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The good news was that there was a Halfords breakdown centre nearby and I managed to crawl in there instead of bringing the town centre to a standstill!
I could smell the burning of the worn clutch and, before beating the bonnet with a tree Basil Fawlty-style, I made my way to the Halfords ... Read review
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A review by HungryHippo on Halfords - Motor Repairs June 23rd, 2003
Author's product rating:
Speed Of Response
Cost
Level Of Cover
Customer Service
Advantages:
Staff wear clean - pressed overalls
Disadvantages:
Very expensive, slow, poor service
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
When my N-reg Escort refused to let me drive it last week, I finally realised the clutch had gone.
The bad news was that I was in the middle of town on a Monday morning when it finally gave up the ghost.
The good news was that there was a Halfords breakdown centre nearby and I managed to crawl in there instead of bringing the town centre to a standstill!
I could smell the burning of the worn clutch and, before beating the bonnet with a tree Basil Fawlty-style, I made my way to the Halfords reception to see what could be done.
Now don't get me wrong - I've nothing against Halfords. The shop is fine - they've usually got what I want and the products are good quality.
But the repair centre is something else!
"What's the problem, Sir?" asks gangly youth. "My clutch has gone," says I. "Right. Can we take a look at the car?" asks youth. We step outside. He steps into car and turns on the ignition. "Well, I can see what the problem is. The clutch has gone," he says. "Inspired," I though.
We walk back into the office, where we are joined by another two members of the Halfords team. They open a book, which they lovingly call "The Bible", talk between themselves for 10 minutes and finally come to a conclusion.
"Well Sir, we can do it next week, total price £450."
I picked myself up off the floor.
"Yes, it is expensive Sir, but it's a five-hour job."
OK, so a clutch costs, say, £60. That means labour comes in at nearly £80 an hour for five hours!!
I said I'd think about it and sloped off to a nearby phone box.
The first garage I pulled out of the yellow pages said they could do it for £250, in three days time.
Already £300 off - and quicker as well!!
The next two calls were all around the asme mark.
Then I struck gold.
"£120, inc VAT, bring it in today - done by Wednesday"
DONE!!
And it was - by Wednesday as promised, by a local garage employing three people. £320 cheaper than Halfords - and a week quicker.
I couldn't believe it. I'm not sure why so many people use them - there were certainly lots of cars waiting to be repaired there. I can only think it's because they are a big name company - and poeple think they can trust them.
But my advice - SHOP AROUND.
And don't use Halfords except to stock up on power steering fluid.
I had always thought Halfords (Wrexham) were a reputable servicing/motor repair company, until recently. I initially took my car here for a service and mot and was told I needed a new cam belt and wheel cylinder. Over the next few weeks my car was booked in to have the work done. On the week that the wheel cylinder was due to be repaired the part hadn't even been ordered and had to be re-booked in. When all the work was finally finished, I noticed ... ...up the bonnet I was horrified to discover that part of my air filter had not been reconnected and had actually melted in my engine, there were also various leads which had not been connected. This was over a week ago and despite numerous phone calls I cannot get an answer from them as to when the will fit my new air filter. I would think carefully before choosing this company. ...
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Advantages: Cheaper than a car audio specialist Disadvantages: Non familiarilty with all makes/ models of cars, lack of real knowledge
PLEASE DO NOT USE HALFORDS IF YOU HAVE A 'NON STANDARD' CAR.....by this I mean a car that is not Vauxhall, Ford, Toyota...mainstream cars.
Last week we took my wife's 1998 Chrysler Neon 20.i LE to Halfords at Maidstone in Kent to have a car audio and speakers fitted to the car, we had to drive 20 miles to this branch as the fitter at our local branch was off sick.
When we arrived at the branch, three guys looked at the car, one was a detupy manager, ... ...damage the car..
Think twice when you are offered 'free fitting' on a car audio at Halfords and consider if it is really worth it!
Personally we will NEVER have another item fitted by Halford and will endeavour to by our car items at another outlet not Halfords. ...
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Advantages: nice allways aviable customer service Disadvantages: but after any damages you can`t find anybody to took to you.
I`ve took my car to halfords tooday to fit the new speakers in.
My car is a vw passat new shape. i`ve asked them if they know how to remove the door pannel to get them changed. they told me that yes they know. I`ve been told to come back after an hour. when i came back they told me that they cant replace it.
The side pannel has been sticked back in. the result of that was`t good. the fitter said that the clips has been broken cost of 1 pound. I ... ...200£. they will ask their head office and will let me know if the costs of repair will be paid by halfords. I have a bad fillings about that. I wont recomend the halfords to enybody else. If they dont know how to do the job, they should`t even tray. ...
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Cost
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16.05.2009
metro service Review ofHalfords - Motor Repairsby
dangriff
Advantages: none Disadvantages: extremely poor could not care less service
...again. The stafford branch of Halfords have had my daughters metro on 7 visits to try to get a service done correctly. No-one could care less at the garage and I think they trade simply on the AA name. I booked her vehicle in for an exhaust and a service while it was there. at the end of the service I was told the exhaust needed changing which meant another trip back. We were then told the fan and switch needed changing which was anotherv trip back. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
