might be in the wrong section for ranting about them (please move if it is) but here goes,

after this post viewtopic.php?f=11&t=21800 i went back to halfords yesterday to have my unit wired in properly and have the cage fitted... question is why did i even bother? left the car with them and went off to have a look around the shops while i waited for the call that it was ready, had a nice meal in BK and then got the call.

The guy on the phone said they tried to remove the original (factory fit) cage and it was impossible however (this is where it starts to get intresting) they had modified the original cage so that it would hold the unit secure... by the time they had done this though they had run out of time to run the sat nav antena up through the dash so he said i would have to rebook to have it done again... back to the shop i went got my keys then optimisticly went to my car and what i found was just the biggest bodge job i have ever seen (even i could have done it better) i tried to pull at the unit and sure enough it came straight out with just a little pull, no sat nav signal as cable was still not installed properly and now it was permanently muted so no dvd or music either... went back in to shop where i was greeted by the "acting manager" i demanded they remove the lot and refund my money as by this point i had had enough, to which he replied sorry but i dont have the authority... by this point im screaming blue murder as he said i would have to come back on yet another day etc etc untill i eventually gave up and went home, later i actually pulled the unit out to inspect their handy work and to my shock the modification to the cage looks like it was done with a flat head screw driver in order to pull it down a bit and wedge the unit...

Phoned the store today asked to speek to manager they said hes out on brake will be back in 1h im like ok ill call back in 2 called back in 2 they said hes in a meeting but i can speek to the deputy... im put on hold for 10 mins and then am told by the same guy the deputy is unavailable and then i requested the head office number... phoned them and they where very helpfull, infromed them that i want the unit out and i will be acompanying the return receipt with a quotation from hyundai to rectify the damage that the fitter had caused and will expect full compensation. they contacted the store and called me back about an hour later saying to take the unit back along with the quotation and any receipts etc for the matter to be sorted out. i will be doing this friday and will keep the post updated.

But moral of the story is never ever trust a halfords "specialist"

pics to follow...

never trusted them the 1st time i bought a headunit from there a few years ago. they offered to fit it for my, i rejected them when they said they needed to take apart the dash to fit it. this was on a ford puma which just used stereo keys.

immediate loss of trust, only took me 2 minutes to fit myself.

I'm surprised that they attempted it, at my local 'frauds there is a notice saying they don't fit stereos to Hyundai coupes!!! But as above took me less than 1/2 hour to do myself and most of that was because I didn't want to be to violent with the facia :roll even after the advice on here.

That a shocking story... but not suprising.

Hope you get it sorted!

I would NEVER let halfords touch my car. They are worse than useless.

The halfords here get an external professional fitter to do all their installs, never heard of a problem with him.

With our local halfords if you get it done there on the premises then it's some staff member "trained" up to do the fittings.
If you have it done at your location i.e home/work they outsource it a propper fitting company that have the contract.

my god.

My rule of thumb -
NEVER, EVER LET HALFORDS STAFF NEAR YOUR CAR. NOT EVEN TO LOOK AT IT

AHAHAAHA!
i can tell you one on this.listen carefully.............

i have a lad called jim(not his real name)who travels on the coach to college and he works at halfords.
he says the suits run halfords now they have cut down the stock from others and added loads of cheap ripspeed stuff despite the fact they have had loads of trouble with the dvd players and radios from ripspeed.he's seen emails saying they are rubbish

also he says NEVER trust an EXPERT most of em are not trained and are know it all know sod alls.HE sometimes mascarades as an "expert" when they are too busy sneakily taking advice from others as best as he can.he says he would NEVER let one work on his car and his advice to you
"go elsewhere guys"

I had my first car damaged my halfords in Blackpool when they were fitting a new battery...

They didnt stick the battery in fully, so the housing was sticking up. They tried to shut the bonnet, so it wouldnt, so they lifted it up, and dropped the bonnet from nearly fully open...
As a reult, a huuuuge pimple on my bonnet...

Good to their word though they paid for it to be fixed..
Still, shoddy work!

the company has a no quibble policy on throwing money at complaints and errors, having known afew people that work and have worked there, there is no training procedure in place to make you into an expert just things that you have been told.

i also know of one person who had the bottom spec dvd head unit at circa £300, this went faulty twice so got swapped, on the third time it was swapped for the model up which still went faulty, in the end he ended up with a kenwood (i think) unit that retailed at over £800!!!

The ripspeed stuff is generally JVC items that JVC wont brand, if JVC didnt want to add their name to it then doesnt that tell you something in the first place?

haha very true

I've only ever paid Halfruads to fit wiper blades and bulbs.. mearly cause I can't be assed messing around. I'd never let them touch anything else!

Most stores are full of retards that constantly blag their way through everything and most of customers fall for it hook line and sinker, as they came in for advice and they think they are getting it. Lol i know because I have worked for the company for 6 years and have seen it happen in many stores. However, in our store most fitters ARE IMI trained fitters and do know what they are doing. Others attend training courses by Thule, Britax, etc in their specific department. The rest of the lads are trained up by the IMI fitters, Thule fitters, etc (Not child seats as you MUST have attended courses to fit these) so when they go on the courses they are not going in not knowing anything. These lads are only used in worst case scenarios for fitting jobs. Recently though, the tight feckers they are, a lot of this funding for courses has been cut because of not achieving massively unrealistic sales targets, causing staff to leave.
Not trying to have Halfords back, just trying to say that not all halfords stores are as bad as the customer service recieved by StarDust in Cardiff, as that was appaling!!

I had a car stereo fitted 3 weeks ago in my local Halfords and they did a great job. Modified the original cage no problem to secure the new unit. I wouldn't have a problem using them again.

All they did was drill two holes through the cage to bolt the stereo in as the cage that came with the head unit could not be used as the one attached to the coupe doesn't come out!

Animals, all you do is transfer the clips accross from one stereo to the other then it fits the standard cage - no problems.

yep thats all i did

halfords the home for retards
what more can i say
steve

I would never let them touch my coupe, even though I bought my stereo there. They are like a bunch of kids doing YTS.

I remember my last experience with them - I bought a mountain bike from them a while back, and I stood there watching while the kid adjusted the brakes and saddle etc before I rode off. A short while later on the way home, I had an accident - coming straight off the bike and landing in a hedge. The kid had FORGOTTEN to tighten the handlebars!! The bar just came off loose in my hands. I'll never trust those idiots again.

and the ads that are on Dave they say "every bike gets a complete safety check".

i would have sued their ass

i can just imagine the kid on the ad riding off then "crash"!!!!!!!!

lol anyways forgot to update this thread...

went to halfords armed with a quote from hyundai to the tune of £96 on the friday... after the store manager trying to argue his way out of it and his head office telling him to stfu and pay for the damage i got my £310 back from the radio + £96 to repair the car. however i did unfrotunately PX the coupe a few days ago and didnt get chance to have the work carried out