# Halfords Worst Place To Shop



## GSD (Feb 6, 2011)

But didnt we know that already ?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...er-service-lack-staff-damning-new-survey.html


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Yeah, but last year they made £118 million quid and are on track to make £90 odd million this year PROFIT...

So, typical British attitude, have a moan but keep on shopping there...

People really need to start complaining with their feet and go elsewhere...only way places like that will learn...

:thumb:


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## JasonH20URF (Mar 30, 2011)

The Cueball said:


> Yeah, but last year they made £118 million quid and are on track to make £90 odd million this year PROFIT...
> 
> So, typical British attitude, have a moan but keep on shopping there...
> 
> ...


:lol:

What you mean like fuel prices GRR. then go fill up :lol:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

JasonH20URF said:


> :lol:
> 
> What you mean like fuel prices GRR. then go fill up :lol:


Exactly...

:lol:


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## herbiedacious (Sep 27, 2010)

l actually had a good experience with Halfords the other day. l needed to pull my radio out to get the serial number because l had lost the code. l priced up the radio extractors and the lad who served me pointed out that l would need to buy 2 sets,however,he then got two sets off the shelf,unpacked them,popped my radio out for me and put the extractors back in their packaging and didn't charge a bean,wouldn't even take a couple of quid for his trouble!


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## CoOkIeMoNsTeR (Mar 6, 2011)

Halfords can be a little hit and miss. There are 2 in my area, Bangor & Llandudno. Bangor branch deserves to be named and shamed as the worst shopping experience ever. Staffed by fools who don't even know what friggin day it is, let alone how to do thier jobs right and I'm always hearing horror stories about poor paint matching. Llandudno on the other hand is a pleasure. Knowledgeable staff, good service and exactly what every store should be like. I will never go to Halfords Bangor, but Llandudno is always worth a visit if I'm passing.:thumb:


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## Rob_Quads (Jul 17, 2006)

JasonH20URF said:


> :lol:
> 
> What you mean like fuel prices GRR. then go fill up :lol:


Fuel prices are bit difference due to the fact there are no real alternative and all places being essentially price fixed by all the taxes etc.

Alternatives to Halfords - Loads of motor factors, chances are there is a motor factor nearer to most than a Halfords. Or the internet.


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## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

The only time I like halfrauds is when they had the BOGOF like they had beginning of May. I know AD HD wax is for £45 but I could have sold the other and still come out cheaper. lol

Bought few items came to £40 odd but this would have been over £80.

Other than that I treat halfrauds like pc world absolute last resort. lol


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## B0DSKI (Nov 25, 2011)

Colchester one is ok. I needed a new battery and they said they could fit it for £9 I think it was. I agreed. The lad asked what car it was for, when I told him it was for my Impreza STi he got his mate to come over from another department and fit it for nothing as he liked the car lol


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## svended (Oct 7, 2011)

I've got 13 websites that sell car cleaning products on my laptop homescreen. Haven't needed to go to Halfords in some time, especially as my work place has expanded the automotive range but only get micro fibres and the odd nylon brush.


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## Jordy Kuga (Apr 6, 2012)

One thing i hate with halfords is if its not autoglym or turtle wax they either only have 1 of it or its always opened!


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## Krash (May 9, 2012)

i avoid going in there even though i get cashback on things i buy with my card there through quidco


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## JakeWhite (Oct 14, 2011)

Jordy Kuga said:


> One thing i hate with halfords is if its not autoglym or turtle wax they either only have 1 of it or its always opened!


Their 'bargain bins' are the best. One of my favourites that seems to be popular at my local store is "Brand new Meguiars Clay Kit (minus 2x clay bars + 500ml Quik Detailer-£15.99".............so £16 for a cloth and a sample of wax???? What makes me wonder is why is there no clay in there??? Are the secondary-school staff using it as putty to make silly ***** shapes inbetween not assisting people???


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## Ming (Oct 16, 2007)

I am going to fly in the face of popular opinion here.
My local Halfords is actually a pretty good place to shop.
If you treat the place like a supermarket - you dont expect the shelf stacker to know the calorie count of every item he puts on the shelf at Tesco's - then you can get some pretty good deals. The AG stuff is regularly on offer and I top up when ever I can.
I accept that at times when you are looking for car parts they are not always top notch but their pay is not brilliant either and armed with a little knowledge i have always manged to get what I wanted.
Their trade card also makes replacement car parts very cheap indeed.
I also got a bicycle through the 'ride to work' scheme a couple of years ago and they dealt with every problem very professionally and did all repais on site quickly and efficiently.
Ming the considered


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## VW Golf-Fan (Aug 3, 2010)

Halfrauds are rip-off merchants IMO - they notch up the prices of every friggin cleaning product they sell, so I just use Amazon - far cheaper.


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## sirkuk (Mar 5, 2012)

Some are ok. Others are awful. I went to one near the Excel Center in London. The shelves were all pretty much bare. Nearly no stock of anything. I was in Weymouth Halfords one day and could I find a member of staff to serve me? Could I flip. There were no other customers in the shop.

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## EastUpperGooner (May 31, 2009)

Halfords are 99% useless but it's pretty funny when you take an item to the counter and the woman serving you put's through £60 brake discs at £1.


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## Rundie (Oct 2, 2007)

My local Halfords is crap, the one in the next nearest town is a breath of fresh air, the youngsters there are spot on and couldn't do enough for you.


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## Jord (Apr 3, 2012)

Just bought 3 AG products for £13, can't complain really.


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

Seem to get far better service when you plonk the trade card on the counter top....... (shame it doesn't discount car care stuff  )


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## JakeWhite (Oct 14, 2011)

andy monty said:


> Seem to get far better service when you plonk the trade card on the counter top....... (*shame it doesn't discount car care stuff  *)


I know it's rubbish  I was about to apply for one when one of the staff piped up and said only tools etc were discounted


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

VW Golf-Fan said:


> Halfrauds are rip-off merchants IMO - they notch up the prices of every friggin cleaning product they sell, so I just use Amazon - far cheaper.


But them that's the catch-22.

Amazon are a global company, don't have to cover overheads for however many branches across the country, they make tidy incomes from other avenues (marketplace, kindle, mp3's) that have relatively minimal impact on their stock/warehouse space and they also have the wondrous faculty to have their HQ/Distributions based somewhere that they can pay considerably lower taxes than if they were uk based

So really, if Amazon are making more profit/product, whilst still being able to sell for less than Halfords, are they not the rip merchants.


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## Bulkhead (Oct 17, 2007)

It totally depends on the staff. I used to work at a Halfords and we had a great manager and helpful, knowledgeable staff. We were a trial store so had experts in each department and wages were much better so that may well have been the reason. The store down the road didn't and were generally rubbish. Pay peanuts and get monkeys = poor customer care. I also think the atrocious social skills of most youngsters in the UK is also to blame. When I walk into a similar shop over here I'm always greeted at the door and staff are always on hand. I popped into a store last weekend to grab some new windscreen wipers and not only did they fit them, the lad also wiped clean the windscreen so the fresh blades didn't pick up any crap on the first wipe.


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## will930 (Apr 15, 2012)

i must admit in very much on the bench about this... its a great [place for a mechanic like me.... with a trade card and you need anything and its late or after work then go in, generally outsmart most the people in there but as i know what im after i get it or they can usually get a good understanding....

also the tools, most people i speak to hate them and always brag aboput snap-on, whereas the halfords tools i have (alot) are good and strong and dont give me issues, if i break something go in there and they will swap it there and then, where ive had reports of people waiting weeks with snap on for the bloke to come round lol...

and usually they have good deals and are friendly, just dont really know what there doing as halfoprds employ people in college etc who probably have no clue about cars, bikes etc

just my 2ps worth


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## ribvanrey (May 5, 2012)

How can 2 ltr of AG SRP with 2 AG microfibre cloths for £15.95 be a rip off. 

How can placing an order on the internet for a product that you cannot examine, and then wait in several days on the off chance that the Post Office may deliver it in a usable condition be more convenient than a store with ample parking where the goods are available for you to assess the real size, colour, weight, spec, etc, and can be taken away for immediate use. 

I think that both retail methods have an equally appropriate place in the market. Sure, if I know exactly what I want and can wait a week for free delivery, then Amazon or more likely a number of other web based traders will get my order. If I want to browse for a new product, or need something immediately then I will spend the "next day delivery" premium on the extra shelf price. Instead of wasting my time waiting for posties I will spend couple of litres of fuel it collecting it.


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

The local one (well 22 miles away) is rubbish. Countless times I've stood at the counter for at least 3-5 minutes with no one there to serve me. When someone does finally come along, they trundle along and shout 'can I help you?' before they're behind the counter.

No, I was just standing there for the banter.


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## trv8 (Dec 30, 2007)

THE 'WORST' 10 SHOPS
1 Halfords

2 WH Smith

3 Blacks

4 Tesco, Poundstretcher, JJB Sports

5 BHS, Brantano, TK Maxx

6 Primark, Homebase, JD Sports, Garden Centre Group

7 PC World

8 Millets, Barratts, Topshop/Topman, Currys Digital

9 New Look, Office, Shoe Zone, Mothercare, Stead & Simpson, Toys R Us

10 Comet, Currys, Robert Dyas, River Island, Sports Direct, HMV, M&Co, Gamestation, Matalan, Burton, The Range

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...k-staff-damning-new-survey.html#ixzz1vYZaNnjU

Well......I'd demand a re-count if I was 'Alfys' 
Lookin at that list of shops, they should all be given joint first place :lol:.
And aren't most of these shops on 'out-of-town' carpark sites.... not in the 'High Street'


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## sirkuk (Mar 5, 2012)

Tesco's surprised me in that list. Especially when Morrisons is in the top ten best places for customer service. I've briefly worked for both. The Tesco's was very fussy on who they took on but the Morrisons took any muppet that walked in off the street. Nothing different between the two training wise there on in for me.

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## cowboyjon (May 17, 2012)

buy 2 get 3rd free on all car cleaning products - cant complain


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

i dont know why there is such venom towards halfords.there no worse than any other massive chain store that overcharges for having the advantage of stocking items that you can just pop in and buy.currys,kwik fit,toys r us,next, there all at it.


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## trv8 (Dec 30, 2007)

cowboyjon said:


> buy 2 get 3rd free on all car cleaning products - cant complain


Oh yes you can .....their BOGOF is much better....wish they done it more often :thumb:.


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## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

trv8 said:


> Oh yes you can .....their BOGOF is much better....wish they done it more often :thumb:.


Yeah I got few bits I needed when they BOGOF earlier.:thumb:


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## sirkuk (Mar 5, 2012)

silverback said:


> i dont know why there is such venom towards halfords.there no worse than any other massive chain store that overcharges for having the advantage of stocking items that you can just pop in and buy.currys,kwik fit,toys r us,next, there all at it.


If this was a toy forum or home electrical forum, that venom would be aimed at Curry's and Toys R Us though. They generally have poor customer service too but Halfords is more relative to this forum 

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## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

sirkuk said:


> If this was a toy forum or home electrical forum, that venom would be aimed at Curry's and Toys R Us though. They generally have poor customer service too but Halfords is more relative to this forum
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk


This is why I compare halfrauds to pc world.


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

my local store is better than ok there fitting department always shy away from anything that doesnt fall into place and then send the customer to me win win

not a fan of amazon at all think there company is getting away with far to much 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/04/amazon-british-operation-corporation-tax


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

Its interesting if you analyse the market standpoint of the 10 worst places to shop - almost every one markets on low price, with economical shop fittings and minimal frillls. 

There will be less money left over to invest in training, paying high wages for more mature, experienced staff, incentives and assistance, so as I always belive, largely in life you get what you pay for.

If you are personally knowledgable and know what you want then these sort of places are great, as are the (bain of my life) discounters who operate via ebay and Amazon. But if you have a specific problem, need advice or are new to anything, then you need proper trained specialists who can advise you - people like, in most cases, the traders on here. We may not be quit eas cheap but are much better value in the long run.


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## JakeWhite (Oct 14, 2011)

RaceGlazer said:


> Its interesting if you analyse the market standpoint of the 10 worst places to shop - almost every one markets on low price, with economical shop fittings and minimal frillls.
> 
> There will be less money left over to invest in training, paying high wages for more mature, experienced staff, incentives and assistance, so as I always belive, largely in life you get what you pay for.
> 
> If you are personally knowledgable and know what you want then these sort of places are great, as are the (bain of my life) discounters who operate via ebay and Amazon. But if you have a specific problem, need advice or are new to anything, then you need proper trained specialists who can advise you - people like, in most cases, the traders on here. We may not be quit eas cheap but are much better value in the long run.


I often find that the traders are cheaper in the long run. I only really buy in halfords when it's a 3for2 (and I fancy trying something new) or to get something from either Autoglym or meguiars if I need it on the way to a job if i've ran out. But think, AG Clean wheels is £7.50 a pop, one time use as you can't dilute it. But then Autobrite (for example) their wheel cleaner for the same size is £7.00 BUT at 5:1 (which is the average dilution) will make 2.5 litre of usable product. To get 2.5 litre of Clean wheels would be a whopping £30.48, for that I could get 5 litre of very cherry which will in turn make me approx 25 litre of usable product and still give me some change to buy a couple MF's and a brush. Don't get me wrong when they have an offer on or specials it's quite good and it is good for when you need something in a hurry, but if you can wait, and they have no 3for2 on etc etc it can quite pricey.


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

There are plenty of online retailers (some sponsors of the forum) charging the same/more for Clean Wheels so it's not Halfords overcharging and then it's not Halfords fault that the product they sell isn't made to be diluted.


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## JakeWhite (Oct 14, 2011)

m1pui said:


> There are plenty of online retailers (some sponsors of the forum) charging the same/more for Clean Wheels so it's not Halfords overcharging and then it's not Halfords fault that the product they sell isn't made to be diluted.


When did I say halfords overcharged............. what I said was that it can be quite pricey buying from there as opposed to a trader on here who sells products in concentrate.


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## P200MSD (Jan 5, 2009)

Halfrauds will always do well as they are open on sundays when all of the motor factors are shut. Many DIY car mechanics and car washers peer out of the window on a sunny sunday morning and decide to wash/fix the car there and then, so off they toddle down to said retailer to spend £40 on bits!

Saying that, many a time I have bought windscreen wipers and bulbs for mates with my trade card as a set of front wipers drops from £21 to £7, and headlamp bulbs are something like £1.89 instead of £6-7 each!


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## robtech (Jan 17, 2011)

ive found that if you expect halfords to be the expert place to go then you will always leave dissapointed...just go get what you need and dont expect anything else..if you want advice and a chat about cars etc then goto a small local type shop.


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Lets face the reality check, when DW members go in Halfords, we know our products, and how they work and the performance of them, others don't, but some branches are not to bad, it's their pricing that is not clear sometimes on the cleaning section, new items, but no pricing attached, I'm sure a manufacturer would have a fit if that was the case.

I remember seeing a new wax from Turtlewax months ago, Creme I think it was called, right on the bottom shelf, one there, no pricing, I knew for a fact this is a new wax on the market for Turtlewax, I've tried all of there collection's on the shelfs from all manufacturers, mistake I made I wish I signed up here well before on here, so I would of ordered more off DW direct, than buying in a shop.


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

What is this Halfords you talk about


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## Superspec (Feb 25, 2011)

I worked in retail for 24 years, last 10 or so running big stores - including PC World/Currys - my view is bad stores are down to the store management and regional management. Staff are only as good as the training they get and that is usually well catered for by training departments in head office. Poor implementation in branch leads to poor service. It always bugged me when people slated the chain I worked for carte blanche because they have a poor local store. I understand why though. 

If the experience you get isn't what you expect have a word with the manager - you'll see why then!

My local Halfords is ok to be fair.


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## mr.b1ng (Apr 29, 2012)

I agree that they are very hit and miss. It used to be a regular stop in days gone by, but no longer!


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## alphaj12 (Feb 17, 2011)

I've just emailed their customer service department. Went in last night to get touch up paint mixed, got it for a previous car and was a perfect match. The assistant in there last night couldn't be bothered, argued with me about the colour code. He then mixed up a paint that was no where near the colour I wanted and his excuse was "maybe your car has been resprayed"......FFS got to love his logic!!!!


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## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

alphaj12 said:


> I've just emailed their customer service department. Went in last night to get touch up paint mixed, got it for a previous car and was a perfect match. The assistant in there last night couldn't be bothered, argued with me about the colour code. He then mixed up a paint that was no where near the colour I wanted and his excuse was "maybe your car has been resprayed"......FFS got to love his logic!!!!


Yeah you always gonna get some f***tard hardly working and making your shopping experience bad.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Superspec said:


> I worked in retail for 24 years, last 10 or so running big stores - including PC World/Currys - my view is bad stores are down to the store management and regional management. Staff are only as good as the training they get and that is usually well catered for by training departments in head office. Poor implementation in branch leads to poor service. It always bugged me when people slated the chain I worked for carte blanche because they have a poor local store. I understand why though.


While I agree with you, that's part of the deal with being a chain, Currys, Halfords, McDonalds et' all trade on the same service in all stores, familiarity of the store, consistency in product offering and wherever there brand is, 'helpfull', 'easy', 'technical experts', 'talk in simple terms', 'approachable' or whatever. What you get bad service at one store the marketing dept of THAT chain has trained you to think the same applies across the board.


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## TigerUK (Apr 1, 2012)

halfords is impulse shopping heaven for me, I know that I can buy the same products cheaper online but I still go there to buy stuff. mainly because I want wait for shipping. On a saturday I might decide I want to spray my wing mirror.. if I order online it will take forever to arrive so I just drive to halfords and get my stuff. 

They are always under staffed though, but let's not be fooled. halfords can't staff their stores in the same way Arogos or Currys can. The staff have to know their stuff and probably need constant training which doesn't make them cheap either


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

Somebody at our local Halfords keeps sending customers to us as they don't have the range that we do (for professional products anyway). Quite flattering really! 

Alex


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## gav1513 (Apr 16, 2009)

i went into halfords today to buy a 24mm socket and regulary use their store to buy bits n bobs always seem to be able to get what i need when i need it short notice and cant get it delivered off the internet in time


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## Elliot_C (Jun 22, 2012)

JasonH20URF said:


> :lol:
> 
> What you mean like fuel prices GRR. then go fill up :lol:


ahahahaha :lol:


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## Bel (Mar 1, 2011)

That list looks a bit weird to me.

Never had a problem with Halfords. I go there, look around, pick up what I want, pay and leave. What is there to go wrong?

Always had good experiences with Tesco.

Likewise W.H. Smith - always had good experiences there.

Blacks... well, quite honestly I'm amazed to see them listed anywhere at all in that survey, but my two or three experiences with them were variable.

JJB... never had a bad experience there either.

I could say the same for most of the shops in the "top ten" too though, so as always with these things the results need a substantial pinch of salt.

For the record, Halfords is FAR from the worst place to shop in my experience!


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