Halfords Incompetence - Im Fuming!

buddy_club

Hi,
Basically my Drive-train was in need of a freshen up so i took it to Halfords to get it a new Cassette and Chain fitted and to have it serviced because Halfords give me good discounts because of many issues i had before with a Carrera. The mechanic in there, who i had originally perceived to be a decent mechanic promised to have a check and service the brakes and gears. Already the bike was running smoothly, gears were shifting nicely and cleanly, no rubbing on the front derailleur and the brakes were going fine just a little bit iof rub on the front which i though the Halfords guy would fix. I picked it up again today and all seemed good so i just put it into the car - im kicking myself now because i should have checked that the issues were resolved. It appeared that nothing had been done to the brakes but i thought meh, no biggie i'll just adjust the caliper myself. I get home and just pedaling out of my road and the chain is already rubbing on the front Derailleur and on closer inspection i notice that the chain is loose! It is long for the tensioning spring in the derailleur to work and therefore is completely loose with no chain tension!

So i ring up the guy at Halfords, and he starts telling me that the chain is rubbing because i should only use the corresponding three cogs on the cassette in relation to the front cog, i.e: in gear 1 at the front i should use gear 1-3 at the back, in gear 2 at front i should use gear 4-6 at the back and in gear 3 at the front i should use 7-9 at the back - basically total Bo**ocks! So he says oh yeah you need to shorten the chain, luckily enough i actually have a chain tool but if someone didn't and/or had little knowledge of these things how would they be able to do it! And considering i just paid £25 for a service surely Halfords should sort out things like that!? Basically i cant ride it tonight now and im going to have to take it to halfords again tomorrow which is 20miles away! Total PITA.

I guess ive learned my lesson now - stop being a tight arse and get the job done properly!
Anything else i can do? Anyone else had a similar bad experience?

Colinthecop

£25 for a service....?

I'd be happy, I think my LBS charge £70.

buddy_club

Colinthecop wrote:

£25 for a service....?

I'd be happy, I think my LBS charge £70.

Indeed, they took money off because I had all the issues with them before. I think my LBS is about £60, and I'll definitely be taking it to them next time.

BigAl

Learn to do it yourself

£60 is more than enough for all the tools you'll need to complete the same sort of service

danvannoorden

I totally understand! I went to the Scunthorpe branch and the sales assistant spoke to me like I was a complete moron, basically ignoring everything I said and just all around TERRIBLE customer service.

He was using the typical sales tricks to try get me to buy a voodoo which was 200 over budget, but me being a sales person myself it fell on deaf ears.

Once he knew I wasn't budging on my budget he lost all interest.

I was so angry I told him to forget it and left without my carrera Vulcan.

I've been reading nothing but bad things about halfords after care, once you've paid and your out the door they don't want to know.

If my local go outdoors had any 20" calibre two two in stock I'd be happily riding now

jonnyashworth

I started to learn to maintain my own bikes about 4 years ago. I now do everything myself (except truing wheels, that's next to learn). I would suggest you keep your eye out in lidl for one of their bike work stands and start to buy the basic tools you need they will pay for themselves in the long run.

I can sympathise with the incompetence of Halfords mechanics (I'm sure there are good ones out there). I recently went over a (total novice) mates new boardman team FS and was appauled by how badly put together it was. They set his fork and shock up with 50% sag :shock: :shock:, stem was dangerously loose, both brakes rubbing, gears consistently misaligned, they even threaded the pedals the wrong way leaving his chainset totally knackered :shock: :shock:.
He brought the bike to me saying how much he regretted buying it, I thought "Hummm...... that's strange they get great reviews". We kicked off and they replaced the cranks (needled to say I fitted them) and now he absolutely loves the bike and rides like a champ.

The long and the short..... use your LBS or learn to do it your self! :P :P

cooldad

I suggest a series of strongly worded letters to the Mail.

jonnyashworth

or get in touch with crime watch?

supersonic

use your LBS

But why would an 'LBS' be any better?

buddy_club

cooldad wrote:

I suggest a series of strongly worded letters to the Mail.

Indeed, considering my history with Halfords it would definitely make front page

buddy_club

danvannoorden wrote:

I totally understand! I went to the Scunthorpe branch and the sales assistant spoke to me like I was a complete moron, basically ignoring everything I said and just all around TERRIBLE customer service.

He was using the typical sales tricks to try get me to buy a voodoo which was 200 over budget, but me being a sales person myself it fell on deaf ears.

Once he knew I wasn't budging on my budget he lost all interest.

I was so angry I told him to forget it and left without my carrera Vulcan.

I've been reading nothing but bad things about halfords after care, once you've paid and your out the door they don't want to know.

If my local go outdoors had any 20" calibre two two in stock I'd be happily riding now

It really annoys me their total lack of decent customer service.

rockmonkeysc

I blame Halfords.

buddy_club

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I blame Halfords.

I blame wiggle

ilovedirt

As the others have said, learn to do it yourself, it's not difficult.

buddy_club

ilovedirt wrote:

As the others have said, learn to do it yourself, it's not difficult.

I will definitely next time, just need a few specific tools.

ilovedirt

Aye, can pick them up from crc pretty cheap. The only bike-specific tools I have are a chain whip, cassette tool, bb tool, spoke key and quick link pliers I think. Not much you cant do with them, and your normal garage tools.

The Rookie

I've had just as ad service from an LBS and much better from some Halfords.....

Brake rubbing is a fact of life, probably nothing will stop it.

Chain being too long is inexcusable.

Chunkers1980

The Rookie wrote:

Chain being too long is inexcusable.

That's if it actually is and is better than too short.

zx6man

Chunkers1980 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

Chain being too long is inexcusable.

That's if it actually is and is better than too short.

Bet he just fitted it out of the box without taking links out :-)

The Rookie

buddy_club wrote:

on closer inspection i notice that the chain is loose! It is long for the tensioning spring in the derailleur to work and therefore is completely loose with no chain tension!

SNIP

So he says oh yeah you need to shorten the chain, luckily enough i actually have a chain tool

I'm happy to take BC's word for the events and that it was too long.

buddy_club

zx6man wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

Chain being too long is inexcusable.

That's if it actually is and is better than too short.

Bet he just fitted it out of the box without taking links out :-)

He said he measured it to the old one, which is strange because the old one was fine in terms of tension.

The Rookie wrote:

buddy_club wrote:

on closer inspection i notice that the chain is loose! It is long for the tensioning spring in the derailleur to work and therefore is completely loose with no chain tension!

SNIP

So he says oh yeah you need to shorten the chain, luckily enough i actually have a chain tool

I'm happy to take BC's word for the events and that it was too long.

Thanks

Superdon

Keen to learn at least the basics of servicing a bike without having to use halfords!

Are there any good how to's, start to finish, that I can follow?

buddy_club

Park tools website has loads mate.

iwilldoit

jonnyashworth wrote:

I started to learn to maintain my own bikes about 4 years ago. I now do everything myself (except truing wheels, that's next to learn). I would suggest you keep your eye out in lidl for one of their bike work stands and start to buy the basic tools you need they will pay for themselves in the long run.

I can sympathise with the incompetence of Halfords mechanics (I'm sure there are good ones out there). I recently went over a (total novice) mates new boardman team FS and was appauled by how badly put together it was. They set his fork and shock up with 50% sag :shock: :shock:, stem was dangerously loose, both brakes rubbing, gears consistently misaligned, they even threaded the pedals the wrong way leaving his chainset totally knackered :shock: :shock:.
He brought the bike to me saying how much he regretted buying it, I thought "Hummm...... that's strange they get great reviews". We kicked off and they replaced the cranks (needled to say I fitted them) and now he absolutely loves the bike and rides like a champ.

The long and the short..... use your LBS or learn to do it your self! :P :P

Talking of Lidl just been my local store stands £29.99 last week a couple left this week and now £19.99 so my week of indecision saved me £10 and learning to do my own maintenance is coming a long quite well.

Colinthecop

At £19.99 i'd be buying the remaining stocks and flogging them on Ebay... 8)

kajjal

Getting a replacement chain the wrong length is poor but front gear change adjustment is a more personal thing. Different people like to have different ranges of gears to use without rubbing. Best to learn to adjust your gears to your own needs, that way it fits your riding and most commonly used gears.

zx6man

to add, my carrera doesnt rub in any gear

Kai in the Borders

buddy_club wrote:

Park tools website has loads mate.

It is excellent. Also worth looking for stuff on YouTube, but ideally from trusted and competent sources (i.e. SRAMTech is good for the likes of Rockshox & Avid etc. plus some of the magazines) rather than a lad 'having a go' in his garage. Although you can view the latter for amusement / horror!

njee20

Different people like to have different ranges of gears to use without rubbing. Best to learn to adjust your gears to your own needs, that way it fits your riding and most commonly used gears.

Rubbish. I suspect most would accept some rubbing in the extremes: big/big and small/small, but you should be able to get just about everything else with no rubbing.

mike hunts alpine

njee20 wrote:

Different people like to have different ranges of gears to use without rubbing. Best to learn to adjust your gears to your own needs, that way it fits your riding and most commonly used gears.

Rubbish. I suspect most would accept some rubbing in the extremes: big/big and small/small, but you should be able to get just about everything else with no rubbing.

+1
Watch the bike radar videos on front mech and rear mech setup there bang on that's how I learned and it really is only as hard as you make it just listen and learn.
Unless your a nincompoop obvz.

buddy_club

Well in the end i just sorted it out myself, job done, no rubbing on any gears in the FD and also no brake rub, only thing is now i realized i didn't buy new rings for the front so the chain was slipping about under power! Oh well, back to CRC!