Very happy with Halfords today!

rodgers73

The rear mech cable snapped when I'm still 45 miles from home and left me stranded on the 11 cog. My bike is a triple so I should have had 3 gears still, but it was a flat ride and there was no way I could grind the highest gear without downhill assistance!

Made it to my local Halfords for 4.45 after 40 miles on the 2 usable gears. There were 2 customers in front of me at the till but the bloke still fixed the cable and indexed the gears for me. Even though all the other staff were stood by the door waiting to go home. Turned out he had a 90 min drive too, but was friendly and patient throughout - very happy with him and the rest of the staff were pretty cheery too when I apologised for keeping them waiting.

Total cost - £8.

Say what you like about them, I'm very happy with Halfords today.

lotus49

You should write to the Head Office and name the chap involved.

People are always ready to complain but it's is rare for people to write in to compliment anyone. Go on, do him a favour in return.

apreading

lotus49 wrote:

You should write to the Head Office and name the chap involved.

People are always ready to complain but it's is rare for people to write in to compliment anyone. Go on, do him a favour in return.

+1

rodgers73

I think I will - pretty sure I got his name.

elderone

What a nice story about halfords,nice one.Bet the feeling of it being fixed for the journey home made the price even more of a bargain.

VTech

Nice 1, as above, email them.

rodgers73

elderone wrote:

What a nice story about halfords,nice one.Bet the feeling of it being fixed for the journey home made the price even more of a bargain.

Oh yes! Was expecting to have to mess about trying to get it fixed tomorrow in time for commuting on Tuesday, which is a bit tricky when I work in Wakefield and live in Doncaster.

danlikesbikes

Yeah it is quite good to hear some positive news from Halfords.

As others have said I would email Halfords & let them know.

ShutUpLegs

Considering how many bikes they sell, it can't be all bad news.

rodgers73

Email sent, hope the guy gets some recognition!

saprkzz

Its situations like this that can keep the business strong. With staff that are focused on the customer will keep them coming back for more. In my town we only have 1 shops and 1 Halfords for cycles. I must admit, i will only use halfords if its a lsat resort, but my LBS get NONE of my money as the owner is a miserable sod, always seems an effort to him. His answers to questions always seem to have a *sigh* I dont like the guy at all, and it's many people who experience this with him as well.
So i make the journey out of town to do my business. Yesterday had a problem with my bottom bracket and the guy replaced the bearings reset it all up in about an hour and when asked how much?.. "Nah, dont worry about it" as he was turning the lights off to go home!...

Its like it with all types of business, the busy ones and the ones that go the extra mile! and I stand by that!

binsted

saprkzz wrote:

LBS get NONE of my money as the owner is a miserable sod, always seems an effort to him. His answers to questions always seem to have a *sigh* I dont like the guy at all, and it's many people who experience this with him as well.
So i make the journey out of town to do my business.

Its like it with all types of business, the busy ones and the ones that go the extra mile! and I stand by that!

Sounds a familiar story, when we moved house I went into the LBS shop to ask about local cycling clubs, without even bothering to look up he said "look it up on the internet, its what its there for", so I went into Halfords and the guy gave me a list and spent 10 minutes explaining the benefits of each. So now for consumables locally I use Halfords.

k3vinjam3s

my halfords in stockton-on-tees is were id go over my lbs. never had a problem with the staff. my lbs seemed to not be bothered at all because i was a novice and wasnt spending a fortune on a bike. whereas halfords have advised and even let me borrow there tools instead of buying from them when i needed it just the once. also their bike care plan i think is invaluable for someone who doesnt know bike maintenance. its £20 for the year and all labour is free aslong as the parts are halfords bought, including their reasonable online prices. in comparison i took my mountain bike for a service to my lbs and it was £95 with about £25 worth of bits. aslong as the staff halfords use are experienced and enthusiastic i dont see a problem using them.