Halfords - Credit where it is due

antsmithmk

Fancied a cheap fixie bike for nipping around town and liked the look of the Real Singolo from Halfords.

Slight problem was nearest stock was 40 miles away (80 round trip).

Called customer services, excellent girl called Andrea said she would see if she could send the bike to my local store for me to have a look at.

She called me back 30 mins later to say the bike was being boxed by the Oxford branch and the MK branch would call me Wednesday to go and view.

I have seen plenty of Halfords bashing on this forum, so thought I should share a positive experience!

sloppyschleckonds

They ain't all bad, and they sell a million bikes a year.

elderone

Never had a bad experience at halfords,got some bargains in there sales/deals.

seanorawe

I was at cross roads when my hybrid needed serviced. LBS was shut because of a water leak and needed it ASAP. Went to halfords and they did a sterling job. Got it half price too as part of a promotion, so I went for the elite service. Bike is running like a dream

Pross

To be fair the main problem they have is that in many stores their bike people aren't really bike people. If you find a store with an enthusiastic and competent bike mechanic they are fine. I wouldn't use them unless in an emergency as the bits and pieces they sell tend to be limited and not great quality but in terms of service it varies - so pretty much like any other large retailer or LBS to be honest!

treebirch

My experience is that it is just really subjective to the branch and the individual. Make sure you're not served by an oik from the stereo department in the cycle section! There never seems to be enough staff.

giant_man

antsmithmk wrote:

Fancied a cheap fixie bike for nipping around town and liked the look of the Real Singolo from Halfords.

Slight problem was nearest stock was 40 miles away (80 round trip).

Called customer services, excellent girl called Andrea said she would see if she could send the bike to my local store for me to have a look at.

She called me back 30 mins later to say the bike was being boxed by the Oxford branch and the MK branch would call me Wednesday to go and view.

I have seen plenty of Halfords bashing on this forum, so thought I should share a positive experience!

That's ok. They'll probably send the wrong one.

chris_bass

a few years bike I had a bike stolen and the insurance comapny would only pay out in halfords vouchers, as it was taking so long for them to pay out the guy at halfords let me pay for the bike in cash and then when the vouchers arrived refunded me the value of the vouchers. sometimes their mechanics can be questionable but their customer services can be alright if you go to the right places.

thefd

giant man wrote:

antsmithmk wrote:

Fancied a cheap fixie bike for nipping around town and liked the look of the Real Singolo from Halfords.

Slight problem was nearest stock was 40 miles away (80 round trip).

Called customer services, excellent girl called Andrea said she would see if she could send the bike to my local store for me to have a look at.

She called me back 30 mins later to say the bike was being boxed by the Oxford branch and the MK branch would call me Wednesday to go and view.

I have seen plenty of Halfords bashing on this forum, so thought I should share a positive experience!

That's ok. They'll probably send the wrong one.

I was thinking it is a little premature to praise them at this stage. They may not call, or it may be the wrong bike/size or it may just not arrive.

But if it does then like you say credit where credit is due.