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I bought a footpump and left it in the boot of the car for emergency/occasional use. The first time I used it a few months after purchase was to blow up a small 8 inch tyre on boat launching trolley. The pump fell apart; the gauge fell off and rendered it useless. I returned it to Halfords in its original box in brand new condition (but not working). In was shocked when they refused a refund, offering only a replacement as i did not have the receipt. I pointed out that it was a Halfords own brand pump the same as the ones on sale but they were adamant, no receipt, no refund. Both the sales assistant and the manager would not budge, despite my protest that the pump was not fit for purpose and certainly not something I would want to depend on in an emergency. In my view this is really poor service.
I recently purchased a bike from the St.Pauls Bikehut on my company's Cycle2work scheme and with regret, have been entirely let down by the customer service of Halfords.
First, when browsing for a bike I visited both the Wandsworth Halfords and the St.Pauls Bikehut on two occasions - not once did a member of staff offer me any assistance, which was almost enough to make me not buy from Halfords but as I wanted to purchase a Boardman Bike I had little choice.
When I finally went into the St.Pauls Bikehut to purchase the bike on Thursday 17th June, a member of staff only asked if I wanted any assistance once I had placed three items on the counter. I was told I would have a two week wait (max) for my road shoes as they were out.
The staff member informed me the bike would need to be delivered to the store; as I was on holiday from Saturday 19th June to Saturday 26th June, I asked if it would be possible to collect the bike on Sunday 27th June. I was told this would not be a problem but when I returned from holiday and called (26/06/10) to check my bike had arrived and was available for collect on the 27th, I was told the store did not open on a Sunday and no one would have taken a collection date for this day. When I complained about this, the member of staff (Andrew Turner) became increasingly rude. I then asked if I would be able to collect it that afternoon instead and he said this would be fine but he would check the bike had been safety checked - when he returned on the phone he had obviously seen he was the staff member who had taken the order and became very sheepish and apologetic (after he had been incredibly rude!). He then went on to tell me I couldn't collect my bike because it had not been delivered to the store yet - because he manager was out of the shop on the Friday and no one had arranged the bike collection in the managers absence.
I agreed to collect my bike the following Thursday (24/06/10) and called prior to leaving Canary Wharf to ensure the bike was there along with all the accessories (bar the road shoes) - I was told everything was in order. When I arrived, the accessories (pedals etc) I have purchased had not been fitted and as I could not wait for them to be fitted then and there, I had to return to the store that evening to collect my bike, which was extremely inconvenient at the time.
I was told that my shoes would arrive within 10 days and they would call me as soon as they arrived - two weeks later, I had not heard anything and so called the shop and was told the supplier was still out of stock but they were expecting them within 7 days. Therefore I waited another two weeks - nothing. I decided to call the store today (23/07/2010) to find out what was going on and was forwarded to the Old Street Bikehut to be informed that the St.Pauls store had closed and all orders had been transferred to them. I was told the St.Pauls store attempted to contact all of their outstanding orders to inform them on the change, but I did not received any such call or any voicemail / letter explaining the situation. The manager was very apologetic but said the order hadn't been moved to their store but if he couldn't locate the whereabouts of my shoes, then he would order another pair.
I am sure you will agree this whole ordeal has been unnecessarily protracted and has highlighted poor customer service on more than one occasion.
to the last user, you have not received a reply to your letter as you didnt send any contact details.
the allegation also can't be looked into without more detail, like names, date and ideally time.
also, there is nothing in the terms and conditions of this site which forbids you posting people's names
you all have my sympathy.we had trouble finding staff too and when we did they were making rude comments and gestures to each other,not allowed to give there names so d.... and j....
my wife has written to complain but have yet to receive any reply and judging by the comments we've been reading won't,is a simple apology too much to expect?
on the plus side the warrington branch is the only one we have ever had a problem with,apart from not being able to find any staff.
Reserve and collect actually means NOT reserved AT ALL and probably won't collect it all. I reserved 9 items worth over £230. All showed "in stock" so I reserved for collection and allowed a couple of hours then drove the 35 min trip to Hereford. On arrival I went to the collection desk and nothing was picked ! The poor sales guy had to wander round the shelves picking my order. Half hour later 2 items missing. I cancelled the order and went home very angry at the timewasters. I have now ordered the kit from ScrewFix and Machine Mart. I just won't use Half Ords again.
South Ruislip Branch.
I went in looking for a Haynes manual for a 2006 Fiesta which they didn't have!!!!!
Two sales staff chatting behind a stand.
Deputy manager running around helping a customer on the parts desk while other customers waited with no other staff in sight.
I noticed bare shelves and shelves with widely spaced items to make them look full.
What is wrong with Halfords?
Is it just me?
I bet nobody from head office knows what goes on in the shops - or cares.
They have huge modern premises but somehow it just doesn't work.
Can't really blame the salespeople I suppose because these problems always start at the top - at director level. Probably paid too much.
Thumbs down Halfords.
As an update to my earlier post, at 10am this morning I spoke to the Halfords branch manager, and he was very upset to hear my story, and promised to sort things out as soon as possible.
Lo and behold, at 12.30 I received a phone call from Alan, the manager, informing me that the bike was now ready for collection and it would not cost me a penny. A job done in 2 hours that didn't get done in the previous five weeks.
I am extremely grateful for his service and glad that the issue was sorted out promptly by the branch manager without having to go any further.
This goes to show that you can't tar everyone with the same brush, and while I might not rush back to the Harrow branch for bike servicing, I would have no problem using them for purchases - for my car if not my bike!
I have been having unbelievable trouble with Bikehut in the Harrow branch of Halfords.
On the 30th June I took my mountain bike into the store for an overhaul. I explained to them exactly what I needed to be done in the minutest detail. I was told by the supervisor that they were busy and so it would be about a week before they could do the work. I asked if I could leave the bike with them and they kindly agreed. I was given a date of 9th July to pick up the bike.
On July 9th I called the store and asked if the bike would be ready for collection that evening. I was told that they needed parts and had had to order them in. While a quick inspection would have told them that on the day I took the bike in, I was willing to forgive that as they had told me they would not start the work until July 7th.
Over a week later - having heard nothing - I called to find out how they were getting on. I was told that the parts had arrived days earlier but they had not started the work as the bottom bracket also needed replacing and they needed my go-ahead for the work. When asked why they hadn't called me I was told they didn't have my contact details. This despite the fact that I gave them both my home and office numbers when I took the bike into the store.
They told me they would be starting the work the following day now they had the go-ahead.
Over a week later, once again having heard nothing (I'm a patient man) I called and asked how they were getting on. I was told that they had priced the work and it was going to come to over £100 so they wanted to get my go-ahead before doing the work. I was well aware at the outset it would be over £100 and for a bike that I ride every day, this does not concern me. Once again I asked why they had not contacted me to keep me in the picture and I was told that they had tried. This despite the fact I am in the office all day every day, and there are answer machines on my home and work phones. At this point I begged them to keep me updated and inform me early of any further problems. This was last Thursday (30th July).
On Monday I called once again and spoke to the Bikehut supervisor. He told me they hadn't started yet as a couple of urgent jobs had come in. I told him my job should be a priority at this point and told him I was expecting it to be started that day. He said it would be.
Yesterday afternoon I called and asked if it was finished (knowing the work is half a day max) and was told that they were half way through. I said I would be expecting a phone call at 5.30pm telling me it would be ready for collection otherwise I would be collecting the bike anyway. I was told they could not guarantee the work would be finished and I could collect the bike if I wished.
5.30pm came and went and no phone call. In fact in the five weeks that I have been waiting I haven't received a single phone call from them updating me on the situation. It is now 1.29pm on August 5th and still they haven't contacted me. I have now decided to wait until the store manager is back in (tomorrow) and make an official complaint to him (as well as head office). I have no intention of paying for the work carried out, even if they do finally complete the job.
what is it about the staff in my local halfords store? whenever i have gone in for something i find myself surrounded by unmanned tills and theres about 5 staff in the bicycle section who just ignore me when i want something for my car!! more customer service training required i think.
I purchased a bicycle rack for my car from halfords and after 2 uses one of the straps came off while I was on the motorway! This could have caused a serious accident. When i went to Halfords for a replacement they said it was my fault that the exhaust had melted it!!! They never informed me of the possibuility of this and it was they who installed it anyway!! not only is this poor customer service but it could have proved fatal!
We went to halfords to purchase a car seat for our forthcoming arrival. We had decided to go for a seat suitable from birth to 4 years as we couldn't have the 0-13KG without an isofix base which made it expensive. We looked at the only one in this range that they had which was a Britax. On asking for advice and informing that we had 2 cars (a Mazda 2 and a Honda Civic) the young assistant proceeded to tell us that they didn't really recommend this seat from birth despite labelling to the contrary. When we argued about this he then claimed that it wasn't suitable rearward facing in most cars as the seatbelts tended to be too short.
We then asked about the Maxi-cosi (0-13kg) and asked if he could possibly try fitting it into the Mazda without the base to get a 2nd opinion on whether the seat belts were too short. He claimed that the baby seats were unsuitable to be used without a base (an extra £100). We informed him that a fitter at Mothercare had tried to fit it without the base so it must be possible. He again reiterated that they weren't suitable without a base and implied that they wouldn't sell it without a base.
At this point both my wife and I were biting our lips not to tell him he was talking "nonsense". We left the shop at this point.
After thinking about the conversation we realised that Silver Cross make a car seat that does not have a base available so they must be able to be fitted without.
We are most disgusted with the attitude of the salesperson who seemed to want an argument and to make as much money as possible by selling us an unecessary base.
HI,
After reading about Halfords on here I would like to add that the Hitchin Herts branch has the rudest man in retail working there absolutly no customer service skills and I will never ever go in there again.The repair on my bike was useless and I had to go to an independant shop to get it done properly( should have done first time round!)
i have just had a bad experience with halfords i wont use bad /offensive comments but the words i can use are not strong enough .
they sell rubbish wont answer emails all you get is an automated response wont go back there in a hurry
would advise every one to avoid trax bikes they are not fit for the purpose intended ordered one over the net to pick it up at the fort manchester
got there to be told by a kid who seemed to be running the place we dont make that bike any more in that colour and have not done so for ages
yet even today its stil advertised on the web site ?
i was offered a different trax bike young kid got it up on a stand to check it out spun the back wheel it was buckled .
he didn't see or didn't want to see it so i pointed it out he went to several other bikes and low and behold the same problem .
asked now what and got a shrug of the shoulders walked out and emailed them but no reply so emailed em again and still no reply .
advise you avoid halfords like the plague they are a waste of time go to the little man who will give you good advise perhaps not such a good deal but will take the time and effort to be helpful so you will come back
below is the message i sent to halfords regarding the poor service in te andover halfords. i have not had any responce. its pretty long but they have caused me a lot of hassle.
i am emailing to make a complaint about the poor service and quality of products i have received from your store in andover.
back in november 2008 i bought a trax mountain bike that was in the sale for £150, the original price was £250.
within the first few days i was having problems with the bike, the brakes had not been set up correctly, the front disk brake completely locked up and the rear brake would hardly even slow the bike down.
the gears had not been set up properly and they would regularly slip from one gear to another, also when the bike was on the 2 smallest cogs on the back wheel it was making a strange grinding noise. the nature of these faults made me question the safety check that had been done prior to me receiving the bike.
over the next 2 weeks i was back in the shop several times having these faults looked at and if they managed to fix one another would start. not at any time of me having this bike did the brakes work as they should and every time it was returned to the shop they would play with them for a while and i would be sent on my way on a bike that either wouldn’t stop or with brakes would be completely seized up. one day when i had given up keeping going back to the shop i attempted to fix it myself. the first thing i looked at was the grinding noise coming from the bottom 2 cog’s (that i had mentioned every time the bike had been returned) and i found that the chain was rubbing on the frame and had cut into the metalwork. i returned the bike and i was given a replacement which i was more than happy with.
the replacement was an apollo fs26s, which seemed to be a good bike although the brakes did need to be adjusted on the first day apart from that it seemed ok. after 2 weeks the front suspension was making a very loud squeaking noise and when i had a closer look at it the spring inside was rubbing on the fork and it had started wearing away the metal. i returned this bike and i was given the choice to wait 2 weeks for a replacement suspension or have a completely new bike, i’m sure you can guess what i went for.
so bike number 3, i got the apollo bike fs26s, and again it was poorly set up. i had adjusted the brakes on the first day because they were constantly rubbing and the front wheel wouldn’t spin freely and they also would not stop the bike because they wouldn’t shut tight enough. i managed to fix this in 5 minutes, and although it wasn’t a big problem i think its something that should have been spotted before it was given to me and again makes me question the quality of the safety checks.
after just over a week the chain was covered in rust from where it had not been lubricated when it had been fitted and also the gears were slipping. i thought the gear slipping was down to the rusty chain so i cleaned the chain and lubricated it but this didn’t solve the slipping chain problem so for the next couple of months i found what gears slipped the most and just avoided using them.
whilst on my way to work i noticed the gripshift for the gears on the back wheel had become very stiff, the cable had a few broken strands on it and these had become clogged up and was causing the cable not to move freely.
i managed to make the bike ride-able and when i returned the bike to your shop in andover i was told they were to busy to fix it there and then so could i bring it back in 3 or 4 days time which i said was ok.
i did not have time to drop the bike off that week so i took it in the following sunday where i was told again to come back later in the week. i said i would leave the bike and the boy i spoke to said it would be done by tuesday and they would call me. i had not heard anything by wednesday so i called the shop incase they didn’t have my number written down correctly but it had not been done i was told they would call when it was. it’s now thursday and i still have not heard anything,
i can understand that faults are going to occur and that doesn’t bother me because we all know these things happen but 3 bikes in just a couple of months is not acceptable.
if i was going down mountains on these bikes and mistreating them i wouldn’t mind so much having these problems because i’ve bought a lower priced bike and at the end of the day you get what you pay for, but i have stored the bikes inside every night and they have been used to do a 4 mile round trip to work 5 days a week and the occasional trip around town so i’m sure you’ll agree you would expect even a bottom range bike to be able to cope with that.
so far every time i have been in your shop the staff are generally helpful and do try to help sort which ever problem i have had with the bikes but i think the problem lies with a mixture of poor training and poor products.
in my day to day job i deal with quality issues and i help with customer’s problems try to find ways to resolve these as quickly and hassle free as possible. i also deal with our suppliers regarding the quality products they send to us and if the service from them was half as bad as the service i had from halfords i would not use them.
i am sure you have many satisfied customers all over but i certainly am not one of them and i would not recommend buying a bike from halfords.
What a joke
Everyone else is cutting their own throats to keep buisness running offering good sale prices, what do halfords do..................... Put their prices up!
Thule 9503 bike carrier up from £109.99 to a massive £169.99.
Halfords 4x4 spare wheel bike carrier up from £86.99 to £129.99!
Now this isnt because their suppliers have put their prices up, it cant be because the same carriers have been in my local halfords for the last couple of months!
So old stock at old prices.
As for returning items for refund as long as its faulty and as long as its before 28 days then law states that the contract is with the supplier not the manufacturer, no matter what the item is. law states it has to be fit for purpose for anything upto 5 years, which is the max time period in which a personal prosecution can be taken out.
My wife purchased a mountain bike HELIUM HILL 300 from the margate halfords in a half price sale july 06 so my £175 bike (read £350 value bike!!) developed a loose front forks on the 3 mile ride home, i called back in in my car and was told how to loosen the bar clamp and tighten the head allen key... didn't work... it sat in the garage for months... i called in again and a more thorough explanation was given how to tighten the front forks...this still didn't work, it sat in the garage for months....eventually i got use of a van and ran it back and they repaired it...superb.....i ride it to my local beach cafe no problems ( a mile away)... last night i wheeled her out of the garage to "do a lap" as part of my new diet and fitness regime (13st 5"6 !)...and the left hand pedal fell off as i was riding up a dual carriageway being passed by high speed traffic ..i walk her home to find the pedal had only 4 of the ten threads tightened into the crank so the bike was obviously pdi'd on a Friday afternoon.. why do i resist the urge to go and throw it through their plate glass window? this bike had done less then five mile in its life..3 of those was the ride back from the store! i,m miffed at £175 I'd be really miffed had she paid £350!
Milton Keynes Branch. Have to say I wish i'd not considered them. Bought bikes last summer and they have dropped to bits. One the gear section including cogs and chain fell off and was told by another store they had not been secured correctly. It turned out to have bent wheel frame at back and this along with shoody build meant as good as bin it when dropped to bits. The other even though used only three times and supervised by adult dropped to bits and I can only assume it was the same builder.
I will not bother to approach them again, as their staffs comments to others shows what I should expect. When I was a kid a bike would last years, mass production and mass build from this store means wont even make the gaurantee and they dont answer the phones other than to say, well they are busy bilding more bikes at the moment and after a few calls, I gave up. I've learnt my lessen Halfords must be aware people feel they have to just bin them, because their attitude is, something must have been done to it by the consumer and I know it didnt. By the way they hadnt even looked at it or offered appointment to take it in, just were busy building new ones. I will buy elsewhere infuture before there customer service dead end causes one for us!!!!!! They need a manager to watch them build them and prove they are doing it properly, how can pumping them out so quickly gaurantee safety, it doesnt in my opinion, so please please avoid them, it could be your kids on one of their bikes. It now wont be mine however.
Whilst I commend the last comment for trying to do his best in his job, it is still obvious to any customer, that it is not to be expected that if a bike goes wrong, to have to deal with shoddy customer service. Halfords is more interested in money and 70 bikes out a day, than providing customer service to a person who has already paid and just needs advice. Just one bike doesnt matter to them but it does to the person buying it, whilst it may be only 80.00 to him as he can afford hundreds on spokes, good on him, its a lot to the average joe public, who choose halfords. From one who knows after dealing with them, the fact a customer is not aware of your heavy workload yet patient to wait for help is not a crime, the fact your under pressure and dont want to help is obvious due to being overworked. Other retailers do good bikes as well and it was a sinch to build it, and didnt drop to bits, recomended by halfords employee to avoid them next time you see!! Told if could only afford 80.00 avoid their basic bikes, I wasnt expecting a racing bike or more than paid, just that it wouldnt fall apart in first week!!! and feel and inconvinience to them. Thanks for the advice Halfords, I took it and now am an Halfords avoider at all costs, that was your choice. Try to build the 70 a day, so that they last more than a week, please or dont sell rubbish, my opinion on my experience.
i have worked for halfords now for just over 5 years. and in that time i have come to know a few things and have heard lots of rumours and stories.
firstly, the child seat blog.
The very first thing to do when buying a child seat is to ask for the certificate the assistant has (displayed in the child seat aisle) been awarded whilst on the manufacturers training course. if they dont have a cert. DONT BUY ONE!!
luckily i am fully trained in all aspects of child seats and can advise on fitting forward and rearward facing seats. the only seat on the market (currently available over all retailers) is the Britax First class. the child seat is, as stated, higher than most due to the "window" view that it accomodates. the only vehicle i have had a problem with fitting this seat in was a bmw 3 series coupe where the rear seats were too "close" to fit the seats.
secondly,
bike hut.
now however much i appreciate that the service you recieve from a halfords store in the southern part of the country is far from perfect. 99% of halfords bike hut employees are avid bike riders, bike mechanics and some are even trophy winners, (we had james and richard norton in our bike hut, james is one of the best British bmx and 4 cross riders and richard norton is 4th in the british DH (down hill) series sponsored by Solid bikes)
to put some more emphasis on this. i run the parts dept at one of our stores and i have never worked on cycles. i also ride DH and go to france and scotland frequently. the Ripspeed specialist rides flat land BMX and is sponsored too.
the stress involved on the bike hut is something you will never know about untill you actualy experience it. there is usualy 3 people full time employed for cycles, they build on average 20 different bikes a day, have to have them PDI'd and ready for a set collection time whilst serving customer that come to the store, services, and repairs too. this is exacerbated at x-mas as the workload more than tripples, we have almost 70 bikes a day leaving our store and all the time the bike hut staff are working harder than ever to, unbox, build and check these bikes. so the last thing you would need whilst doing this is for someone who had quite obviously snapped their chain to come in and ask for the area manager.... you see how frustrating this can be?.... if you have snapped your chain, come and buy a new one.... then ask if someone could replace it as your in a hurry. this will usualy get them over to you, and because of the workload, resolved very quickly. if it doesnt then take it further. but 9 out of 10 times people who have obviously broken their bike through impropper usage come in with a HUUUGE chip on their shoulders. the saying "the customer is allways right" is a load of rhubarb. they are right up untill the point where they are to blame. and even then we will still honour our customer service requirements. but it also comes back to the other age old saying, you get what you pay for. dont expect something like a mountain bike for £80 to perform or even last very long. after all, the forks on my bike were £950, the chain was £55 etc etc. if it brakes, youve done something wrong!
customer service is very important to us. but its the individual you are dealing with that can sometimes cause the problem. after all we all have bad days, bad weeks and even bad years. halfords can only do so much to help our staff deal with customers in a way that is befitting to the company. afterall, would we be here, 100 years on if we were allways like this? i have a theory. most of the complaints about staff are directed against new starters who are a little over eager and believe they know more than they actualy do. thus they make mistakes, they are young and sometimes reflect the current state of society.
alas i do still believe more can be done.
Sat nav, whoever told you the Warrenty was 28 days is lieing to you. flat out lieing. the Warrenty is 2 years. 1 year from us, (in which we will replace the unit for a fully working one, or exchange for another) and another year from the manufacturers who will normaly do the same.
heres the tricky part. the 28 days returns policy is a policy covered by all retailers in order to prevent people using an item for the purpose they have intended and then just returning it, in used condition. on satelite navigation, as with PC software and CD's DVD's etc. the returns policy is over writen by the Copywrite laws these products have. ie, if the product is used, and in full working order, it is yours. a refund cannot be given for the unit as doing so (unless sold with misleading information) would brake the law.
we dont make the law. but we must obide by it.
however if it is returned in a faulty condition. regardless of usage, we as a company have a legaly obligated 6 months duty of service to replace or Refund the unit as it was not "fit for purpose" 99% of the time we simply replace the unit or upgrade at a discount to help the customer with their needs.
staffing. this one realy gets my goat. there has been another cut in payroll spend this year. and in order to cover the number of tasks our HO wants us to, we have to work sometimes for FREE!!! for free, in order to do the work we are asked to do. and because the directors are getting £8m a year in bonuses, and we cant afford to tax our cars, or even live on our own whilst on £5.65 and hour, we sometimes get a little stressed out. so i appologise on behalf of all the "knakered and wound up" staff that are currently opperating in halfords. this is something my store manager has been Ignoring of late. the payroll spend in my store is over spent every month, and we get slated for it, but the tasks are done on time, the store was given a 10/10 for appearance by a director and we are one of the top 5 takers in the country. now does this reflect on the service we provide?
Yes. we at our store are getting nothing but praise, letters of thanks from customers, lots of recomendations to other customers, (we have recently signed up a local Fire service to a trade account and am in the middle of supplying 50 x 150pc socket sets)
so however big your woes are just remember.........we have to work here!!!!!
but dont be put off. were not all that bad.
i am a fully certified IMI vehicle mechanic,have 10 gcse's, 4 A levels, am trained in First aid, have 5 years of retail junior management and plenty of letters of praise to my name.
but dont take my word for it. visit your local halfords and ask to have a quiet chat to your store manager. even take in some concerns and ask to see what we are doing to resolve the problems, ask if they are aware of them.
be bold. but dont be scared..!!.lol
Hello
I work for Halfords, and iam sorry that all of you have had these awful things happen to you. But a few things i would like to explain, just so you can understand why customer service is not at the level i and you would expect for a company that has been around for nearly a century.
Sat nav sales: sat navs are a licensed product and therefore are legally not aloud to be refunded or exchanged. This is somthing all stores should do, feel free to ask me why.
Empty stores: The reason why our stores are always empty is because our payroll budget is really bad, therefore all stores except stores that have a high turnover cannot afford more staff, i advise going into a halfords store between 12 and 3 this is when staff levels are at there highest.
Baby seat training: Only a halfords employee that has been trained by a trainer from a well known baby seat producer is aloud to fit them. I feel personally about this to and have never had this problem, ive got 5 guys trained on it and they do a fantastic job to!
I would like to restore all of yours faiths in Halfords and would love to answer any questions that you have to offer.
i work at halfords and they are a good company who do everything they can to help, but u have to be open minded to the fact that the employees dont know everything and not everything produced is perfect, its the same for any shop!!!
Hapilly ordered 3 bikes from mk branch after popping into bletchley branch and not feeling comfy with service, felt as if inconviniencing them asking about products. As was I decided it was easily solved by going to mk.
UNTIL...Received phonecall from an agitated man said he was from the a department of royal mail and needed information. Now I was nervous as i'd just changed number because of nuisance calls, so I asked how did they have my number and who was he, something seemed odd. He raised his tone and started to say he was dealing with a card issue and wanted to know had I signed for a parcel who should have gone elsewhere, and I replied no and asked more questions, how did he know my surname, where I lived etc, he became annoyed and put the phone down. Now your wondering why am I on about Halfords when the royal mail had called me. I pressed 1471 to complain to the dept of royal mail to state look he clearly had the wrong person and he was rude and how did he have my number. Was Shocked to find myself returning the call to Halfords BLETCHLEY and explained had received call from them. They put me through to the bike department after saying no manager was available and the voice was instantly recodnisable to me as the same man. I asked why did he say he worked for the royal mail, if a bike was missing why ring me, the only mistake I made was to order from your company I said. He shouted you got me, you got me and I was ringing surnames near to where my parcel had gone missing, (I was later told they were toys and he was young, a silly mistake and a different road, he said he was ringing around the area, he was it turns out 30s and had frightened me). I said the name he had asked was a different person and would his managers appreciate the use of internal information to ring complete strangers just wanting to pay money for a service. He slammed the phone down after saying his parcel was missing and paid on his credit card and the police would find out.
I rang the press office of the head office in Redditch and to be fair they were shocked and I told them I was possibly going to cancel the bikes as a result, my confidence was dwindled. But I needed to know that they were aware of the shoddy customer service there and intimdation of strangers by phone for obvious personal issues and pertaining to be another company. The area manager rang and was pleasant and gave the bikes a reduction of 50 percent and said the man involved was sorry and would be disciplined.
Fair enough I did not want the man to lose his job and left it at that. I collected the bikes from mkeynes and they were more than helpfull,so to be honest I was happy i'd kept them.
.........
Riding my bike in bletchley the chain snapped near the Halfords store funny enough and although i'd decided to avoid them and aware that man might be there I had no alternative but to go in. Dont be silly I told myself it was a one off the customer service should be okay. I went in was pleasant and polite and asked for help, the chain either needed fixing or replacing as it was snapped I said. The woman on the till was polite and tried to get me help, so things were looking up. A message was relayed that they were too busy and although I appreciate they are building bikes, I thought it wouldnt be expecting too much to ask them to at least look at it and tell me what next, I was quite happy to wait an hour as I had to pick my daughter up in 2 hours and had no car, so I was patient.
I was told they would not be able to squeeze me in and I said again I appreciate your busy, but you only have to look at it and advise is it serious, surely I said politely customer service would want to offer this advice and if minor please help me. The man came down stairs and said he was not willing to help and I said id bought them from mk and could I talk to the area manager for advice as he to be fair had said any problems with service ring him direct. I didnt have the number handy and asked for them to ring him. He again said no and said my present problem was nothing to do with before and maybe I should return to milton keynes. Now call me a skeptic, but I wondered was this the same man, how did he know who I was in the first place, I had been talking to the pleasant woman at the till whilst waiting for help and was now politely concerned they had got there priorities wrong I had asked to speak to the head office and they were clearly blocking it. I said if I needed emergency help with the product and couldnt even get them to look at it then I needed a refund. At this time a young man came and looked at it and said to the other what should I do, should I fix it, he said oh if you want to and the young man did so within a couple of minutes and was very helpful. The bike as I said at the start had only been out twice and he explained it could have missed a gear as I changed it, now that could have been me or the bike I dont knoe i'm new to shifting weight it doesnt matter, but i only wanted advice and did not want to refer to the previously resolved incident. However it was obvious the arrogant man refusing help was holding it against me. Before I left I said look if he was a friend, i'm sorry as they previously in the conversation had told me he was sacked and fighting for his job back, but please dont hold it against an innocent customer it made it worse for me. I wondered wether the man in the trousers and shirt was angry with me as he put his hands in the air and said he wanted to not discuss it any more and looked towards the door, it was only the intervention from a young man asking him what to do resolved it so quickly. Maybe the area manager when looking for managers would better choose this young man, things might inmprove. By the way the police were involved and I in the end said I would take it no further as the person who called me had apologised to his superior and offered one to me though I prefered to leave it at that. WHOLE POINT IS FINALLY.......I wonder if this is what is to be expected everytime one has to go to the BLETCHLEY store is it worth it, I would like to think the head office would want to keep more an eye on them in future. I dont drove and have to hope if it happens again im nearer mk, though to be fair it was sorted in the end and i am happily trying to shift the weight again, no excuse, otherwise it would have been a slow walk home taking a bike for a walk. Come on Halfords when you corner a market listen to the customer and learn, if theres a weak link in a chain no punn intended please fix it. This is a true and factual experience only blagged because its sad the custoner is always an inconvinience in this day and age more so lately, so sites like this are an excellent reference to taste advice and at least be prepared as to how to manage a complaint.Halfords of course are more than welcome to ring me if they want to respond to this. PS. If they would like a new manager they could ask me, i'm a little rusty but do know how to show respect for the customer. A smile saves a lot of hastle. Regards tracey
I went into my local halfords at the weekend to purchase an in-car dvd for my hubby for fathers day, and can i just say how delighted i was at the attentivness of the staff for sorting out any questions/queries i had, they also fitted the unit for me within half an hour, Service with a smile thank you so very much i`ll definetly be back in a few months for his Birthday he would like a sat-nav
I had a new bike from Halfords and after a few Weeks I started to get problems with punctures in the inside of the innertubes. Went back to Halfords and it seemed like nobody works there always empty. Found someone on the Bikehut desk and he was to busy to help. Halfords cannot deliver the service they make out they are giving. For the Mountain bikes Halfords sell they put that much faith in Manufacturers they treat Customer complaints with disbelief. I will be doing a 50 mile bike ride for Charity and I am already buying a new bike from a better Company fro that event.If,Manufactures are supplying rubbish goods to Halfords then it shouldn't be the Customers that suffer instead. I think Halfords need to wake up. I'm not impressed and I will never buy from them ever again. Like another comment DON'T DEAL WITH THEM.
To peopleareneverhappy. Whatever a retailer advises a customer on regarding a sale of an item, is over and above the customers legal rights. It does not replace them. Therefore if Halfords advises that the item has to be sent to the manufactures for repair instead of a Halfords store, then this advise does not replace the SOGA (which states the retailer is liable).
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Comments:
First, when browsing for a bike I visited both the Wandsworth Halfords and the St.Pauls Bikehut on two occasions - not once did a member of staff offer me any assistance, which was almost enough to make me not buy from Halfords but as I wanted to purchase a Boardman Bike I had little choice.
When I finally went into the St.Pauls Bikehut to purchase the bike on Thursday 17th June, a member of staff only asked if I wanted any assistance once I had placed three items on the counter. I was told I would have a two week wait (max) for my road shoes as they were out.
The staff member informed me the bike would need to be delivered to the store; as I was on holiday from Saturday 19th June to Saturday 26th June, I asked if it would be possible to collect the bike on Sunday 27th June. I was told this would not be a problem but when I returned from holiday and called (26/06/10) to check my bike had arrived and was available for collect on the 27th, I was told the store did not open on a Sunday and no one would have taken a collection date for this day. When I complained about this, the member of staff (Andrew Turner) became increasingly rude. I then asked if I would be able to collect it that afternoon instead and he said this would be fine but he would check the bike had been safety checked - when he returned on the phone he had obviously seen he was the staff member who had taken the order and became very sheepish and apologetic (after he had been incredibly rude!). He then went on to tell me I couldn't collect my bike because it had not been delivered to the store yet - because he manager was out of the shop on the Friday and no one had arranged the bike collection in the managers absence.
I agreed to collect my bike the following Thursday (24/06/10) and called prior to leaving Canary Wharf to ensure the bike was there along with all the accessories (bar the road shoes) - I was told everything was in order. When I arrived, the accessories (pedals etc) I have purchased had not been fitted and as I could not wait for them to be fitted then and there, I had to return to the store that evening to collect my bike, which was extremely inconvenient at the time.
I was told that my shoes would arrive within 10 days and they would call me as soon as they arrived - two weeks later, I had not heard anything and so called the shop and was told the supplier was still out of stock but they were expecting them within 7 days. Therefore I waited another two weeks - nothing. I decided to call the store today (23/07/2010) to find out what was going on and was forwarded to the Old Street Bikehut to be informed that the St.Pauls store had closed and all orders had been transferred to them. I was told the St.Pauls store attempted to contact all of their outstanding orders to inform them on the change, but I did not received any such call or any voicemail / letter explaining the situation. The manager was very apologetic but said the order hadn't been moved to their store but if he couldn't locate the whereabouts of my shoes, then he would order another pair.
I am sure you will agree this whole ordeal has been unnecessarily protracted and has highlighted poor customer service on more than one occasion.
the allegation also can't be looked into without more detail, like names, date and ideally time.
also, there is nothing in the terms and conditions of this site which forbids you posting people's names
you all have my sympathy.we had trouble finding staff too and when we did they were making rude comments and gestures to each other,not allowed to give there names so d.... and j....
my wife has written to complain but have yet to receive any reply and judging by the comments we've been reading won't,is a simple apology too much to expect?
on the plus side the warrington branch is the only one we have ever had a problem with,apart from not being able to find any staff.
Reserve and collect actually means NOT reserved AT ALL and probably won't collect it all. I reserved 9 items worth over £230. All showed "in stock" so I reserved for collection and allowed a couple of hours then drove the 35 min trip to Hereford. On arrival I went to the collection desk and nothing was picked ! The poor sales guy had to wander round the shelves picking my order. Half hour later 2 items missing. I cancelled the order and went home very angry at the timewasters. I have now ordered the kit from ScrewFix and Machine Mart. I just won't use Half Ords again.
I went in looking for a Haynes manual for a 2006 Fiesta which they didn't have!!!!!
Two sales staff chatting behind a stand.
Deputy manager running around helping a customer on the parts desk while other customers waited with no other staff in sight.
I noticed bare shelves and shelves with widely spaced items to make them look full.
What is wrong with Halfords?
Is it just me?
I bet nobody from head office knows what goes on in the shops - or cares.
They have huge modern premises but somehow it just doesn't work.
Can't really blame the salespeople I suppose because these problems always start at the top - at director level. Probably paid too much.
Thumbs down Halfords.
Lo and behold, at 12.30 I received a phone call from Alan, the manager, informing me that the bike was now ready for collection and it would not cost me a penny. A job done in 2 hours that didn't get done in the previous five weeks.
I am extremely grateful for his service and glad that the issue was sorted out promptly by the branch manager without having to go any further.
This goes to show that you can't tar everyone with the same brush, and while I might not rush back to the Harrow branch for bike servicing, I would have no problem using them for purchases - for my car if not my bike!
On the 30th June I took my mountain bike into the store for an overhaul. I explained to them exactly what I needed to be done in the minutest detail. I was told by the supervisor that they were busy and so it would be about a week before they could do the work. I asked if I could leave the bike with them and they kindly agreed. I was given a date of 9th July to pick up the bike.
On July 9th I called the store and asked if the bike would be ready for collection that evening. I was told that they needed parts and had had to order them in. While a quick inspection would have told them that on the day I took the bike in, I was willing to forgive that as they had told me they would not start the work until July 7th.
Over a week later - having heard nothing - I called to find out how they were getting on. I was told that the parts had arrived days earlier but they had not started the work as the bottom bracket also needed replacing and they needed my go-ahead for the work. When asked why they hadn't called me I was told they didn't have my contact details. This despite the fact that I gave them both my home and office numbers when I took the bike into the store.
They told me they would be starting the work the following day now they had the go-ahead.
Over a week later, once again having heard nothing (I'm a patient man) I called and asked how they were getting on. I was told that they had priced the work and it was going to come to over £100 so they wanted to get my go-ahead before doing the work. I was well aware at the outset it would be over £100 and for a bike that I ride every day, this does not concern me. Once again I asked why they had not contacted me to keep me in the picture and I was told that they had tried. This despite the fact I am in the office all day every day, and there are answer machines on my home and work phones. At this point I begged them to keep me updated and inform me early of any further problems. This was last Thursday (30th July).
On Monday I called once again and spoke to the Bikehut supervisor. He told me they hadn't started yet as a couple of urgent jobs had come in. I told him my job should be a priority at this point and told him I was expecting it to be started that day. He said it would be.
Yesterday afternoon I called and asked if it was finished (knowing the work is half a day max) and was told that they were half way through. I said I would be expecting a phone call at 5.30pm telling me it would be ready for collection otherwise I would be collecting the bike anyway. I was told they could not guarantee the work would be finished and I could collect the bike if I wished.
5.30pm came and went and no phone call. In fact in the five weeks that I have been waiting I haven't received a single phone call from them updating me on the situation. It is now 1.29pm on August 5th and still they haven't contacted me. I have now decided to wait until the store manager is back in (tomorrow) and make an official complaint to him (as well as head office). I have no intention of paying for the work carried out, even if they do finally complete the job.
We then asked about the Maxi-cosi (0-13kg) and asked if he could possibly try fitting it into the Mazda without the base to get a 2nd opinion on whether the seat belts were too short. He claimed that the baby seats were unsuitable to be used without a base (an extra £100). We informed him that a fitter at Mothercare had tried to fit it without the base so it must be possible. He again reiterated that they weren't suitable without a base and implied that they wouldn't sell it without a base.
At this point both my wife and I were biting our lips not to tell him he was talking "nonsense". We left the shop at this point.
After thinking about the conversation we realised that Silver Cross make a car seat that does not have a base available so they must be able to be fitted without.
We are most disgusted with the attitude of the salesperson who seemed to want an argument and to make as much money as possible by selling us an unecessary base.
After reading about Halfords on here I would like to add that the Hitchin Herts branch has the rudest man in retail working there absolutly no customer service skills and I will never ever go in there again.The repair on my bike was useless and I had to go to an independant shop to get it done properly( should have done first time round!)
they sell rubbish wont answer emails all you get is an automated response wont go back there in a hurry
would advise every one to avoid trax bikes they are not fit for the purpose intended ordered one over the net to pick it up at the fort manchester
got there to be told by a kid who seemed to be running the place we dont make that bike any more in that colour and have not done so for ages
yet even today its stil advertised on the web site ?
i was offered a different trax bike young kid got it up on a stand to check it out spun the back wheel it was buckled .
he didn't see or didn't want to see it so i pointed it out he went to several other bikes and low and behold the same problem .
asked now what and got a shrug of the shoulders walked out and emailed them but no reply so emailed em again and still no reply .
advise you avoid halfords like the plague they are a waste of time go to the little man who will give you good advise perhaps not such a good deal but will take the time and effort to be helpful so you will come back
i am emailing to make a complaint about the poor service and quality of products i have received from your store in andover.
back in november 2008 i bought a trax mountain bike that was in the sale for £150, the original price was £250.
within the first few days i was having problems with the bike, the brakes had not been set up correctly, the front disk brake completely locked up and the rear brake would hardly even slow the bike down.
the gears had not been set up properly and they would regularly slip from one gear to another, also when the bike was on the 2 smallest cogs on the back wheel it was making a strange grinding noise. the nature of these faults made me question the safety check that had been done prior to me receiving the bike.
over the next 2 weeks i was back in the shop several times having these faults looked at and if they managed to fix one another would start. not at any time of me having this bike did the brakes work as they should and every time it was returned to the shop they would play with them for a while and i would be sent on my way on a bike that either wouldn’t stop or with brakes would be completely seized up. one day when i had given up keeping going back to the shop i attempted to fix it myself. the first thing i looked at was the grinding noise coming from the bottom 2 cog’s (that i had mentioned every time the bike had been returned) and i found that the chain was rubbing on the frame and had cut into the metalwork. i returned the bike and i was given a replacement which i was more than happy with.
the replacement was an apollo fs26s, which seemed to be a good bike although the brakes did need to be adjusted on the first day apart from that it seemed ok. after 2 weeks the front suspension was making a very loud squeaking noise and when i had a closer look at it the spring inside was rubbing on the fork and it had started wearing away the metal. i returned this bike and i was given the choice to wait 2 weeks for a replacement suspension or have a completely new bike, i’m sure you can guess what i went for.
so bike number 3, i got the apollo bike fs26s, and again it was poorly set up. i had adjusted the brakes on the first day because they were constantly rubbing and the front wheel wouldn’t spin freely and they also would not stop the bike because they wouldn’t shut tight enough. i managed to fix this in 5 minutes, and although it wasn’t a big problem i think its something that should have been spotted before it was given to me and again makes me question the quality of the safety checks.
after just over a week the chain was covered in rust from where it had not been lubricated when it had been fitted and also the gears were slipping. i thought the gear slipping was down to the rusty chain so i cleaned the chain and lubricated it but this didn’t solve the slipping chain problem so for the next couple of months i found what gears slipped the most and just avoided using them.
whilst on my way to work i noticed the gripshift for the gears on the back wheel had become very stiff, the cable had a few broken strands on it and these had become clogged up and was causing the cable not to move freely.
i managed to make the bike ride-able and when i returned the bike to your shop in andover i was told they were to busy to fix it there and then so could i bring it back in 3 or 4 days time which i said was ok.
i did not have time to drop the bike off that week so i took it in the following sunday where i was told again to come back later in the week. i said i would leave the bike and the boy i spoke to said it would be done by tuesday and they would call me. i had not heard anything by wednesday so i called the shop incase they didn’t have my number written down correctly but it had not been done i was told they would call when it was. it’s now thursday and i still have not heard anything,
i can understand that faults are going to occur and that doesn’t bother me because we all know these things happen but 3 bikes in just a couple of months is not acceptable.
if i was going down mountains on these bikes and mistreating them i wouldn’t mind so much having these problems because i’ve bought a lower priced bike and at the end of the day you get what you pay for, but i have stored the bikes inside every night and they have been used to do a 4 mile round trip to work 5 days a week and the occasional trip around town so i’m sure you’ll agree you would expect even a bottom range bike to be able to cope with that.
so far every time i have been in your shop the staff are generally helpful and do try to help sort which ever problem i have had with the bikes but i think the problem lies with a mixture of poor training and poor products.
in my day to day job i deal with quality issues and i help with customer’s problems try to find ways to resolve these as quickly and hassle free as possible. i also deal with our suppliers regarding the quality products they send to us and if the service from them was half as bad as the service i had from halfords i would not use them.
i am sure you have many satisfied customers all over but i certainly am not one of them and i would not recommend buying a bike from halfords.
i look forward to hearing your response
regards
Everyone else is cutting their own throats to keep buisness running offering good sale prices, what do halfords do..................... Put their prices up!
Thule 9503 bike carrier up from £109.99 to a massive £169.99.
Halfords 4x4 spare wheel bike carrier up from £86.99 to £129.99!
Now this isnt because their suppliers have put their prices up, it cant be because the same carriers have been in my local halfords for the last couple of months!
So old stock at old prices.
As for returning items for refund as long as its faulty and as long as its before 28 days then law states that the contract is with the supplier not the manufacturer, no matter what the item is. law states it has to be fit for purpose for anything upto 5 years, which is the max time period in which a personal prosecution can be taken out.
I will not bother to approach them again, as their staffs comments to others shows what I should expect. When I was a kid a bike would last years, mass production and mass build from this store means wont even make the gaurantee and they dont answer the phones other than to say, well they are busy bilding more bikes at the moment and after a few calls, I gave up. I've learnt my lessen Halfords must be aware people feel they have to just bin them, because their attitude is, something must have been done to it by the consumer and I know it didnt. By the way they hadnt even looked at it or offered appointment to take it in, just were busy building new ones. I will buy elsewhere infuture before there customer service dead end causes one for us!!!!!! They need a manager to watch them build them and prove they are doing it properly, how can pumping them out so quickly gaurantee safety, it doesnt in my opinion, so please please avoid them, it could be your kids on one of their bikes. It now wont be mine however.
firstly, the child seat blog.
The very first thing to do when buying a child seat is to ask for the certificate the assistant has (displayed in the child seat aisle) been awarded whilst on the manufacturers training course. if they dont have a cert. DONT BUY ONE!!
luckily i am fully trained in all aspects of child seats and can advise on fitting forward and rearward facing seats. the only seat on the market (currently available over all retailers) is the Britax First class. the child seat is, as stated, higher than most due to the "window" view that it accomodates. the only vehicle i have had a problem with fitting this seat in was a bmw 3 series coupe where the rear seats were too "close" to fit the seats.
secondly,
bike hut.
now however much i appreciate that the service you recieve from a halfords store in the southern part of the country is far from perfect. 99% of halfords bike hut employees are avid bike riders, bike mechanics and some are even trophy winners, (we had james and richard norton in our bike hut, james is one of the best British bmx and 4 cross riders and richard norton is 4th in the british DH (down hill) series sponsored by Solid bikes)
to put some more emphasis on this. i run the parts dept at one of our stores and i have never worked on cycles. i also ride DH and go to france and scotland frequently. the Ripspeed specialist rides flat land BMX and is sponsored too.
the stress involved on the bike hut is something you will never know about untill you actualy experience it. there is usualy 3 people full time employed for cycles, they build on average 20 different bikes a day, have to have them PDI'd and ready for a set collection time whilst serving customer that come to the store, services, and repairs too. this is exacerbated at x-mas as the workload more than tripples, we have almost 70 bikes a day leaving our store and all the time the bike hut staff are working harder than ever to, unbox, build and check these bikes. so the last thing you would need whilst doing this is for someone who had quite obviously snapped their chain to come in and ask for the area manager.... you see how frustrating this can be?.... if you have snapped your chain, come and buy a new one.... then ask if someone could replace it as your in a hurry. this will usualy get them over to you, and because of the workload, resolved very quickly. if it doesnt then take it further. but 9 out of 10 times people who have obviously broken their bike through impropper usage come in with a HUUUGE chip on their shoulders. the saying "the customer is allways right" is a load of rhubarb. they are right up untill the point where they are to blame. and even then we will still honour our customer service requirements. but it also comes back to the other age old saying, you get what you pay for. dont expect something like a mountain bike for £80 to perform or even last very long. after all, the forks on my bike were £950, the chain was £55 etc etc. if it brakes, youve done something wrong!
customer service is very important to us. but its the individual you are dealing with that can sometimes cause the problem. after all we all have bad days, bad weeks and even bad years. halfords can only do so much to help our staff deal with customers in a way that is befitting to the company. afterall, would we be here, 100 years on if we were allways like this? i have a theory. most of the complaints about staff are directed against new starters who are a little over eager and believe they know more than they actualy do. thus they make mistakes, they are young and sometimes reflect the current state of society.
alas i do still believe more can be done.
Sat nav, whoever told you the Warrenty was 28 days is lieing to you. flat out lieing. the Warrenty is 2 years. 1 year from us, (in which we will replace the unit for a fully working one, or exchange for another) and another year from the manufacturers who will normaly do the same.
heres the tricky part. the 28 days returns policy is a policy covered by all retailers in order to prevent people using an item for the purpose they have intended and then just returning it, in used condition. on satelite navigation, as with PC software and CD's DVD's etc. the returns policy is over writen by the Copywrite laws these products have. ie, if the product is used, and in full working order, it is yours. a refund cannot be given for the unit as doing so (unless sold with misleading information) would brake the law.
we dont make the law. but we must obide by it.
however if it is returned in a faulty condition. regardless of usage, we as a company have a legaly obligated 6 months duty of service to replace or Refund the unit as it was not "fit for purpose" 99% of the time we simply replace the unit or upgrade at a discount to help the customer with their needs.
staffing. this one realy gets my goat. there has been another cut in payroll spend this year. and in order to cover the number of tasks our HO wants us to, we have to work sometimes for FREE!!! for free, in order to do the work we are asked to do. and because the directors are getting £8m a year in bonuses, and we cant afford to tax our cars, or even live on our own whilst on £5.65 and hour, we sometimes get a little stressed out. so i appologise on behalf of all the "knakered and wound up" staff that are currently opperating in halfords. this is something my store manager has been Ignoring of late. the payroll spend in my store is over spent every month, and we get slated for it, but the tasks are done on time, the store was given a 10/10 for appearance by a director and we are one of the top 5 takers in the country. now does this reflect on the service we provide?
Yes. we at our store are getting nothing but praise, letters of thanks from customers, lots of recomendations to other customers, (we have recently signed up a local Fire service to a trade account and am in the middle of supplying 50 x 150pc socket sets)
so however big your woes are just remember.........we have to work here!!!!!
but dont be put off. were not all that bad.
i am a fully certified IMI vehicle mechanic,have 10 gcse's, 4 A levels, am trained in First aid, have 5 years of retail junior management and plenty of letters of praise to my name.
but dont take my word for it. visit your local halfords and ask to have a quiet chat to your store manager. even take in some concerns and ask to see what we are doing to resolve the problems, ask if they are aware of them.
be bold. but dont be scared..!!.lol
happy buying and merry x-mas.,
I work for Halfords, and iam sorry that all of you have had these awful things happen to you. But a few things i would like to explain, just so you can understand why customer service is not at the level i and you would expect for a company that has been around for nearly a century.
Sat nav sales: sat navs are a licensed product and therefore are legally not aloud to be refunded or exchanged. This is somthing all stores should do, feel free to ask me why.
Empty stores: The reason why our stores are always empty is because our payroll budget is really bad, therefore all stores except stores that have a high turnover cannot afford more staff, i advise going into a halfords store between 12 and 3 this is when staff levels are at there highest.
Baby seat training: Only a halfords employee that has been trained by a trainer from a well known baby seat producer is aloud to fit them. I feel personally about this to and have never had this problem, ive got 5 guys trained on it and they do a fantastic job to!
I would like to restore all of yours faiths in Halfords and would love to answer any questions that you have to offer.
Thankyou for reading, and i wish you a great day.
HalMan at 7th Nov 2007, 08:59PM
UNTIL...Received phonecall from an agitated man said he was from the a department of royal mail and needed information. Now I was nervous as i'd just changed number because of nuisance calls, so I asked how did they have my number and who was he, something seemed odd. He raised his tone and started to say he was dealing with a card issue and wanted to know had I signed for a parcel who should have gone elsewhere, and I replied no and asked more questions, how did he know my surname, where I lived etc, he became annoyed and put the phone down. Now your wondering why am I on about Halfords when the royal mail had called me. I pressed 1471 to complain to the dept of royal mail to state look he clearly had the wrong person and he was rude and how did he have my number. Was Shocked to find myself returning the call to Halfords BLETCHLEY and explained had received call from them. They put me through to the bike department after saying no manager was available and the voice was instantly recodnisable to me as the same man. I asked why did he say he worked for the royal mail, if a bike was missing why ring me, the only mistake I made was to order from your company I said. He shouted you got me, you got me and I was ringing surnames near to where my parcel had gone missing, (I was later told they were toys and he was young, a silly mistake and a different road, he said he was ringing around the area, he was it turns out 30s and had frightened me). I said the name he had asked was a different person and would his managers appreciate the use of internal information to ring complete strangers just wanting to pay money for a service. He slammed the phone down after saying his parcel was missing and paid on his credit card and the police would find out.
I rang the press office of the head office in Redditch and to be fair they were shocked and I told them I was possibly going to cancel the bikes as a result, my confidence was dwindled. But I needed to know that they were aware of the shoddy customer service there and intimdation of strangers by phone for obvious personal issues and pertaining to be another company. The area manager rang and was pleasant and gave the bikes a reduction of 50 percent and said the man involved was sorry and would be disciplined.
Fair enough I did not want the man to lose his job and left it at that. I collected the bikes from mkeynes and they were more than helpfull,so to be honest I was happy i'd kept them.
.........
Riding my bike in bletchley the chain snapped near the Halfords store funny enough and although i'd decided to avoid them and aware that man might be there I had no alternative but to go in. Dont be silly I told myself it was a one off the customer service should be okay. I went in was pleasant and polite and asked for help, the chain either needed fixing or replacing as it was snapped I said. The woman on the till was polite and tried to get me help, so things were looking up. A message was relayed that they were too busy and although I appreciate they are building bikes, I thought it wouldnt be expecting too much to ask them to at least look at it and tell me what next, I was quite happy to wait an hour as I had to pick my daughter up in 2 hours and had no car, so I was patient.
I was told they would not be able to squeeze me in and I said again I appreciate your busy, but you only have to look at it and advise is it serious, surely I said politely customer service would want to offer this advice and if minor please help me. The man came down stairs and said he was not willing to help and I said id bought them from mk and could I talk to the area manager for advice as he to be fair had said any problems with service ring him direct. I didnt have the number handy and asked for them to ring him. He again said no and said my present problem was nothing to do with before and maybe I should return to milton keynes. Now call me a skeptic, but I wondered was this the same man, how did he know who I was in the first place, I had been talking to the pleasant woman at the till whilst waiting for help and was now politely concerned they had got there priorities wrong I had asked to speak to the head office and they were clearly blocking it. I said if I needed emergency help with the product and couldnt even get them to look at it then I needed a refund. At this time a young man came and looked at it and said to the other what should I do, should I fix it, he said oh if you want to and the young man did so within a couple of minutes and was very helpful. The bike as I said at the start had only been out twice and he explained it could have missed a gear as I changed it, now that could have been me or the bike I dont knoe i'm new to shifting weight it doesnt matter, but i only wanted advice and did not want to refer to the previously resolved incident. However it was obvious the arrogant man refusing help was holding it against me. Before I left I said look if he was a friend, i'm sorry as they previously in the conversation had told me he was sacked and fighting for his job back, but please dont hold it against an innocent customer it made it worse for me. I wondered wether the man in the trousers and shirt was angry with me as he put his hands in the air and said he wanted to not discuss it any more and looked towards the door, it was only the intervention from a young man asking him what to do resolved it so quickly. Maybe the area manager when looking for managers would better choose this young man, things might inmprove. By the way the police were involved and I in the end said I would take it no further as the person who called me had apologised to his superior and offered one to me though I prefered to leave it at that. WHOLE POINT IS FINALLY.......I wonder if this is what is to be expected everytime one has to go to the BLETCHLEY store is it worth it, I would like to think the head office would want to keep more an eye on them in future. I dont drove and have to hope if it happens again im nearer mk, though to be fair it was sorted in the end and i am happily trying to shift the weight again, no excuse, otherwise it would have been a slow walk home taking a bike for a walk. Come on Halfords when you corner a market listen to the customer and learn, if theres a weak link in a chain no punn intended please fix it. This is a true and factual experience only blagged because its sad the custoner is always an inconvinience in this day and age more so lately, so sites like this are an excellent reference to taste advice and at least be prepared as to how to manage a complaint.Halfords of course are more than welcome to ring me if they want to respond to this. PS. If they would like a new manager they could ask me, i'm a little rusty but do know how to show respect for the customer. A smile saves a lot of hastle. Regards tracey
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