Halfords Mountain Bike Rip Off - triple the UK price.

sandrocks

Apollo FS.26S 20" Mens Full Suspension Mountain Bike Cat code: 918391-0

Halfords.ie Irish website price €499.99.
Halfords.co.uk UK website price £149.99 (€170)

That's almost 3 times the price.

This sort of price gouging is outrageous, indefensible and completely disrespectful to Irish consumers.

ScouseMouse

Well spotted.

Did you try asking them directly why so?

I carnt think of any way they could get out of that one.

roc_racer

er, there's no way you'll get a mountain bike for 170 yoyo.

Its a going to the shops bike.

sandrocks

doesn't matter what sort of bike it is - going to the shops or conquering the Antartic - there's still no reason for it to be 3 times more in the South.

Awaiting halfords response.

Wile E. Coyote

Instore Price is £399. They're just going to fob you off with that being a special on-line offer in the UK at the moment and that the offers over there don't run at the same time as offers here.

bladespin

roc_racer wrote: »

er, there's no way you'll get a mountain bike for 170 yoyo.

Its a going to the shops bike.

Looks like a mountain bike aritey, you can get them for less than a hundred in places (wouldn't recommend).

Shocking differential in price though, getting used to it though, most UK stores have a significant mark-up in their Irish stores.

sandrocks

Halfords response - utter ****e....

I appreciate your concerns around the price difference of goods in Ireland.
As a value retailer we are always looking to ensure our customers receive a good overall service and this includes quality, price and service in all our stores.

There are certain additional costs involved in shipping to Ireland and some products are affected by different VAT rates. This in conjunction with a fluctuating exchange rate can cause price differences. We have no intention to change any prices at the moment but we are looking very closely ( in line with a lot of other UK retailers) at the local market in order to remain competitive. As this involves pricing in general, I cannot comment further on any particular product. Our Ireland team along with our Executive will be made aware of your concerns and the information will be useful for our ongoing price reviews.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Kind Regards,

Luke Ebanks
Customer Service Advisor

Wile E. Coyote

Ah there's nothing like a good bullsh*t response to make you feel like a valued customer. It amazes me how they always use 'shipping costs' as one of the reasons for the price difference. Is it really that much cheaper to ship the items to Newry as opposed to shipping them to Dublin?

ejmaztec

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/categorydisplay_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_categoryId_212512_langId_-1

Those bikes are mentioned on Halford's Irish site for a €174.99 online price. The instore price is €374.99.



Edit: Duh! Looking at the wrong one - back to your seats.

sandrocks

ejmaztec wrote: »

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/categorydisplay_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_categoryId_212512_langId_-1

Those bikes are mentioned on Halford's Irish site for a €174.99 online price. The instore price is €374.99.

No, think you have the wrong bike. Here's the link-€499.99

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_253047_langId_-1

ejmaztec

sandrocks wrote: »

No, think you have the wrong bike. Here's the link-€499.99

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_253047_langId_-1

I noticed my error and obviously edited my post just before yours landed.:P

kona

When that bike is "HALF PRICE" in a week or so, will you post it in the bargain alerts???

Halfords consistantly do this, I bet you it will be half price in a week or so.;).


Bit off topic, but I wouldnt get my knickers in a twist over this, the bike is ****e to be honest. You are better off sticking with premium brands to compare prices with.
Budget Brands are always up and down in price, in order to get "HALF PRICE SALE" offers on them.

91011

To be fair to halfords, you are picking a bike that is on promotion in the UK and not on promotion in Ireland.

Pick any other bike that is either full price on both sites or on promotion on both sites and you'll find that their pricing has improved greatly compared to last year.

Raleigh Venture £159.99 uk €199.99 ireland. - this seems to be the norm for many of the bikes featured.

There are some bikes that are on promotion in the UK and not in Ireland - so in reality your question to Halfords should have been "Why are some bikes that are on promotion in the UK not on promotion in Ireland?"

If you bought above bike or almost any other bike that is on promotion in NI & ROI from Halfords in Northern Ireland, the price based on current retail exchange rates would be €190 - a whopping saving of €10. Considering the extra VAT down here is an additional €6, the massive additional price halfords are getting in their republic of Ireland stores is €4. - though on Monday that would have been €1 as the rate then was 1.19

kona

Il let you post this in bargain alerts OP


http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmd?srch=apollo+fs26&x=0&y=0&action=search&storeId=10001&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&cm_mmc=E-Mail-_-Feb10Wk3-_-WebOffers-1901-HTML-_-apollofs26range


Said bike is now 1/2 price.

480905

Just a note on overcharging by Halfords. I priced headlight bulbs for my 4x4 and discovered that the same bulb that I was looking for was over double the price than it was in Swords Motor factors. The bulb was a Fiver in Swords and €11.99 in Halfords.

ejmaztec

kona wrote: »

Il let you post this in bargain alerts OP


http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmd?srch=apollo+fs26&x=0&y=0&action=search&storeId=10001&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&cm_mmc=E-Mail-_-Feb10Wk3-_-WebOffers-1901-HTML-_-apollofs26range


Said bike is now 1/2 price.

That's outrageous under-charging! Who the hell do they think they are? It must be time for me to send them an abusive email.:mad:

kona

ejmaztec wrote: »

That's outrageous under-charging! Who the hell do they think they are? It must be time for me to send them an abusive email.:mad:

Dont you know, the price war crusaders are not interested in good offers:p, in fact as highlighted above, have no idea how large retailers operate.

They will just rabble rabble away.