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news
Halfords logoHalfords throws away bike man took in for repair
A Bedford cyclist who last month took his bike into Halfords to have a spoke replaced was astonished to discover that it had subsequently been thrown away. A spokeswoman for the store said that staff had dismantled his bike for recycling 'in good faith'.
The Bedfordshire News reports that Peter Bradley took his bike in with a broken wheel spoke and was told the repair would cost about £20. Three days later, he was called and told the repair would cost closer to £90.
Halfords buys Tredz and Wheelies
Bradley didn’t commit to this and asked for some time to think about it. However, when he returned to the shop on May 4, he was told that the bike had been disposed of as per 'his instructions'.
"They produced paperwork advising a telephone conversation had taken place on April 27 at 10.55am on my landline. Massively shocked, I advised I'd not had this conversation – I'd been at work.
"The only person who could have picked up the phone was my cat Eric and I think that's slightly beyond his capacity. There were no missed calls or voicemails for this time. As a gesture of goodwill they were prepared to offer 'gratis' lights, lock and mudguards."
Seemingly reluctant to interrogate Eric, Bradley instead made numerous attempts to contact Halfords' customer services. He was offered either a £100 voucher or £25 cheque but is unimpressed by this as he says it wouldn’t cover the cost of a comparable bike.
On May 19 his request for transcripts of his phone conversations under the data protection act was refused.
A spokeswoman for Halfords apologised for the inconvenience and expressed pride that the store can successfully repairs thousands of other bikes without accidentally binning them. She also said that, 'our colleagues dismantled his bike for recycling in good faith'.
"However, as a gesture of goodwill we will offer Mr Bradley £125 towards the cost of a new bike and we have apologised for any inconvenience caused to Mr Bradley. We pride ourselves on our customer service, and are proud that our colleagues carry out thousands of services on bikes for customers in our shops."
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- joe9090 12 min 48 sec ago
Bus driver couldnt be bothered to look.
- dubwise 13 min 15 sec ago
So, the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, has resigned....
- Rendel Harris 48 min 42 sec ago
Yes, that's exactly what it's supposed to be as we were talking about why if you apply mathematical principles to the phrase "That's three times...
- Natrix 54 min 1 sec ago
Looks like the sort of phone that was designed to be smuggled into prison, via a mars bar or where the sun don't shine...........
- Rendel Harris 1 hour 16 min ago
A good saving no doubt, especially if you're working on rrp for the groupset and wheels, but with 105 Di2 available from multiple retailers for ...
- anotherflat 1 hour 26 min ago
So that's an increase in KSI per mile, if falls are 5 and 6% but miles cycled has decreased 7%, increases of 2% and 1% killed / seriously injured....
- Benthic 1 hour 51 min ago
There's no need for foul language.
- AidanR 2 hours 4 min ago
It is astonishing how cheap you can get bikes for on eBay if you're happy with rim brakes!
- jamesha100 12 hours 36 min ago
I have been in Belfast for work this week and have been shocked by the congestion around the city centre. There are lots of frustrated drivers...
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39 comments
D'oh = Halfrauds.
The LBSs near me are similar. I'm not going to fall into the 'how hard can it be' trap, but small businesses always complain that big shops steal their custom. Well in this case the big shop is (often, not always) catastrophically useless, so if you can't offer a better service you're not trying hard enough.
Just to chime in on the above...
I have several LBS within reach of me...
The closest one, I don't know how he stays in business. I've tried asking him about stuff, but he just isn't interested. Sometimes the shop is shut and you have to bang on the door to get let in, and sometimes he'll just talk to you through the gap in the door. Last time I went to him he said he wouldn't do any job that cost less than £20. I've not been back since.
There's another one nearby, which is pretty hardcore, and has loads of flash gear for sale, and the guy is a bit of a legend locally. He can fix practically anything. Can you get an appointment? No. He's busy. Always busy. He knows who he likes, and who he likes are the people who have bought loads from him in the past.
The one I've used most of late is a bit of an odd one. It's full of kids bikes and cheap BMX tat and remote control cars and who knows what else. But you know what? The guy in there knows his stuff, and if you ask him to do something he can do it, and the price is reasonable and he'll get the job done.
So that's great for someone like me who can be bothered to hunt around umpteen bike shops until they find one that fits. it's not so great for someone who just wants to drop a bike off and get something done. For that you go to... Halfords, because they're always there, and you can just walk in and there's no pre-conditions.
Have we found out what the bike was yet? He may have done alright out of this if it was a total nail.
Also Halfords refuse to supply a transcript of the said 'conversation' .
Now they have total negative publicity which will cost them more than the price of replacing said bike.
The wonder why their profits are falling?
HULK SMASH PUNY BIKE!!!
I suspect that part of the problem with their falling profits is the fact that there was a huge boom following the Wiggo TdF/Olympic years combined with a couple of decent summers. Once a market has explosive growth, a business is always going to struggle to maintain profit levels as the market reaches saturation point...whilst other rival vendors also jump in/ramp up (which is exactly what has happened). I guess this is a problem for a lot of folks out there but in particular those companies with shareholders as the majority of shareholders do so for investment/growth not stability.
On May 19 his request for transcripts of his phone conversations under the data protection act was refused.
1. A phone conversation about a broken spoke is probably not "personal information" under the terms of the DPA.
2. The aggrieved customer may not have asked for a Subject Access Request and offered/supplied payment of £10 to Halfords, which is the fee for production of a SAR last time I looked.
3. The conversation (even if it did happen) probably would not have been recorded and therefore a transcript wouldn't be available anyway.
All valid possible reasons why Halfords "refused".
To be fair to Halfords re the increased estimate, the person booking in the bike for repair may not have been the mechanic (or possibly even seen the bike at this point) and so likely to just quoted from a rate card. Closer inspection (or just a casual glance from a trained mechanic) may have found damaged rims needing more effort in trueing or even a new rim (or more likely a basic wheelset) -- 40 to 50 quid for the wheels (e.g. Shimano Deore 26" MTB wheels) plus labour.
Disposing of bike without consent is pretty poor though.
He should report Halfords to the police as they have effectively stolen his bike.
I had something similar happen 20 years ago when I first started cycling. I'd brought a mtb from them but was having problems with the bb and rear hub coming loose. As I'd only had it a month they would repair it free. I returned a week later and they couldn't find the bike which had gone missing. Lucky they gave me the full amount which I used to buy my first road bike. I wouldn't trust them again with one of my bike.
I can understand how a "simple" broken spoke repair could come in at a seemingly hefty price tag if the customer was basically cycling around on a bike that wasn't roadworthy at the point when the spoke broke. The shop probably has an ethical and professional duty to make the bike safe to ride before handing it back, and if brake cables are frayed and worn, brake blocks are worn down etc. I can see how a bit of work could be involved.
The rest is just silly.
Last time I check - Halfords - A bike shop - did not even sell spokes as parts.
They don't sell them, but that doesn't mean they can't source them for repairs.
That might explain the astronomical cost, though...
I used to be a LBS manager/mechanic and if Halfords did a follow-up call indicating it would then require £90, then the repair would more likely turn into a wheel replacement. An alternative situation was maybe rim and spokes replacement cost along with labor. I have no idea why this could precipate a "in all good faith recycling" project, but I believe they should "in all good faith" give him a bike of equal value.
It also isn't clear how long he left the bike in their care for. It says he took it in "last month", then they contacted him three days after he took the bike in, then he asked for time to think, then he went back on May 4th and the bike was gone. Without knowing how long it had been there it's hard to judge how reasonable it was. If it had been there since April 1st, then it's a lot more reasonable than if it went in on April 30th.
Whilst all that is true, I believe a business cannot dispose of something that has been left there for at least 3 months unless they have the express consent of the owner to do this. However Halfords have not stolen anything but they have potentially comitted a civil offence. In this instance though they have offered £125 and they are only obliged to offer what the product is worth in its current state not what a new one costs. I know that sound rubbish but thats also exactly what happens when your car is written off by an insurance company.
While this is true, thr second hand car market I'd huge, it is relatively easy to go out and find a 5 year old golf of the same speed and similar milage. It is less easy to go out and find a 5 year old specialized Allen in the right size with the same wheels.
Too many companies are just too damn chavvey to train their staff properly or, at all. Training, training, training.... jeez
If the spokes were £90 to replace the guy must have had a serious wheelset......or Halfords are a bunch of robbers. They probably figured out he was completely clueless and priced according, the poor bloke probably went in asking for one of his 'wheel sticks' or something replacing.
Then again don't Halford charge about £7 to fit a light bulb as well as just about ever other mundane replacement car part. Fits their MO.
As has been said I just don't understand what people will potentially pay for repairs. Even if I got asked for £20 for a spoke and had no tools, I'd just buy the tool, measure my spoke, buy new one and do it myself. The last time I did a spoke the LBS charged me £2 or something for a new one to fit myself.
Wheelbuilding is an art though, I take my wheels to wheelbuilder 18 miles away as it'll be trued to a thousandth of a mm for £4 and if a spoke needs replaced it's only a few pounds more than that. To do to a mm would be pushing it for most people. Plus a truing stand costs upwards of 70 pounds then you need to buy spoke keys which are only likely 2 pounds each.
I called in Halfords Team Valley when my stem bolt sheared a mile into a ride, they did it for free and we had a good old chat about all the bits I'd changed on the bike. They aren't all bad.
Notwithstanding the condition of the bike, Halfords should replace it. They have permanently deprived the customer of his bike. I believe that is the legal definition of theft.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. Theft requires intention and dishonest appropriation, neither of which are really present here, as it seems to just be a big misunderstanding. A civil case for negligence would be more likely to stick.
£90 to replace a spoke? A month or so ago my chain fell off and broke 4 spokes and seriously scored another 4. I had eight spokes replaced for about £25 at my lbs.
Had a puncture just outside their store in Torquay .
hadnt got all my tools so went in for puncture repair was fuming when they moved my seat post to put bike on their stand.
they didn't have a clue and I wasn't impressed as they put wheel back on with quick release on wrong side.
Feel sorry for this man £125 isn't enough it was his bike
get the bits back (whats left of it) and cobble it together then bomb round to Evans for a £250 voucher on a trade in.
On a serious note I wouldn't touch Halfords ever..........i'll stick with my trusted LBS man !!
I called Halfords for a quote on Monday then called the closest LBS to compare. Cost quoted was around the same, but the difference in quality of conversation could not have been further apart.
Basically need a cable internally routed to the front mech. I try not to be judgemental, but when the guy at Halfords sounds like he steals bikes instead of fixing them and grew up on a housing estate dealing crack, then he needs to compensate by sounding interested in what I'm saying, instead of repeating 'aye aye bring it doon and we'll look at it'.
Guy at the LBS said he was fully booked that day, so I'm guessing he was as busy as the guy at Halfords but he took time out and had a chat and a laugh and really sounded like he know more about bikes than I did. Sounded educated but down to earth.
End of the day, it's coming back to background, so it's unfair isn't it really. That's why places like Halfords should invest in training their staff better at things like dealing with customers on the phone, interpersonal skills etc. Stuff that people with a more advantaged background take for granted.
Any way, bike's going to the LBS this week of course. As much as I like to support people working hard to better themselves etc, I just can't bring myself to trust an expensive bike and my safety to someone who hasn't earned my trust first.
Who of sane mind would actually take a bike to Halfords for repair...............
trouble is that WE know that - too many do not!
people who dont know any better or people who are exasperated with dealing with their LBS who are more interested in only selling new bikes instead of running a business maintaining old ones.
I tried to get a service for my bike at the LBS recently, booked solidly for two weeks so they said, ok how about the week after then I asked, ah we only accept bookings upto two weeks ahead,ok not sure how that works then how can anyone book a service then, "oh well just bring it doon and we'll look at it for you",well I dont want to just bring it doon for you to look at it, I want you to service it,I dont want to waste my time taking my bike to you, with you just to look at it, suck through your teeth and go "nah were still too busy for two weeks" and I have to drag it home again with bike still unserviced, whilst you fill your social media timelines with pictures of the sexy new Bianchi custom build bikes youve just offloaded instead, either you can service it or you cant, I might not have quite said that last bit
but essentially the impression they were giving was go away your minor bike service isnt worth our effort.
so basically unless your mates (ie in the same bike club) with the LBS, or buying something new, they arent interested in your business which is sadly the attitude I find in lots of LBS around me because they lack the competition, so whats the alternative for the average everyday cyclist not interested in becoming a bike mechanic just to ride their bike around, youll do what you do with you car take it back to where you bought it from,probably Halfords, or a big brand that you vaguely assume know what they are doing, probably still Halfords for most, who wont at least sneer you arent a proper cyclist because you dont have the special club handshake and only ride a BSO.
just to wrap my servicing saga,its probably going to end up serviced by a one man band guy who works out of his own house, who freely admits he wouldnt be in business at all, if the LBS's actually gave a damn.
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