of owning a Pinarello as it must be gutting that people out there have spent £4000 plus on one and i know quite a few and then ya club mate asks if you bought it from Halfords AAARRRGGGG

Bought some wiper blades for the mrs car instead :roll:

oxocube1

boristhespie wrote:

I don't accept the idea that because someone is part-time that they should know nothing about the business they are working in. Partually this is down to Halfords and a lack of basic training and partially down to an attitude that "as I am doing this sh!tty job I care nothing about, why would anyone expect me to know diddly"

It is an attitude that permeates many companies in retail. Look at PC World or old Dixons.

Pride in ones job. The wish to be helpful and not look an idiot should really be part of a persons outlook. Whether on minimum wage or not. A couple reads of a mag and a look at bikerader would clue interested people up on these questions in 5 minutes. The problem is "interested"

I see your point but unfortunately it is a reality that exists in a lot of stores! Like I said there is no 'training' as such when you first start as a part timer. So the new guys (assuming they know nothing about bikes before hand) are only going to be as good as the people who are teaching them, which is usually one of the two full time members of staff. Now as these guys usually have a lot of other work on their plate, so any 'teaching' that does happen is usually brief and will often involve a lot of 'corner cutting'. That is exactly the type of experience that a new person does not need as they will grow a habit of doing things half-arsed and incorrectly.

Also, Halfords as a company offers no/very little incentives for achieving a big sale or learning how to repair a certain part of a bike etc. so the part timers feel no need to extend their knowledge as they do not feel they will be getting nothing in return. And like I said this is the attitude of many people who get jobs here nowadays. They just want a job to get paid and not take it any further.

Occasionally you will get a decent member of staff who is willing to learn and does research outside of work to increase their knowledge but these people are surprisingly hard to come by especially with the reputation that Halfords has on internet, they would rather go for a job somewhere else. So you can see the predicament!

supersonic

Or they could properly interview people and only employ people with knowledge? Or at least have a dedicated training programme. They make enough money lol.

tarbot18

As a few have said above maybe its because i take pride in my own job i expect others to do so and to be knowledgeable about theirs, but then if you on £5.50 an hour and someone else gets all the profits whats the incentive ......

My local 2 giant shops are run as co op s so maybe there's more of an incentive for the staff to do a good job as they share profits and benefit as the business grows plus they are avid mtb s themselves

supersonic

Incentives are to work up - my mate who started there a few years ago became supervisor/specialist now store manager.

But the core lies with who they employ. Which is usually the cheapest they can find.

mattl80

I think people are being a bit harsh on the halford staff tbh. They dont claim to be spicalists. They are selling mass market bikes for reasinable prices to joe public for the minimum wage. It's probably quite sole destroying.

I go in the Oxford store for the odd replacement inner tube and they seem fine. As long as they are polite i couldn't give a shit how much they know about fork travel or the latest shimano component. If you want to have a conversation about those details then go and see a specialist at your LBS or come on here.

supersonic

It's not all the staff, some are very good. but some stores (and it isn't just Halfords, independents do it too as well as other chains), they employ people from the off who have no interest in bikes and know nothing about them. And they do claim to be specialist stores.

Sure we all have to start somewhere, but at least find people who are willing and have other staff who can guide them or take over the harder stuff. I started on £2.78 an hour.

Plyphon

Tbh with the massive range of (lets be honest) more-specialist-than-your-average goods in that shop I would be more worried if I walked up to a completely normal looking employee who DID know the travel of every fork in stock or what particular shifter I was on about.


Another way to look at it would be to walk up to a random Tesco employee and ask them what wine would go best with your dinner, and then to expect an answer different to "lol i duno m8"

Northwind

Decathlon stereotype- they have a turbo trainer set up in our local branch. I said, can I try that? They said sure. I started pedalling, they said STOP! You can only sit on it.

chez_m356

tarbot18 wrote:

Had a little perv at the Boardman Team fs and decided to ask the helpful assistant how much travel the forks had out of interest , he looked at me and said its the gap between the little rubber band and the top of the forks and looked like 2 inches ! He then looked at me vacantly when i tried explaining again and had to go and ask the other assistant !

i find it more worrying that you even had to ask :roll:

tarbot18

I have to confess i dont know the travel of every fork on the market i will take myself away and give myself a jolly good thrashing..............

The Rookie

The spec sheets attached to most bikes list the claimed travel (Voodoo Bantu mess up not withstanding)....

tarbot18

No spec sheets in my local halfords that i saw , and i only asked out of curiosity as the assistant came over to ask if i needed any help he was helpful ill give him that.
Its not that he didnt know the travel thats fair enough he didnt know how you worked out the travel or where to find out that i found strange.

cooldad

Sometimes impossible to work out travel from the exposed stanchion without cycling through the travel.

chez_m356

tarbot18 wrote:

I have to confess i dont know the travel of every fork on the market i will take myself away and give myself a jolly good thrashing..............

so you should ......wasn't been serious mate,was just jesting

tarbot18 wrote:

No spec sheets in my local halfords that i saw , and i only asked out of curiosity as the assistant came over to ask if i needed any help he was helpful ill give him that.
Its not that he didnt know the travel thats fair enough he didnt know how you worked out the travel or where to find out that i found strange.

did he not know that halfords have a website ?

heez29

cooldad wrote:

Sometimes impossible to work out travel from the exposed stanchion without cycling through the travel.

Yup. My Manitous have an extra 10-15mm of exposed stanchion.

Lagrange

I think that Halfords have done a lot for cycling. The sole distributor of Boardman bikes at good prices and superb quality. Carera Voodoo which get accolades even on this forum. They are mass market - they are not for people with specialist needs and they are miles better than some of the other high street chains. Having been around for ages tends to suggest they know what they are doing as a company even if individually they are less than perfect. Try going downstaies and get your MOT and servicing done - that is regulated - and the quaklity is good!

The Rookie

Lagrange wrote:

Carera Voodoo

Oh dear......

Also other sell Boardmans.......

chez_m356

The Beginner wrote:

Lagrange wrote:

Carera Voodoo

Oh dear......

Also other sell Boardmans.......

yes, but they are the more expensive models, no doubt the idea is that, sell them in a so called ''proper'' bike shop and they can charge considerably more for them :?: