I use Farnham Halfords alot,use my trade card on various parts/bits for non vw private work I do.

Most of the guys know their stuff,I've known them for years and they usually go out of thier way to sort me out.

i worked at halfords for a bit. was in the bike section doing all kinds of stuff that i shouldn't have been doing. reason i left is because of the scum that used to come in and hassle me and i just couldnt bare the sight of all of those shitty bikes

most of the full-time guys really knew their stuff. you know who you are!)

My mate phoned me today when he was in Halfrauds and wanted to

know the price of a 472 bulb for his Octavia.Halfrauds wanted £8.99

for a Lucas bulb....I got him the SAME bulb from work for £1.12+VAT.

I work full time at the Stirling branch as a Ripspeed specialist. We have 1 other Ripspeed specialist (he knows his stuff - owns an MX5, RX8 & A Modified jeep Cherokee!) We have 2 part timers on Ripspeed who are both modified Peugeot 106 owners (But both want Honda's) and the guys in the Parts department are cool too (one has a Modidifed Corsa VXR and the other a nice Clio 182!)

And they are all really good guys to work with!

depends like , i worked in swansea store for years , still work ther enow and then when they need help like , ie chrismas or shop fitting . I'm a freelance photographer see.

we were ok there, other local stores are crap

trade price is awesome

Hellfrauds is good because its open late and useful for bits, so it's a convenience thing.

The sockets are good too.

They are, as said, overpriced compared to other places, but I think you're paying for the convenience. TBH I gave up asking for help from the assistants because they were on the whole yooooseless, with the exception of the guy in the bike section who knew his shit.

I think the thing I objected to most were the credit card salespeople (well, pushers, really). There are 2 branches near me, and if I went to one branch, they would follow you round the store and bug you because they wanted you to get the Hellfrauds card and wouldn't take no for an answer. So I stopped going there and used the other branch instead, as they didn't have them - when I mentioned this, and they said 'yeah, we had to get rid of them because they were pissing the customers off'.

I worked for them for four years, starting as a part time cycle lad and ending up as a DM, worked in three seperate stores in the local area.

The problem with it is that they just don't pay enough to get really experienced staff. Some of the people who come to work there don't have a clue about cars/bikes/audio etc, and the managers are on such a tight payroll budget that they employ whoever they can just to cover the shop floor. I mean, I was a cycle specialist in one store and was being paid £12k a year! To run a department and manage 5 other staff, including their training and development - and I only got paid that because I fought to get a decent wage before I took the job.

The other problem is that the company now is so focused on profit, and the area managers pile so much shit onto the stores that often the customer is forgotten about.

Sometimes you'll be lucky and employ a member of staff who'll actually be interested in cars/bikes etc, and other times you'll employ people who want to learn, but often it was just 16 year old kids who couldn't care less and just wanted do to the bare minimum and get paid at the end of the month.

My favourite on a quiet evening would be to get the store directory (of all the other Halfords stores in the country), pick a random store and call them, then ask for a thermostat for a 1968 1300 VW Beetle.... Then see how long it takes for them to figure it out It might be harsh but to me things like that are basic knowledge, and any Halfords employee should know questions like that. Sadly they don't!

Good for some things though, and like Yeti says great if you've got a trade card

amen lol i work in the bridgwater section and have teh same problem, I'm a part time fitter/ ripspeed thers about 3 people in ther that hav a clue about cars and about 2 cycles...

we hav a problem with some of the people thinking they can fit when they can and i end up having to sort the shit they hav caused...

idiot thiniking they can fit stereos and after 10mins of sat in someones cars come in and i end up having to do it and explain to a customer why we told em 15min to fit a stereo it took 30mins...

Hahaha... funny thread.

Just remember guys.

The staff don't really get "TRAINING" so it isn't their fault. Ok, Ok.. some of them are ignorant twats who don't even want to learn or understand anything.

The pay is rubbish.. pay peanuts... get monkeys.

Also.. the original comment about sierra cosworth owners amused me!

"BOOST INNNIT! DUMP VALVE! FLAMER KIT!" :p

any one ever visted high wycombe halfords?? the big outta town one.

bunch of fuck whitts...well the ones iv spoken to.

i went in yesterday lookinh for carb cleaner. i spent 5 mins lookin and i couldnt see it.

so i walked about tryin to find someone that could help. i find 3 16-17 yr old girls stacking shelfs giggilin with eachother. so I'm thinking, they are not even gona have a clue. then i found some chav so i go '' have u got any carb cleaner'' yer he replied '' o really iv been looking for a while i couldnt see any''

walked over to the isle and he goes.. '' we got engine flush''

me: no mate carb cleaner

chav: this (flue flush)

me: no mate CARB cleaner,, its in a spray can

then he handed me some wd40 style stuff

i was like C A R B cleaner. looks like u dont stock it

chav : o yer

obvisly didnt have a clue what i was asking for and tryed just anding me anything, if i didnt no better i would of brought what he handed me and fucked my engine over

o and over priced

carb cleaner for your injection polo ?

Not much experience buying from them, as my local 4 motor factors are cheaper.

Headlight bulb: £7

Fitting: £5

F*ck off...

The problem with it is that they just don't pay enough to get really experienced staff. Some of the people who come to work there don't have a clue about cars/bikes/audio etc, and the managers are on such a tight payroll budget that they employ whoever they can just to cover the shop floor. I mean, I was a cycle specialist in one store and was being paid £12k a year! To run a department and manage 5 other staff, including their training and development - and I only got paid that because I fought to get a decent wage before I took the job.

exactly my situation. except a couple hundred short on the 12k :(

to save typing the same things i always end up typing, i agree with all the above posts. job done.

carb cleaner for your injection polo ?

It's called injection intake and carb cleaner, as it will also clean throttle bodies as well. I know as I bought some last week!

I find halfords ok for products like cleaners/other DIY stuff. Many things are just overpriced though, not sure why as well maybe its just because most un-aware people just go in get their stuff and go without shopping around...

The only good thing about halfords is having mates of mates who work there and can sort you cheap stuff. And the tools are pretty good too. Apart from that, utter bollocks.

Dont know where you all work, but my pay is pretty good!

The manager from my last job left, went to Halford from Waterstone to be Assistant manager of Dundee - told me there was a job going if I wanted to apply for it - So i did and got it!

then moved branches to Stirling as a position came up there! And its closer to home! £120 a month better off in fuel bill!

depends which store...when i there i was full time cycles, the ripspeed specialist had a golf clipper and now a rallye, and the DM has a mk3 golf anni. store was full of sound people who new ther stuff, the main problem is part timers, who quite frankly know shit all half the time. my manager used to love employing 15yr olds cos he didnt have to pay them fuck all. says it all really lol

well my local store is full of people who think they know what there doin ! it mainly gets robbed by local chav's and some staff aid in the process , i think they make good tools and useful for bits and bobs but tinternet is better for parts along with mates with discount cards

I like halfords for tools and cleaning products. And small bits I need quickly..

I don't ask any of the staff at mine about anything cus I know they don't know anything since it's like 16 year olds who need a job and don't know how to put a bike together..

But it's alright

yeah gotta love it when fit till girls serve you. when its interview time all the lads are like

"ooo ooo pick her!!"

hehe, i go out with one

hehe, i go out with one

haha, its like a company procedure to see how many till girls you can "get through"...... on staff parties and what not. when i first started there was this guy who had been with 6 out of 8 of them!!

man slag

yeah, they werent necessarily attractive either.

We've got 2 and they don't even have the same prices. I was going to get the 150 socket set for £100, went to the town centre one and it'd gone off sale and upped in price to £180, but the big one uphill had it for £150.

There is a couple of members of staff though who are really helpful. One in particular where she phones the other Halfords, and then other local stores for a part if theirs don't have it.

there is one bloke in my local who is sound, the others a lazy pricks who know fuck all. they are over priced, the modified stuff is tack. the parts like filters and dizzy caps are wank and i once bought a dizzy cap and rotor arm which both didnt fit. not cos they were wrong but because the moulding was so bad. this is going back some years mind.

the only thing they are good for is:

cleaning products

convience

halfords pro tools.

AND!...... HAVE YOU SEEN THE PRICE OF THEIR BATTERIES!!!!! THE HUNGRY C**TS!!!

And why the fuck are they still selling neons there no one buys them now there shit.

Halfords is to cars as PC world is to computers.

Way overpriced and the people who work there are useless or want to rip you off.