Halfords stereotype!

kirby700

I have bought my current bike Boardman team FS from them and to fair I've had a couple of issues but far and large they have fixed it pretty quick.

The only issues I can see with them really is that they are have lots of newish / youngish / temp staff that dont really know their stuff but if you wait round the more experienced staff are usually somewhere near.

One thing that cant be beaten is the ridulous offers they randomly put on, I got a Bell variant helmet in sealed box for £15.00 last month and the silly parts / tools offers that pop up cant be ignored and I wont even tell you about the bargain buckets kicking around the local shop (661 kyle strait knee pads for a tenner)

Ker-ching!

Thank you

blue9iron

I use the one at Crystal peaks in Sheffield and they are great.Took my 2 lads bmx bikes in just before xmas for repair , service and they did a great job.The staff especially Steph know what they are doing and are very helpful .

97th choice

I think if they have a dedicated bike hut section it should have properly trained staff. If I hadn't checked out my banshee properly I would have walked out of the store with missing suspension pivot bolts. Not the fault of the staff if halfords can't bother to train them though.

cooldad

You want boutique, pay boutique prices. I'm poor so I'm happy to eat horsemeat.

97th choice

To extend your analogy, the problem isn't the horsemeat, it's that the butcher hasn't a clue what to do with it.

craigw99

as long as it tastes ok who really cares? :-)

Plyphon

Yeah but if it doesn't work well with the gravy there's no point making mince with it.


(Yeah I've no idea what i mean either)

_jon_

craigw99 wrote:

as long as it tastes ok who really cares? :-)

You won't be saying that when it gives you the trots.

boristhespie

So because someone maybe getting minimum wages that excuses them from being interested in the basics.


Hmmm, no wonder our country is going down the shitter.

This kid of attitude permeates thinking in thisncountry and it is a pathetic response.

I've worked before there was a minimum wage and was paid significantly less both in full time work and part time and I saw knowing about my job, products I was selling as a role of my job. 5 minutes looking at a magazine sorted me out. These guys now dont even have to buy a mag to get basic info. They can come one here.

The shitty "why should I bother" attitude is no excuse. You work with bikes? Learn the basic termanology.

anj132

Put the Daily Mail down and walk away! How long as the country been going down the shitter now, it can't be long before we hit rock bottom now surely?

This thread is a bit old now as well isn't it?

Surely your complaint should be with the management not employing the correct staff. They should employ the staff who had an interests in bikes or a willingness to learn. But then, given surely some stores do get it right and some don't, then clearly some management in stores could be found lacking (or some got lucky). Surely upper management are failing in their jobs... The cycle goes on, for me, it's a top down attitude that should be addressed from the board or perhaps it works fine in their business model and their shareholders are happy (I have no idea on their share price, EPS etc) and lets face it, people are fallible and no business is perfect.

The staff member with the lazy approach, well that will be their look out down the line, the proactive person should go on to achieve more, be that Halfords or somewhere else.

reformedfatty

I think halfords stories are often good fun - granted less the expecting the sales staff to know what BCD your chainring bolts are off the top of their head. Those ones are a bit tedious.

My stories - tried a boardman fs team for frame size previously, so walked into the store knowing what I wanted. Ordered it, did I want it built up? 'I've got the boardman hardtail, love it' says the mechanic. Well, if you're confident then yeah sure says I. Had to bite my tongue picking it up with its shifters pointing straight forward, misaligned brakes and litany of loose bolts.

Round 2. Much the same as above except a boardman cx team. Don't built it this time please. They build it anyway. Bars were angled about 25 degrees upwards when I picked it up and the bead on the tyres are very kinked. Smile politely and leave

Round 3. This halfords bike was absolutely fine - it was second hand and the previous owner had already dealt with the shakedown issues

Great bikes, godawful assembly.

Northwind

When I got my Voodoo, I decided it'd be fun to let them build it for me, at best it'd save me work and at worst I'd get a funny story. End result- near perfect build, and the only part I could criticise (long cables) was factory specced not shop built. Very good indeed.

perkins360

I'm an amateur so let them build my bike... so far nothing has fallen off... which is nice

97th choice

Dealing with halfords is simple, research, buy the bike you want and then treat it as if it hasn't had any PDI or set up.

I've also found them excellent at dealing with any warranty issues, even two years after purchase.

Tom Barton

Some of these comments sound as if halfords way of training staff is non existant (or limited to how to use a till...)

Even minimal training (i.e. I don't know the answer to your question but let me go grab the manual/brochure) would be better than a numpty standing there telling you he doesn't know. Being able to find the answers you don't know is an important skill!!

foy

They are the biggest bike chain in the country by a mile and yet they will not let you try a bike out in the carpark because of health and safety reasons, you could not make it up, if someone wants to spend around a £1000 why would you waste your time with this shop. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys, but to be fair some of the staff are very good but sadly they soon move on to pastures new.

Northwind

foy wrote:

They are the biggest bike chain in the country by a mile and yet they will not let you try a bike out in the carpark because of health and safety reasons.

Few shops will let you testride a new bike, because the second you ride it round the car park, it's not new.

foy

Halfords are the only shop i know who have this policy, if you go to leisure lakes evans cycles or wheelbase they will let you test ride anything you want. We are all different shapes and sizes and how do you know what fits you if you dont have a ride on the damn thing. I once hired three bikes for 3 days and the bikes were a cannondale full sus at £3000 a trek ex full sus at £2000 and a specialized stumpjumper full sus at £1500. The cannondale fit like a glove but rode awful, the trek rode really lovely but i felt it didnt fit me right, the specialized rode lovely and fit me right and i went on to buy one from the shop i hired the bikes from.

Northwind

Evans and Leisure Lakes have a demo fleet. Not at all the same as just taking a bike for sale and riding it. Leisurelakes certainly don't allow you to demo "anything you want", they have a limited fleet. Evans told me I couldn't demo the bikes I was interested in because they had no demo deal with the manufacturer... Specialized and Trek both have a demo fleet which they distribute through some shops. Don't know about Canondale.

This is just one of the reasons that Halfords bikes are such excellent value- they cut down some of the extra costs. Nothing comes for free- when you buy a Boardman FS for a grand and discover the spec's better than a Specialized Camber Comp costing £300 more, this is one of the results.

foy

I have never test rode any of the demo fleet with the exception of the three that i hired for the day. The ones i rode were stock models off the shop floor. Wheelbase and leisure lakes have wonderful staff who are so friendly and helpful and nothing is too much trouble for them, and also evans are very good as well, and these shops will always get my money when i need a new bike.

Northwind

That's how things get into a demo fleet in the first place! But Leisurelakes say outright that you can only demo selected bikes, and Evans from my own experience only demo certain models. Maybe you just got lucky since you were asking for popular models from companies that support demos?

It's great that some shops offer this, but it's not something you can expect. They've obviously made the call that it'll make them enough sales to be worthwhile. Halfords on the other hand, like many other shops, have made the call that it's an added expense that's not worthwhile.

foy

The reason the boardman bikes are such good value for money is because halford are the importer and retailer as well. My next bike will either be a cube or a trek hardtail. I used to really like the specialized brand but they have totally lost the plot as most of their range is 29 er and i think they should give the customer a choice and the models are pathetic compared to the trek and cube on specification. Northwind what is your opinion on these 29 ers, are they a gimmick or are they the real deal as i am trying both 26 and 29 inch wheel bikes next week and would appreciate your advice.

heez29

Also think of the hassles of your average Halfords customer coming in and asking for a test ride of a Trax. Just putting that sub £100 bike into the mix.

Northwind

foy wrote:

Northwind what is your opinion on these 29 ers, are they a gimmick or are they the real deal as i am trying both 26 and 29 inch wheel bikes next week and would appreciate your advice.

Haven't a clue tbh, all mine are 26ers but that's just because I think they're great bikes, if I come across something better I'll have some thinking to do regardless of wheel size. Haven't ridden enough quality 29ers to judge (NEVER test ride a bike you think might be better than one you already own and like!)