Halfords, Robbing A*seholes

ugglasdav

Repainting a set of wheels at the moment, have them all sanded and ready for painting,

so i look on the halfords website for colours, i get one picked and head to the local halfords to buy a few cans, of paint

Ofc they didnt have the paint i needed, so just picked out one that was similar in shade, they only had 3 small cans of each paint there, so i asked do they have any more in stock and was told ' only whats there is what we have '

i then went to my local motor factors, wasnt even sure if they stocked paint, found that they had primer and clear coat at half the price of what halfords are selling the same brand for (5.99 compared to 11.99)

then went to the motor factors other store not to far away which stocked aload of paint, only found out today, and managed to get 5 cans of holts for 6.50 each, 2 cans which they had to get in for me which was no problem, halfords branded paint is 9.99 each.

anyone have any similar stores?, also how do halfords stay in business with these prices

ba_barabus

They do good deals and offers.

It all depends what you're shopping for.

At least you had the sense to shop around though and save some cash

Triangla

They stay in business because you bought they're product. Edit: Just realised you didn't buy!

It's because generally people shop they're without checking price elsewhere.

Oldest rule of shopping is shop around first. Never panic buy.

Bpmull

They also stay open late some nights and open a full day on Saturday and some of sunday too. So if you are stuck for something on a Saturday evening its really the only option. I don't find them too bad some stuff is expensive but they have offers on alot of the time.

josip

Their business model is service-oriented, ie fitting the bulbs, servicing the bikes etc. People who are confident to do things themselves with a car will always do better going to an autofactors.

Kenny Logins

Pay extra for convenience. I'm OK with that.

I was stuck for a 10a blade fuse one evening.
Went into halfraulds and one fuse was 2.50e

I was badly stuck so went to the till and the fella was embarrassed by the price.
so fair play to him he said I could have it !

the_syco

Halfords is popular for the same reason PC World is; people presume they know their sh|t, and buy it.

bazz26

They often do good deals on cleaning products, the 3 for 2 offers can be good value. But their mark up is massive on regular products. I bought a 5 litre drum of Simoniz shampoo for half price, great stuff.

I would normally buy the black insurance/nct/tax disc holder for the windscreen from them as I couldn't source them anywhere else near me. I know it was over priced at €5 but I don't buy them that often and I couldn't find anywhere else that sold them. Went in the other day to buy one for my new bus, it's now gone up to €7.99! :eek:. I left it there, I just refuse to support that sort of profiteering on something that they probably buy for €2 from China.

jimgoose

Halfords a very good for certain things at certain times - as someone said they do excellent offers now and then. It helps enormously if, before you go near the place, you know exactly what you want and about how much it should be costing.

TestTransmission

bazz26 wrote: »

I would normally buy the black insurance/nct/tax disc holder for the windscreen from them as I couldn't source them anywhere else near me. I know it was over priced at €5 but I don't buy them that often and I couldn't find anywhere else that sold them. Went in the other day to buy one for my new bus, it's now gone up to €7.99! :eek:. I left it there, I just refuse to support that sort of profiteering on something that they probably buy for €2 from China.

They're only 3 quid in the auto shop in the shopping centre with Superquinn :cool:

biko

Next time check with local businesses first, keep your money in Ireland.

Tbh, you can always find a better deal somewhere else. HF is mainly about convenience.

ba_barabus

biko wrote: »

Next time check with local businesses first, keep your money in Ireland.

Tbh, you can always find a better deal somewhere else. HF is mainly about convenience.

Yep.

I was in HF's yesterday to buy screen wash in Newry. £4.29 got me 5litres of screenwash. Next door in B&Q they had 10L's for £5.

colm_mcm

You know most of that is water!

MetzgerMeister

bazz26 wrote: »

They often do good deals on cleaning products, the 3 for 2 offers can be good value. But their mark up is massive on regular products. I bought a 5 litre drum of Simoniz shampoo for half price, great stuff.

I would normally buy the black insurance/nct/tax disc holder for the windscreen from them as I couldn't source them anywhere else near me. I know it was over priced at €5 but I don't buy them that often and I couldn't find anywhere else that sold them. Went in the other day to buy one for my new bus, it's now gone up to €7.99! :eek:. I left it there, I just refuse to support that sort of profiteering on something that they probably buy for €2 from China.

Try your local Topaz. I got a few black ones from my Topaz and I've seen them in other Topaz's also.

ba_barabus

colm_mcm wrote: »

You know most of that is water!

Yep.

Is it worth buying the concentrate bottles? I have to admit I was just being lazy getting it

canhefixit

The mark ups on their retail prices in Halfords is crazy, my mate was collecting his car from mechanic on a Saturday afternoon and the mechanic had been to Halfords to get parts and left the receipt in the car, things like bulbs, filters, wipers were priced as if bought from a 2euro shop and they still making a good mark up on that id say.

So if you have a mechanic friend get him to get their trade card, every little helps!

MarkR

You can get 10% off if you have insurance with axa. I also got some decent stuff from the clearance bins also. Same as every else, shop around.

On a related note, any pics of the wheel refurb? :-)

bazz26

TestTransmission wrote: »

They're only 3 quid in the auto shop in the shopping centre with Superquinn :cool:

Do they have black? The last time I checked in there they only had the white ones?

ugglasdav

MarkR wrote: »

You can get 10% off if you have insurance with axa. I also got some decent stuff from the clearance bins also. Same as every else, shop around.

On a related note, any pics of the wheel refurb? :-)

what they look like atm

Marcusm

ba_barabus wrote: »

Yep.

Is it worth buying the concentrate bottles? I have to admit I was just being lazy getting it

The concentrate bottles are good as when you see them well priced, you can buy loads of them without having to lug much around.

ba_barabus

ugglasdav wrote: »

what they look like atm

Paper tyres.

WOW

JohnBoy26

All halfords are good for really is when they have sales on for certain items. These usually include car head units and cleaning products. I find that some of the prices in these sales can't be matched by the motor factors.

However most of the time the motor factors is far cheaper, especially when it comes to car parts.

ugglasdav

ba_barabus wrote: »

Paper tyres.

WOW

haha, using tesco cue cards as masking

SniperSight

I'm confused....
You went into a store, decided not to buy their stuff, and left without having anybody forcefully taking money off you.

I don't get how that make Halford's a**holes, let alone robbing a**holes.

ba_barabus

ugglasdav wrote: »

haha, using tesco cue cards as masking

Looks good to me. Was going to pick a set of old alloys up for my OH's car but the guy was on crack and wanted £120 for a set of Toyota alloys that were in need of a full refurb.

toastedpickles

ba_barabus wrote: »

Looks good to me. Was going to pick a set of old alloys up for my OH's car but the guy was on crack and wanted £120 for a set of Toyota alloys that were in need of a full refurb.

Gotta fund his habit somehow! :pac:

ba_barabus

toastedpickles wrote: »

Gotta fund his habit somehow! :pac:

Well it's not doing his perception of reality any good. They were 14" alloys from an old Avensis or Carina and were caked in brake dust and corrosion. I thought he'd be happy to see them gone.

toastedpickles

ba_barabus wrote: »

Well it's not doing his perception of reality any good. They were 14" alloys from an old Avensis or Carina and were caked in brake dust and corrosion. I thought he'd be happy to see them gone.

Ah feck that, should gave them for nothing by the sounds of that

ba_barabus

toastedpickles wrote: »

Ah feck that, should gave them for nothing by the sounds of that

They were genuinely bad and I was expecting to give a 20 for them. I wanted to try the refurb myself to see how it went.

toastedpickles

ba_barabus wrote: »

They were genuinely bad and I was expecting to give a 20 for them. I wanted to try the refurb myself to see how it went.

I'd like to give that a go myself on my own ones, they're in some state

ba_barabus

toastedpickles wrote: »

I'd like to give that a go myself on my own ones, they're in some state

Well if anyone has shyte pitted and brake dust caked Toyota alloys they don't want I'll give it a try :pac:

toastedpickles

ba_barabus wrote: »

Well if anyone has shyte pitted and brake dust caked Toyota alloys they don't want I'll give it a try :pac:

Nah mine are scratched and gashed opel alloys :P however i do know a guy who has a toyota on steelies?

ba_barabus

toastedpickles wrote: »

Nah mine are scratched and gashed opel alloys :P however i do know a guy who has a toyota on steelies?

Nah I was going to PIMP my OH's Avensis for her birthday. It has 14" steelies with good tyres so I was hoping to swap the tyres on to alloys that I've tidied up. The car is a bit manky so not worth spending money on.

toastedpickles

ba_barabus wrote: »

Nah I was going to PIMP my OH's Avensis for her birthday. It has 14" steelies with good tyres so I was hoping to swap the tyres on to alloys that I've tidied up. The car is a bit manky so not worth spending money on.

Ah yeah, well if he has any alloys lying around I'll ask him would he sell em if you like?

dgt

ba_barabus wrote: »

Looks good to me. Was going to pick a set of old alloys up for my OH's car but the guy was on crack and wanted £120 for a set of Toyota alloys that were in need of a full refurb.

Try the yard? Or was that the yard, this broken Toyota city there, be trippin over wheels there

ba_barabus

dgt wrote: »

Try the yard? Or was that the yard, this broken Toyota city there, be trippin over wheels there

Tried the one we were talking about when I needed the airbox for the BMW. Incidentally he didn't have any BMW's when I called in.

dgt

ba_barabus wrote: »

Tried the one we were talking about when I needed the airbox for the BMW. Incidentally he didn't have any BMW's when I called in.

Yep, a lot of stuff was crushed for stoning the rest of the place. I was shocked they hadn't a 406, not even the hape :eek: but why would they want to look at that :pac:

Noticed the 728 is gone alright, was there for ages. There were 2 E46's and an E36 there not too long ago too. They get in stuff the whole time though...

galwaytt

the_syco wrote: »

Halfords is popular for the same reason PC World is; people presume they know their sh|t, and buy it.

Not necessarily.
They stock Bosch S series batteries cheaper than any factor - and with a 5 year warranty.

Oh, and then I got a 10% Club discount. On a Sunday.

Sorry, but that's a win any day....