Halfords Apollo bikes

[Tosh]

Michael spoke thusly:
> Tosh wrote:
>
>> Hi I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but
>> can anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
>> spec, build quility etc. Thanks Tosh
>
>
> One thing you need to remember is that Apollo Is Ownbrand
> but Apollo itself does not have a factory, nor does
> carrera, Top end Apollo's and New carreras are made now by
> tradestar, That enduro is made by a french brand, other
> apollos made by different companies.
>
> Cheers
>
> Michael

Thanks for the responses, the bike guy in my local Halfords
is pretty good, helpful and knows his stuff, I just heard
that this model was going on half price offer this weekend
260 down to 130 at some branches and wondering if it was
actually worth £130. Cheers Tosh

 

[Doki]

JohnB wrote:
> Michael wrote:
>
>>> The quality of service at Halfords is variable from
>>> branch to branch and indeed within a single branch. I've
>>> been served by some very knowledgeable assistants and
>>> some real idiots.
>>
>> This is the problem.
>
> Whis is no different to using LBSs.

My LBS is a one man band who knows his stuff, so I never get
a shite assistant?

 

[Paul]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> > I would like to put in a good word for the Halfords chap
> > in Dover - he's helpful, friendly, and allowing for the
> > fact that I dunno a lot about bikes (yet), he has been
> > as knowledgeable as I've needed him to be.
> >
> > He's given me a lot of free advice regarding my Argos
> > bike (Jeep) & even gave me a spare c-spanner that I
> > needed!
> >
> > It's obviously gonna depend on the store although I
> > would've have thought that an organisation as large as
> > Halfords would ensure there was a minimum level of
> > competence.
> >
>
> Unfortunatley bikehut staff turnover is pretty high mainly
> because of uni, as I've said no one over 25 really aplies
> so when september comes you lose the staff.
>
You pay peanuts... You get monkeys.

Same as most things in life really.

~One day, service organisations will realise that the
business gurus were right and people are your most valuble
asset. You need to 'recruit and retain' the right people.

--
.paul

If at first you don't succeed... Skydiving is probably not
the sport for you.

 

[Andymorris]

JohnB wrote:
> Michael wrote:
>
>>> The quality of service at Halfords is variable from
>>> branch to branch and indeed within a single branch. I've
>>> been served by some very knowledgeable assistants and
>>> some real idiots.
>>
>> This is the problem.

It always has been the problem at Halfords, to be brutal
they make their money selling **** to people who mainly
think bikes are toys for their kids.

Occasionally someone exceptionally keen and knowledgeable
will end up working there, but will leave after having to
unbox 1000 £80 kids bikes in the week before christmas and
deal with 400 returns the 1st week in january.

Halfords will burn Michael out in a year, I would advise
hime to stay there for the experiance but start touting that
experiance round proper shops.

>
> Whis is no different to using LBSs.
>

LBS's lose business if they sell ****, Halfords is like IKEA
you hate it but you keep going back.

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/

 

[Jon Senior]

paul [email protected] opined the
following...
> ~One day, service organisations will realise that the
> business gurus were right and people are your most valuble
> asset. You need to 'recruit and retain' the right people.

Pointy-Haired-Boss: I've been saying for years that
"Employees are our most valuable asset."...It turns out that
I was wrong. Money is our most valuable asset. Employees are
ninth. Wally: I'm afraid to ask what came in eighth. P-H-B:
Carbon Paper

Jon

 

[Just Zis Guy]

paul wrote:

> ~One day, service organisations will realise that the
> business gurus were right and people are your most valuble
> asset. You need to 'recruit and retain' the right people.

Having spent three years working on retail recruitment
software, I can say with some confidence that some service
organisations are acutely aware of this.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

Victory is ours! Down with Eric the Half A Brain!

 

[Tony Raven]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> paul wrote:
>
>> ~One day, service organisations will realise that the
>> business gurus were right and people are your most
>> valuble asset. You need to 'recruit and retain' the right
>> people.
>
> Having spent three years working on retail recruitment
> software, I can say with some confidence that some service
> organisations are acutely aware of this.

B&Q have done very well out of recruiting older people - the
sort that usually have trouble getting jobs because of their
age. They have the added advantage that most of them will
have done DIY over the years, something most school leavers
have not experienced. Perhaps Halfords should consider it.

Tony

 

[Just Zis Guy]

AndyMorris wrote:

> It always has been the problem at Halfords, to be brutal
> they make their money selling **** to people who mainly
> think bikes are toys for their kids.

Well, possibly. Actually I think the problem with Halfords
is that they are applying the Pareto principle and
concentrating on the 20% of the product range that makes 80%
of the money. They did it most successfully with car parts,
driving many independent parts retailers out of business.
And then, when you need a grosset flange for your 1983
Little Wooden Engined Valhalla on a Saturday morning, the
shop that used to have one on the shelf is mysteriously
vanished, but Halfwits can order you one, it'll be there in
a week. Or so.

It's not about staff (except in as much as they routinely
under-staff every shop); however good the staff are, if the
component you want is not on the shelf, they can't sell it
to you. That's why I use a LBS. I could save money buying on
the Web, for sure, but the ability to walk into the shop at
a quarter to seven on a Thursday evening and buy exactly the
part I need (with 10% discount) is a boon.

If individual Bike Hut managers are allowed to stock their
shelves as they see fit, and are rewareded for customer
satisfaction, then there is no theoretical reason why the
bike ghetto in Halfwits should not be useful. Mind you, my
LBS has over twice the sales floor area of the local Bike
Hut, and it is packed form floor to ceiling in the usual
way; Bike Hut has a couple of dozen bikes tastefully
arranged with lots of browsing space. But I guess that sales
floor is devoted according to turnover.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

Victory is ours! Down with Eric the Half A Brain!

 

[Just Zis Guy]

Tony Raven wrote:

> B&Q have done very well out of recruiting older people -
> the sort that usually have trouble getting jobs because of
> their age. They have the added advantage that most of them
> will have done DIY over the years, something most school
> leavers have not experienced. Perhaps Halfords should
> consider it.

The thing B&Q did, as I understand it, was to forget about
age and concentrate on the skills they wanted. At that point
the selection of mature candidates became not so much a
policy as an inevitability.

They also train their managers well, I'm told.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

Victory is ours! Down with Eric the Half A Brain!

 

[Michael Macclan]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 08:56:36 +0100, Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

I could save
> money buying on the Web, for sure, but the ability to
> walk into the shop at a quarter to seven on a Thursday
> evening and buy exactly the part I need (with 10%
> discount) is a boon.
>

Ah, but that's only on a Thursday, isn't it? Every other day
they close at
18:00 and they don't even open on Sundays. (If you're
referring to AW Cycles, that is.)

--
Michael MacClancy Random putdown - "He loves nature in spite
of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk www.macclancy.co.uk

 

[Just Zis Guy]

Michael MacClancy wrote:

>> I could save money buying on the Web, for sure, but the
>> ability to walk into the shop at a quarter to seven on a
>> Thursday evening and buy exactly the part I need (with
>> 10% discount) is a boon.

> Ah, but that's only on a Thursday, isn't it? Every other
> day they close at 18:00 and they don't even open on
> Sundays. (If you're referring to AW Cycles, that is.)

True, but:
- they will drop stuff round to my house on other days
- for late-night emergencies there is the Bristow Cycle
Repair Service
- AW also run club nights

All in all, it's a service worth keeping. Especially now
they have Sue, who actually orders stuff, rather than the
old system where they would ask the rep next time they saw
him if they remembered ;-)

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

Victory is ours! Down with Eric the Half A Brain!

 

[Dave Kahn]

Michael <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> You need to view each separate bikehut as exactly that
> separate. I know for a fact that the local (proper) riders
> much prefer our shop to the LBS, they didnt even know
> there was such a thing as a crown race extraction tool.

Unfortunately Martlew claims that Halfords supported him in
his recent fiasco. He was wrong in a number of other claims
he made (and I hope he will be called on to apologise to the
House for these). Any idea whether he was wrong in this too?

--
Dave...

 

[Michael]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

> AndyMorris wrote:
>

> If individual Bike Hut managers are allowed to stock their
> shelves as they see fit, and are rewareded for customer
> satisfaction, then there is no theoretical reason why the
> bike ghetto in Halfwits should not be useful. Mind you, my
> LBS has over twice the sales floor area of the local Bike
> Hut, and it is packed form floor to ceiling in the usual
> way; Bike Hut has a couple of dozen bikes tastefully
> arranged with lots of browsing space. But I guess that
> sales floor is devoted according to turnover.
>

Hear hear, lol. We stock 8 different bmx's in our store. 8
different sports road bikes, 6 differnt tourers/hybrids. 26
premium bikes inc GT kona saracen and carrera. 32 under 200
pounds gents/ladies mountain bikes + same number of kiddes
bikes and all these on display on the shop floor, our LBS
has about 20 bikes total.

But we are one of the biggest/highest turnover in the area.

Cheers

Michael

 

[Michael]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

> Tony Raven wrote:
>
>
>>B&Q have done very well out of recruiting older people -
>>the sort that usually have trouble getting jobs because of
>>their age. They have the added advantage that most of them
>>will have done DIY over the years, something most school
>>leavers have not experienced. Perhaps Halfords should
>>consider it.
>
>
> The thing B&Q did, as I understand it, was to forget about
> age and concentrate on the skills they wanted. At that
> point the selection of mature candidates became not so
> much a policy as an inevitability.
>
> They also train their managers well, I'm told.
>

We dont get them applying is our problem

Cheers

Michael

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 20:41:31 GMT, Michael
<[email protected]> wrote in message
<%[email protected]>:

>> The thing B&Q did, as I understand it, was to forget
>> about age and concentrate on the skills they wanted. At
>> that point the selection of mature candidates became not
>> so much a policy as an inevitability. They also train
>> their managers well, I'm told.

>We dont get them applying is our problem

That's the company's failure. B&Q are extremely good at
selling themselves as an employer; if Halfords is still
stuck in the 1980s mindset of offering employment and the
lucky few get it, they will not get good people except by
accident. Look at the way firms like B&Q, Wetherspoons and
HMV "sell" their jobs.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

 

[Daniel Barlow]

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]> writes:

> paul wrote:
>
>> ~One day, service organisations will realise that the
>> business gurus were right and people are your most
>> valuble asset. You need to 'recruit and retain' the right
>> people.
>
> Having spent three years working on retail recruitment
> software, I can say with some confidence that some service
> organisations are acutely aware of this.

Having spent three years or so as director of a (one-man)
company, I can say with confidence that it is not true. If
you list your employees as assets, the accountants/auditors
will tend to pick up on
it.

If you owe them wages, you could list that as liabilities.
Don't know if that helps ;-)

-dan

--
"please make sure that the person is your friend before
you confirm"

 

[Tony Raven]

Daniel Barlow wrote:
>
> Having spent three years or so as director of a (one-man)
> company, I can say with confidence that it is not true. If
> you list your employees as assets, the
> accountants/auditors will tend to pick up on
> it.
>

A one-man company is probably a bit misleading. There are
plenty of examples the other way, not least of which is key-
man insurance which provides compensation for the loss in
value of a company if it loses a key individual. Having
spent 15 years as Chairman or Director of quite a few
reasonably sized companies I can tell you employees are
considered important assets by good companies. After all
your competitors can have identical bricks and mortar and IT
systems to you, so its your people and the way you allow
them to express their abilities that differentiate you from
your competition.

Tony

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 20:49:16 GMT, Michael
<[email protected]> wrote in message
<[email protected]>:

>Hear hear, lol. We stock 8 different bmx's in our store. 8
>different sports road bikes, 6 differnt tourers/hybrids. 26
>premium bikes inc GT kona saracen and carrera. 32 under 200
>pounds gents/ladies mountain bikes + same number of kiddes
>bikes and all these on display on the shop floor, our LBS
>has about 20 bikes total.

Whereas my LBS has over forty different road racing
bikes alone...

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

 

[Andy Leighton]

On Sat, 01 May 2004 10:45:45 +0100,
Just zis Guy, you know? <[email protected]> wrote:
> get good people except by accident. Look at the way firms
> like B&Q, Wetherspoons and HMV "sell" their jobs.

I don't think Wetherspoons is a particularly good example.
They had a lot of good will from the RA community when they
started, but due to a lot of incompetent managers, cellar
and serving staff seem to have lost that.

--
Andy Leighton => [email protected] "The Lord is my
shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials"
- Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_

 

[Jon Senior]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 20:49:16 GMT, Michael
> <[email protected]> wrote in message <gZykc.1582$0q.15544489@news-
> text.cableinet.net>:
>
> >Hear hear, lol. We stock 8 different bmx's in our store.
> >8 different sports road bikes, 6 differnt
> >tourers/hybrids. 26 premium bikes inc GT kona saracen and
> >carrera. 32 under 200 pounds gents/ladies mountain bikes
> >+ same number of kiddes bikes and all these on display on
> >the shop floor, our LBS has about 20 bikes total.
>
> Whereas my LBS has over forty different road racing bikes
> alone...

Where is your LBS? I like the sound of it!

Jon