Halfords again

[DiddlyDodds]

I went in yesterday and was helped by a friendly informative staff member , the items were good value and i left very happy .

Sorry if i dont seem to have a real vendeter against them like every one else on here, must be something wrong with me.

 

[dellzeqq]

from a selection http://www.cyclechat...1/page__st__630 posts 635 and 636

 

[gavroche]

I will second that. The staff in my local Halford, in the bike section department, is very friendly and very knowledgeable about bikes. The guy is a keen cyclist himself and knows what he is talking about.
I guess people tend to mostly refer to bad experiences but seldom mention the good ones.
It is like newspapers, good news dont sell them.

 

[Rebel Ian]

I went in yesterday and was helped by a friendly informative staff member , the items were good value and i left very happy .

Sorry if i dont seem to have a real vendeter against them like every one else on here, must be something wrong with me.

I don't think anyone has a vendetta against them, you have to speak as you find. My local one at home are shocking. Staff are disinterested at best. The one near where I work in Warrington are very good, much more friendly. I still wouldn't trust any of them to build me a bike however.

 

[Bosrebel]

My local Halfords (poole,Dorset) are *brilliant*..nothing is too much trouble, even after all my newbie "why cant i make this pump work.."..lmao..he said you have to twist the locking thing on the tyre valve... DOH!! and i have just turned up with my bike on the spur of the moment with a problem and they have fixed it straight away, on more than one occasion, fitted my bike helmet, given advice etc etc...whereas on the other hand i went to the local independant bike shop, who apart from being very expensive were a little aloof and was made to feel out of my league..

nuff said.

 

[Banjo]

In my experience of Halfords the standard varies hugely from one employee to the next.Its luck of the draw wether you get served by someone knowledgeable or someone who couldnt tell you anything about bikes.

I went into ours a couple of years ago asking for a hybrid for road use mainly commuting to work. Assistant insisted a suspension mtb with big tyres would be the best. Luckilly I knew just enough not to listen.

In the same store there is a young mechanic who is both knowledgeable and helpfull.

I would say use them if they are convenient but do your own research before taking any advice from them.

 

[d87heaven]

Halfords ok in emergency for parts and such like. Some of the own brand tools are made of cheese though.

 

[eltelio]

Stay away from own brand tyes as well, think they are made from Dairylea. Went through a pair in a fortnight.

Halfords ok in emergency for parts and such like. Some of the own brand tools are made of cheese though.

 

[leroy]

Leading from a thread I have in technical, it was mentioned, correctly, that due to the sheer size of the company you will get some crappy people/stores whilst there are some good people working who know their stuff.

As much as i would prefer not to use them, my LBS had a wait time of nearly 2 weeks to replace a bottom bracket, and only place I could get it in soon was at Halfords.

Would there be any problem with listing the stores that have good service and bad service?

I can start with

North West

Bury
Not the best communications, but knowlegeable mechanic - I only wanted a cheap bottom bracket as I am planning on replacing bike soon - but he had a more expensive Shimano without packaging so fitted that for price of cheaper version.

 

[2Loose]

In my local Halfords there is one full time bike shop staff member, with 3 others that get drafted up from the rest of the store.
Everything is great if I get the knowledgable guy, but listening to poor advice\assistance and shocking mechanical knowledge from the others makes me cringe.

 

[GlasgowGaryH]

I always start off at the LBS but usually end up at Halfords for spare parts. I went in last week for a 10 speed chain. Now I would think a bike chain would be a stock item with quite a few in stock. I was told we can order you one in,be about 3 days. On the way home I call into Halfords and they have loads. Its not the first time I have done this when wanting other parts. It seems they are more interested in selling bikes and doing repairs and servicing.

 

[Wankelschrauben]

I've use Halfords mostly without issues if I know exactly what I'm looking for and where it is.

Otherwise the staff can be rude and ignorant such as when I asked for a replacement oil + air filter and some spark plugs for my BMW, I was taken to the chav section, shown some shiney coloured cones and silicone tubing and told I looked like a boy racer.... he even said this stuff would make my car go faster....

It doesn't really bother me, on the whole I think they've been pretty good but they can't compete with internet prices.

 

[abo]

Three or four of the guys who work in my local Halfords are very much into their cycling; multiple bikes, expensive full sus machinery etc.

I had a bad experience with 'UK's #1 Bike Brand' as you know, I think Halfords need to sort that out generally and to be fair they treated me well over the issue. My main issue was with getting our bikes booked in for their six week services, they needed a lot of notice simply because their bike dept. was constantly busy...

Having said that, my forks are still noisy

 

[abo]

I was taken to the chav section, shown some shiney coloured cones and silicone tubing and told I looked like a boy racer....

Poor Ripspeed, they used to be a fairly serious motorsport company once upon a time

 

[Fnaar]

I only buy spares etc form Halfords, and even that's only occasionally (tubes, the odd tyre etc). Mind you, I bought a great track pump from them, which I've now had for about 3 yrs, and it's excellent.

When I was buying roof bars/cycle carriers, the guy was really good, and advised me to get the Halfords cheaper-than-Thule ones, as they were made by Thule anyway, and were effectively the same item.