halfords employee

oliver1001
oliver1001 Posts: 4
edited October 2009 in The Crudcatcher
yes i work at halfords, on the bike dept, and am proud to do so. why do we have so many bad connotations? The reason for this post is 1 customer today. He bought a new Banshee X from us, and to load it into his car we slackened the stem, twisting the handlebars. He came back several hours later, with another chap he met at Cannock Chase, demanding a refund, compensation, etc. This other chap claimed to be a 'seroius cyclist' and demanded that we gave him all this. aparently were a crap bike shop, and none of the staff know what were doing.

Well I'm a roadie, my manager is a roadie, and the chap that built the bike rides trials, so we do know what were doing. ok this is a rant but i am just fed up off all the negative halfords threads...
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Comments

  • XxxBFGxxX
    XxxBFGxxX Posts: 1,355
    oliver1001 wrote:
    yes i work at halfords, on the bike dept, and am proud to do so. why do we have so many bad connotations? The reason for this post is 1 customer today. He bought a new Banshee X from us, and to load it into his car we slackened the stem, twisting the handlebars. He came back several hours later, with another chap he met at Cannock Chase, demanding a refund, compensation, etc. This other chap claimed to be a 'seroius cyclist' and demanded that we gave him all this. aparently were a crap bike shop, and none of the staff know what were doing.

    Well I'm a roadie, my manager is a roadie, and the chap that built the bike rides trials, so we do know what were doing. ok this is a rant but i am just fed up off all the negative halfords threads...

    so why was he demanding a refund. ya aint said that bit
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Have a read of this:

    http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12638142

    As you can see later on, I have an opinion that takes into account the good and bad points.

    It is pretty bad that he demanded a refund based on solely the reputation of the shop: the bike is a good one. Not one I would suggest for Cannock though!
  • it was v ranty, but it just annoyed me, aparently it was our fault that the bike was built wrongly,

    thanks for your views Supersonic, to be fair but it does just annoy me that we have SO many negative connotations with bikes, i love working on a quality bike and genuinely do my best, so it ANNOYS me when things like this happen...

    Yeah but we have a 2nd hand bike now, wonder where that'll be ending up ;)
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    It happens at other places to be fair - you get a grumpy customer, and they can kick off!

    As I said in the other post, good employees are important, and I know many Halfords do have good staff; great staff even.

    Halfords do take on a lot of people, and many do not always have that experience. However, enthusiasm and product knowledge goes a long way, and I think Halfords have to back this up with more training. Even the very best never stop learning!
  • IcarusGreen
    IcarusGreen Posts: 1,486
    I never used to have a problem with Halfords until it took 3 months for my Boardman FS Team to get delivered (twice the wrong one was delivered) and once it did the paint was damaged. I've taken the bike as I'm fed up with the problems and was missing most of the summer without a bike. The paint damage is now covred over with a 'lizardskin' and i'm trying to get some money back through head office.

    The bike wasn't put together quite right but I've taken the time to go round the entire bike and sort it out (as any one should with their own ride).

    I appreciate that some people in Halfords are bike enthusiasts and are good at their job but this just is not consistant accross the stores. I will use Halfords again for bits and pieces but never again will I order a large item or let them touch by bikes.
    + 1001 posts reset by the cruel cruel moderators!

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  • toasty
    toasty Posts: 2,598
    Would that be this by any chance? My experience of Halfords around here has been that the staff are completely moronic, trying to buy a simple octalink bottom bracket was nigh on impossible as none of them knew what was one, scrabbing around out the back and offering me random bits componentry they found, in the hope it was an octalink bottom bracket.

    I've seen them swear blind to customer that it's normal for wheels to wear down and come out of true within a week if it's been used every day. They seem to take on people with absolutely no passion for biking to be honest, this is why I hold the opinion I do. The reason the stores are so varied is pot luck, they'll take on anyone it seems, occationally this is someone who vaguely cares, usually not from my experience.

    Did his shock have pressure by the way? Silly fork dispute aside I'd hope you were setting up pressures, most people don't have a shock pump.

    Besides, since when is "riding trials" any indication of bike maintaining skills...? I'd rather the guy who put it together was a bike mechanic than a trials rider. Are all your car mechanics taxi drivers?
  • chuckcork
    chuckcork Posts: 1,471
    oliver1001 wrote:
    Well I'm a roadie, my manager is a roadie, and the chap that built the bike rides trials, so we do know what were doing. ok this is a rant but i am just fed up off all the negative halfords threads...

    Not wanting to wind you up, but I'm a roadie too, yet not a qualified bike mechanic. I'll quite happily pull my bikes apart and then put them back together (tbh honest, some of my skills have developed as a result of not being happy with local bike shops service & outrageous charges), however the only person who is likely to get hurt if I screw up is myself, whereas in a shop you are selling to a wide range of customers who will have a diverse level of skills and experience who can't be expected to get it right.

    As a result the first question is, is the guy who built the bike up a trained bike mechanic? I would think for reasons of legal liability that Halfords are asking to be sued if they let untrained staff assessmble bikes given the likely consequences.

    The second question is, having bought the bike and decided he didn't like it, did he say why? Did he simply have a strop because he realised he didn't know how to tighten up what you loosened to get it into his car? That doesn't sound like grounds for a refund to me...
    'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....
  • toasty
    toasty Posts: 2,598
    As a result the first question is, is the guy who built the bike up a trained bike mechanic? I would think for reasons of legal liability that Halfords are asking to be sued if they let untrained staff assessmble bikes given the likely consequences.

    and how old was he just out of interest? A little prejudice perhaps but our shop seems to be full of 16 year olds. I have nothing against this, I do recall thinking I was a fantastic mechanic at 16 though, in retrospect I broke a lot of bits :P
  • .blitz
    .blitz Posts: 6,197
    oliver1001 wrote:
    yes i work at halfords
    Stafford branch by any chance? All good blokes there, never had a problem.

    Most of the aggro stems from the inexpensive bikes that people buy from Halfords. It's a sweeping generalisation but they are new to cycling and expect their bike to perform like their car or their washing machine.

    It's not the shop it's the customers.
  • Hi Oliver this is for you at Halfords

    I am the chap who brought the bike back with the young lad on sat.

    Just so you all know what happened.

    You
    1. Put the forks on backwards
    2. No air in rear shock
    3. Low air in rear tyre

    That means the wheel was on backwards as well as for the excuse that you loosened
    the bars to get it in the car and your excuse that it moved round the wrong way in transit
    is a joke right? You are saying that you built this bike and you are pround?

    Halfords according to their adverts go that bit extra and their bikes have a full safety check does this check include the above?

    What you should do is apoligise and the mangegment should offer this young lad some form of compensation. He knows very little about bikes and put his safety in your hands. he could have had a serious accident, this is not a joke. Trading standards is the way I would take it
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Was the fork on backwards when it left the shop?

    Oliver has a very valid point: if you twist the stem around as is very common for transit and the fork turns as you put in in the car it may appear it is on backwards. In reality it isn't, you just turn it back to the front then turn the stem back. I am afraid that if you turned the stem after and aligned it backwards it was your fault.

    I would have expected them to try and set the shocks up for you with you there. You need to do that yourself though to tailor it.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Here is how it happens:

    Everything here ship shape:
    correct.jpg



    Bars turned 90 degrees:
    twist1.jpg



    Or is it the wheel turned 90 degrees? Same thing:
    twist2.jpg



    Turn wheel 90 degrees the wrong way and then turn the stem to the front:wrong.jpg
    And your wheel is on the wrong way. Just from an incorrect 90 degree turn.
  • You are joking right?

    You take the front wheel off to get a bike in your car you do not touch the forks handlebars or stem. Thats the idea of the quick release. Please tell me you understand this or I am wasting my time. The bars require 5NM and the forks 9NM pressure for the safety of the rider and to make sure you do not damage the parts this varys alittle from bike to bike. if you touch any of these you would have to carry a torque metre with you to tighten up again. Also the rear sus should have been set up for the weight of the rider at the shop along with the fron fork settings. The rear type pressure should have been 45 min not 25.

    I have spoken to clive today the manager at halfords he was very helpful. Oliver however was not part of our conversation at the shop and should not be getting involved. If you read my posts you will know what the issue was with the bike and it seems simple to me. The bike was put together and not very well and for and safety checks that should have been done seem to have been missed out. A bike is a safety critical item which means that getting it wrong can be dangerous, thats a fact. A simple apoligy and some compensation will sort this out. Instead one excuse after another with a little bit of hearsay mixed in is what we get. If you where not there and you where not part of the conversation then comment no more. Clive will sort this out I am sure of that
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    edited July 2009
    No I am not: I am trying to help - I wouldn't go and get my bike out, adjust it and take 4 pics if I was!

    Oliver said:

    "we slackened the stem, twisting the handlebars"

    As I said, this is common practice to align the bars to the wheel or fork plane to create more space. Bolts need routinely checking, so I suggest you buy a torque wrench if you cannot judge the values.
  • cakesie
    cakesie Posts: 27
    A simple apoligy and some compensation will sort this out.

    And the truth comes out......money! :roll:
  • Dazzza
    Dazzza Posts: 2,364
    Wrong steve, depending on the vehicle they may have needed to slacken the stem to get the bike inside, i've had to do this for my bikes, im inclined to say he mentioned the stem was loose only for it to fall on deaf ears.

    25 psi in a tyre is low but far from dangerous just means you'll end up riding slower for it.

    Sounds to me you're looking for an excuse to have a go.

    As for torque figures, not always necessary on most items, just a bit of common sense prevails.

    How come if you know so much about bikes then why come on here and rant about it instead of getting on and fixing it for the lad.

    Stop playing the victim ffs.
    The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.
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  • The Hogester
    The Hogester Posts: 101
    Does anybody else find it unusual how these two guys happened to find each other on an internet forum?
  • Nik_B
    Nik_B Posts: 270
    If the young lad didn't have much of a clue about bikes what was he doing tightening it back up and realigning the forks/stem?
  • robmanic1
    robmanic1 Posts: 2,150
    Steveknight, you are a little confrontational aren't you? Obviously new to this forum, if you'd visited more often you would find sonic as a font of knowledge and only too happy to offer help when requested.

    You're either a concerned friend/relative of the lad with the bike or a busybody, haven't decided yet, but when folk try to offer a reasonable, helpful answer to your rant, even it it's a little wide of the mark, probably best to reply likewise or not bother, makes the world a better place, no?
    Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/
  • cat_with_no_tail
    cat_with_no_tail Posts: 12,981
    Robmanic1 wrote:
    Steveknight, you are a little confrontational aren't you? Obviously new to this forum, if you'd visited more often you would find sonic as a font of knowledge and only too happy to offer help when requested.

    You're either a concerned friend/relative of the lad with the bike or a busybody, haven't decided yet, but when folk try to offer a reasonable, helpful answer to your rant, even it it's a little wide of the mark, probably best to reply likewise or not bother, makes the world a better place, no?

    ^^^ What he said.
  • Steve, you messed up the bike when you tightened the stem after getting it out of the car.
    You now just want money.

    I hope you don't get any. You don't put your case across in the correct manner to gain people's empathy.
  • junglist_matty
    junglist_matty Posts: 1,731
    You take the front wheel off to get a bike in your car you do not touch the forks handlebars or stem. Thats the idea of the quick release. Please tell me you understand this or I am wasting my time. The bars require 5NM and the forks 9NM pressure for the safety of the rider and to make sure you do not damage the parts this varys alittle from bike to bike. if you touch any of these you would have to carry a torque metre with you to tighten up again. Also the rear sus should have been set up for the weight of the rider at the shop along with the fron fork settings. The rear type pressure should have been 45 min not 25.

    First off, to know the correct figures for tightness of bolts on a stem is just sad and prooves how anal you are.


    Uh, yeah, I'd rather loosen 3 bolts on the stem than remove my front wheel for reasons:

    1. The QR system on my Marzocchi Z150's is fiddly and not very quick to release the wheel, loosening the stem takes all of a few seconds!

    2. The brake works best when left undisturbed so constant removing of the wheel wears down brakes a lot quicker.


    Also, 45 PSI minimum you say... I say 45 maximum. I would put between 30-40 PSI because I ride off road and prefer having more grip to having a lesser rolling resistance.


    Another point... when I buy a brand new bike, its delivered in a box, that box is quite narrow, so the bars are twisted to fit into the box. They are twisted rather than taking the bars off the bike at the stem because this could bend a cable in a bad way, leave your bars in the box dangling from the frame with the brake and gear cables attached, also could cause scratches or even worse dent the new frame if handled poorly in transit. It also means they can deliver the bike with shifters, brake levers and grips all assembled and all you gotta do is twist the bars tighten up the stem and hey presto, your done!



    Oh, by the way, your average biker doesn't go anywhere with a Torque wrench, in fact, I'd guarantee that 75% of keen bikers don't even own one or have access to one (I don't), so stop being so anal and get a life, I know that tight is good, too tight is bad, and thats been fine for 15 years of self servicing bikes.


    Stop being a know-it-all and stop moaning about really stupid things; I hate people like you - the type who ring into Britains got tallent to complain that Susan Boyle hasn't been treated well!!!!!
  • once again a person who has no idea what went on but is willing to talk on this issue

    You are calling me names lol childish to say the least

    I have said this before but you are not reading.

    If you are not involved in this issue then shut up you are making yourselves look stupid
    I am answering the original post from a person making a comment directed at me and from someone who was not present at the original conversation.

    If you think this forum is so fantastic then you need to get a life.

    This forum should not be used by persons who feel it is satisfactory to manufacture what they think is right based on what they are told by others.

    I was there was you? Oh just an idea if you want to put your bike in your car take your front wheel off.

    Please if you are stupid and want to show how ignorant your are you may want to reply because for some odd reason I may have hurt your feelings.

    May I say that if you where at Halfords on Sat afternnon and took part in the conversation then post away but stop the bull shit because it brings me out in a rash
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    steve, you've come on the forum and your argument sums up as this:

    1. it's implausible that anyone would loosen a stem to put a bike in a car.
    2. even if they did, it's implausible that someone who didn't know what they were doing might mess up and twist the fork round when putting it back together.
    3. someone else (who you haven't explained how you are connected to) should get some money off halfords.

    you've been called on both 1 and 2, and 3 makes you look greedy.

    then you have responded than noone is entitled to contribute to the discussion who wasn't there! so why post?

    bye!
  • I think its all gone a bit wayward lol.... people do things differently, coz were all different - take out your front wheel or twist your bars does it matter if the bike fits? I think nearly everyone on here would agree that having a bike is not just about riding, its about maintenance, good cleaning, learning from your mistakes, having fun.... your not having fun are you steve knight!

    You have not hurt my feelings - i will ride to work tonight on a slighlty saggy rear shock coz it looses pressure occasionally! no harm done - but im worried about you though!!
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    edited July 2009
    So Steve, was the wheel taken off? Was the stem turned or slackened as was mentioned? Who reassembled it after removing from the car?

    Stems are routinely turned! That is a fact.

    I spend a LOT of time with riders of all abilities from absolute beginners to expert racers. I always try and explain things clearly, supply possibilties and even if mistakes have been made I try and empathise with the position of the poster. I could clearly see an explaination here when it was mentioned the stem was loosened as is commonplace and hence offered it. Yet you threw it back in my face.
  • andy46
    andy46 Posts: 1,666

    If you think this forum is so fantastic then you need to get a life.

    if you don't like this forum why are you here?
    2019 Ribble CGR SL

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  • How about doing what so many other people do, get a rack to transport your bike. No more removing wheels or slackening stems. Does make the car drink a bit more fuel though :(
  • blister pus
    blister pus Posts: 5,780
    Of course stem and bars are turned, how in the hell do I get it in the car and / or onto the cloak room wall mount it lives on when it's parked up if I didn't??? FFS. :roll:

    I slacken two stem bolts off and turn, takes longer to actually get the allen key out than it does the turning.
  • chuckcork
    chuckcork Posts: 1,471
    steve, you've come on the forum and your argument sums up as this:

    1. it's implausible that anyone would loosen a stem to put a bike in a car.
    2. even if they did, it's implausible that someone who didn't know what they were doing might mess up and twist the fork round when putting it back together.

    Personally I've had to take both wheels off and losen the stem of my road bike, even take the bars off completely to get it into a car, it just wouldn't fit in properly (with a child seat as well taking up a lot of space). No prob just have to reassemble when I get to my destination.

    I'd also say as someone who is mechanically minded that its easy enough to not put something back on correct, only takes a distraction to do step 1,2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and miss step 5, particularly if the requirement isn't clear.

    As for Torque wrenches I do have one but don't use it too often though I appreciate doing things to a certain Torque value has some attraction, though having done up bars to the correct torque and found that they were slowly rotating in service anyway makes me wonder if the "correct" setting was actually too low. As a result I guess I'm just learning not to be so worried about things and go by what feels right which is more or less how my last LBS did things. Of course no one else is going to suffer if I screw up...

    [suck eggs] Congrats to the original OP BTW, don't take the bait and answer back to Steve as you're not likely to win and arguiing on a public forum won't help you with your boss. [/suck eggs]
    'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....