Halfords Fitting Service

yoshiyella

Dear All,

I bought from Halfords instore a set of wheel trims. I noticed a sign that said they could fit them so I paid for this and had to wait 10 minutes.

The guy who fitted them asked if I wanted them securely fitted with those plastic tie things and I said yes.

I watched him fit all 4 wheel trims including putting on the ties.

Fast forward a few weeks later and as I am driving I see my wheel trim fly off and smack into the car driving past on the other side.

On inspection of my car I noticed that none of the wheel trims had the security tags things on them and the other front wheel trim was about to come off as well.

This cost me several hundred pounds to make good the damage caused to the other vehicle.

Please can anyone advise on how to follow this up with Halfords as I complained and they basically told me sorry but tough. Clearly either the wheel trims were not fit for use or the plastic tie things weren't fit for use. Either way I am out of pocket by a few hundered pounds and it could have hit someone.

Thanks, Simon

shaun_from_Africa

The problem that you have is that you saw the ties being fitted.


Although they are not there now, Halfords could argue that since they were fitted, someone cut them off, possibly with the intention of nicking the trims.

Poppie68

You saw them fit the ties and you haven't had any issues for several weeks.... It certainly sounds like someone has been busy cutting them off for either fun or in an attempt to steal them. It's highly likely you will have to take the hit.

yoshiyella

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

The problem that you have is that you saw the ties being fitted.


Although they are not there now, Halfords could argue that since they were fitted, someone cut them off, possibly with the intention of nicking the trims.

That is indeed what they are arguing - however, why were they not nicked?

unholyangel

Do you mean cable ties? If so, how many did they use?

I was always told to use a minimum of 2 because all it takes is for you to hit a pothole to dislodge the trim and if you only have one cable tie on it, its only secured at one point and with the wheels turning fast, well....eventually it will snap the cable ties.

But unless this happened on the way home from having them fitted, I don't think you've got a hope in hell of claiming. Its up to the driver of the vehicle to ensure their car is safe before setting out on a journey.

If you've been driving it for weeks, then I would say that it has been fitted securely but something has happened recently to dislodge it and that new intervening act is the cause rather than any negligence on halfords part.

shaun_from_Africa

yoshiyella wrote: »

That is indeed what they are arguing - however, why were they not nicked?

Someone may have cut the ties off using a knife or pair of cutters one day and then intended returning at a later date to steal the trims.
That way, if they were caught they could argue that taking the trims was a spur of the moment crime that they did after noticing one of them hanging off.
If they were caught with the trims and the knife/cutters, then they could also be charged with "going equipped to steal"

Silver-Surfer_2

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Someone may have cut the ties off using a knife or pair of cutters one day and then intended returning at a later date to steal the trims.
That way, if they were caught they could argue that taking the trims was a spur of the moment crime that they did after noticing one of them hanging off.
If they were caught with the trims and the knife/cutters, then they could also be charged with "going equipped to steal"

I don't know what difference that would make, it's still theft.

Retrogamer

It's not very helpful now as you've paid already, but there would have been no requirement to pay for the damage to the other car. It wasn't an accident caused by negligence.

shaun_from_Africa

Silver-Surfer wrote: »

I don't know what difference that would make, it's still theft.

Still theft but planning a crime rather than a spur of the moment offence can often result in a higher penalty passed by a court.

takman

What I really want to know is why would someone pay to have wheel trims fitted!, what a waste of money!.
Plus I don't see how a wheel trim can cause several hundred pounds of damage?. You must have money to burn to be giving it away like that.

unholyangel

takman wrote: »

What I really want to know is why would someone pay to have wheel trims fitted!, what a waste of money!.
Plus I don't see how a wheel trim can cause several hundred pounds of damage?. You must have money to burn to be giving it away like that.

Quite easily. All it needs to do is chip a window or scratch paintwork.