just thought id tell you.
i went in to my local branch of halfords the other day for some locking wheel nuts.
the girl serving looked at me confused and said "what are locking wheel nuts"
ha!

To be fair to her though, I'm sure she doesn't really care. She's probably part-time whilst studying at College or University.

maybee...
but it took half an hour on there computer and 4 mambers of staff to find out if they had any.
and i still had to go out and get a wheelnut off my car for them to all look at and compare to all there ones.
you would think you would have to know at least just a little about cars to get a job there.

I love the fact that the adverts make them look so clever....

Customer: I need paint for a red 69 mini.
Employee: ok... flame red
Customer: Yes! how... how did you know that? (in utter amazement!!!)

COZ HIS DAMN COMPUTER TOLD HIM IDIOT!

Thats funny..... I was in there a couple of weeks ago for ages trying to get the colour of my girlfriends AX, only to be told it doesnt exist!

ye,bunch of knob heads.

I went in for some Halfords clay bars as recommended by Stan only to be told it doesn't exist after checking on their computer!!

Doesn't exist?

Gawd, don't tell me they've stopped selling it already?

Did Stan say clay bars

He meant dime bars

I had some spotty student looking trying to find me some brake & clutch cleaning spray in the 'valeting section' amongst the turtle wax and sponges etc.

Needless to say i left him to it ..

Mmmmmm Dime Bars!

Pretty awful for cleaning paint though and your neighbours give you funny looks when you start licking the paintwork

I think it depends on the branch - the two nearest me are pretty good overall (as long as you get the right person). One of them inparticular is very good, there is someone on this forum who works there and he knows his stuff, as does his Dad who also works there - in fact, most of the regulars on the parts desk know about cars. So if you need a good Halfords go to Wakefield!

You could always get an armadillo instead.

Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. ARMADILLOS!!

<Peter Kaye> Is this the way to Armadillo, every night I've been hugging my pillow...</Peter Kaye>

What colour are their overalls and can you get them with the FCCUK logo?

Dreaming dreams of Armadillo and sweet Theresa who waits for me

Must admit I've found the staff very variable in Halfords, which is a pity. My local branch aren't at all bad and a couple of the guys are very knowledgeable.

Strangely they are so much more helpful than a local motor factor, where I think they have a prize on offer for being totally devoid of customer service skills and ignorant as well as being the most expensive supplier of parts in the country

My local Halfords aren't too bad either.

I don't usually ask for any advice regarding anything besides ICE though. There's one lad that's been there for a few years and knows his stuff about stereos, speakers, amps, etc.
It's him I pester on the rare occasion I pop to Halfords

The female staff in my local halfords are very knowledgeble in looking attractive. I go down regulary and ask if any of them are on offer in conjunction with my Meguirs and whether they fall within trade discount.

Sufficed to say i never get many good reactions and usually end up leaving with something shiny to make me feel better.

This is something I have found with my local Halfords. Anything ICE related and the guy I see there is very helpful. I wanted a £450 stereo a few years ago but didnt want to pay that much so he managed to find a price match for me there and then as Halfords do a price match system and I got it for £300 instead.

I think Halfords made a good move buying Ripspeed. I remember when Ripspeed was its own company in Enfield. Was a long way for me to go then they opened R-Tec when they sold Ripspeed, which is only 15 mins from me!

For my sins, I used to own a Scimitar Coupe (SE4c)and occasionally needed the odd bit from Halfords...

The conversation would go along the lines of "Can I have a thermostat (or whatever) for an essex v6 engine?"

What car is it sir?

You won't have it listed - its a Reliant Scimitar.

So they then check, and surprise surprise - they havent got it on their computer.

So - back to my original question.....

don't know why I bothered really!

i once (and have never asked since) one particular guy for a part for the coupe and had a long winded conversation with him to convince him it is merely called a "Fiat Coupe"

i work at halfords and to be honest customers ask the most stupid questions!

people want paint mixing without a paint code or colour name,

'it rover red' ok ive 17 shades of rover red? pick one!

the computer system doesnt match parts against uncommon cars or anything remotely abnormal,spotty part time till staff dont know much really in any retail shop and to be fair not ALL halfords staff are Nob heads.

not to upset stan the clay bars dont exist anymore and im no longer at wakefield andyps im at hudds now mate.

any other complaints?

if your not happy you could try motor world or your other parts company on a saturday/sunday? thoughts so

I once went in there:

ME: I need some Rover 620Ti brake pads please.
EMPLOYEE: What year sir?
ME: Well they're actually going on a Rover 220 coupe with 620Ti calipers and ZS180 discs..... so, just the generic ones please.
EMPLOYEE: Ummmmmmmm...................?????????

I'm not saying all halfords staff aren't knowledgeable, just annoying when you do find the ones that haven't a clue!

how do you expect them to know when your acting a tit!

What really annoys me here is most of the Halfords 'slaggers' here don't seem to realise that Halfords head office rarely give any of their staff any training on the products they sell/stock. As I said earlier, a lot of the staff are part-time, and are only there for beer money/to pay for rent/student fees etc etc.

OK Halfords comes in for bad press sometimes, and believe me I do sometimes sort out some of their poor installs - but with no or very little training it's not the fault of the staff.

I will actually say that, IMHO, Halfords owning Ripseed could have worked out a lot better than it did if they'd still been owned by Boots - they were a much richer company then. Unfortunately I fear that the Ripseed brand has been poorly used by Halfords and has lost its appeal...

the only reason i know owt about cars is growing up with a dad that used to build rally engines, most of the good guys come from similar backgrounds

the problem matty is that they do offer training and do it well but its never cascaded down to shop floor level, so the guys on the front line can only go by what the computer tells them.

ripspeed is under review and has had the tack taken out and better products in place

Exactly. I came through a fairly good time with them, when they were starting to push the Ripspeed brand - and spent many a day down in the only 'soft-fit' bay in Scotland - Braehead. This should have been pushed far harder than it was, instead of giving stores the 'We'll Fit It' tent.

I asked for a product that only comes in one GENERIC size, as I stated! Surely the computer can tell that!! All he had to do was put in any year. Even a child could work that out!