Biting my tongue in Halfords

[Dan B]

Bikehut Mechanic Part time London Area
£4.81-£5.93 ph

National Minimum Wage is £6.08 according to the DirectGov site. How on earth can they get away with this?

 

[marafi]

No suprizes with Halfords tried to fix my brakes front and back for £25 i actually was laughing at them. So its fun when you need a good laugh with them.

 

[400bhp]

under 21s

 

[thelawnet]

National Minimum Wage is £6.08 according to the DirectGov site. How on earth can they get away with this?

It was £5.93 until last year. I expect this is an old ad. You'd get £6.08.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

It was £5.93 until last year. I expect this is an old ad. You'd get £6.08.

No, it's a current ad. I think 400bhp is probably correct. Though it's interesting that they don't specify that the vacancies are for under 21s.

But it does give an insight into why the service is sometimes not of the most highly motivated kind. There are good people working there but I doubt that they stay - they're relying on churn in a recession, and one that's particularly hard for young people.

 

[thelawnet]

No, it's a current ad. I think 400bhp is probably correct. Though it's interesting that they don't specify that the vacancies are for under 21s.

But it does give an insight into why the service is sometimes not of the most highly motivated kind. There are good people working there but I doubt that they stay - they're relying on churn in a recession, and one that's particularly hard for young people.

Hmm, I'd be very surprised if they actually pay people that.

The rates are:
£6.08 for 21+ (up from £5.93 on 1/10/2011)
£4.98 for 18-20 (up from £4.92)
£3.68 for 16-17 (up from £3.64)

I think what they are saying (in code) is they will pay NMW, and they will take workers aged 18+.

But perhaps the £4.81 is for 16-17 year olds, as the NMW for 18-20 year olds was previously £4.83

Either way, it's pretty terrible for what is a skilled job.

Looks like they pay all their staff that:

http://www.halfordscareers.com/vacancies.php?area=storesLondon

So no, I don't think they can be only employing under 21s.

Actually working in Halfords is not unpleasant compared with other minimum wage jobs, but they are obviously not going to attract the creme de la creme.....

 

[thelawnet]

More details on this here:

http://www.jobvacancies.org/halfords-job-vacancies

Basically Halfords have a shoot jobs website and this is obviously automated somehow, someone forgot to update the salary field in the database....

 

[poynedexter]

most jobs now are crap wages. i'm currently working for less than i was in 1995. its the way of the world. i've walked out of halfords about 4 times due to a lack of available staff either on the floor or at the till. i detest the place.

 

[MissTillyFlop]

I have had really good service in Halfords in Croydon and Doncaster and crap service in Halfords Brixton and Peterborough.

It depends on who is working there really.

 

[sabian92]

Most of them generally are 16 year old "Experts" who actually don't give a shoot and break stuff then claim it was like that when it was brought in.

 

[Holdsworth]

As bad they (supposedly) are, I have applied for a position in the Bikehut section. You cannot afford to picky about where you work in this day and age, that said I still haven't heard a reply

 

[BluesDave]

As bad they (supposedly) are, I have applied for a position in the Bikehut section. You cannot afford to picky about where you work in this day and age, that said I still haven't heard a reply

How would you ever be able to pay your rent or mortgage, bills and feed your family on under £5 per hour. True you can't afford to be picky these days but there must be a line drawn and I also am earning/ charging less than in 2004 but if people continue to accept these starvation wages then unscrupulous companies will continue to pay them. I've lived near Bolton. I sometimes wish I still did and even if I had lived in the Outer Hebrides and we'd raised our own sheep to eat we'd have struggled to survive on that.

I wouldn't pay anyone under £50 a day, even a trainee. Anything less is an insult in this day and age what with the cost of living.

To get back to the point though how can you possibly expect to have motivated and caring staff when you are insulting them with a renumeration like that and by the look of it that's even for skilled people such as competent bike mechanics. Shocking!

About three years ago I bought two kiddies bike for my twins birthdays, when I went to pick them up three weeks later they hadn't even bothered to put them together.
I was very angry because I had paid for them up front, they knew what they were for and they had blatantly lied to me telling me they would be ready, instead they hadn't even bothered to take them out of the f****** box.
I was fuming and they had the audacity to accuse me of shouting despite being so blatantly in the wrong.
So I showed them SHOUTING.
Two bikes, the same as purchased, were taken off display and they expected me to sign to say that I had taken them at my own risk as "they had not been built for riding only displaying". Instead I made the bloke get a spanner and a screwdriver and tighten every nut. bolt and screw on them.
It made me late for my boys which I have never been.
I never got a reply to my complaint to their Head Office which just goes to show what kind of a company they are.

I didn't go in there again or any other Halfords until three years later when my fiance insisted on her birthday present coming form there (Halfords, Sutton, Surrey). How I managed to ride that home without it falling apart I don't know, the angels must have been carrying it. I got the spanners out when I got it home.

Now I wouldn't even buy a washer from Halfords and I have to say it's a shame none of whats on this forum ever gets read by their customers or ends up as reviews on their website. I think it's more likely that they remove bad reviews.

Pay peanuts, employ monkeys it's that simple. (No offence to Holdsworth).

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

As bad they (supposedly) are, I have applied for a position in the Bikehut section. You cannot afford to picky about where you work in this day and age, that said I still haven't heard a reply

You're right, you can't pick and choose. If you do end up working there and if you're any good, it will only be stopgap for you, and Halfords will have a competent member of staff for the limited time you're there. Cycling is one of the few growth sectors around at the moment and there'll be far better opportunities coming along for you

 

[donnyjnk]

two weeks to tighten up rear wheel hub on my sons bmx. Apparantley bike mechanic only works a couple of hours a day due to recent heart surgery. I nearly spat out my drink, even the local policeman that was stood at the side of me had to turn away. Halfords in Doncaster name and shame. Go to lbs much better

 

[Banjo]

The advert says that candidates must actively keep their knowledge up to date then advertises an out of date pay scale. Says it all really.