Halfords - advice needed urgently!

Simon7685

I am hoping someone can give me advice as to what are my exact rights with this.

I ordered a bike for my daughter online on Tuesday night. I attended the shop this afternoon to collect the bike with my daughter, on ordering I opted for the bike building, which includes a 22 point safety check and free 6 week service.

I was handed the 22 point check list all signed off by them, paid for the bike and left the store. On arriving home it soon appeared that the gears had not been set up properly. It would not change into half of them and you could not turn the twist grip beyond number 3.

So off we went back to Halfords, "back so soon" was the greeting. I explained the problem and they said the cable was too tight. Now please bear in mind the gears had been signed off on their 22 point safety check as being fully functional and had smooth operation when switching between gears.

So they spent 20 minutes messing about with it and declared it fully working. I was told we might want to test it in the car park before going home in case it wasn't right - shouldn't they be doing the testing?
So off we went to the car park and it still didn't work right and now missed out every other gear when changing. So back we went.........
You might be sensing a theme here!
Another 30 minutes passed and they tried to tell me that sometimes gears are just like this and you have to accept it........... Not on my watch you don't. Then declared it was sorted and all working fine. The guy said, "You might want to check it first in the car park, to save you having to come back.......... that really instilled confidence in me.

So again in the car park and still it wasn't right, now it missed out 2nd gear every time. So back into the shop to be told. There's nothing we can do you will have to leave it with us. If it turns out to have faulty gears we will of course replace them free of charge but we might need to order the parts in. So I said what time frame are we looking at, he responded 2 maybe 3 days. So I advised him I was not accepting that and wanted a replacement bike. He said yes they could do that but it would take 2 to 3 days. So I reminded him of the large poster at the desk, which said, order today before 12 noon and collect your bike assembled by 4pm. Or order after 12 noon and it will be ready the following day by noon. He couldn't answer, so he went to someone more senior and said they were going to deal with me. To which I replied well I want a full refund and will go elsewhere.

The new guy came over and asked what the problem was, so I told him and said, you either replace the bike ready for collection by noon tomorrow or I will have a refund. He agreed with me and has ordered said replacement to collect tomorrow at noon.

Now over the course of the evening I have found myself becoming more annoyed over this. The gears were signed off on their checklist as fully functional when they clearly had not been checked. How can I have confidence in any new bike being 100% safe for my daughter to ride?

I intend to ask these questions of the manager tomorrow. Now if I don't like or receive appropriate responses to my concerns, can I rejext the replacement and demand my money back?

Should I complain in writing to Halfords and ask for a goodwill gesture thrown in, maybe a free something or other, or is that to much to expect? Either way I could do with knowing exactly where I stand before attending at high noon on Thursday

Thanks in advance

CoolHotCold

I do doubt they ride the bike around changing gears, what probably happens is, the back wheel is propped up so it can spin and the pedals manipulated and then the gears are changed via the handlebars, or perhaps Halfords have a special rig which prop up both wheels and allows the employee to go through the check, either way it's more than likely that the gear issue is only discovered when applying downward pressure on the wheels.

As to why they don't ride them? Health and saftey or order of management probably, perhaps they need to be fully qualified and pass a test and insurance for halfords would be too much? best to ask the manager.

The gears not working when load is applied will not impede the safety for that part.



I understand your concern for your daughter, but bikes are by nature extreamly dangerous, a safety checklist doesn't change a thing. The good news is that little kids can't pickup enough speed to kill themselves and are made out of rubber, sugar and magic (very pliable bones and they don't stiffen up I believe), anyway your daughter will have a accident on a bike, that much I can guarantee, but the tears will be worse than the accident.


I biked a lot when I was younger, me and my dad put the bike together, worse accident I had (and I had several) was careering down a road (which was on a big hill) picking up about 20mph to 30 (depending how accurate the speedo on the bike was) and managed to slide the tyre along the curb resulting in my eating pavement while the bike dissapeared through a hedge after bouncing. MY injury was a sprained ankle and a ton of bruises and cuts & scrapes.


Advice for talking to the manager, is ignore the emotive side and go in with facts and what you want, be prepared to move and if you still are not happy reject it.

Nukumai

Simon7685 wrote: »

Should I complain in writing to Halfords and ask for a goodwill gesture thrown in, maybe a free something or other, or is that to much to expect?

OP - if your daughter's safety is your primary concern (as it, rightly, seems to be) forget the "goodwill gesture". If you do not have enough confidence in the Halford's safety check process, ask for a refund and purchase a cycle somewhere else.

bod1467

Exactly. I was with the OP until the final paragraph.

OP - If there are any problems with the 2nd bike then you are fully within your rights to reject it and get a refund.

skittle_2

This sounds exactly the same story as i had with Halfords even me riding around in their carpark checking it out, I took my bike back five times because they could not get the gears to work in the end I asked for my money back i live in the sticks and it was costing me a fortune in petrol they were not happy to refund but i said i was not leaving the store without it just stick to your guns and don't be suckered with freebees they are not worth it.

hessodreamy

Simon7685 wrote: »

shouldn't they be doing the testing?

The bike's for your daughter? I don't think you want the greasy oafs at halfords riding it round the car park, do you? They'd probably break it. I'm also picturing that it's pink, with a basket and ribbons.

But most likely they do just turn it over, spin the wheels, and check everything works that way. To give them credit, I wouldn't expect their testing to be more vigorous than that. I would, however, expect a little more attentiveness when you've told them it's not working. For them to say "it's now working" based on spinning the wheels with the bike upside down opens the door to ridicule for them. Doesn't sound like very good customer service.

As for the "order today & collect today" offer they advertise - strictly speaking you weren't ordering that day, and you can take the argument that, as such, the offer does not apply. Sure, it suggests the possibility that they could do it, if they wanted to, but I wouldn't consider it a failure to uphold an offer if they didn't.

As for a refund if you're still not happy - it's been quite clear that you've not actually accepted the goods and as such I would consider you can still refuse them if you see fit.

Hope it all works out for you. When I get my new bike (soon, I hope) I think I'll eschew halfords and go somewhere a bit more local and friendly!

sirmarcus

OP...Escalate and complain to David Wild, CEO Halfords, via sending him an email.

Just wish[STRIKE] honest [/STRIKE]that I could remember his email address;).

Suggest you try a google search with "ceo email halfords" and see what turns up. If you are lucky;), it may be in the first result .

HTH and good luck.

Now back to watching Rachel Riley corr wot a doll !;):rotfl:

StaffsSW

Having worked for Halfrauds many years ago when I left school, the bikes are assembled on a work stand that holds the bike up to chest level for easier assembly. Gears and brakes are adjusted, but at this stage the weight of the rider is not taken into account, so they can need a bit of a tweak when someone of the right size is sat on them.

Usually this is just a twist of the adjuster on the rear gear mechanism, but from what you describe it sounds like either the rear mech is bent, or the lug on the frame where the mech is attached to is out of line.

"Back in the day", (early 90's when Halfords was part of the Boots Group) I had to attend a 2 day course before I was allowed to build & check bikes to hand over to customers, but from speaking to current staff, this is no longer the case. All bikes had to be assembled to BS6102 and by an accredited mechanic, but since this has been superceded by Europe-wide General Product Safety Regulations in 2005, which are not as in depth as the older regulations. Thanks for that Brussels...

The six week check is generally to allow the bike to "bed in" and then re-adjust for any cable stretch and loose spokes, re-torque all of the bolts etc.

Going straight for the CEO is not normally a wise move, because it negates any further escalation options if things are not resolved straight away. From my own experience, if you contact their Head Office at Redditch (01527 517 601), and ask for the contact details of the regional manager, they tend to be a lot more customer focused, and have better direct contact with the branches in their area. They will be able to take a more hands-on approach to resolving the problem than the CEO, who (again from experience) tends to delegate the problem back to the branch anyway. There is a central Customer Services department (0845 057 9000) but again, you may just be fobbed off to the branch by a patronising call handler!

It's sad to see a company that I spent a lot of time with go into decline. Boots group were very customer focused across all their businesses, but since Halfords was sold to a venture capital business, customer focus has been replaced with meeting sales targets and this has been borne out in a recent Which Survey - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147402/Shoppers-attack-High-Streets-poor-customer-service-lack-staff-damning-new-survey.html

The_ICT_Engineer

You may well have been better off using a local dealer. Who in most cases is themselves a keen cyclist along with their staff. Richardson's Cycles in Castle road is said to be the best in your area. Had good service from the company last year when passing through.

If anyone is looking for a good cycle shop, This website is useful.

http://www.thecyclingexperts.co.uk/

thatlemming

Halfords is terrible for bikes, please buy from your local bike shop, they know what they're doing, and their bikes aren't tat.

neilmcl

thatlemming wrote: »

Halfords is terrible for bikes, please buy from your local bike shop, they know what they're doing, and their bikes aren't tat.

And more often than not they let you try before you buy.