Useless

[Vantage]

Halfords that is.
I've long held the opinion that a bigger bunch of dumbass fu*kwits couldn't exist anywhere but in Halfords and for that reason I've stayed clear of them for 6 years. I last went in shortly after the Vantage was delivered and needed a pump pronto. According to the 'mechanic' at the Bolton store, pumps with hoses were no longer made. Pfft.

Desperate for a bottom bracket I visited the Horwich store today. The website says they have 113mm UN55's in stock.
Me..."Afternoon, can I please have a 113mm Shimano UN55 bottom bracket?"

Him..."I've no idea what that is."

Me...
"A square taper bottom bracket."

Him..."Oh, yes. We don't really do those as it's a Chain Reaction kind of thing (wtf?) but I have this standard type."

Hands me some square taper VP pos in 113mm.

Me... "Have you no Shimano ones?"

Looks around on his bench.
Him... "No but there's this one too."
Hands me some splined bb by some company I've never heard of.

OMG!!

"I'll take the VP one thanks. It'll do for the short term."

How the effing hell do these people get jobs as mechanics???
Anyone taking their rig to Halfords for a service, good luck and I hope they haven't touched your brakes.

 

[Drago]

They pay peanuts, they do well to even hire monkeys.

 

[PeteXXX]

I’ve not really bought much directly from them, only click & collect, so I know what I’m getting, but the lads and lasses at Riverside, Northampton, are actually quite nice and friendly.

 

[Venod]

I have come across some of the staff mentioned in the ops post, but at the moment our local Halfords has a very good knowledgeable obliging mechanic, probably a rare breed.

 

[screenman]

I have never come across any decent service in Halfords, bike wise a barge like comes to mind, car wise well no way.

They sell a good single pack laquer though.

 

[midlife]

I have never come across any decent service in Halfords, bike wise a barge like comes to mind, car wise well no way.

They sell a good single pack laquer though.

And their pro range of tools are quite good.... What else have the Romans done

 

[NorthernDave]

I've defended Halfords in the past, based on the service at my local store.
But I've got to question a business model that seems to leave just one skilled (qualified?) bike mechanic in the store - as the other one is currently off for a fortnight...

 

[guitarpete247]

A few years ago I did the bikability teacher course and a young guy on the course had an Apollo bike with front forks backwards. (I'd heard of this before but never seen it). I thought it could be part of the course to see if anyone spotted it. No he really did buy it like that.

 

[Drago]

I've seen a bike come back from Halfords with both cranks pointing in the same direction.

 

[Cycleops]

Pot luck. You might get lucky or not. I've long said its often a case of "Wayne's the bike expert but he's not on today and I've come over from car parts". Halfords must know their staff training is below par but don't do anything to address it.
I thing you'll find more of this as sales are focused more and more towards on line shopping. Just a sad fact of life.

 

[mjr]

I've seen a bike come back from Halfords with both cranks pointing in the same direction.

I'm not sure if that's better or worse than the lad who used to work around the corner getting handed his bike back with both brakes disconnected and no warning - more incompetent, less dangerous?

 

[Tom B]

The problem with halfrauds is they vary wildly. Horwich is awful, Manchester Road are mean and argue the toss over BC discount. Bury are the best of the bunch and a couple of the cycling team actually ride and I've seem them out and about a few times. The girl who fills in admits she knows not a lot accepts your guidance and invites you behind the counter to chose from the sram/Shimano rack.
Rochdale have helped me out with a free puncture fix when I was stranded so can't call them!

If in Horwich the Green Machine is the only option! Even if John is just as miserable now as he was 25yrs ago.

 

[Drago]

They pay peanuts, by and large they attract those of a simian persuasion as a consequence. Halfords know what they need to do to sort this, but they're too focused on short term share return value to take a proper long term view. And they then moan about difficult trading environments and the high street dying blah blah yadda...

 

[Threevok]

A few reasons why I don't trust anyone who works there.

After seeing one "mechanic" (with a rather expensive bike on a stand with the front wheel off) undo the stem bolts -only to have the owners £800+ forks hit the floor.

Selling a brand new bike to a collegue here, that had a black front rim and right crank, and silver rear wheel and left crank. He didn't notice until I pointed it out.

Watching a salesperson about to sell a set of SPD pedals and a pair of incompatable road shoes to an unsuspecting customer - until I stepped in

Having one of them attempt to install a wiper blade on a Fiat Panda for 10 minutes. In the end - I had to show him how

Having one of them install a child seat I bought there - only to have it fly between the front seats when the wife hit the brake. Thankfully, the seat was empty at the time.

 

[DaveReading]

Its like going to Macdonalds and then complaining the food wasnt at Michelin standards.

No, it would be like going to Macdonalds and finding they haven't mastered the basics of cooking a burger without giving you food poisoning.