Ordering non-Halfords bikes from Halfords on the cycle 2 work scheme...

[[email protected]]

Just wanted to solicit opinions/experiences from people on this
question : If your employer's cycle 2 work scheme mandates Halfords, is
it worth taking the risk of buying from them in order to save the
money?


I'm looking to buy a Trek Pilot 2.1 (RRP £1300), £1000 of which can
be paid for through the cycle 2 work scheme - so I could potentially
save roughly £400 with the tax benefits of salary sacrifice. That's an
outstanding deal, but with a couple of sticking-points: a) you have to
buy from Halfords (this is probably ok for many people, but I'd rather
have a choice!) and b) Halfords don't sell Trek bikes, so they'd have
to order it in specially - I'd be happier if my bike was assembled by
someone who'd stuck-together a few of that model before.

Is there really any cause for concern, or do these nagging doubts in my
head regarding Halfords have any foundation?!

Unfortunately my employer (a big company) is using youatwork.co.uk as
their employment-benefits provider (the 'benefits' look suspiciously
like advertising for the most part) and while I e-mailed
youatwork.co.uk to point out that Halfords might not be the best
supplier for the cycle2work scheme, I never got a reply.

best regards,
Roberto

P.S. Some information about the Government's cycle 2 work scheme for
those who'd like to know more about it:
http://www.evanscycles.com/ride2work.jsp

 

[Chris Gerhard]

[email protected] wrote:
> Just wanted to solicit opinions/experiences from people on this
> question : If your employer's cycle 2 work scheme mandates Halfords, is
> it worth taking the risk of buying from them in order to save the
> money?
>
>
> I'm looking to buy a Trek Pilot 2.1 (RRP £1300), £1000 of which can
> be paid for through the cycle 2 work scheme - so I could potentially
> save roughly £400 with the tax benefits of salary sacrifice. That's an
> outstanding deal, but with a couple of sticking-points: a) you have to
> buy from Halfords (this is probably ok for many people, but I'd rather
> have a choice!) and b) Halfords don't sell Trek bikes, so they'd have
> to order it in specially - I'd be happier if my bike was assembled by
> someone who'd stuck-together a few of that model before.
>

Contact your local bike shop they may well be able to get the bike for
you on the Halfords scheme. Although Halfords can get nearly any bike
(they claim).

--chris

 

[Bryan]

Just wanted to solicit opinions/experiences from people on this
question : If your employer's cycle 2 work scheme mandates Halfords, is
it worth taking the risk of buying from them in order to save the
money?


I'm looking to buy a Trek Pilot 2.1 (RRP £1300), £1000 of which can
be paid for through the cycle 2 work scheme - so I could potentially
save roughly £400 with the tax benefits of salary sacrifice. That's an
outstanding deal, but with a couple of sticking-points: a) you have to
buy from Halfords (this is probably ok for many people, but I'd rather
have a choice!) and b) Halfords don't sell Trek bikes, so they'd have
to order it in specially - I'd be happier if my bike was assembled by
someone who'd stuck-together a few of that model before.

Is there really any cause for concern, or do these nagging doubts in my
head regarding Halfords have any foundation?!

Unfortunately my employer (a big company) is using youatwork.co.uk as
their employment-benefits provider (the 'benefits' look suspiciously
like advertising for the most part) and while I e-mailed
youatwork.co.uk to point out that Halfords might not be the best
supplier for the cycle2work scheme, I never got a reply.

best regards,
Roberto

P.S. Some information about the Government's cycle 2 work scheme for
those who'd like to know more about it:
http://www.evanscycles.com/ride2work.jsp

It's been done, there was a thread on here a few weeks ago when someone actually managed to get H*lf*ords to supply a non-stock bike, search through google groups for 'h*lf*rds' and 'bike to work', or wait for a bit and I'm sure soemone will point you to teh thread. IIRC, it started off easy, but got prgressively harder, and took an age to ger delivered, but ICBW.

Bryan

 

[Al C-F]

Bryan wrote:

>
> It's been done, there was a thread on here a few weeks ago when someone
> actually managed to get H*lf*ords to supply a non-stock bike, search
> through google groups for 'h*lf*rds' and 'bike to work', or wait for a
> bit and I'm sure soemone will point you to teh thread. IIRC, it
> started off easy, but got prgressively harder, and took an age to ger
> delivered, but ICBW.
>
Correct. It was my Brompton. And Halfords are a shower of lying
bastards who blamed Brompton's quality control for the delay in supply,
when the real problem was their 'grey-market' source of bikes which
dried up.

Brompton refuse to deal with a car accessory shop, but Trek may feel
differently.

 

[Burt]

"Al C-F" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> Bryan wrote:
>
> Brompton refuse to deal with a car accessory shop

Respect!

 

[Phil Cook]

Bryan wrote:

>search through google groups for 'h*lf*rds' and 'bike to work',

Is that a search for Halfords or H*lf*rds? You may not like Halfords
but this silly fad for putting asterisks for the vowels in this
company name and the H word is just plain daft. Call a spade a spade,
I say.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

 

[Al C-F]

Burt wrote:
> "Al C-F" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
>
>>Bryan wrote:
>>
>>Brompton refuse to deal with a car accessory shop
>
>
> Respect!
>
>
It had something to do with them not wanting Halfords' clowns performing
any sort of after sales service.

Hammer, meet screwdriver.

 

[Al C-F]

Phil Cook wrote:
> Bryan wrote:
>
>
>>search through google groups for 'h*lf*rds' and 'bike to work',
>
>
> Is that a search for Halfords or H*lf*rds? You may not like Halfords
> but this silly fad for putting asterisks for the vowels in this
> company name and the H word is just plain daft. Call a spade a spade,
> I say.

Can't see what's wrong with 'manual digging implement' myself.

 

[[email protected]]

Chris Gerhard wrote:
> Contact your local bike shop they may well be able to get the bike for
> you on the Halfords scheme. Although Halfords can get nearly any bike
> (they claim).

Cool - so they may be able to redeem the Letter of Collection/Credit
from Halfords? That would be good - as it happens, I did phone Halfords
on 08700 660 511 and got a helpful response from someone who did seem
clued-up on the Trek bike range. They definitely can supply the bike,
it's just that I'd rather buy the bike from a LBS or someone like Evans
Cycles, who I've bought from before. I've done a few searchs for
Halfords experiences on usenet&forums and haven't found any recent
positive reviews - they do seem to primarily be a car accessory shop!

Roberto

 

[Tony Raven]

Al C-F wrote on 13/07/2006 18:45 +0100:

>>
> Correct. It was my Brompton. And Halfords are a shower of lying
> bastards who blamed Brompton's quality control for the delay in supply,
> when the real problem was their 'grey-market' source of bikes which
> dried up.
>
> Brompton refuse to deal with a car accessory shop, but Trek may feel
> differently.

That's no longer true. Brompton have a deal with Halfords now where
Halfords handle the money but you collect your bike from a Brompton
dealer who get paid in full by Halfords for the bike. Got my new
Brompton that way from Bikefix in London. Don't know about Trek.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[druidh]

[email protected] wrote:
> Chris Gerhard wrote:
>> Contact your local bike shop they may well be able to get the bike for
>> you on the Halfords scheme. Although Halfords can get nearly any bike
>> (they claim).
>
> Cool - so they may be able to redeem the Letter of Collection/Credit
> from Halfords? That would be good - as it happens, I did phone Halfords
> on 08700 660 511 and got a helpful response from someone who did seem
> clued-up on the Trek bike range. They definitely can supply the bike,
> it's just that I'd rather buy the bike from a LBS or someone like Evans
> Cycles, who I've bought from before. I've done a few searchs for
> Halfords experiences on usenet&forums and haven't found any recent
> positive reviews - they do seem to primarily be a car accessory shop!
>
> Roberto
>
I got my Bike2Work Sutra from Halfords and had no problems whatsoever.
This anti-Halfords stuff is just an elitist rant.



druidh

 

[PUSHERBOT]

b) Halfords don't sell Trek bikes, ....

Ah.. but they do! Not sure which model but my local one has one of
the Trek hybrids in stock and it appears in the parts catalogue they
have in the shops. So, probably not the model you want but at least
they are already dealing with Trek.

I'm in the same position - I'm thinking of getting a road bike in the
£500 price range next year, would love to get one from a LBS but if I
go via Cycle to Work I can get it for £300 from Halfords, plus you get
another 17.5% on the purchase price to spend on accessories. My theory
is if I go for something from a large manufacturer - Giant, Trek,
Specialized etc. then Halfords can't f*** it up, surely

If it needs further setup, then LBS will get the trade.

 

[Bryan]

Chris Gerhard wrote:
> Contact your local bike shop they may well be able to get the bike for
> you on the Halfords scheme. Although Halfords can get nearly any bike
> (they claim).

Cool - so they may be able to redeem the Letter of Collection/Credit
from Halfords? That would be good - as it happens, I did phone Halfords
on 08700 660 511 and got a helpful response from someone who did seem
clued-up on the Trek bike range. They definitely can supply the bike,
it's just that I'd rather buy the bike from a LBS or someone like Evans
Cycles, who I've bought from before. I've done a few searchs for
Halfords experiences on usenet&forums and haven't found any recent
positive reviews - they do seem to primarily be a car accessory shop!

Roberto

Read current thread on 'No receipt returns' before going to Evans. They are certainly off my list, Cycle Surgery are much better anyway IME

Bryan

 

[[email protected]]

PUSHERBOT wrote:
> b) Halfords don't sell Trek bikes, ....
>
> Ah.. but they do! Not sure which model but my local one has one of
> the Trek hybrids in stock and it appears in the parts catalogue they
> have in the shops. So, probably not the model you want but at least
> they are already dealing with Trek.

Cool - what store is that? I'm based in south-east london and have
recce'd a few halford stores - they seemed to stick to their
Apollo/Carrera range mostly, with a few Raleigh thrown in...

Roberto




>
> I'm in the same position - I'm thinking of getting a road bike in the
> £500 price range next year, would love to get one from a LBS but if I
> go via Cycle to Work I can get it for £300 from Halfords, plus you get
> another 17.5% on the purchase price to spend on accessories. My theory
> is if I go for something from a large manufacturer - Giant, Trek,
> Specialized etc. then Halfords can't f*** it up, surely
>
> If it needs further setup, then LBS will get the trade.

 

[[email protected]]

Bryan wrote:
> Read current thread on 'No receipt returns' before going to Evans.
> They are certainly off my list, Cycle Surgery are much better anyway
> IME
>
> Bryan

Ah... myself, I've had pretty decent experience with Evans (Waterloo
Cut and London Bridge ) stores - but I've never had to do a return with
them. I've not tried Cycle Surgery before but I'll put some custom
their way when I get the chance and see how they do...

Roberto

 

[Tony Raven]

Bryan wrote on 14/07/2006 09:56 +0100:

> Read current thread on 'No receipt returns' before going to Evans.
> They are certainly off my list, Cycle Surgery are much better anyway
> IME
>

Virtually every shop has its bad experience story. For example I will
never use Cycle Surgery since I bought a bike from them. I always give
a new bike a service before I use it and found the pedals internally
rusted up with no grease. When I took them back to Cycle Surgery they
were more interested in having a go at me for opening up the pedals than
they were apologising for and fixing the rusty bearings.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[druidh]

[email protected] wrote:
> PUSHERBOT wrote:
>> b) Halfords don't sell Trek bikes, ....
>>
>> Ah.. but they do! Not sure which model but my local one has one of
>> the Trek hybrids in stock and it appears in the parts catalogue they
>> have in the shops. So, probably not the model you want but at least
>> they are already dealing with Trek.
>
> Cool - what store is that? I'm based in south-east london and have
> recce'd a few halford stores - they seemed to stick to their
> Apollo/Carrera range mostly, with a few Raleigh thrown in...
>
> Roberto

You can't go by what's in store. They can order up almost anything for you.


druidh

 

[Al C-F]

[email protected] wrote:
> Chris Gerhard wrote:
>
>>Contact your local bike shop they may well be able to get the bike for
>>you on the Halfords scheme. Although Halfords can get nearly any bike
>>(they claim).
>
>
> Cool - so they may be able to redeem the Letter of Collection/Credit
> from Halfords? That would be good - as it happens, I did phone Halfords
> on 08700 660 511 and got a helpful response from someone who did seem
> clued-up on the Trek bike range. They definitely can supply the bike,

They said that about my Brompton. They lied. Bastards.

 

[Al C-F]

Tony Raven wrote:
> Al C-F wrote on 13/07/2006 18:45 +0100:
>
>>>
>> Correct. It was my Brompton. And Halfords are a shower of lying
>> bastards who blamed Brompton's quality control for the delay in
>> supply, when the real problem was their 'grey-market' source of bikes
>> which dried up.
>>
>> Brompton refuse to deal with a car accessory shop, but Trek may feel
>> differently.
>
>
> That's no longer true. Brompton have a deal with Halfords now where
> Halfords handle the money but you collect your bike from a Brompton
> dealer who get paid in full by Halfords for the bike.

Which saves Brompton from having to deal with car accessory shops and
the thumbless animals in their 'bikehuts'. They're just dealing with
the finance end of the deal.

I bet you have to order the bike yourself from a tame shop.

 

[Al C-F]

druidh wrote:

>>
> I got my Bike2Work Sutra from Halfords and had no problems whatsoever.
> This anti-Halfords stuff is just an elitist rant.
>

So their lies and inability to supply what they said they would are just
figments of my imagination then?

Back on the pills.