Halfords, very informed staff

[Greenheart]

Not objecting to the necessity to MOT vehicles...it's never convenient, but it's for good safety reasons. BUT, if you're inclined to do your own repairs on almost anything mechanical, beware the urge to find the answer in Halfords, because as a rule, neither the equipment nor the knowhow resides within their doors.

In London, motoring mates & I developed wholesale contempt for Halfords, choosing instead to go with smaller local companies and online spares specialists. Not just for cost-savings and time-saving; most of all, the smaller companies' staff were actually trained...

...you'd think Halfords would take a few hours with their new starters, since they'll be the company's front-line. But no: every time I go in (years apart) more of the same gormless, cheerless, unhappy, untrained faces, always looking certain to ill-advise me.

I'm amazed they haven't gone the way of Woolworth's, decades ago.

 

[BrendanS]

as I said, they are a convenience store, nothing more, nothing less

 

[Woodlouse]

Yeah, but think of all those spotty 17 year olds buying stickers and extra headlights and racing seat covers and novelty ariels for their Vauxhall Novas. Where the hell are they going to go if they can't go to Halfords and get their spotty mate to put it on their staff discount for them?


What I'm saying is, since when did you think Halfords was a store for grown ups? It's like a toyshop for adolescents.

 

[[70521]]

They dont guarentee their car batteries for use in boats, but would kindly change mine, but just this once to keep me happy, any problems after that, Im on my own as the three year guarentee doesnt apply to boats, but they couldnt change it, they didnt have any!

I wonder how they would know if a battery has been in a boat?

Sadly, my fantastic local independent garage is closed over the holidays and I had to pop into Halfords for a wiper blade. Would you like us to fit it, for £1.99, sir? Thank you but, no thank you, I have an engineering degree and think I should be able to fit this in about three seconds. We have to ask. It would appear that they are making their profit on fitting things not selling them!

I wonder if they would do the "fitting" service on a boat.

 

[Giblets]

These are all bad reviews of Halfords, maybe I just have the best store in Guildford and the rest are complete idiots??

My battery works fine, my tools work fine, employees are pleasant..

Lucky me!

I have to say that I find their Epsom store as good. The chap behind the Parts Counter really does appear to know his onions. I have also bought some most useful tools from there for the day job which I have needed in a hurry so couldn't wait for online delivery.

 

[glashen]

Halfords are a convenience store for motorists. You use them when you have to, but are quite convenient. Nothing more, nothing lest. Surprised at the angst on this thread.

I'm also surprised at the tone of this thread, but probably shouldn't be, according to the sages on here independent chandleries rip you off with their prices, mail order firms don't deliver and Halfords is rubbish. Generally I wonder why you would go to a chain store if you want good advice. I won't defend them or anyone else but I thank God I'm no longer trying to sell stuff to the great British public, who of course are always right.

 

[Seajet]

I wonder if they would do the "fitting" service on a boat.

I'd love to see their attempt at rowing out to the mooring, must be worth having a camera ready !

 

[sailorman]

Just ordered for collection3 x 4lts 5>30 oil.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_907231_langId_-1_categoryId_165581
had 1 x sms
1 x phone call
1 x email
within minutes of reservation, the chap who called now knows i am a grumpy old git

 

[Tintin]

It does seem to me, from my various attempts to buy bikes and car bits at Halfords, that they are really appalling. I have taken some of my customer facing staff to our local one to show them how not to do things, so in that respect at least they serve some purpose.

 

[Halcytwo]

Marine Reflections

Our Business is less than 5 miles from the Guildford branch, thats who I was refering too, there great, please keep breaking things !!!
As for the MOT never ever visit a discount MOT centre, its just a way to pull you in and then find something wrong.
The regulations are very open to intrepretation.
Lots of the MOT is down to the tester, what one person thinks is excessive wear is different to someone elses.
Its actually very easy to fail a car if you want too create work.
From experience the fast fit national chains are normally the worst.
During an MOT absoutely no dismantling is allowed, it is primaraly a visual check.

 

[25931]

I bought a 12v 520 amp starting power battery as a dedicated engine start battery for my Beta 14 engine, but Ive had problems with it not holding a charge so not being able to start the engine in order to charge it!
I rowed the battery to shore, charged it christmas eve, then today, checked it again before taking it back to the boat, and found it down at 11.92v

I took it back to Halfords who put their measure on it which came up with '12.05 v good battery needs charging', then the assistant went on to explain to me that I needed a boat battery, theirs were only car batteries, he thought what I needed might be called a Gel battery.
He also said they do not guarentee their batteries for anything other than cars, and that boats break/ruin batteries because they dont have alternators to charge them up again.

I tried to explain to him about boat engines being marinised engines, and that they have alternators too, and that as an engineer, I do know a little about it, but he continued to be condescending and give me a load of rubbish.

520 amp ?

 

[lenseman]

I wonder how they would know if a battery has been in a boat? . . . . .

Walk into Halfords on a peg-leg and covered in salt, with a parrot on your shoulder and a patch over one eye shouting "Belay there, me hearties"!

I thought that would have been bleedin' obvious?

.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I've found my local Halfords to be very good indeed for cycling. Far better than the local specialist, but highly priced, shop.

A while ago I was thinking of getting a new road bike but I wanted to see how I would get on with drop bars. The specialist shop would only let me go around the car park. Halfords had a similar rule (obvious really; they don't want to see their stock being ridden off, never to return!). However, the manager offered to bring his own bike in for me to borrow for a few days. You can't ask for more than that.

There's been other occasions where they have gone well beyond the call of duty. I can't fault them for biking stuff. Don't know about the car side of things though.

 

[lenseman]

I've found my local Halfords to be very good indeed for cycling. Far better than the local specialist, but highly priced, shop. . . . . . . . Don't know about the car side of things though.

Five staff in Gosport, one on the till, three faffing around outside doing spark-plug change, a battery change and the other doing a light bulb change an one in the back office having a tea break.

Nobody in the shop to help!

.

 

[jwilson]

I wonder how they would know if a battery has been in a boat?

Sadly, my fantastic local independent garage is closed over the holidays and I had to pop into Halfords for a wiper blade. Would you like us to fit it, for £1.99, sir? Thank you but, no thank you, I have an engineering degree and think I should be able to fit this in about three seconds. We have to ask. It would appear that they are making their profit on fitting things not selling them!

I wonder if they would do the "fitting" service on a boat.

I was in Southampton and had a headlamp bulb blow on my Volvo - 200 miles to drive home in the dark later: asked Halfords if they could fit one - of course they said - £XX plus bulb.

Then spent 30 minutes watching in the end three of their staff struggling to do so. They managed it eventually, worth it to keep my hands clean. Don't think they made much profit on that bulb.

 

[IanL]

This reminds me of the time I found some hoses on the boat cooling system that were in poor condition. I asked a crew member on his way to the boat to pick up some 1/2 inch heater hose from Halfords. A little later I got a call saying they didn't have 1/2 inch hose only 12.7mm. - We managed with that of course.

However a word of praise for the Gosport branch where a young lad helped me rebuild a jamming cleat and looked very embarassed when I offered him a small reward for his efforts.

 

[maxi77]

Five staff in Gosport, one on the till, three faffing around outside doing spark-plug change, a battery change and the other doing a light bulb change an one in the back office having a tea break.

Nobody in the shop to help!

.

Some may consider that good luck.

 

[Searush]

I fell for that.

Came back to collect the car and found it with two wheels off and brake callipers removed and a repair order for about £400 ready for me to agree for new callipers, disks and pads. Oh and they threw in the old standby, adjust headlamp aim £20.
My understanding is that a garage has no right to dismantle anything as part of an MoT. They either pass it or fail it on what they can see and touch without removing anything. Like a surveyor. (Can any expert forumite confirm or contradict?)

They were not pleased when I said I was taking it away and they had to reassemble it and bleed the brakes for me. However they did it and didn't try to claim it was not safe to drive.

Hmm, my garages do that as part of the MoT if it needs it. I say garages, because my regular guy can't MoT the Motorhome, it won't fit on his lift, but the people who can do it, also did the headlamp adjustment for free last time.

I once fell for the KwickFit "free safety check" & was told the car wasn't safe to drive away when I argued with their findings. I drove it 120 miles home without a problem & it passed the next MoT without warnings.

 

[prv]

Across the country there are lots of council MOT stations who do their own vehicles, and also do private motorists

Yep - I believe the MOT rules require them to accept all-comers, even though they're set up just for doing the Council vehicles.

Five staff in Gosport, one on the till, three faffing around outside doing spark-plug change, a battery change and the other doing a light bulb change an one in the back office having a tea break.

Nobody in the shop to help!

But it sounds like if there had been one in the shop they wouldn't have been any help anyway, so what's the loss?

In my local one there's often nobody on the tills, which is more problematic.

Pete

 

[Marine Reflections]

Marine Reflections

Our Business is less than 5 miles from the Guildford branch, thats who I was refering too, there great, please keep breaking things !!!
As for the MOT never ever visit a discount MOT centre, its just a way to pull you in and then find something wrong.
The regulations are very open to intrepretation.
Lots of the MOT is down to the tester, what one person thinks is excessive wear is different to someone elses.
Its actually very easy to fail a car if you want too create work.
From experience the fast fit national chains are normally the worst.
During an MOT absoutely no dismantling is allowed, it is primaraly a visual check.

Who, where are you? Own a business that works on vehicles 5 miles from me and a member of the forum

I see what you are saying in they are trying to create work, but they would have to prove that something needs doing, even if it is small and potentially passable.

£27 may well be cheap for an MOT, but I want them to find something wrong with it! That's what I have paid for, surely it should be the other way around, I would expect to pay more for a more in-depth inspection.
I wouldn't dream of going there to get it tuned or to deal with a gearbox issue.

For me the the more fussy they are the better.
My garage keep passing mine with no advisories, it's 13 years old for goodness sake, fail it on something, please!
I buy lots of presents for it, bushes, links, belts.. nope all fine sir.. bah!

I think Halfords are great!
They are out in the car park often fitting someones window wipers or bulbs etc, I don't need that part of the service, but many folk do, yes clearly they need to offer far more training to the staff, but it's a good business model and the world is full of people who don't know how to fit a window wiper.

You are going to get bad apples in every retail business like this, personally I find staff everywhere treat you with respect and courtesy if you treat them with respect and courtesy. I don't look down on anyone because they are spotty and 16 and don't happen to stock my oil filter.

I'm happy to just go in and pick up a bearing puller if I need one, a fire extinguisher, high quality RCA leads, a clay bar, some heat shrink tubing and some more solder....all in one place.