try an a1 motor shop next time
i got 5 litres of drinitol for £20 a fortnight ago by asking pretty please
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I think one of the reasons they are expensive is they have a wide range of opening hours you pay for the convience. They are open in the evenings and on a sunday afternoon they know that they have you, not many other places are open. They are on the most expensive retail land, out of town (generally) . They are handy if you are in an unfamiliar area some sat navs have them on, you can send text messages to find your nearest one, if you are just passing through an famailiar town it's often the most convient place to go. Plus if you can get a trade card they prices are fairly good.
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surely if they are out of town then land is cheaper?
a1 stores are open sundays too and most nights till a reasonable time
www.a1motorstores.co.uk/store_location/
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thanks for the link bellboy, i will check them out
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They are usually in retail parks, competition I would have thought would be high as big chains shops are together more big shop names, more people which means they can sold at a premium. The shops are also bigger than generally would be allowed in town centre shops and the land owner/developer know this. Never heard of A1 motorstores, is it a franchise? All the shop names seem to different on the store locator.
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didnty realise the A1 stores did dinitrol..will have to have a look :)
halfords is silly expensive on most stuff , their trade card brings some things down to normal motor factor prices , handy to have the card if you get caught needing parts on a sunday when its the only place open
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Like everything else you have to shop around. Have to say their range of tools is not only comprehensive but generally well-priced, as well as being of good quality.
They also went up in my estimation when they started stocking a small range of motorcycle headlamp bulbs, including 6 volt ones which fit my vintage stuff; very useful if like me you find it difficult to get to
a motorcycle dealer in normal hours.
I do agree that some of their stuff is silly money though, but as a previous poster remarked, convenience comes at a price.
Edited by Harleyman on 15/06/2009 at 23:09
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steveo3002
ive got this thought in my head it wasnt dinitrol but i cant remember what it can be,
anyway its good stuff,will have to look at the tin in the morning
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I am in the computer trade and spend £1000's a year on components and computers and I have trade cards for the two main computer shops which means I can get a good discount on some things. However I still use PCWORLD even though it is a lot more expensive. I won't buy cables or anything like that from PCW as the markup seems to be around 500% but its very handy for other things I might need an emergency. If I drive to the trade shops I will be gone an hour, if I go to PCW I will be ten minutes and time is worth money.
I mainly tend to go local motor factors for car parts but I do love and enjoy a good browse round Halfords. It is expensive but its open till late, they tend to be in quite high rent retail parks and sell a wide varity of things. I am sure people know that Boots is generally quite expensive but it is still one of the most popular shops on the high street just because of the vast range they sell.
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with a bit of forward planning rattle and a bang of the phone on the desk when customer wants his computer back you could order your parts oft tinternet and double your profits
this will give you more time to browse mind boring stores like halfords with their soldier like displays in their out of town rates free for two years under thatcher emporiums places
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Generaly I need stuff within hours though, the place I mainly use Microdirect is a mail order place anyway and is one of the cheapest places on the web but they have two retail counters in Manchester which means I get stupidly cheap prices and a discount on top. If I just need one thing often PCW might only be £3 more expensive so its not worth the trip to Microdirect but if I need a lot of things I do tend to plan it so I can buy lots of parts in one trip.
I don't use local back street computer shops as they are direct competitors and tend to be very expensive. The big difference is with motor factors is they don't fix cars.
I don't really find the markup at Halfords that bad, just more expensive than local car shops. I think we would all miss places like Halford if they went bust, I found Woolworths expensive and useless but I do miss it and there has been times when I wish it was still open instead of the not so good discount store which has replaced it which as a far too limited range of goods.
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I like Halfords too, it is always good for a browse but rarely do I ever buy anything from there. Saying that though I am a Trade Card holder of the place and in the early part of the year I bought some GunGum exhaust repair putty from the place because I needed some to bodge up a hole in a silencer. I was going to buy it from elsewhere but with the Trade Card it brought the shelf price down from £3.99 to 63p. Yes that is right - I paid 63p for it in Halfords!
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Our local A1 shop (Leatherhead) was great. Until it changed in to a bike shop. Pink fluffy dice!
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They usually have everything I need. Excellent range of tools. I have Halfords Professional ratchet handles and sockets that are 10 years old and still performing superbly.
They very often have very attractive special offers on engine oils and car cleaning kit (buy three, get cheapest free etc). I got 5 litres of Mobil 10W/40 semi for the Volvo's last service for £18 a few weeks ago. I once walked out of there with 5 litres of fully synthetic ACEA B3 5W/40 for £25. Can't get it that cheap online.
Recenly purchased a child seat for my 2 yr old daughter to use on my mountain bike. The guys couldn't have been more helpful, patient or knowledgeable. Didn't sell me the most expensive one either. Deal comparable with online price to within a fiver, and to be honest, their advice was worth that.
Open convenient hours, friendly and helpful (at least ours anyway). I am a satisfied customer.
Cheers
DP
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I find that the convenience outweighs the slightly higher cost.
I have been able to drop into Halfords after work to get things like bulbs, fuses etc, that i can simply swap over in the carpark.
The only thing is that there flip charts for the oil recommened the wrong one (IIRC) and i didnt realise until i bought it and took it home and double checked with the handbook, however took it back and changed it no arguments.
I did mention it to the sales assistant, but whether or not it got sorted im not sure, and it might have been me misreading it, so Im not in a postion to blame it on them soley.
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agree, BB - new shop will presumably survive until Tesco (opposite) start selling bikes
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There is a trade card for Halfords if you can show suitable evidence that you're in the trade or do a reasonable level of repair work.
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agree BB - new shop will presumably survive until Tesco (opposite) start selling bikes
lol
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I posted this on another Halfords topic here a few weeks back ;
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 on 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
Edited by motorprop on 16/06/2009 at 14:54
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motorprop, I fear that you may have just been unlucky with your experiences of Halfords. Other than them being pricey, I haven't really got a bad word to say about any of their shops.
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Nice post Motoprop. Made me larf.
My Halfords is just the same. I think they excel in employing the walking dead (hair gel optional).
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While I do pop into Halfords, I usually leave empty handed due to the rip-off prices, but in their defence, the ones near me have decent staff who are helpful and pretty well turned out.
It probably depends on the manager and who they select to work for them.
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I have to admit, that i sometimes get the "disinterested" member of staff, but it has been very rare
When I went in to buy a fuse, my Astra took the mini type of fuses.
Looking around they only had a box of a thousand (or so) for around £10 - I only wanted one.
Me "Have you got this type of fuse in a smaller packet, i only want one."
"Dont know, is there non on the shelf" (im stood next to the shelf)
Me "No, I cant see any, only these" (pointing to the large box again)
"Well thats all we have"
Me "Non out the back"?
"Dont know"
Me "please can you have a look for me, i would be very grateful"?
"Sigh," Sales assistant opens the drawer under the shelf, and there is excatly what i want
"There Ygo, thats all we have, will that do?"
Me "Yes thankyou very much"
I think thats more or less the only time i have incovenianced a memeber of staff, other than that not to bad.
Edited by redviper on 16/06/2009 at 15:43
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When I had the Passat, the OEM oil filter was about 20-25% CHEAPER from the VW dealer, than the Halfords own brand pattern!
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I learned a long time ago that OEM oil filters are actually cheaper than pattern ones in many cases. I can't remember the last time I fitted a pattern oil filter to any vehicle I owned.
A genuine Volvo filter element for the S60 costs me £6 online. A pattern one in most local places is £7-£8. When we had our 106, Peugeot branded Purflux filters were under £3 against £6 in Halfords or anywhere else for a known brand alternative.
Applies equally to cars and motorcycles. A Kawasaki branded filter for the ZZR is £2 cheaper than Halfords "Champion" fitment.
Edited by DP on 16/06/2009 at 18:17
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I once got into trouble when I worked at Dixons, old man
"Have you got any personal CD players"
"Me, I am affraid they are antiques now and we don't stock them only MP3 players but you will find Argos still stock them"
A few hours later I get a right telling off for the boss because I never checked round the back. In futrue if a customer asked for anything I checked round the back in case we had it. Even if they asked for a Ford Model T engine I would go and spend half an hour in the back to see if we had in stock :D
The thing I hated most though is people expecting me to know everything. I was given no training at all yet was expected to have good product knowledge of just about everything. In the end I just got this geezer called Abdul to deal with the TV section :D.
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