halfords......unbelievable

[roadrash]

On Wednesday I ordered some fluro green bar tape to be delivered to halfords , estimated pick up time Friday 4pm, as expected I get a text to go and collect my order,
Saturday morning I go to collect it , chap on the till looks at my phone writes the order number down and starts to rummage through boxes and crates, after ten minutes he says what is it im looking for , again I show him the picture with description and order number. he says "I will go and ask our bike guys"....5 mins later he returns and tells me, ( are you ready for this) OUR BIKE GUYS HAVE NEVER HEARD OF HANDLEBAR TAPE...……...I COULDNT BELIEVE IT , I walked over to the bike service area and asked them myself , both of them said we don't know what bar tape is.....at this point I was expecting Jeremy beadle to appear, I walked out in disbelief, I will get it from somewhere else, im glad I didn't ask for anything complicated.

 

[KneesUp]

How strange - in my local Halfords the bar tape is quite prominently displayed with the saddle glue and the wheel screws.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Bar tape

You mean "Bar wrap", grandad.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Things might have changed recently, but it was always the case that Halfords only had 1 qualified bike mechanic covering several branches. When I used to live in Luton they had 1 covering 6 branches.

So if you wanted work done, often it was just done by one of the other staff, which sadly is why people end up getting new bikes with forks on the wrong way round, cables not done up etc etc.

 

[Saluki]

Our halfords is excellent. Our cycle republic even better.
You must have a terrible branch.

 

[roadrash]

@KneesUp I had to order in the colour I wanted, but yes they do sell it and it is on display , hence my surprise they said they didn't know what it was.
@Saluki terrible would be an understatement I think

 

[Cycleops]

Our halfords is excellent. Our cycle republic even better.
You must have a terrible branch.

That does seem to be the problem with Halfords.

 

[postman]

Is this a terrible branch of Halfords

 

[roadrash]

@postman do they know what bar tape is.....

 

[postman]

Bar i read that as bark tape,.no but that is not on is it.Bar tape.

 

[numbnuts]

Google knows what bar tape is, but Goggle doesn't work for Halfords...........

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

View attachment 466957 Is this a terrible branch of Halfords

At least the branches fork in the right direction.

 

[kiwifruit]

I went to pick up a couple of items from my local Halfords and what a waste of time that was. Order some shimano gear and brake cables only because is on offer on Wednesday and be ready to pick up on Friday after 4pm. Got an text and email late morning saying my order is ready to collect, so pop down around 3pm they can't find the order and is not here yet. I explain I've got an text and email saying ready to collect, " oh, he says it an auto generated text and email and it doesn't mean is here yet until you get a phone call". Well that pxxx me off and I told them where to stick it.

 

[NorthernDave]

Ah, the Halfords lucky dip, when you never know who is going to serve you, or how much of a clue they've got.
Our local store has still got a couple of decent guys on the bikes, but their staff turnover is horrendous and some just don't have the skills required. The store often seems understaffed too and the bike staff are frequently called away to cover tills or the like in the main motoring section

If it's any consolation they're just as bad on the car side - our car once needed a headlight bulb, and on the car we had at the time you needed to remove several trims and have the arms of Mr Tickle combined with a triple jointed wrist and childlike fingers with the strength of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the dexterity of a concert pianist to change the bulb.
So obviously when Kevin on the till asked if I wanted the bulb fitting for just £2, I said yes.
He declined to take payment until the bulb was fitted to my satisfaction and we strode out to the car park with him ripping the protective packaging open.
I popped the bonnet and he looked into the engine bay.
Then he looked at me.
Then he looked back in the engine bay.
Then he asked, how do you get to the headlight?
Dunno, I replied...
Out came his torch, shining here and there.
Several minutes later, he said I don't know how to do the bulbs on this model, but do you still want to buy the bulb and fit it yourself?
No, you're alright said I
But I've opened the packaging he replied
Oh dear...

I got the bulb, fitted, at a proper garage the next day.

 

[lane]

Not just halfords. I went to a car parts discount place which offered free bulb fitting. But wouldn't fit it to my car because on that model it was too complicated and would take them a long time. So went to another place where they fit for a few quid - fitted in about a minute and declined the fitting charge because it was such a quick job.

Bar tape thing is unbelievable though even for Halfords.