Halfords customers

Marc said:

Gethin's new rear mech launched itself around the rear block and chain ring yesterday ( A
combination of me obviously not tightening it enough a month ago and his laizze-faire attitude to
putting the bike away when he's finished riding). So today found me in Halfords (All the good bike
shops -County Cycles , Rocky mountain cycles and Simon's cycles- were too far, wrong way etc..)
Picked up a bog standard 7 speed rear mech, and as he was nagging about having more gears I
enquired about a 6 or possibly even a 7 speed freewheel , expecting the usual dept store sneer for
anyone that has something that wasn't bought this morning. I was quite suprised when we ended up
having a quite reasonable discussion about how to get the 7 speed block on and the "specilaist"
mentioned that the wheel might need redishing to which I replied " That woudn't be too much of a
problem" , he stopped looked at me and said" Do you know it's a pleasure having somone that
actually knows what dishing is". Which leads me to my question, Do Halfords simply get the
customers it deserves and is that why in general they regarded as being so [censored]?

The guy I talked to last week (they had a brake hanger the local specialist bike shop couldn't
supply!) even knew what a self-energising brake was. However, 90% of what they sell is overpriced
low quality [censored].

Zog The Undeniable tried to scribble ...

Quoted message said:

Marc wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Which leads me to my question, Do Halfords simply get the customers it deserves and is that why
in general they regarded as being so [censored]?

Quoted message said:

The guy I talked to last week (they had a brake hanger the local specialist bike shop couldn't
supply!) even knew what a self-energising brake was. However, 90% of what they sell is overpriced
low quality [censored].

But when there _is_ a bargain they are generally _good_ bargains .. 😉

--
Digweed '79 Beamish RL 250, '85 Swift Corvette, '88 Ford Escort 1.6 Ghia, '95 Dyna-Tech CroMo Comp,
'97 Landrover Discovery 300 Tdi, '02 Schumacher CAT 3000, '03 Losi Kinwald Triple-X, '03 Associated
RC10 B4 .... 😉 Escort for Auction tinyurl.comosdjOpen ↗

Digweed .. ;) said:

But when there _is_ a bargain they are generally _good_ bargains .. 😉

True - I bought all my touring luggage in an end of year sale from there.

"Digweed .. 😉" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Zog The Undeniable tried to scribble ...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The guy I talked to last week (they had a brake hanger the local specialist bike shop couldn't
supply!) even knew what a self-energising brake was. However, 90% of what they sell is
overpriced low quality [censored].

But when there _is_ a bargain they are generally _good_ bargains .. 😉

Indeed, I've had a few unexpected bargains from them. Always worth checking out if passing by.

Pete

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The guy I talked to last week (they had a brake hanger the local specialist bike shop couldn't
supply!) even knew what a self-energising brake was. However, 90% of what they sell is
overpriced low quality [censored].

There are places far worse than Halfords that attempt to pass themselves off as cycle shops or
having a bike department.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But when there _is_ a bargain they are generally _good_ bargains .. 😉

Indeed, I've had a few unexpected bargains from them. Always worth

checking

Quoted message said:

out if passing by.

I picked up two pairs of Vans shoes for a modest total of £40.

I do use local bike shops in preference to Halfords here in Leeds but there are ocassions when
Halfords prices cannot be beaten.

Vernon , a regular spender at Woodrups and Bob Jackson in Leeds

Zog The Undeniable tried to scribble ...

Quoted message said:

Digweed .. ;) said:

But when there _is_ a bargain they are generally _good_ bargains .. 😉

True - I bought all my touring luggage in an end of year sale from there.

When I upgraded a friends 'twist grips' to 'proper' gear changers I got a stonking deal on a full XT
gear/brake set, integral levers, cables, front and rear derailleurs, front and rear vee brakes for
about £20, may have been £25 .. They had been in the 'glass case' for months, so were last years
stock, and were originally marked up at about £90 IIRC .. 😉

--
Digweed '79 Beamish RL 250, '85 Swift Corvette, '88 Ford Escort 1.6 Ghia, '95 Dyna-Tech CroMo Comp,
'97 Landrover Discovery 300 Tdi, '02 Schumacher CAT 3000, '03 Losi Kinwald Triple-X, '03 Associated
RC10 B4 .... 😉 Escort for Auction tinyurl.comosdjOpen ↗

Digweed .. ;\) said:

Zog The Undeniable tried to scribble ...

Quoted message said:

Digweed .. ;) said:

But when there _is_ a bargain they are generally _good_ bargains .. 😉

True - I bought all my touring luggage in an end of year sale from there.

When I upgraded a friends 'twist grips' to 'proper' gear changers I got a stonking deal on a full
XT gear/brake set, integral levers, cables, front and rear derailleurs, front and rear vee brakes
for about £20, may have been £25 .. They had been in the 'glass case' for months, so were last
years stock, and were originally marked up at about £90 IIRC .. 😉

It's a big chain and bikes aren't their main business. There are probably a lot of individual stores
with excellent bike mechanics on the staff, but it only takes a few stores without to blacken their
name. FWIW the first two bikes I bought for myself as an adult were Halfords own brand Apollo
models, and I did many thousand miles on each of them. I wouldn't have any worries about buying from
them again.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

[ This .sig intentionally left blank ]

On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 16:45:04 +0100, Marc did issue forth:

<snippage>

Quoted message said:

Which leads me to my question, Do Halfords simply get the customers it deserves and is that why in
general they regarded as being so [censored]?

Which branch was it, Marc?

In my experience, in recent years the Swansea branch have employed some good die-hard bike geeks as
opposed to the yoofs that I've encountered in many other Halfords branches in previous years.

I'll never forget the time we wandered into there, having exhausted all the "real" bike shops in
Swansea and, as a last gasp attempt uttered "Don't suppose you've got a derailleur hanger for an
iDrive 1.0, have you?"

The bloke just smiled and reached below the counter before saying "What? One of them?" pointing at
the lump of metal now sitting on the counter in front of us. Possibly fluke, but it impressed me
at the time.

Huw

Quoted message said:

In my experience, in recent years the Swansea branch have employed some good die-hard bike geeks
as opposed to the yoofs that I've encountered in many other Halfords branches in previous years.

From a member of staff point of view this really seems to be a company policy now. In just over a
year of becoming a bikehut the whole of our cycling personel have changed. Everyone of us a bike
geek in some field of cycling.

FWIW Halfords as a company knows its reputation and is really trying to change it. This is the whole
point of bikehut. In our branch with the bikehut being upstairs its really like working in a
seperate shop, and its great that way!!

Cheers

Michael

Quoted message said:

I was quite suprised when we ended up having a quite reasonable discussion about how to get the 7
speed block on and the "specilaist" mentioned that the wheel might need redishing to which I
replied " That woudn't be too much of a problem" , he stopped looked at me and said" Do you know
it's a pleasure having somone that actually knows what dishing is". Which leads me to my question,
Do Halfords simply get the customers it deserves and is that why in general they regarded as being
so [censored]?

Different to my local Halfords then ;-) Vernon asked about dishing in ours to one of their bike
staff and was met with a wonderful blank look.

The problem I have with Halfords is not so much the staff - certainly at the local one they are
pleasant and will ask if they can help, it's just the *knowledge* they have is not that much.
Indeed I have posted in the past about the helpful attitude of the local staff. The main gripe I
have, developed through experience, is that if I buy anything at Halfords too much of it has to be
returned as faulty. There's never any problem getting a refund or exchange, it's just that it
would be much nicer if they could get it right first time more often than wrong first, second and
third time, if you see what I mean. This isn't the fault of the staff it's poor quality control of
their stock.

Cheers, helen s

~~~~~~~~~~
This is sent from a redundant email Mail sent to it is dumped My correct one can be gleaned from
h*$el***$$n*$d$ot$**s**i$$m*$m$**on**$s$@*$$a**$*ol*$*.*$$c$om*$ by getting rid of the
overdependence on money and fame
~~~~~~~~~~

Huw Pritchard said:

Which leads me to my question, Do Halfords simply get the customers it

Quoted message said:

deserves and is that why in general they regarded as being so [censored]?

Which branch was it, Marc?

Bridgend

Quoted message said:

In my experience, in recent years the Swansea branch have employed some good die-hard bike geeks
as opposed to the yoofs that I've encountered in many other Halfords branches in previous years.

There are two usefull ones in Bridgend one ( the guy with the piecings) knows his stuff ,the other
is a bit less clued up but being a Scout does try his best to satisfy.

--
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Michael Kent said:

FWIW Halfords as a company knows its reputation and is really trying to change it.

Import some staff from the Netherlands? I was in Bergen-op-Zoom one day and my favourite bike shop
had closed. I asked my customer if there was another good bike shop in the town and he gave me
directions " go through square left right 200 mtrs etc..." I followed them and was met with
"HALFORDS" but an Alice through the looking glass Halfords. Imagine a UK store with the bikes
downstairs and a "carhut" to squeeze the plastic [censored] into.

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marc said:

Michael Kent said:

FWIW Halfords as a company knows its reputation and is really trying to change it.

Import some staff from the Netherlands? I was in Bergen-op-Zoom one day and my favourite bike shop
had closed. I asked my customer if there was another good bike shop in the town and he gave me
directions " go through square left right 200 mtrs etc..." I followed them and was met with
"HALFORDS" but an Alice through the looking glass Halfords. Imagine a UK store with the bikes
downstairs and a "carhut" to squeeze the plastic [censored] into.

BERGEN OP ZOOM????!!!!!!! nnnoooooooo

(sorry bad ride one day)

while we were in holland i bougth one of those little bells from a dutch halfords.

panda

My local one, in Enfield has a marvoulous guy behind the counter. Dave is his name. He has given me
a load of really good advice and half the stuff he has suggested I had no idea about. For instances
I have no idea what dishing
is. Any pointers on that for me? So any problems while in the Enfield area, he's the guy to see.

Gadget

P.S I think a register of c**p, mediocre, decent and excellent bike shops should be put toghter for
the cyclist by the cyclists. Any opinions on this?

panda said:

BERGEN OP ZOOM????!!!!!!! nnnoooooooo

(sorry bad ride one day)

Let's hear about it!

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and dealers.

"Gadget" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

My local one, in Enfield has a marvoulous guy behind the counter. Dave is his name. He has given
me a load of really good advice and half the stuff he has suggested I had no idea about. For
instances I have no idea what dishing
is. Any pointers on that for me? So any problems while in the Enfield area, he's the guy to see.

Gadget

P.S I think a register of c**p, mediocre, decent and excellent bike shops should be put toghter
for the cyclist by the cyclists. Any opinions on this?

Yes we have all 4 in my area. IMHO Halfords is aimed at new bikes/accesories/upgrades (especially
when they discount the stuff in the glass cases), but not general servicing (you can't even buy
spokes) C**P is the local clearance shop decent is a road only shop aimed at riders who can't
afford (or even spell) Pinarello excellent is a road only shop aimed at riders who have never heard
of Halfords.

"martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

excellent is a road only shop aimed at riders who have never heard of Halfords.

Would they be from China then?

Pete

"Gadget" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:EHwgb.4934

Quoted message said:

My local one, in Enfield has a marvoulous guy behind the counter. Dave is his name. He has given
me a load of really good advice and half the stuff

he

Quoted message said:

has suggested I had no idea about.

Good stuff. Although I certainly do not go to Halfords for tech advice, some "basic sundries" like
degreaser etc are sold at cheaper than LBSs; and one I know one of the young lads there as he
sometimes turns up at local raves.

Although he wasn't a "bike expert" he was certainly interested in why I would choose certain
products and *wanted to learn* what was involved with bikes; which is IMO a good thing.

I was also told that one reason why the central reading Halfords was being retained was that it
served a lot of town centre cyclists.

Quoted message said:

P.S I think a register of c**p, mediocre, decent and excellent bike shops should be put toghter
for the cyclist by the cyclists. Any opinions on

this?

Quoted message said:

Whilst its worth pointing out individual problems with suppliers, there are dangers; such a list
could be abused by competitors to [censored] off rivals (unless you are prepared to vet the posts, trace
IPs etc and do general private-eye type stuff!) or potentially invite civil legal action or other
forms of reprisals.

Alex

"Mr R@t \(2.3 zulu-alpha\) [comms room 2]" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Gadget" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:EHwgb.4934

Quoted message said:

My local one, in Enfield has a marvoulous guy behind the counter. Dave is his name. He has given
me a load of really good advice and half the stuff

he

Quoted message said:

has suggested I had no idea about.

Good stuff. Although I certainly do not go to Halfords for tech advice, some "basic sundries" like
degreaser etc are sold at cheaper than LBSs; and one I know one of the young lads there as he
sometimes turns up at local raves.

Although he wasn't a "bike expert" he was certainly interested in why I would choose certain
products and *wanted to learn* what was involved with bikes; which is IMO a good thing.

I was also told that one reason why the central reading Halfords was being retained was that it
served a lot of town centre cyclists.

Quoted message said:

P.S I think a register of c**p, mediocre, decent and excellent bike shops should be put toghter
for the cyclist by the cyclists. Any opinions on

this?

Quoted message said:

Whilst its worth pointing out individual problems with suppliers, there are dangers; such a list
could be abused by competitors to [censored] off rivals (unless you are prepared to vet the posts, trace
IPs etc and do general private-eye type stuff!) or potentially invite civil legal action or other
forms of reprisals.

Alex

I agree, it needs to be more subtle.