A headlamp bulb went on the Altea on Saturday, so I popped into Halfords to pick up a replacement. As usual there were more staff than customers, and when the assistant asked me if I wanted someone to fit it for me, I genuinely thought they were doing it out of the kindness of their heart, and I agreed. It took the spotty youth about 2 minutes to fix it, and as we walked back inside to pay, I even wondered whether I should tip him for it…then I got to the till, and not only had to pay nearly 10 quid for the bulb, but another £6.99 for fitting.
I know – I am very, very gullible and quite, quite stupid.

Imagine how I laughed then, when I set out yesterday evening, to find every driver coming the other way flashing their lights at me and generally being very cross indeed. I’ve just checked the bulb this morning in the pissing rain and it was fitted wrong, dazzling anyone in its path.
I’m soaking wet, I’ve got filthy hands, and I’ve paid the equivalent of an hourly rate of £209.70 for someone to **** up something I was perfectly happy to do myself anyway.

**** you Halfords, **** you.

you’ve made me smile, anyway. hth.

£6.99 is cheap if you own a megane2,it takes around 10minutes to fit a offside main bulb and around 20-30 to do the nearside.I use them everytime and when asked do you want us to fit,yes please!,and the face on the guy when he realises its a megane 2, worth every penny.

i’d pay to have them do an NS focus bulb and day of the week. stupid, stupid design.

Go back to Halfords, complain and demand a refund!
Apparently if they don’t offer to fit it for you, they will do it for free.

tracknicko – Member

i’d pay to have them do an NS focus bulb and day of the week. stupid, stupid design.

Did this on Christmas morning, oh the joys. Its not impossible, just a right bloody faff getting the cover out of the way.

I stupidly volunteered to change the front headlight bulb on my dads Scenic 2 with the 1.9 diesel engine. Took me about 30 minutes and my hands were ripped to shreds afterwards. Bet the Renault mechanics have a special bulb fitting tool.

I’ve changed so many headlight bulbs on my megane I have it down to a fine art. Side lights and indicators however are a total pain so £6.99 is a bargain!

Did this on Christmas morning, oh the joys. Its not impossible, just a right bloody faff getting the cover out of the way.

the mrs’ battery tray is cracked/snapped on that corner. leaving a jagged edge.

last time i did it my hand looked like i’d be punching a porcupine.

grrrr!!!

,and the face on the guy when he realises its a megane 2, worth every penny.

😆

I battled for ages to change bulbs in my C30, you don’t consult the manual for wee things like that do you?

Turns out, theres a metal pin that holds the whole headlamp unit in place. Take that out,pop the whole unit out, and the job is a total doddle.

Handy, I seem to pop a lot of bulbs these days.

E-mail their head office with a copy of the receipt & explain the problem. You should get a refund.

I had a similar thing when they replaced a battery for me (long story, could have done it myself but was supposedly easier for them to do)….
The bloke sat the battery on a lead when re-fitting it, so didn’t connect it back to the battery. Cue hilarious comedy light function on my drive home in the wet & dark, followed by a £45 bill for Ford to sort out (again, could have done it myself, but long story etc…)

I complained to Halfords including the receipt from Ford to get the ‘halfords installation’ fixed & they sent me a cheque for their cost of fitting, plus the Ford charges.

Oh, also don’t trust their ‘what headlight’/’what wiper blade’ flip books. There are mistakes in them for all 3 of the cars I have tried to use them for…

bigyin, tracknicko – I feel your pain. as a focus owner I have paid Halfords in the past and a weasely little guy (with freakishly small hands) fitted the bulb in seconds. The next time I was determined to do it myself to save £7, I found it helps if you don’t bother trying to look at what you are doing and go for the “key-hole surgery with a blindfold” method. I agree with the stupid design comment, battery cover is a nightmare.

I did a *lot* of swearing the first time I needed to replace a bulb on my Zafira. Access to the headlights is via a panel on the inside of the wheel arch (therefore covered in grot and road muck), through a circular aperture about 2.5″ diameter (way too small even for my delicate wrists) then a load of fiddling on the other side to twist out the bulb holder. I would happily pay 6.99 not to have to do that again.

i’d pay to have them do an NS focus bulb

Not sure they’d even do it. They wont do 2006 Fiestas.

Last time my car blew a bulb I dropped it round to the garage 100yds round the corner from mine early one morning then went off to work. Returned home that evening, the car was parked outside my house, key dropped through the letterbox and a note saying “£3, pay next time you bring it in for a service”

So that’s why local garages are better than Halfords. 🙂

I always pay them to change my bulbs and never had a problem. The bulbs are very awkward. I think it’s a brilliant service

There are also huge signs up behind the counter telling you the fitting charges.

Sometimes things go wrong…it’s not just Halfords who are guilty of that.

They had a look over my 2004 Accord and the spotty oik said ‘sorry mate, wouldn’t have a clue where to start’. Honda did it for free. Another stupid design though.

1996 Civic, source of lacerated hands, cursing & general double-jointedness. I’d pay to watch someone else suffering like that.

Halfords admitted defeat with my mum’s car, she ended up going back to the main dealer.

Bet the Renault mechanics have a special bulb fitting tool.

I think you’ll find that these days they have to call them ‘The Apprentice’ 😉

never mind all this bulb nonesense, how did the OP get those cool dots above “naivete”
very thorough!

?õò? P????

Volvo V60 – 2 of us gave up after an hour and decided to drink tea and dress our wounds.

The garage tried their best not to accept the job as well. Why do car makers not think about the fact that bulbs fail ?

cranberry – Member
Volvo V60 – 2 of us gave up after an hour and decided to drink tea and dress our wounds.

The garage tried their best not to accept the job as well. Why do car makers not think about the fact that bulbs fail ?
Even more amusing when you consider it’s a legal requirement to carry spare bulbs in most of Europe these days.

Doesn’t say anywhere you need to be able to fit them though….

how did the OP get those cool dots above “naivete”
very thorough!

Not for me the random caps and incoherent ramblings of your typical STW rant, oh no…

I bought new bulbs for my mazda 6, thinking it would be a simple job.

Wrong

official instructions involved removing the wheel arch lining FFS.

How can such **** designs ever get made? I know space is limited, but bulbs are a consumable and as such, replacement by owner should be easy.