Halfords Retail
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Dont bother with the "WE'LL BUILD YOUR BIKE FOR YOU" £35 charge, ITS A WASTE OF MONEY!
I bought a Carrera Vengeance mountain bike for my sons 13th birthday, because it was a present we didn't take it out of the box it was delivered in. We paid the extra £35 to have it built for him, so all I had to do was put the pedals on and adjust the seat and handlebars. When it was time for him to get it out of the box, we saw that the front tyre was flat, thinking that they had just forgot to pump it up, I pumped it up for him as he was eager to get out on it. I tried to contact Halfords but got sent round the nightmare of a press 1 for this and 2 for that system they have. Because I got no where with that, I put a remark on X (twitter). Eventually someone got in who claimed to be from Halfords, contact me and tried to scam me. They wanted me to download an app into my phone and give them access to my bank account so "they could refund me the money". This immediately sounded alarm bells, so I terminated the conversation with them. This morning (a day after my sons birthday), he went to go out on it and lo and behold the tyre was flat again. I phoned Halfords and got a person to talk to, I told them what had happened and how someone claiming to be from Halfords had asked me to download software in to my phone to give them access to my bank so I could be refunded. The guy said he would sent it to the back office for them to sort out, he said it could take up to 72 hours for them to look at it. So what I have now is: A brand new bike with a flat tyre. A broken hearted son, because his birthday was a let down. And wound up parents because the service they paid for is a waste of time, and has now left them out of pocket. This money could of been used for some bike accessories like a puncture repair kit that I obviously need when I buy a bike from Halfords. The tube has a hole in it, and the bike is totally unusable until its fixed. So now I have a brand new bike that I paid £35 to be in perfect condition for my sons birthday, that has a flat front tyre because the so called Halfords technician didn't do his or her job correctly. If Halfords are going to charge these kinds of prices to build someone's brand new bike, you would expect a professional and perfect service. As a result of this Halfords will never get any more custom from me. And I will be telling my friends and family and anyone that asks me what my experience with Halfords was like to go elsewhere, because the service is abysmal. They are just another company that once they have got your money, they have a don't care policy.