Praise for Halfords

wallbash

There service of replacing headlight bulbs for £5.99, they do it in mins, takes me ages and I mess up my knuckles . Money well spent.

No excuse to be driving around with a bulb gone.

4743hudsonj

..... Or any other motorfactors who will sell the bulb for half the price and if asked nicely, will fit it free of charge providing it doesnt require panels off or engine parts out (which halfords wouldnt do anyways).

This really gripes me about Halfords and the public. People just dont know better so theyre happy with being ripped off for badly trained schoolboys (i agree some are well trained but general floor staff tend not to be) to charge a small fortune for average service/products (at best, excluding ripspeed).

Take sidelights for example, my work 59p, and ill fit it free, halfrauds, £2.79 last time i checked and i believe the same £5.99 charge. Value or what eh?:rotfl:

And minutes? bulbs take seconds!

jb66

5.99 for a ten min job? = £36 an hour for wages!

4743hudsonj

jb66 wrote: »

5.99 for a ten min job? = £36 an hour for wages!

Not even 10 minutes. Most pre 2004-ish cars should be 30 seconds a side to anybody trained. If we're kind and allow a minute per side which is more than enough then thats still £360 an hour labour!

10 minutes is enough for me to do all the bulbs on the rear clusters and headlamps on an older car.

For a newer car which can be more complicated, id understand a minute or two maybe as it is a little more fiddly but its still plug in and go so still easy and still £180 an hour labour.

They probably pad it out with opening the packet.........

£360 an hour is what a garage would charge for a VW new beetle bulb change as they require the whole wing assembly off.....


Another example is wipers. These take 10 seconds each tops! Newer ones even faster..... yet people are comfortable with paying £5.99 for this "service" .

cherie1122

They wouldn't touch the headlight bulb on my Fiat Punto (2001 reg) -
far too difficult ..............

I find the staff really helpful when I need to buy odds and ends in their shop though

wallbash

Wonder how many of you have actually tried to change the headlight bulb on the nearside of a Ford Focus.
As I posted the guy did it in minutes , he said some times he did 5/6 a day. I gladly paid for his expertise .

and if asked nicely, will fit it free of charge providing it doesnt require panels off or engine parts out (which halfords wouldnt do anyways).

Must be nice to live in La La land.

4743hudsonj

wallbash wrote: »

Wonder how many of you have actually tried to change the headlight bulb on the nearside of a Ford Focus.
As I posted the guy did it in minutes , he said some times he did 5/6 a day. I gladly paid for his expertise .



Must be nice to live in La La land.

I LOLed at some of that.

La la land? I work at Halfords largest northern competitor and can tell you that our bulbs are not only considerably cheaper but if asked nicely, ill (and most other staff) fit it so not so la la, more my day to day job. But if you like living in la la land and being bent over by large corporations....... then continue to think you got a good deal, then do so, as all I can say is that you most certainly didn't.

As for that car, its one of the fidlier ones granted, but I can still do them in under a minute so being charged 6 quid is obsurd.

This is the grip halfords have over the public. Much like kwik-fit, people in the trade and many out of it know they're scammers, but as long as they retain their hold on the majority of the un-savvy public they will rake in mega bucks.

wallbash

As I first posted , I have attempted to ( and eventually succeeded) in replacing three headlight bulbs in the focus.
On the near side , to give me extra room , I removed the battery , its still a fiddly job.
As to getting free fitting , dream on .

majority of the un-savvy public

I was doing my first head gasket back in 1970.But of course then bulbs were very much easier to change.
I still know that I gladly paid my £5 .99 to get my bulb replaced. Of course in future will spend £20 driving North to ask for your free help.... a bargain.

4743hudsonj

wallbash wrote: »

As I first posted , I have attempted to ( and eventually succeeded) in replacing three headlight bulbs in the focus.
On the near side , to give me extra room , I removed the battery , its still a fiddly job.
As to getting free fitting , dream on .



I was doing my first head gasket back in 1970.But of course then bulbs were very much easier to change.
I still know that I gladly paid my £5 .99 to get my bulb replaced. Of course in future will spend £20 driving North to ask for your free help.... a bargain.

Were in the south too (but there are more competitive factors in the south than us) but thats besides the point. My point is you can get better, cheaper service at other motor factors. But i get it, you enjoy knowing you were ripped off.

Free fitting is quite common where i work too, its all about the customer service.

wallbash

Free fitting is quite common where i work too

Wonder ?? if any one can post info on free fitting of bulbs ( and back it up with the ad).... south of Watford.

masterlumps

£5.99 to do a headlight bulb? omg

i buy bulbs for my octy for less than a quid and fit them myself