UKSaabs

Yesterday I reserved an Alpine head unit ( it was ex display so half price).. at a Halfords a few miles from me.....
On turning up to collect/pay for it I was handed it without the box or accessories so I asked about the users manual etc , the assistant went off to look for the box..... he arrives back with the box which had a few parts in it .... BUT no surround finisher thing ....on asking for that I was informed .... " you can get those on E bay "
Eventually he gets one out of another Alpine box ....... I then put my credit card into their card reader machine .... this young man says in a louder than neccessary voice .... ITS BEEN DECLINED ..... I ask him to try it again please .... ( I know theres plenty of limit left ) .... which he then does and of course it goes through ok .
Now so far as far as I,m concerned its not been a pleasant experience .... BUT wait for this ......
I,m handed my receipt with a ticket which says ..... go to www.tellhalfords.com and let them know how good your buying experience was ............

This young man actually thinks I went away happy ??????

and have you? told them?

_________________
Theory is when you know everything and nothing works
Practice is where everything works but you don't know why.
In my world nothing works and I don't know why...

The thing is. He really doesn't care what you think. Or even what his boss thinks or his manner would be different. The days of any kind of service in a large branded store are long gone IMHO. We supply a really good Motor Factor in the East End of Glasgow and that's where I tend to buy all I need mainly because of the service and that they actually have a clue.

Some Halfords are ok.....some are so bad they should be closed down, our halfords here seem to know their stuff but do seem a tad pushy trying to sell higher priced items but so far most are worth listening to, but then most are very nice girls with tight blouses

Who cares if they put 145 70 13 tyres on my jag

_________________
1998 9-3SE Turbo convertible FPT Stg 1.....yeah baby

halfords appears to have a problem seeing its place in the market these days. with telco and asda selling you a decent bike or parts for the basics and the same doing cheap-and thats the key word these days-camping gear and the like the place for halfords has narrowed. it is a jack of all trades and a master of none. motor factor camping shop,bike repairs,car stereos....
once upon a time they had a good selection of car stereos and you could try them all in situ in the shop.these days their range seems to have halved because of making room for sat nav.......
if you stock checked a halfords i think at least fifty percent of their products could be found in a large tescos these days. rather than expand and diversify they need to contract the range and specialise more. find a niche.....like smiths should.......

_________________
LR Discovery HSE TD V6
99 turbo white
c900 turbo black
c900 fpt vert blue
fiat 500

My experience of my local Halfords is that hey have sod all in stock of the lines they do sell...spring compressors ...not in stock.....wire wool ...l bag.........oil filter mk4 golf...not in stock..oil filter C900..not in stock....may be they are doing me a favour because the stuffs too expensive anyway...l,m just too lazy at times to plan a head and buy it far cheaper else where

_________________
99GL 84
C900i 84 2dr
9000 2.0i CDXS
C900 trailer
Golf Mk4 1.9TDi
Fiesta 1.4 Zetec

Our local Halfords is a touch more expensive on shelf price than most online retailers, but once you add postage on it's often cheaper just to nip down to Halfords. Which I tend to do. Sure, their staff tend to be young and ill informed, but the two don't necessarily go together. I've come across a few youngsters who were knowledgeable, courteous and helpful. I bought a set of Halfords tools ten years ago, and after restoring five cars and generally having the crap kicked out of them, they are still going strong.

It's true though, over half our local store is given over to pikey alloy wheels, nasty add on tat and chavvy head units & speakers. They never seem to have any of the service stuff for even common cars, and what they do have costs a fortune.

_________________
Med Venlig Hilsen

http://www.doive.co.uk

ive only been to halfords once or twice in ten years and come away thinking that went well

i got evicted from the shop once for saying i would never buy a bike from here they dont have a clue about safety and theyre bikes are dangerous ( i end up repairing alot of bikes that people buy from halfords )
to a customer returning his brand new 600 pound mtb bike because the crank wasnt even tightened up so came loose and and he came off on a roundabout

saying that our local halfords now has a youngish girl working there who seems to know her onions and seems to actually give a chuff about geting things right its a refreshing change nowadays i congratulated her
i go to her straight away dont even bother with all tth other numptys working there

But they did have a brace of sparkplugs for my JZR's 1978 Honda CX500 bike engine when it failed to start outside their store in Aylesbury a few weeks ago........

_________________
Just an opinion, but don't shoot me if it doesn't match yours...

2nd car 500cc JZR sports 3 wheeler

Our branch in Bury St Edmunds is pretty good - but in all honesty I have only ever bought car cleaning products (when offer) and screenwash - so really product knowledge of the staff has never been tested greatly!

_________________
......Gotta love a 9K..........

1996 9000 Aero
2001 9-3 Aero convertible

And a very nice tricycle to have you lucky man.

A pal of mine bought a Halfords bike for a trip we did last summer, only 100 miles around Islay on a whisky tour - but he bought the cheapest one on offer, £100 for a full sized bike. He was chuffed with it - for the first hundred yards. The following three days were endless rest stops, break downs, and kick-the-bike halts. We swapped at one stage for a mile, and I felt like I had taken on a solid wheeled boneshaker, it was chuffing horrible. No wonder the poor lad was knackered!

At the end of the trip both bikes went in for a service, my Specialized to the local bike shop, his back to Halfords. Mine needed the brake cables tightened up. His needed - new crank, new gear sets, new chain, brake blocks replaced and at least one gear selector replaced. All under warranty of course. What a nasty badly built piece of rubbish that is.

_________________
Med Venlig Hilsen

http://www.doive.co.uk

this seems to be a regular topic of late
i spoke out about my bad time at halfords aberystwyth a few weeks ago
so do you think we should send a link to head office

_________________
alan

My local Halfords seems to exclusively employ young attractive girls...

_________________
MY 96 SAAB 9000 Aero

A couple of months ago I was in the Newton Abbot Hellfrauds, and bought a tin of white lithium spray grease, it was advertised for £4.99. I know I should have checked the amount at the till but I had bought a few other items.

When I got home I had a look at the receipt and saw I had been charged £5.99, a couple of days later I needed a few bits so went back, first thing I did was go to the shelf where the spray grease was, it was still advertised for £4.99. I informed the lad behind the counter that I had been overcharged a couple of days before, his response was this "I wasn't here two days ago, for all I know it was advertised at £5.99" O.K I responded, can you scan this tin, he did, and guess what, it came up as £5.99. So can I get a credit note for £1? no was his response, "the ticket could have been changed and they have not updated the price", but that is the point I am trying to make, so you are actually agreeing with me and still refusing to give me my money back, not that I want the £1 back, just give me £1 off what I'm buying today.

So it seems it is ok to advertise a price and then charge more at the till, no, that's not allowed. I know I can prove it and a letter to management would probably get me some vouchers, but I have better things to do with my time.

I think their days are numbered anyway and they will soon be in administration.

i can't see halfords seeing the year out. nor argos who appear to have a pretty book full of pictures of stuff which i can either buy in tescos or they don't have in stock.

_________________
LR Discovery HSE TD V6
99 turbo white
c900 turbo black
c900 fpt vert blue
fiat 500

so glad i got out of halfords years ago.

i knew what i was doing most of time, but i was there when they stopped keeping a lot of stock and changed into the stick on tat and jack of all trades stuff instead.

_________________
If you want to survive out here, you've got to know where your towel is.