Bloody Halfords. Inept - no - Damn Dangerous. And Ham-Fisted.

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Picked up the replacement today. It wasn't scratched and was the right size.

Few minutes outside in the car park nipping up the seatpost and the handlebar clamp (would have slipped round on the first hill if standing on the pedals!!!!)

Had to nip to work to pick up a couple of project bikes I'd bought and bring them home in works van so had a gentle ride to work nursing the out-of-wack indexing, did my errands then at work got the Crixus on the stand. 45 minutes going over it and finally, a lovely ride home on a nice new bike all working as it should. Hurrah.

Now just need the hail to stop

 

[James_York]

I know this is an old thread, but I feel I have to add my 2p's worth... I am a Halfords cycle mechanic/techie/what-ever-you-want-to-call-it. I've spent a lifetime on bikes (being 42 now, having started cycling, in the true sense of the word, at 10 years old).
Every single bike that I build, as well as my colleagues, are double checked, once when they are built, and the second time, when they are delivered to a customer. We have a PDI check list that MUST be followed, filled in as we are building the bike, starting with unpacking from the box and ending with turning the handle bars at 90 degrees for storage.
When a customer comes to collect, we go over the bike again with a torque wrench, making sure that all bolts are correctly torqued, as per spec. And these specs get drilled in to us...

The fact that OP's bike left the store in the state that it did, actually disgusts me, for the very fact that someone can care so little, not only for their client, but also for what they do. And as has been said in this thread, it comes down to people just doing a "job". It's not a passion to them, so why care?

1 reason I'd like them to care, is because it makes all us "Halfrauds" mechanics who DO actually care, look bad!! And pi***s me off no end. I have one of those working in my store - I don't let any bikes that he has worked on leave the store without me having given it the once over...and he just doesn't get it, when I get so annoyed with him.

Anyway. To the OP, I'm sorry you had such a bad run in with a Halfords store, all I can say is, I wish you'd come to mine, I'd like to think you'd have had a different experience.

 

[classic33]

I know this is an old thread, but I feel I have to add my 2p's worth... I am a Halfords cycle mechanic/techie/what-ever-you-want-to-call-it. I've spent a lifetime on bikes (being 42 now, having started cycling, in the true sense of the word, at 10 years old).
Every single bike that I build, as well as my colleagues, are double checked, once when they are built, and the second time, when they are delivered to a customer. We have a PDI check list that MUST be followed, filled in as we are building the bike, starting with unpacking from the box and ending with turning the handle bars at 90 degrees for storage.
When a customer comes to collect, we go over the bike again with a torque wrench, making sure that all bolts are correctly torqued, as per spec. And these specs get drilled in to us...

The fact that OP's bike left the store in the state that it did, actually disgusts me, for the very fact that someone can care so little, not only for their client, but also for what they do. And as has been said in this thread, it comes down to people just doing a "job". It's not a passion to them, so why care?

1 reason I'd like them to care, is because it makes all us "Halfrauds" mechanics who DO actually care, look bad!! And pi***s me off no end. I have one of those working in my store - I don't let any bikes that he has worked on leave the store without me having given it the once over...and he just doesn't get it, when I get so annoyed with him.

Anyway. To the OP, I'm sorry you had such a bad run in with a Halfords store, all I can say is, I wish you'd come to mine, I'd like to think you'd have had a different experience.

I've seen a bike, set up for front wheel drive, with the department manager one of those at a loss as to why there was no steering.

All convinced it was set up correctly, but unable to work out what was wrong.

 

[Shadow121]

I know this is an old thread, but I feel I have to add my 2p's worth... I am a Halfords cycle mechanic/techie/what-ever-you-want-to-call-it. I've spent a lifetime on bikes (being 42 now, having started cycling, in the true sense of the word, at 10 years old).
Every single bike that I build, as well as my colleagues, are double checked, once when they are built, and the second time, when they are delivered to a customer. We have a PDI check list that MUST be followed, filled in as we are building the bike, starting with unpacking from the box and ending with turning the handle bars at 90 degrees for storage.
When a customer comes to collect, we go over the bike again with a torque wrench, making sure that all bolts are correctly torqued, as per spec. And these specs get drilled in to us...

The fact that OP's bike left the store in the state that it did, actually disgusts me, for the very fact that someone can care so little, not only for their client, but also for what they do. And as has been said in this thread, it comes down to people just doing a "job". It's not a passion to them, so why care?

1 reason I'd like them to care, is because it makes all us "Halfrauds" mechanics who DO actually care, look bad!! And pi***s me off no end. I have one of those working in my store - I don't let any bikes that he has worked on leave the store without me having given it the once over...and he just doesn't get it, when I get so annoyed with him.

Anyway. To the OP, I'm sorry you had such a bad run in with a Halfords store, all I can say is, I wish you'd come to mine, I'd like to think you'd have had a different experience.

Its the same in other jobs too, most don’t give a dam as long as someone is stupid
enough to keep paying their wages.
Halfords needs to incorporate a points based system into the employees contract,
x amount of failures means x amount of points and they are gone,
it might sound drastic, but my local Halfords is a disaster, and it can only be a matter
of time before they close, would you rather see the store closed or the useless lumps
that are good for nothing sacked, I know which I would choose.

 

[Shadow121]

Picked up the replacement today. It wasn't scratched and was the right size.

Few minutes outside in the car park nipping up the seatpost and the handlebar clamp (would have slipped round on the first hill if standing on the pedals!!!!)

Had to nip to work to pick up a couple of project bikes I'd bought and bring them home in works van so had a gentle ride to work nursing the out-of-wack indexing, did my errands then at work got the Crixus on the stand. 45 minutes going over it and finally, a lovely ride home on a nice new bike all working as it should. Hurrah.

Now just need the hail to stop

Annoying to say the least, having to basically build your bike after paying
someone else to supposedly do it.
I buy second hand now, or off Canyon, that way I know it’s put together right.
Sad when it would be nice to support the local stores but can’t trust them.

 

[Globalti]

I know I've posted this in CC before but this excerpt from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which is a book about quality, says it all:

From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig.

I took this machine into a shop because I thought it wasn’t important enough to justify getting into myself, having to learn all the complicated details and maybe having parts and special tools and all that time-dragging stuff when I could get someone else to do it in less time – sort of John’s attitude.

The shop was a different scene from the ones I remembered. The mechanics, who had once all seemed like ancient veterans, now looked like children. A radio was going full blast and they were clowning around and talking and seemed not to notice me. When one of them finally came over he barely listened to the piston slap before saying, “Oh yeah, tappets.”

Tappets? I should have known then what was coming.

Two weeks later I paid their bill for 140 dollars, rode the cycle carefully at varying low speeds to wear it in and then after one thousand miles opened it up. At about seventy-five it seized again and freed at thirty, the same as before. When I brought it back they accused me of not breaking it in properly, but after much argument agreed to look into it. They overhauled it again and this time took it out themselves for a high-speed road test.

It seized on them this time.

After the third overhaul two months later they replaced the cylinders, put in oversize main carburettor jets, retarded the timing to make it run as coolly as possible and told me, “don’t run it fast.”

It was covered with grease and did not start. I found the plugs were disconnected, connected them and started it, and now there really was a tappet noise. They hadn’t adjusted them. I pointed this out and the kid came with an open-end adjustable wrench, set wrong, and swiftly rounded both of the sheet-aluminum tappet covers, ruining both of them.

“I hope we’ve got some more of these in stock,” he said.

I nodded.

He brought out a hammer and cold chisel and started to pound them loose. The chisel punched through the aluminium cover and I could see he was pounding the chisel right into the engine head. On the next blow he missed the chisel completely and struck the head with the hammer, breaking off a portion of two of the cooling fins.

“Just stop,” I said politely, feeling this was a bad dream. “Just give me some new covers and I’ll take it the way it is.”

I got out of there as fast as possible, noisy tappets, shot tappet covers, greasy machine, down the road, and then felt a bad vibration at speeds over twenty. At the kerb I discovered two of the four engine-mounting bolts were missing and a nut was missing from a third. The whole engine was hanging on by only one bolt. The overhead-cam chain-tensioner bolt was also missing, meaning it would have been hopeless to try to adjust the tappets anyway. Nightmare.

The thought of John putting his BMW into the hands of one of these people is something I have never brought up with him. Maybe I should.

I found the cause of the seizures a few weeks later, waiting to happen again. It was a little twenty-five cent pin in the internal oil-delivery system that had been sheared and was preventing oil from reaching the head at high speeds.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I've encountered my share of crap Halfords employees but there have been a couple of good ones too.

One time I needed a specific tool for a roadside hydraulic brake hose replacement while on tour. I couldn't find anything suitable in the shop but one helpful guy found exactly what I needed in their back room. They'd just got it in so it wasn't on shelves or fully in the system yet.

Another time on tour, I needed a drive-side spoke replaced. I didn't have a freewheel remover and, at the time, I didn't know you could contort the spoke in without one. Took it to a busy Halfords where one of the mechanics sorted it out in seconds and didn't even charge me.

 

[All uphill]

Coincidentally just seen an eBay ad for a 2019 bike with forks on backwards. The poor vendor says in the ad "wanted to cycle but found I couldn't".

It would make you weep.

I've sent a message trying to explain that he/she would not be able to ride it, nor would anyone else.

And yes it was an own brand bike from Halfords.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I've sent a message trying to explain that he/she would not be able to ride it, nor would anyone else.

Why? not why have you messaged why would you say that nobody could ride it?

 

[derrick]

2 questions.

Why did you buy a bike from Helfrauds, knowing what you already knew?

Why didn't you insist on having the bike boxed so you could do your own assembly/Pdi?

You hit the nail on the head. Not read the rest of the post. No need to.

 

[All uphill]

Why? not why have you messaged why would you say that nobody could ride it?

Have you tried riding a bike with forks backwards? OK you may have the skill to do that, but not many could safely and comfortably.

 

[Globalti]

I dunno.... I was out in Lancaster with my wife and son and a girl rode past on a BSO with the forks curving backwards. I chased her down and explained then got out my hex key and set them right for her. When I asked "Who built the bike up for you?" she replied: "My boyfriend!" "Well he doesn't know much about bikes!" was my retort.

 

[All uphill]

I dunno.... I was out in Lancaster with my wife and son and a girl rode past on a BSO with the forks curving backwards. I chased her down and explained then got out my hex key and set them right for her. When I asked "Who built the bike up for you?" she replied: "My boyfriend!" "Well he doesn't know much about bikes!" was my retort.

Wow!

Now I'm a bit tempted to try it!

Must check my health insurance first

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I never had a problem as a kid, we used to ride regular that way, only issue was wheel catching feet or sometimes frame when we put 26" wheels in frames designed or 24" wheels.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

When a customer comes to collect, we go over the bike again with a torque wrench, making sure that all bolts are correctly torqued, as per spec. And these specs get drilled in to us...

When I bought SWMBOs Boardman from Halfords in June, the mechanic did torque the bars, stem, seat-pin clamp, & cranks in front of me
However, I was too bemused to mention the tilted rack that I'd asked them to fit (so took it off at home, re-fitted it level, after copper-greasing the bolts)


It was at a local (very) historic town, with a castle, & a racecourse opposite the branch