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On 2nd January my son took his car to Halfords Autocentre in Walsall for a headlight bulb replacement. Whilst there a Halfords technician reversed into my sons car badly damaging the drivers car door so that the locking mechanism no longer functions properly. The manager apologised and promised to sort a replacement door “in a couple of days”. A week later the manager asked my son to obtain a door and they would reimburse him, after I complained, the manager said that he would obtain a door. Now, over 2 weeks later Halfords are asking my son to arrange to take his car to a body repair shop. Presumably he will have to pay and be reimbursed and will be without a car for a number of days. Meanwhile he is driving a car that at best is inconvenient and possibly dangerous. Is this the level of customer service that other Halfords customers have experienced and do you think Halfords finds it acceptable?
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Phone them up and tell them that you will put it into the hands of a claims management company who will charge them far more... (just don't take any credit hire cars!)
A bit back a tnt truck swiped the front of my car while turning and TNT took care of everything, including sending me a car to drive while mine was repaired.
Edited by _ORB_ on 18/01/2021 at 16:51
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Wife was hit by a Virgin Media van, ironically the driver was on the phone. Virgin media said it was not them, it was a contractor, contractor said it was not their van, it was a rental (bit bizarre since it was fully wrapped in VM logos). Found out who actually owned it and to their credit once the driver had filled in a report they arranged a repair at my chosen local bodyshop. Only took 6 months.
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Only took 6 months
Ironic, heh! :–)
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What I find unacceptable - other than how the OP was treated by Halford - is that a bulb change on a French car requires a visit to either a dealership or some other garage costing upwards of £50. They should be simple enough to do as a DIY job in under 10 minutes, preferably well under 5, costing just the price of the bulb.
When one went on my 1996 Micra, it cost me £5 (if I recall) - from Halfords for the bulb, I think, plus 5 minutes of my time to replace it. So much for advances in technology.
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What I find unacceptable - other than how the OP was treated by Halford - is that a bulb change on a French car requires a visit to either a dealership or some other garage costing upwards of £50. They should be simple enough to do as a DIY job in under 10 minutes, preferably well under 5, costing just the price of the bulb.
When one went on my 1996 Micra, it cost me £5 (if I recall) - from Halfords for the bulb, I think, plus 5 minutes of my time to replace it. So much for advances in technology.
Last year Halfords charged me £8 to change a bulb on my car plus £5 for the bulb.
I was in a suit at the time and the car was covered in motorway grime after a trip from the south coast to Newcastle, so I thought it was good value.
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Yep, I've used their bulb change service too at a similarly reasonable cost. I'm more than capable of doing it myself, but likewise, I was far from home, it was raining, I was in clothes I didn't want to mess up and I was about to set off on a long drive home in the dark.
Ideal solution was to pop into a Halfords and have them do it.
Edited by Alby Back on 18/01/2021 at 23:26
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Took my Audi there to have the number plate light changed because I knew it was going to be a difficult job so leave it to the experts!
Out comes a technician with a three pronged screwdriver and completely destroyed the screw head and told me they would refund the charge but I need to gone to a garage.
Apparently they now have a black list of cars which they are told not to attempt a bulb change. The most difficult being a Renault Modus which requires the wheel arch liner removed first.
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The most difficult being a Renault Modus which requires the wheel arch liner removed first.
I hope whoever designed that (plus the person who signed it off), live the rest of their lives in misery.
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Personally I would require every new design of anything to used every hour on the hour by the designer. We would soon see some improvement in access and use for functions such as repair and maintainance.
Cheers Concrete
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Just ask for a courtesy car, or hire one while they fix it. If Halfords are paying, you shouldn't have to suffer.
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Surely Halfords should be arranging all this? Why should we be put to any further inconvenience or be out of pocket even temporarily? Their customer service levels are woeful.
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Surely Halfords should be arranging all this? Why should we be put to any further inconvenience or be out of pocket even temporarily? Their customer service levels are woeful.
Halfords should be but they're not. The next question therefore is how to focus their minds. A referral to HQ might be a start but failing that involving your own insurer should have the desired effect. Was the technician on duty and was it his own car or a customer's?
I had a similar issue where a barrier on one of the town centre car parks lowered prematurely and dinged the roofline of my Berlingo. My own insurer sorted it, arranged repair and successfully recovered my excess and the cost of the Fiesta I hired whilst it was in dock.
Edited by Bromptonaut on 19/01/2021 at 14:08
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But surely you've contacted Halfords head office and requested that the matter be escalated to someone more senior than the branch manager? That must have been your thought after the first sign of procrastination by the manager at the branch.
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But surely you've contacted Halfords head office and requested that the matter be escalated to someone more senior than the branch manager? That must have been your thought after the first sign of procrastination by the manager at the branch.
Yes I've tried, just get put through to customer services who promise to look into it and respond within 48 hours ("may be longer due to Covid"), I'm still waiting.
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What I find unacceptable - other than how the OP was treated by Halford - is that a bulb change on a French car requires a visit to either a dealership or some other garage costing upwards of £50. They should be simple enough to do as a DIY job in under 10 minutes, preferably well under 5, costing just the price of the bulb.
I've never had a Clio so I don't know how easy/difficult the bulb change is. There's nothing in the OP to tell us why Halfords were asked to do the job. Except for a 1973 Mini 1000 where the screws for the sealed beam unit were corroded solid I've never had any light bulb on a car I cannot change myself though some made me grateful I've not got big hands.
On my son's Pug 107 changes are a cinch but he gets it done at Halfords because he neither has, nor is interested in acquiring, the skills to do it himself.
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What I find unacceptable - other than how the OP was treated by Halford - is that a bulb change on a French car requires a visit to either a dealership or some other garage costing upwards of £50. They should be simple enough to do as a DIY job in under 10 minutes, preferably well under 5, costing just the price of the bulb.
I've never had a Clio so I don't know how easy/difficult the bulb change is. There's nothing in the OP to tell us why Halfords were asked to do the job. Except for a 1973 Mini 1000 where the screws for the sealed beam unit were corroded solid I've never had any light bulb on a car I cannot change myself though some made me grateful I've not got big hands.
On my son's Pug 107 changes are a cinch but he gets it done at Halfords because he neither has, nor is interested in acquiring, the skills to do it himself.
It's easy if you have hands as small as a five year old, for a charge of £8 to fit I didn't think it was too bad. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
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i like halfords shop . now they always have an expert in store.
i never liked their mot station .It always felt like the car had been beaten up, when i drove home.
and iv'e recently bought shares in them . the've always seemed like sleeping giants to me.
also they look like survivers.
having said that, i still predominatly use my, great local motor factor.
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I know nothing about Twitter or Facebook but I gatther it's the modern way to gain people's attention.
I found the stuff below just by Googling. It lookede al neat and tidy when I posted it but it's all jumbled up now, but it might help.
Emailgraham.stapleton@halfords.co.uk Advice from CEOemail.com How to write your email to a CEO Telephone01527 513276 (Direct)Switchboard01527 517601Fax01527 513479Websitehttps://www.halfords.co.ukSocial Media Postal AddressIcknield Street Drive, Washford West, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 0DE
Edited by KB. on 19/01/2021 at 15:51
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I know nothing about Twitter or Facebook but I gatther it's the modern way to gain people's attention.
I found the stuff below just by Googling. It lookede al neat and tidy when I posted it but it's all jumbled up now, but it might help.
Emailgraham.stapleton@halfords.co.uk Advice from CEOemail.com How to write your email to a CEO Telephone01527 513276 (Direct)Switchboard01527 517601Fax01527 513479Websitehttps://www.halfords.co.ukSocial Media Postal AddressIcknield Street Drive, Washford West, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 0DE
Many thanks KB, I've sent him a very polite email.
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I know nothing about Twitter or Facebook but I gatther it's the modern way to gain people's attention.
Yep, nothing moves them into action more than a public humiliation. Its something they can't control or delete once its been seen.
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