Hardtail budget £800 via Halfords CycletoWork

[fossyant]

Surprised they wouldn't discount for any damage....
My local Halfords did for me. Got £50 off because of a small chip in the paint..... and this was on a low priced Carrera, that was already discounted in the sale.

They haven't ?

I got my 2014 Pro FS, in a sale £1,350 (RRP £1,600), chip on down tube and a bit dirty from car park test rides, for £1,000 with a 3 year service thingy (that I've not used) - price was what I was after but they knocked more off because of commission for the service. - i.e. £940 plus £60 service.

Play hard ball. I didn't ! They said, 'oh it's a bit tatty'. I looked it over, saw a fair sized paint chip, and that was it (MTB's get paint chips). Me OK, what can you do and I'll take it now, oh and I have BC Membership. A quick call.... old stock.... SOLD...

And the Brakes were not to spec, they were better. Got Guide RS.

Then I went.. Oh bugger, these new fangled MTB's are much bigger than the old 90's MTB I have and road bikes.... got it in the car eventually.

 

[NorthernDave]

Your repayments are against the voucher amount not the bike cost.......

1st you look for bike and accessories
2nd apply for voucher
3rd voucher and payments set-up for amount requested
4th you go buy bike and accessories with voucher
5th if you spend less, tough thats your fault for over applying
6th money gets taken pre-tax on voucher amount
7th you get a 14 day cooling off period

Aftef that its down to you........

Note to yourself - read fine print and rules before applying

And this is one of the major flaws of the C2W scheme - at least the one operated by Halfords.

If the bike you want is on offer, hope it's still on offer and available at the price you've applied for a voucher for when it arrives - in my case nearly 3 weeks later.
If it's gone back up to full price, tough you can't have it as Halfords (and their subsidiaries)* won't let you add to the voucher amount, so you're left with the option of hanging onto the voucher, bikeless and paying the deductions, in the hope the price comes back down, or finding a different bike to the value of the voucher.

The converse is that if the price drops you don't get any change and have to spend the extra dosh on accessories that you might not necessarily want or need - see 5 above

* - some places that accept the Halford vouchers will let you top up the voucher - Cycle Surgery for example. Then you'll just have to put up with their crappy customer service and crappy bike build, but at least you'll get the bike you wanted.
​

 

[fossyant]

I did C2W once, and once only. My LBS was great, but it was in the early days of it, about 8-9 years ago.

Didn't bother since, and I can't 'blagg' it like most employees do, - I have a 'personally paid for' car park space because my back is knackered. I 'could' ride to work like every 'other' employee, but I'm infamous for my broken back sustained riding to work.... BUGGER