Halfords WTF?

tim_wand

I am restricted locally for emergency purchases, especially on a Sunday to Halfords.

Needed a spare tube and thought I d get some decent lube for the new gruppo I ve fitted pre this mornings club run.

Look on line to see the local Halfords opens at 08:30, just enough time to ride down get what I need and then head out.

Fancied some of this

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_228374.

£4.80 on line or £7.99 off the shelf behind the spotty oik on the cycling counter.

Can I have it for £4.80? no that's the online price, Okay Onto the interweb on the phone and click and reserve for collection from the store I m stood in, Fine Sir your order will be available MONDAY.

Love Em! Just Love Em! there's ten bottles on the shelf behind the C*nt!!!!

eric_draven

thanks Tim,that's just put a right smile on my face

rolf_f

All Terrain Cycles in Saltaire do that - the shop and online site are run as separate companies so although you can buy online and pickup in the shop, you can't buy in the shop at the online prices.

Ultimately, you are offsetting convenience against cost - which is how it goes these days.

I've done nicely out of Halfords this week - 2 Campag Veloce cassettes at £16.57 each and, bizarrely coincidentally, Swissstop black pad sets at.... £16.57.

t4tomo

A year or so ago I had a right rant at Waterstones as ordered something to pick up in store and when I went in I was told it wasn't delivered - yet the same book I wanted was on the shelf . Again two different divisions in the company run independently so the online part actually ships duplicate stock to a store for you to pick up. No wonder they are struggling.

arran77

tim wand wrote:

Love Em! Just Love Em! there's ten bottles on the shelf behind the C*nt!!!!

Only 10 bottles, you should have got their entire stock reserved and put behind the counter, gone in to gloat at the empty shop and then tell them you changed your mind about your purchase

MisterMuncher

Fair play to Chain Reaction on that score. Whatever is the lower price, be it online or on the sticker, is what you end up paying.

A lot of these problems stem from staff being allowed no autonomy by management. As such, they're hamstrung into the "computer says no" routine.

gethinceri

Halfords in Pontypridd honoured online prices for me yesterday plus 10% BC discount.

markhewitt1978

Having completely seperate online and instore businesses is a very old fashioned way of working, back in the day when it was thought the online bit might falter. Smarter companies realise it's all being done under a single brand name and so the customer shouldn't know or care which side the business they are dealing with.

capt_slog

I used the Halfords click and collect system to buy some degreaser (that Blue stuff).

At the shop i went to the customer service desk and asked for my order. I had the paperwork but it was like I was asking for something off the moon. They wanted to know what it was so that they could work out which department it should be in! I told them that I wanted it for degreasing bike chains so they thought then that I should have gone to cycling for it.

I pointed out that it wasn't a cycling part, and as it was ordered in then it should have been at this desk.

About 15 minutes later i got the stuff. When I got home I found that about 20ml had seeped out and was now on my passenger seat :evil: Evidently they'd never seen it before and some tw@t had broken the seal to have a look/smell of it, and not done the top up properly.


On the flip side, I was very pleased with Halfords in LLandudno, where they put a new tube on my son's bike when he had punctured his front tyre. It's not easy finding a LBS if you don't know the area, so Halfords it was, the chap was very helpful and told son of a better route than the one he was going to take.

markhewitt1978

Bought some degreaser stuff off Tesco and the top was loose too. I had to completely empty my boot and wash it out as the smell was overwhelming

sloppyschleckonds

eric draven wrote:

thanks Tim,that's just put a right smile on my face

+1 gotta love Halfords

boydster76

On the flip side (just to balance the argument!), I went into my local store to pick up a set of crud road racers that I'd reserved online at half the in store price. I also picked up a couple of camelbak bottles that were on offer and the guy serving me still applied the 3 for 2 accessories discount that was running to the already well discounted basket of stuff. The thing was, I hadn't asked about it, or even knew it was running, he had just been honest about it. With all the discounts, I effectively got the £25 crud road racers for free.

southdownswolf

Halfords in Carlisle cleaned and lubed my chain, gave the bike a quick wipe down, then pumped up my tyres all for free when I was doing my JOGLE. Bit far to go from Eastbourne to use regularly though....
As for reserve and collect, always been able to do that almost instantly, have they changed policy recently?

Lord_V

I have used Halfords click and collect in store, though recently its changed to an hour after the reservation for most items. Others you apparently have to wait a few days - I guess its something to do with stock levels being below a certain point?

arran77

Lord_V wrote:

I have used Halfords click and collect in store, though recently its changed to an hour after the reservation for most items. Others you apparently have to wait a few days - I guess its something to do with stock levels being below a certain point?

I'd say it's more to do with whether the spotty herbert who works there can be bothered to get off his arris and pick the thing off the shelf

rolf_f

Lord_V wrote:

I have used Halfords click and collect in store, though recently its changed to an hour after the reservation for most items. Others you apparently have to wait a few days - I guess its something to do with stock levels being below a certain point?

More that the shops don't come close to stocking a lot of the stuff available online at all. Try going into a branch of Halfords and asking for a Campagnolo Centaur medium cage rear mech and see what happens. But you can order them online.....

tim_wand

arran77 wrote:

tim wand wrote:

Love Em! Just Love Em! there's ten bottles on the shelf behind the C*nt!!!!

Only 10 bottles, you should have got their entire stock reserved and put behind the counter, gone in to gloat at the empty shop and then tell them you changed your mind about your purchase

Now that Idea I like

de rien

Email their customer services, explain and ask the sense of it, post up response.

bikes`n`guns

Edinburgh have not only matched the online price for me, but re-done an online order while I was here to collect, so that I could get a weekend 10% extra discount as well.

Was in there today and they offered to service my Boardman while I wait manyana cause my motor is in for its MOT tomorrow

RideOnTime

Rolf F wrote:

All Terrain Cycles in Saltaire do that - the shop and online site are run as separate companies so although you can buy online and pickup in the shop, you can't buy in the shop at the online prices.

Ultimately, you are offsetting convenience against cost - which is how it goes these days.

I've done nicely out of Halfords this week - 2 Campag Veloce cassettes at £16.57 each and, bizarrely coincidentally, Swissstop black pad sets at.... £16.57.

ooo

awavey

Rolf F wrote:

Lord_V wrote:

I have used Halfords click and collect in store, though recently its changed to an hour after the reservation for most items. Others you apparently have to wait a few days - I guess its something to do with stock levels being below a certain point?

More that the shops don't come close to stocking a lot of the stuff available online at all. Try going into a branch of Halfords and asking for a Campagnolo Centaur medium cage rear mech and see what happens. But you can order them online.....

thats just cruel I ordered a saddle bag to collect in store from then once, and they must have spent about 25mins hunting for the damn thing, even at point having to describe what it could look like, as if they had so many hiding in the store room it was difficult to pick out the right one...err no.

they have their uses, but about as well stocked as an Aldi the day after the cycling stuff goes on sale. there only +ve is they are alot less snooty than some of the LBSs.