My bro-in-law just bought a new Carrera hybrid bike from Halfords in Poole, costing £300. He hasn’t had a bike for 20 years but he noticed it wasn’t right when he got home. Halfords had sold it with:

– Forks fitted backwards
– Bars ‘rising’ backwards not upwards
– Brake levers facing upwards
– A 5mm gap at the top of the fork crown, where presumably there should be a rubber seal.

I’m not saying that all Halford staff are idiots – I know some do a great job and know their stuff – but really, some basic standards would be nice!

photos and complain – 25% refund i’d demand.

IME, when Halfords workshops are any use they’re anchored by someone who does know what they’re doing and takes some pride. I’ve had mechanical work done at Halfords as good as anywhere else. But when that crucial guy who knows his stuff isn’t there the organisation itself has no culture of getting it right and isn’t too bothered.

25% refund? Dream on.

Get them to sort it.

Many years ago I worked for Halfords (I only did it for the money) and they sent me on many training courses as I was a department supervisor. One of those courses was meant for cycle department staff and I knew far more about bikes and the technology involved (the theme of the course) than the guy running the course (He admited he had previously worked for Victoria Wines!). An example of his teaching aids were photocopies of articles taken from mtb mags of the time about the various benefits of different frame materials, like Halfords would be selling Ti frames! Thankfully the course had nothing to do with PDIs and repairs. It would be nice to think that things have changed since those days with the introduction of CyTech but it seems sadly not.

one-bad-mofo – weren’t voodoo De Jab(?De hab?) ti frames? Had one on order but even the incompetence of the staff at the phone centre was terrible, enough to cancel order.

One of the guys in our local MTB group has a Halfwits horror story he told me (he worked there for a while):

This woman was sold a bike with the old-style quill stem, but the guy who built it had no idea what he was doing and didn’t tighten the top Allen Bolt. The woman picked it up and decided to ride home. She tried to exit the car park but when she turned the bars she almost fell onto a bollard!

another guy in the MTB group now works there and he’s spent quite a bit of his time teaching the Bikehut people how to look after bikes, as when he suggested a qualification in cycle maintenance to his boss for everyone he got really angry at the mere suggestion of investing in people. That is Halfwit’s problem!

I have countless tales of Halfords incompetence both in cars and bikes, however some staff are very helpful and good at their jobs, its very hit and miss. And they are the only place open locally that can provide me with a 34mm 1/2″ socket at 7pm on a saturday when my wheel bearing needs replacing and I’m 200 miles from home. I just feel for people who need to know their bike will be supplied correctly.

The bars were still twisted backwards from the crate

but any bike from halfrods should be stripped and rebuilt as a matter of course 🙂

I thought EVERYONE knew that 😉

IME, when Halfords workshops are any use they’re anchored by someone who does know what they’re doing and takes some pride. I’ve had mechanical work done at Halfords as good as anywhere else. But when that crucial guy who knows his stuff isn’t there the organisation itself has no culture of getting it right and isn’t too bothered.

spot on there! There’s a good bloke working at the Chelmsford branch who knows what he’s talking about. Order bits in for me when the LBS can’t get hold of them, gives decent advice etc.

Unfortunately the rest of the staff are about 16 or 17 and mostly seem to spend their time chucking ball bearings about (to be fair they do bounce pretty well on the hard floor in there 🙂 )

One of my mates supervises a Bike Hut and he really does know his stuff. Unfortunately, many of his ‘underlings’ are utterly clueless. He delights in telling the tale of overhearing a conversation between one of his staff, and a clueless customer;

CC – “My disc brakes squeak all the time, even when I’m not using them!”

Underling – “Buy a tin of this (hands CC a can of GT85) and spray it all over the discs before you ride – that’ll stop them squealing”.

This twit can’t be sacked apparently, because his mum’s a shop floor supervisor and has been there for donkey’s.

Don’t get them to sort it!

Make a complaint, get something shiny for the priveiledge, and fix the bike yourself

they’ll only cock it up again 🙂

I fixed it myself and I thought of complaining to the store, but I don’t think that’ll achieve much.

A bit of bad press on a public forum is a reasonable response!

Oh stop with the Halfords Threads.

Everyone knows they are $hit and only good for cheap xmas/b.day bikes made of heavy steel never ridden. You get what you pay for.

They have $hit staff and no training, the company that owns them is trying to make money and sell them on as previously have for decades.

The odd staff member might be ok but majority are dumb are **** and don’t want to be there.

I’d never buy a bike from them. Ok maybe from Houns 8)

Should have went LBS.

Evans in Birmingham this Sunday weren’t much better.

Me- I need something to remove the centre lock disc from a 15mm bolt thru hub, I think that it may be a bottom bracket remover, it’s definitely NOT a cassette tool.

Shop chappie – Is it one of these? – holds up cassette tool

Me – No. I think it’s something for removing a bottom bracket, like on this bike over here – point to external bottom bracket

Chappie – I’ll go and ask one of the mechanics…. …nope, he says it’s definitely one of these that you need – picks up cassette tool

Me – No, I’m sure it’s not one of those, I have one of those, and it doesn’t fit. I’m pretty sure it’s a bottom bracket tool.

Chappie – Well in that case mate, I’m sorry we can’t help you.

At this point I demand to speak directly to the mechanic who takes me to find a bottom bracket tool which does the job perfectly. 🙄

I thought it was a cassette tool too.

Not a mechanic, and don’t run CL, but have fitted a mates and I’m sure I used my cassette tool. Maybe I’m magic. Or maybe my memory is sho(i)t

Zaskar, Thing is people who’re new to cycling expect their new bike has been put together by someone who knows what they’re doing. They don’t question that. There’s probably quite a few people riding round Poole on bikes with the forks on backwards!

paulosoxo – it’s a cassette tool on the QR hubbed version – on the back wheel, but not on the 15mm or 20mm version. I did explain this to the chap on the shop, to no avail.

…

like Halfords would be selling Ti frames

Halfords were Airbourne dealers for a while.

I looked on Bikebiz when the results of the massive court case in London was imminent ( Russ's )
Clicked on what I thought was the report, but it was one about my local Halfords in Exeter. Supplied a bike, new owner rode up the High st and the front wheel failed sending him over the front and broken bones, nerve damage etc. Halfords found negligent.
Q

The mechanic in our local Halfords ordered a Orange 222 and the kit to build through Halfords a few years ago and then took everything to our LBS and paid them to build it up!