You might have noticed that this outfit are offering a service named "You buy it we fit it" where they will, for what appears to be a nominal fee, fit accesories and simple spares in an adjoining workshop bay.
Now all the Halfords I've seen with this bay, with the exception of one [1], have a distinct lack of customers taking up the offer.
So what does the team think?
Are my observations typical of other areas of the country?
Is there something inherently wrong with the concept/business model?
Could the business model be OK but Halfords is the wrong engine to drive it?
Is UK the wrong market for this concept?
[1] the only one I've seen with any acceptable degree of business has actually been converted from a Halfords workshop to an official liveried AA service centre.
Must head off to Tom Shaws Lupo headlight bulb thread as I've just had an idea ;-)
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My partner bought a rear wiper blade at Halfords yesterday and they fitted it for free, instead of the nominal charge. Fine so far but what about if you buy a water pump or brake pads? Is the charge for fitting those "nominal". If it is then it is a good deal!
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There are some things they won't fit, which they initially say they will:
Battery for a Skoda Felicia? "No problem, Sir. We can fit it free for you."
At the check-out at the point of paying "Oh! we have a guide note - "Do not attempt to fit". "
So they didn't.
And lost the sale too.
Probably to do with removing the strut brace for access ( don't ask ).
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Might mean that you don't fall over dumped batteries, in the car park, left by thoughtless self-fitting customers.
Thats what it's like in Luton, anyway!
VB
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They once fitted a radio for me in a Micra for free. Never again. I had to book the car in, then came back after 30 minutes only to wait 30 minutes before it was all done. When said radio was stolen, I fitted the replacement in 5 minutes. It is far far easier to do it yourself than let someone who doesn't have a clue keep you hanging round. Dunno if this is a typical experience though.
Oh yes. Once went to Halfords and next day found holes on my new trousers. Turned out the desk had battery acid on it and this had transferred from my purchase to my clothes. Arghhh.
Useful shop though.
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Will they fit tyres bought elsewhere for a nominal charge?
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I would never let halfords fit anything to my car.
However, I do applaud their honesty with their new television adverts, the staff in the adverts actually work in the stores!
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Two weeks ago I went into Halfords in a sizeable town in S.E. England, looking for some SAE sockets. I was struck by the untidiness and seedy appearance of the place. Quite a few items were out of stock (or not in their appointed place at least) and the choice in any case was meagre to say the least. There was stuff on the floor where you could trip over it, wrong things on wrong pegs: it was a dog's breakfast. I know I'm spoilt by huge car accessory supermarts but if I had been a Halfords shop inspector I would have had the manageress inside for a word.
And manageress it turned out to be. She was yelling blue murder down the phone to someone about something not being her problem and then slammed the phone down. She then rounded on the ancient and bewildered looking old chap, obviously OAP part-time cheap labour, at the cash desk and started giving him mouthful about how it wasn't her fault the asterisks buses didn't run on time and why could the asterisk damn well walk to work. All this in front of customers.
She then gave me a good glare and I was thinking I was going to be the next recipient of this piece of attitude but she thought better of it, which was as well for her. I can't imagine what kind of recruitment standards, supervisory and customer service training, performance evaluation, pertain in the Halfords organisation if they have people like that running their stores.
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Other than that, everything was OK?
VB
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I'd never let them fit anything in any car etiher!
I am under the impression that they 'create their own business' ... a serious allegation but not one that their chief exec even bothered to reply to ..
rojer@lycos.co.uk
Astra, Renault 18, Renault 25 TXi, Astra Est, Passat Est, Mercedes 190E, Mercedes
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Thought I would just add my own comments from the weekend.
Looking for a towbar and fitting, went into halfords and saw a sign advertising that they supply and fit towbars. All the staff busy so couldnt ask for any info.
When i got home,phoned them to be told that they dont fit towbars, argued that their own advert says they do,saleman confirms that advert is indeed located in the store but repeats that they donot fit towbars and suggests that I go elsewhwere!
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Local Halfords fitted new number plates this afternoon. Not straightforward, because the standard square rear blank plate was a little too big and had to be adapted to get on and accomodate the characters; trying and cutting etc took about an hour and they took seven quid for fitting. Quite a nice job, really. At garage rates how much?
Rudolf
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OK after reading the past comments about this topic i thought i will have my say.
Don't get me wrong, a handful of stores the training programmes and customer service is not always great, but it's a two way street. Customers can be very demanding!
The fitting service is mainly the 3b's (bulbs, batteries and wiper blades) that they do instore, and there is a charge for these, as there is a small fee for everything in this day and age!! you don't get something for free nowadays!. Is it not just nice to have that offer that someone will fit it for you? there are a lot of car owners that don't know what to fill their cars with petrol or diesel! nevermind how to fit a battery! I know that stereo fits get booked by appointment only due to the time that some stereo's and hands free kits take on SOME cars, not only this but each store has a number of trained/qualified fitters...i am pretty sure if you knew you had some untrained numpty fitting a stereo to your brand new Mercedes for instance and they made a mistake you would more than likely sue there backsides!! As all those qualified fitters are not always working (holidays, shift patterns, family commitments etc) this means a possible stereo fit cannot be done on demand.
Once upon a time many stores had an AA garage/service centre when they used to own them located near or next to a main store and all the fits would be done here. When AA backed out of this, they became a sort of partnership with Nationwide garages. This no longer stands as far as i am aware they have no partnership anymore. They do however have outside companies that fit various items such as towbars and hands free kits on behalf of Halfords but this is more of a mobile fitting service that still has to be booked by appointment direct through the other company. The staff are multi skilled to be able to jump from one section to another and make time to fit at the same time?! it's almost impossible, and not very well thought out by the execs.
Let's not forget, at the end of the day this is a Retail Shop, NOT a Garage!!
Please do not be offended by anything i have said, it is just an opinion and i am not saying it is right or wrong in anyway but this is coming from a different perspective!
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I have always found Halfords staff to be very nice in Nottingham's Netherfield superstore and the small Arnold branch. I hardly ever buy anything though as most of the prices are double what I can pay elsewhere.
e.g. jumbo sponges are 30p each or 50p for two in ASDA or Wilkos, but £1.99 each in Halfords. I think of it more as a boutique showroom.
Edited by Hamsafar on 12/05/2009 at 00:06
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I asked them to fit a battery once, the guy did not know what size spanner, Japanese car, and more to the point didn't know which way to turn the nut, I did it myself.
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10 years ago, I used two branches of AA garage (attached to a Halfords) to get my Mercedes 190E serviced ever 12k. I was happy - a good service for a reasonable price.
I also used to use National Tyres for the 6k interim oil change.
However I wouldn't use Halfords' fitting service, I'm quite capable of replacing my own 'three Bs' thanks.
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I bought a bike at Halfords-was pleased with it but had problems changing gear-thought it was me but found stiff points in chain-took it back and was asked to return next day when their cycle mechanic was in and could fit a new chain.I did to to find the "mechanic" was a school-leaver and I had to show him what to do!!!!!!!!!
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In my years of motoring, have found Halfords to be virtually useless ; There's one on a retail park that's fairly close to me in N. London so I pop there from time to time. Have only succeeded in buying a battery once and a 99p sponge in another. The staff are either chavs or disinterested middle aged ladies. The last time I went in, i thought I was on a set of a new Ali G movie - you couldn't move in the car park ( especially the disabled bays ) for Ali G doubles and their cheaply ' detailed ' cars - applying bubbled tinting film and comparing their tyres.
I once made the mistake of visiting the mezzanine cycle section - this is a transcript of the actual conversation ; Me to a sales assistant ; ' I'm Looking for a cycle to ride on the streets , but I weigh over 17 stone so it needs to be sturdy ' , assistant spins around without responding, and screams across the floor to another numpty near the checkout ' Abdul !! , this geezer, yeah, is over 17 stone , yeah, and he needs a bike dat can carry that weight - yeah ... ' My mates are still dining out on this story, where the weight is now 20 stone ... ( yeah )
Last time , 2 weeks ago, a woman working at the parts desk was trying to order a repeat prescription over the phone , with customers like me ( looking for a battery trickle charger - the word ' trickle ' was just beyond their comprehension so as I expected, I left empty handed ) waiting to get served . She was making sure we all ' knew ' she was speaking to a foreigner and getting flustered whilst describing her symptoms - charming .
So no, totally useless , and lastly I've only ever heard them explaining why fitting was not available on that given day....
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I mentioned this before and I'll mention it again. I used to have an oil and filter change at Halfords and, on the first occasion I took a secondhand five-year-old VW Jetta I'd owned for such a service I was advised that there was a leak from the oil sump.
Expressing surprise, I was invited to inspect the sump and made aware that there was some oil on the underside. I pointed out that this was the second Jetta I'd owned and that the first, bought with 66k on the clock, had never left an oil deposit on my property's frontal light grey flag stoned area, nor had the one on the ramp; I also made it clear that neither VW had used a drop of oil nor needed topping up between oil and filter changes.
The latter points also apply to my current nine-and-a-half-year old VW Bora.
There then came a sudden flurry of consultation and it was decided I should return to the normal viewing area.
The mechanic (?) who had informed me of the "sump leak" was transferred to another vehicle and my VW was given a straight forward oil and filter change.
Needless to say I've never been near Halfords since, especially as I discovered that the Hi-Q outlet situated a little distance away was not only superior price wise, but streets ahead on the quality of service provided.
Edited by Stuartli on 12/05/2009 at 01:16
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I'd put them in the Boots/W H Smug/Woolworths category - living on borrowed time.
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They were owned by Boots at one time.
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This is a 6-year old thread...
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Halfords shares are doing very well at the moment, they are a much better bet than Woolworths were.
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This is a 6-year old thread...
Yeah, noticed two or three long dead threads revived this week. Not sure if it's the phase of the moon or something.
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Woolworths didn't fail for turnover issues - it was mainly the pension blackhole that shook it. Smiths was doing quite well of late as well.
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Any special reason why my post in this topic has been hidden?
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