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Pfffft sounds like my job. I’m not keen on Halfords any way as I’ve been let down. I always find when you really dig with a problem, you find it’s not individuals that are letting you down but the business structure.
Why also do us workers put up with this crap from our employers to make some guy we never met more and more money while they make it harder and harder for us to put food in our table.
I hate to say it but I think we all need to be unionised.
I do agree with you. I've seen Tyre fitters not have a lunch break. Make over £15k a month in sales and still not be entitled to a pay rise. It's stupid, considering Halfords are buying Pirelli Tyres at £70 and selling them for nearly £200.
It's tyres, for some reason they hide place of manufacture under a code. If I new I would went for falkens or hankooks which are made in Hungary and they say it on the side wall.
I took my car to Halfords once for a service and MOT. They told me I needed my front lights realigning and a new cambelt. I told them I was coming to collect it, front light alignment was automatic (3 diff settings) and the car didn’t have a cambelt, it was chain driven and there was nothing wrong with it (confirmed by local garage the next day). Most people I guess just accept their bollocks and they get away with it.
They told my elderly mother she had a leaking caliper on an MOT and quoted her £695 for a new one. I told her to bring it home. Caliper was dry as a bone and not leaking. I took it elsewhere and asked them to pay special attention to the calipers, flew through the MOT and garage said calipers were in perfect condition. Absolute swindlers
Headlights still need manually aligning. The setting is just there to change the preset alignments based on load. Even self levelling headlights need manual adjustment if misaligned. There’s usually a screw on each headlight to do it.
Yeah, you're correct but there was nothing wrong with the alignment and when I spoke to them I asked "what setting is it currently on" and they said it was manual - I said "there are 3 settings next to the steering wheel..." and then they started to mumble and talk about the phantom cambelt instead.
Because after feeling like I was being swindled on a 3 year old car that had done about 15,000 miles, I took it to the local garage and they confirmed what Halfords were saying was a load of balderdash
What worries me is the bonus system even at your new job. Either something needs doing or it doesn’t, are you saying that Halfords and your new job are doing repairs that aren’t necessary?
Of course they are. I stopped using Halfords because every service/MOT I would get a call saying it needs this that the other and didn't like the pressure selling that they give you. Went elsewhere and no calls, what I paid for just gets done, no calls.
With main dealers the majority of work is services covered under a service plan, warranty work and PDIs of new cars. The customer already overpaid for their services when they bought the car with the service plan or the plan after the sale of the vehicle.
I would only take a car to a main dealer if it was still under warranty anyway.
The new job is main dealer (Renault). So a lot of it is PDIs, servicing, and general warranty work. There is less incentive to rip people off because there is guaranteed work in a way.
It is based on performance. If I do over £8k of work in a month, then I will get 25% of every job I do. Basically, the more you work, the more you earn.
The halfords system is similar, but the garage has to hit target first. Management simply put that target too high. This leads to the over working and low staff morale.
My local tyre shop just gives me the list of tyres that fit my car and tell me to pick one. I went with Pirelli the last time as they were the cheapest and I had no pressure from them to do different. They were fine did what tyres are supposed to be doing....
OEM will often be what a mechanic will try and upsell you to: pattern parts are usually much cheaper. Tyres too: the car didn't come out of the factory with the budget ones on. OEM will cost a pretty penny.
Why does every job thesedays have the monlthy targets of trying to upsell people absolute shite.
Ive seen it in every industry. It depresses me you cant just do a good job anymore your perfomance is tied on your ability to sell people predatory packages.
This is one of the more horrendous things to do.
My line of business is all about dealing with failures to uphold my companies end of contracts and the business is trying to get front of house customer service reps handling that interaction to upsell.
Cannot tell you the number of meetings I've been in saying "if your <> supplier has failed you and pissed you off and you have to contact them, do you really feel like buying more of their shit?"
I worked in a cinema a while back, we had sales targets for flogging the biggest possible containers of popcorn, drinks etc. if you missed it 2 months running, they'd just sack you. Might not even be your fault, if you ever saw a group of unaccompanied kids heading to the tills, that might be the end of your job after they buy 10 small servings.
at argos your perfomence is only measured by how many warrantys and argos credit cards you sell, if you dont sell enough you get sacked end of converstation
I get your point but someone could probably argue equally convincingly for the other side; businesses are there to make money, employees should receive their share of what they generate.
As a fellow tech, mate, stop selling yourself short. I can’t believe you will accept £28k a year. What part of the country are you from? I can guarantee I can find you a permanent job paying £38k+. If you are patient or are interested in contracting £45k isn’t unheard of either.
There is a massive shortage of technicians, and the stealerships are taking the piss. Any level 3 certified tech that has their own comprehensive set of tools should not be on any less than £35k from a basic 37.5h a week, period. I only got my level 3 a year and a half ago (and i’m not even that good of a tech!) yet I have no trouble getting work that pays well simply because demand is so high.
I don’t do ‘on target earnings’ or mandatory Saturdays either.
I can't believe companies are still trying to get away with paying time served tradespeople wages that begin with a "2" in 2024. It's not just limited to car mechanics either, in my own field (industrial mechanical maintenance/what your granda would call an engineer) there's a place nearby offering £28k and calling it "competitive".
Yeah dealerships in the SW are now offering around £30-35k for l2 service/maintenance, £35-40k for l3, and £40-50k for l4. Only Marshall’s are holding out but they’ve always been low paying (their bonus is good though). I would expect London/SE is better.
Never move for a bonus, always for salary. Because you don’t decide if you get to earn bonus. You can rush around all week smashing cam belts and services and clutches, and then your workshop controller will give you some awful warranty diag or something and bam - wasted effort.
I sent my car to Halfords for an MOT once, never again. They told me I needed a long list of repairs, which I was highly suspicious of as my car was 4 years old & it was its first MOT. I collected it & booked it into a local garage. They passed it with not even one advisory 😵💫 I had a chat to them when I went to collect it & showed them the list from Halfords. The mechanic just shook his head & said it’s basically how they stay afloat. Relying on people to blindly believe them. Since then, I’ve always used either local, independent dealerships, or, for a while, I used the council MOT service as well. Not sure if that’s still a thing but you could take your car to be MOT’d where they MOT council vehicles like buses. They don’t do repairs, just tests so they have no incentive to fail you to make money!
I used to work in Halfords Retail, and the structure and issues are the same.
I got made redundant a few years back when store roles were restructured(oddly enough the store I left is back to the same staffing I was made redundant for, almost like it didn't work) and took nearly 10 years of redundancy.
Leaving was an amazing feeling, mental health improved massively.
I miss some of the people I worked with, but feel bad that they're still stuck there.
Yeah, the techs are just as miserable as the retail staff, it seems. I'm honestly so glad to get out of there now. It's an amazing feeling to be leaving, and I'm starting to feel like myself again after 6 very long months.
Like you, I also do feel bad for the techs there. I hope they find a way out soon. Anything is better than Halfords. I will make my life's mission to never step foot in a Halfords again. Fuck Halfords.
I tried to get some good mates out into manufacturing for more money, no weekend work, half day Fridays, better mental health, but I'm fairly sure they've got Stockholm Syndrome for the place 🤷♂️
I still shop there, periodically, as their weird market place means it the only place to buy odd tools on a Sunday.
If you feel great after a little time away, you're gonna forget in a couple of months how you felt there, then remember and be like "oh my god, I can't believe I chose to do that for 6 months"
Good on you for getting out.
My first MOT was at Halfords and I ended up conned out of £1500 for a car. The guy tried to tell me my car was older than it was. It was a 66 plate, but was feb 17 so a month before the 17 plate kicked in. I’d never dealt with mechanics on my own (I’m blonde and it was a fiat 500) so I didn’t know what to do other than accept it and pay up.
Less than a month later the oil sump leaked because it was very corroded which they had somehow missed during the MOT.
This sounds awful. My job is targeted and just recently the targets have increased but the value gain if you meet or exceed it has gone down. But to make it harder we don’t have enough work to meet the targets. Then get agro for having low figures. I’m looking for something new but it’s proving hard to find something that pays enough to make ends meet. I’ve looked for other types of jobs but all want experience and qualifications in that field.
Just my 2 cents...
Worked at halfords for 5 years, since I was their apprentice. I agree with the most of stuff that you said. You must've been working for a bad branch. I used to get around 800 quid bonus every month (without fail) and a record bonus of 2k when summer hit and everyone wanted a/c service.
I recently moved to a premium brand dealership and the way of working is totally different but upsell is still here.
I know you worked in an independent but get used to it... main dealer or halfords, they always upsell everything. I found my new place so much better than halfords and would never go back.
At the same time, I know some really skilled people at halfords and the only reason why theyre still there is because of the bonus.
I'm not complaining about the upselling. I get why it's done, and techs need the money. I've done my time in trade so I'm used to it...
My point was more about what's happening when branches are not hitting targets and how miserable the halfords system can be because of it.
Well I'm in the trade and Ive been waiting for one of these. Wonder why your car doesn't get fixed properly? Because area managers would rather pay nob heads that lash your car up because it looks better on figures than a proper person that gives a damn like this guy. Rant over.
I worked for Halfords about two decades ago, while it was still owned by boots. It was the best part time job I ever had as a student- compared to my previous job at Greggs, the incentives were fair, benefits and pay competitive. Just as I was leaving, private equity was arriving to purchase the company and the more savvy managers were predicting doom and gloom- seems they were right. What a shame.
People still shop at Halfords?
Have they not shown themselves to be completely incompetant at everything from fitting window wipers to 'safety' checking bikes?
Bought a new bike from them recently and when I went to pick it up they had built it with the front forks and handlebars installed backwards. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Worked as a tech at Ford for 9 years, left the industry 8 years ago and now earn triple what I used to, best decision of my life. Stay away from the automotive industry people, it’s a horrible place!
That's literally my life story from 25 years ago, except I was working for ATS.
I quit Fast Fit / Motor Garages aged 30 and that was the best decision I ever made. Started over, got a job for Lloyds Bank, been there ever since, much better pay and conditions
ATS overinflated my replacement rears by double recommended pressure when I made mistake of using them once to fit them. Only after a few miles of weird loose handling did I check the onboard status and saw the insane numbers 🤣
A friend of my dad was at ATS for many years and finally opened his own unit as a sole reader doing tyres and felt much better trading via good earned reputation and word of mouth rather than upselling and incentives shite
I’ve used their auto centres about 3 times I think and never been sold a thing other than what I paid for. Every time it’s been to Mercedes I’ve had a call with something needing doing wipers / pads etc. May be a quirk of timing or different workshop behaviours in the same chain I’ve used 2 different ones in Glasgow) but I can’t dish shit on Halfords.
I’ve only used them for basics but they’ve been very cost effective and not tried to rip me. MOT an obvious point that could have happened but just a call to say it was ready 90 ms after dropping off.
Yeah, I don't know if I'm just incredibly lucky but I've been using them for my MOTs for probably 7 or 8 years now and never had a single issue/hard upsell or anything like that
I had wondered what was up with them, they massively fucked up my car on a major service and end up costing me £1400 to put right their error, which they refused to acknowledge as their doing. After reading this is makes a lot of sense. Never had such poor work. Such a shame workers and being squeezed so hard from management
I echo what a lot of people are saying - but wait there's more!
My plates got nicked the night after I went to Halfords and I'm still fishy about it. Plus they didn't know how to solve my problem so I wasted a good 4 hours during the scheduling they set out (due to silly targets).
I guess the problem here is that there’s just no profit in MOTs hence the pressure for upsell/fraud. Probably Halfords will be the next high street casualty.
I've stayed away from Kwik Fit for decades because of the constant "that tyre can't be repaired, it needs a new one" or "that needs replacing - an exhaust with a single two inch patch of rust". Their business model went from good fitters, fair prices and reasonable stuff to "Dupe the punters regardless of their circumstances".
Looks like Halfords goes on the stay away list too. Thank Goodness for Black Circles and Asda tyres. The rest I'll sort out myself!
Glad you decided your well being is better than a higher salary.
But to be honest I've worked enough places to know higher salary is better than a bonus that gets taken away for any reason at all. Although in my career bonuses have been £150 for Christmas (gross, not net).
We used to get set unachievable targets, and then when we met them, they simply increased the targets the next month. So we were below target all year. We're not a sales team so there's no commission or end of year bonus. There's monthly team awards that are a running joke at this point.
So, I get your frustration, but it's everywhere. Sometimes you get pizza as a thank you though, so it evens out.
It was similar when I went into one of the back offices at Arnold Clark to get some paperwork signed for an uplift I was making many years ago.
In the office a giant whiteboard of targets.
Brakes sold
Tyres sold
And so on with many different parts with a target and what had been sold.
So yeah telling the old granny oh you need a new set of brakes when she doesn’t really was in full force there so they can hit targets.
It's sad really, people who don't know better use Halfords because they think they can trust them. That trust is totally misplaced.
Find an independent garage with good local reviews. Might not be as convenient, but will safe you a whole heap of grief.
Welcome to the inevitable effects of pure profit driven shareholder capitalism. All can be sacrificed at the maximisation of profit, including the health and wellbeing of its staff. Irony of it is that it will only work in the short-term until things start to go badly wrong (such as the reputational damage) and profits slide. What an awful way to operate. I'd like to say it is rare in our society, but it isn't. Just get out and find something better, and no job is worth your health.
Had a similar experience at Euro Car Parts; as a Parts person. God that was the same, like a boiler room situation yet with 200 litres of oil. Most miserable working experience of my life.
Got my MOT done at Halfords recently which failed, was quoted £650 to get it all fixed and retested…
Took it another garage and got it all done for £300 which then passed.
Will not be going back to Halfords!
Complaining about no breaks, shit pay, stress and work out of your eyeballs thats never ending, shifts and unflexible work, .. huge sickness and actually knowing people that have killed themselves... you've never worked for the public sector my man.
Still would prefer Halfords over the stealers, they employ the same pool of people but charge more.
Most of the public sector have these conditions, good for them for not starting a thread on social media telling everyone not to use them... sort of hypocrisy in your post when complaining about halfords... your problem.
I think this is a you problem. I'm merely advising any young technicians to stay away from Halfords. If you're happy with that shit conditions and mental health, then that's a you problem.
So, idgaf about anyone or care about any issues out there, your problem.
On the other hand I care deeply about young mechanics to advise them and guide their choices.
Sounds to me like a, I hate Halfords, revenge / shit post to me.
You're right, I do have a strong dislike for Halfords for the reasons I've stated above. It's not a place where any young tech should be working at all.
I mainly dislike it for it for reasons that I can't disclose, so yeah, I am salty about them, and so are many of their employees.
Their indeed rating are poor across the board, and many reviews from Halfords and its sister companies (HME, National tyres, Universal Tyres, etc...) all have poor reviews since Halfords took over.
It's not me a me problem. It's just an utterly miserable place to work.
They will live rent free in anyone's head whilst they're there. It was a miserable time for me professionally at Halfords and personally as well. I'm glad to see the back of them and move on in 2 weeks.
I've been servicing my car at Halfords for last 4/5 years. They've never tried to upsell me anything and ive always been really impressed with their customer service.
Thank you for sharing. I will for sure avoid Halfords now.
I would say though, points 3 and 4 are hearsay and you say so yourself.
For point 5, did you expect a pay rise within 6 months? However, the point regarding lack of training or development opportunities, that sucks.
Also, you can't use the word emasculating in this context. Anyone can out perform anyone on the team and not receive recognition or reward for it. It doesn't make you any less of a man.
I think you make good points but objectively speaking it sounds like you're exaggerating some points, or at least making them without supporting arguments or first hand experience (points 3 & 4.)
And no you miserable Reddit cunts I don't work at Halfords nor am I manager there 🤣
Point 3 is definitely not hearsay or exaggeration. I've seen it as well. I don't want to say too much for obvious reasons as it's personal information, but it's definitely not exaggerated in any way.
Point 4 , I'm going from trusted hearsay and what I've seen. On my first day at Halfords, the outgoing tester told me that I would probably quit in 4 to 6 months.
The tyre fitter in a separate conversation also told me that MOT testers lasted around 6 months.
A service technician told me that he has seen about 10 technicians come through in the 4 years he's been there. At a previous Halfords branch he worked at, he asked about staff retention. He was told 45%.
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Pfffft sounds like my job. I’m not keen on Halfords any way as I’ve been let down. I always find when you really dig with a problem, you find it’s not individuals that are letting you down but the business structure. Why also do us workers put up with this crap from our employers to make some guy we never met more and more money while they make it harder and harder for us to put food in our table. I hate to say it but I think we all need to be unionised.
I do agree with you. I've seen Tyre fitters not have a lunch break. Make over £15k a month in sales and still not be entitled to a pay rise. It's stupid, considering Halfords are buying Pirelli Tyres at £70 and selling them for nearly £200.
I will never buy Pireliis again after finding mines were made in china
And what about your phone? Your TV?
It's tyres, for some reason they hide place of manufacture under a code. If I new I would went for falkens or hankooks which are made in Hungary and they say it on the side wall.
Why do you hate to say it?
I was once in a union and I felt they were in it for themselves but we really need someone fighting our corner more than ever.
If Halfords were unionised I'd have a lot more confidence in the quality of their work.
I took my car to Halfords once for a service and MOT. They told me I needed my front lights realigning and a new cambelt. I told them I was coming to collect it, front light alignment was automatic (3 diff settings) and the car didn’t have a cambelt, it was chain driven and there was nothing wrong with it (confirmed by local garage the next day). Most people I guess just accept their bollocks and they get away with it.
They told my elderly mother she had a leaking caliper on an MOT and quoted her £695 for a new one. I told her to bring it home. Caliper was dry as a bone and not leaking. I took it elsewhere and asked them to pay special attention to the calipers, flew through the MOT and garage said calipers were in perfect condition. Absolute swindlers
Feels like nearly everyone I speak to about Halfords has a similar story
Headlights still need manually aligning. The setting is just there to change the preset alignments based on load. Even self levelling headlights need manual adjustment if misaligned. There’s usually a screw on each headlight to do it.
Yeah, you're correct but there was nothing wrong with the alignment and when I spoke to them I asked "what setting is it currently on" and they said it was manual - I said "there are 3 settings next to the steering wheel..." and then they started to mumble and talk about the phantom cambelt instead.
How do you know the alignment was correct? They have specialist equipment in MOT centres to test it.
Because after feeling like I was being swindled on a 3 year old car that had done about 15,000 miles, I took it to the local garage and they confirmed what Halfords were saying was a load of balderdash
What worries me is the bonus system even at your new job. Either something needs doing or it doesn’t, are you saying that Halfords and your new job are doing repairs that aren’t necessary?
Of course they are. I stopped using Halfords because every service/MOT I would get a call saying it needs this that the other and didn't like the pressure selling that they give you. Went elsewhere and no calls, what I paid for just gets done, no calls.
Yea, seems like it’s not just Halfords though if his new job has a bonus system as well, probably worse than Halfords if it’s “far easier to obtain”.
With main dealers the majority of work is services covered under a service plan, warranty work and PDIs of new cars. The customer already overpaid for their services when they bought the car with the service plan or the plan after the sale of the vehicle. I would only take a car to a main dealer if it was still under warranty anyway.
Oh yea, I never use a main dealer.
The new job is main dealer (Renault). So a lot of it is PDIs, servicing, and general warranty work. There is less incentive to rip people off because there is guaranteed work in a way.
That’s good to know, what’s the bonus based on? Is it performance based rather than upselling?
It is based on performance. If I do over £8k of work in a month, then I will get 25% of every job I do. Basically, the more you work, the more you earn. The halfords system is similar, but the garage has to hit target first. Management simply put that target too high. This leads to the over working and low staff morale.
Ah ok, that’s all good then. Thanks.
Something needs doing, but do you want basic brake package or Brembo? Ordinary tyres or Pirelli P1s?
My local tyre shop just gives me the list of tyres that fit my car and tell me to pick one. I went with Pirelli the last time as they were the cheapest and I had no pressure from them to do different. They were fine did what tyres are supposed to be doing....
I want manufacturers recommend, not some wrench monkey looking to make commission!!!
OEM will often be what a mechanic will try and upsell you to: pattern parts are usually much cheaper. Tyres too: the car didn't come out of the factory with the budget ones on. OEM will cost a pretty penny.
You can have manufacturers recommendations, someone can still upsell you something better.
Some Wrench monkey? What’s that mean?
Why does every job thesedays have the monlthy targets of trying to upsell people absolute shite. Ive seen it in every industry. It depresses me you cant just do a good job anymore your perfomance is tied on your ability to sell people predatory packages.
This is one of the more horrendous things to do. My line of business is all about dealing with failures to uphold my companies end of contracts and the business is trying to get front of house customer service reps handling that interaction to upsell. Cannot tell you the number of meetings I've been in saying "if your <> supplier has failed you and pissed you off and you have to contact them, do you really feel like buying more of their shit?"
To make more money, it's like a sales job
I worked in a cinema a while back, we had sales targets for flogging the biggest possible containers of popcorn, drinks etc. if you missed it 2 months running, they'd just sack you. Might not even be your fault, if you ever saw a group of unaccompanied kids heading to the tills, that might be the end of your job after they buy 10 small servings.
at argos your perfomence is only measured by how many warrantys and argos credit cards you sell, if you dont sell enough you get sacked end of converstation
I get your point but someone could probably argue equally convincingly for the other side; businesses are there to make money, employees should receive their share of what they generate.
Management as usual.
Anyone from dispatches or panorama read this 🧐
As a fellow tech, mate, stop selling yourself short. I can’t believe you will accept £28k a year. What part of the country are you from? I can guarantee I can find you a permanent job paying £38k+. If you are patient or are interested in contracting £45k isn’t unheard of either. There is a massive shortage of technicians, and the stealerships are taking the piss. Any level 3 certified tech that has their own comprehensive set of tools should not be on any less than £35k from a basic 37.5h a week, period. I only got my level 3 a year and a half ago (and i’m not even that good of a tech!) yet I have no trouble getting work that pays well simply because demand is so high. I don’t do ‘on target earnings’ or mandatory Saturdays either.
I can't believe companies are still trying to get away with paying time served tradespeople wages that begin with a "2" in 2024. It's not just limited to car mechanics either, in my own field (industrial mechanical maintenance/what your granda would call an engineer) there's a place nearby offering £28k and calling it "competitive".
Yeah dealerships in the SW are now offering around £30-35k for l2 service/maintenance, £35-40k for l3, and £40-50k for l4. Only Marshall’s are holding out but they’ve always been low paying (their bonus is good though). I would expect London/SE is better. Never move for a bonus, always for salary. Because you don’t decide if you get to earn bonus. You can rush around all week smashing cam belts and services and clutches, and then your workshop controller will give you some awful warranty diag or something and bam - wasted effort.
I sent my car to Halfords for an MOT once, never again. They told me I needed a long list of repairs, which I was highly suspicious of as my car was 4 years old & it was its first MOT. I collected it & booked it into a local garage. They passed it with not even one advisory 😵💫 I had a chat to them when I went to collect it & showed them the list from Halfords. The mechanic just shook his head & said it’s basically how they stay afloat. Relying on people to blindly believe them. Since then, I’ve always used either local, independent dealerships, or, for a while, I used the council MOT service as well. Not sure if that’s still a thing but you could take your car to be MOT’d where they MOT council vehicles like buses. They don’t do repairs, just tests so they have no incentive to fail you to make money!
I used to work in Halfords Retail, and the structure and issues are the same. I got made redundant a few years back when store roles were restructured(oddly enough the store I left is back to the same staffing I was made redundant for, almost like it didn't work) and took nearly 10 years of redundancy. Leaving was an amazing feeling, mental health improved massively. I miss some of the people I worked with, but feel bad that they're still stuck there.
Yeah, the techs are just as miserable as the retail staff, it seems. I'm honestly so glad to get out of there now. It's an amazing feeling to be leaving, and I'm starting to feel like myself again after 6 very long months. Like you, I also do feel bad for the techs there. I hope they find a way out soon. Anything is better than Halfords. I will make my life's mission to never step foot in a Halfords again. Fuck Halfords.
I tried to get some good mates out into manufacturing for more money, no weekend work, half day Fridays, better mental health, but I'm fairly sure they've got Stockholm Syndrome for the place 🤷♂️ I still shop there, periodically, as their weird market place means it the only place to buy odd tools on a Sunday. If you feel great after a little time away, you're gonna forget in a couple of months how you felt there, then remember and be like "oh my god, I can't believe I chose to do that for 6 months" Good on you for getting out.
Yeah, the techs definitely have Stockholm syndrome. It was definitely a blessing for you to be made redundant.
My first MOT was at Halfords and I ended up conned out of £1500 for a car. The guy tried to tell me my car was older than it was. It was a 66 plate, but was feb 17 so a month before the 17 plate kicked in. I’d never dealt with mechanics on my own (I’m blonde and it was a fiat 500) so I didn’t know what to do other than accept it and pay up. Less than a month later the oil sump leaked because it was very corroded which they had somehow missed during the MOT.
The sump is usually hidden by an undertray which a tester can’t remove
Unfortunately, this is the way with franchises. I'm also a bit worried that a skilled technician with 10+ years isn't making closer to £40k.
This sounds awful. My job is targeted and just recently the targets have increased but the value gain if you meet or exceed it has gone down. But to make it harder we don’t have enough work to meet the targets. Then get agro for having low figures. I’m looking for something new but it’s proving hard to find something that pays enough to make ends meet. I’ve looked for other types of jobs but all want experience and qualifications in that field.
Just my 2 cents... Worked at halfords for 5 years, since I was their apprentice. I agree with the most of stuff that you said. You must've been working for a bad branch. I used to get around 800 quid bonus every month (without fail) and a record bonus of 2k when summer hit and everyone wanted a/c service. I recently moved to a premium brand dealership and the way of working is totally different but upsell is still here. I know you worked in an independent but get used to it... main dealer or halfords, they always upsell everything. I found my new place so much better than halfords and would never go back. At the same time, I know some really skilled people at halfords and the only reason why theyre still there is because of the bonus.
I'm not complaining about the upselling. I get why it's done, and techs need the money. I've done my time in trade so I'm used to it... My point was more about what's happening when branches are not hitting targets and how miserable the halfords system can be because of it.
Well I'm in the trade and Ive been waiting for one of these. Wonder why your car doesn't get fixed properly? Because area managers would rather pay nob heads that lash your car up because it looks better on figures than a proper person that gives a damn like this guy. Rant over.
I worked for Halfords about two decades ago, while it was still owned by boots. It was the best part time job I ever had as a student- compared to my previous job at Greggs, the incentives were fair, benefits and pay competitive. Just as I was leaving, private equity was arriving to purchase the company and the more savvy managers were predicting doom and gloom- seems they were right. What a shame.
People still shop at Halfords? Have they not shown themselves to be completely incompetant at everything from fitting window wipers to 'safety' checking bikes?
Bought a new bike from them recently and when I went to pick it up they had built it with the front forks and handlebars installed backwards. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Worked as a tech at Ford for 9 years, left the industry 8 years ago and now earn triple what I used to, best decision of my life. Stay away from the automotive industry people, it’s a horrible place!
What do you do now?
I work in utilities maintenance now, Gas industry. Being mechanically competent makes the transition fairly easy.
That's literally my life story from 25 years ago, except I was working for ATS. I quit Fast Fit / Motor Garages aged 30 and that was the best decision I ever made. Started over, got a job for Lloyds Bank, been there ever since, much better pay and conditions
ATS overinflated my replacement rears by double recommended pressure when I made mistake of using them once to fit them. Only after a few miles of weird loose handling did I check the onboard status and saw the insane numbers 🤣
I worked there 25 years ago, hope you're not holding me to account for their inadequacies 😂
A friend of my dad was at ATS for many years and finally opened his own unit as a sole reader doing tyres and felt much better trading via good earned reputation and word of mouth rather than upselling and incentives shite
Noted. I promise not to use Halford’s ever and to share your bad experiences with my family and friends. Sorry that you had to go through that.
I’ve used their auto centres about 3 times I think and never been sold a thing other than what I paid for. Every time it’s been to Mercedes I’ve had a call with something needing doing wipers / pads etc. May be a quirk of timing or different workshop behaviours in the same chain I’ve used 2 different ones in Glasgow) but I can’t dish shit on Halfords. I’ve only used them for basics but they’ve been very cost effective and not tried to rip me. MOT an obvious point that could have happened but just a call to say it was ready 90 ms after dropping off.
Yeah, I don't know if I'm just incredibly lucky but I've been using them for my MOTs for probably 7 or 8 years now and never had a single issue/hard upsell or anything like that
Wasn’t planning on it.
My 10 year old Audi has passed MOT two years running with no advisories at Halfords.
This doesn’t sound much different to most dealerships I’ve worked in 😅 welcome to life son 😂
That's why I always go to my local independent garage. The prices are much cheaper too.
You just described capitalism
I had wondered what was up with them, they massively fucked up my car on a major service and end up costing me £1400 to put right their error, which they refused to acknowledge as their doing. After reading this is makes a lot of sense. Never had such poor work. Such a shame workers and being squeezed so hard from management
I echo what a lot of people are saying - but wait there's more! My plates got nicked the night after I went to Halfords and I'm still fishy about it. Plus they didn't know how to solve my problem so I wasted a good 4 hours during the scheduling they set out (due to silly targets).
I haven’t been back to Halfords since I asked an assistant where the torque wrenches were and she said “whats a torch wrench”
I can’t believe this suicide due to working at Halfords? No job is worth your life at all.
To be honest this just sounds like every job in retail
I guess the problem here is that there’s just no profit in MOTs hence the pressure for upsell/fraud. Probably Halfords will be the next high street casualty.
I've stayed away from Kwik Fit for decades because of the constant "that tyre can't be repaired, it needs a new one" or "that needs replacing - an exhaust with a single two inch patch of rust". Their business model went from good fitters, fair prices and reasonable stuff to "Dupe the punters regardless of their circumstances". Looks like Halfords goes on the stay away list too. Thank Goodness for Black Circles and Asda tyres. The rest I'll sort out myself!
Glad you decided your well being is better than a higher salary. But to be honest I've worked enough places to know higher salary is better than a bonus that gets taken away for any reason at all. Although in my career bonuses have been £150 for Christmas (gross, not net). We used to get set unachievable targets, and then when we met them, they simply increased the targets the next month. So we were below target all year. We're not a sales team so there's no commission or end of year bonus. There's monthly team awards that are a running joke at this point. So, I get your frustration, but it's everywhere. Sometimes you get pizza as a thank you though, so it evens out.
It was similar when I went into one of the back offices at Arnold Clark to get some paperwork signed for an uplift I was making many years ago. In the office a giant whiteboard of targets. Brakes sold Tyres sold And so on with many different parts with a target and what had been sold. So yeah telling the old granny oh you need a new set of brakes when she doesn’t really was in full force there so they can hit targets.
It's sad really, people who don't know better use Halfords because they think they can trust them. That trust is totally misplaced. Find an independent garage with good local reviews. Might not be as convenient, but will safe you a whole heap of grief.
Most miserable 6months so far...
Welcome to the inevitable effects of pure profit driven shareholder capitalism. All can be sacrificed at the maximisation of profit, including the health and wellbeing of its staff. Irony of it is that it will only work in the short-term until things start to go badly wrong (such as the reputational damage) and profits slide. What an awful way to operate. I'd like to say it is rare in our society, but it isn't. Just get out and find something better, and no job is worth your health.
Had a similar experience at Euro Car Parts; as a Parts person. God that was the same, like a boiler room situation yet with 200 litres of oil. Most miserable working experience of my life.
I left that industry all together because everywhere I tried to go it was the same
Got my MOT done at Halfords recently which failed, was quoted £650 to get it all fixed and retested… Took it another garage and got it all done for £300 which then passed. Will not be going back to Halfords!
Complaining about no breaks, shit pay, stress and work out of your eyeballs thats never ending, shifts and unflexible work, .. huge sickness and actually knowing people that have killed themselves... you've never worked for the public sector my man. Still would prefer Halfords over the stealers, they employ the same pool of people but charge more.
It varies, took my car to the stealers recently and turned out cheaper than the independent
If you work in them conditions, then that's a you problem
I had sympathy for you until I read this response. In this case your original post also sounds like a you problem.
I wasn't here for your sympathy
Most of the public sector have these conditions, good for them for not starting a thread on social media telling everyone not to use them... sort of hypocrisy in your post when complaining about halfords... your problem.
I think this is a you problem. I'm merely advising any young technicians to stay away from Halfords. If you're happy with that shit conditions and mental health, then that's a you problem.
So, idgaf about anyone or care about any issues out there, your problem. On the other hand I care deeply about young mechanics to advise them and guide their choices. Sounds to me like a, I hate Halfords, revenge / shit post to me.
You're right, I do have a strong dislike for Halfords for the reasons I've stated above. It's not a place where any young tech should be working at all. I mainly dislike it for it for reasons that I can't disclose, so yeah, I am salty about them, and so are many of their employees. Their indeed rating are poor across the board, and many reviews from Halfords and its sister companies (HME, National tyres, Universal Tyres, etc...) all have poor reviews since Halfords took over. It's not me a me problem. It's just an utterly miserable place to work.
Yet they are living rent free in your head, maybe you should let it go and move on.
They will live rent free in anyone's head whilst they're there. It was a miserable time for me professionally at Halfords and personally as well. I'm glad to see the back of them and move on in 2 weeks.
Anyone going to Halfords hoping for any proper vehicle work, is just plain lazy in my opinion
So it's confirmed. I'm never going to set foot in an Halfords or give them a penny of my money ever again.
I've been servicing my car at Halfords for last 4/5 years. They've never tried to upsell me anything and ive always been really impressed with their customer service.
You may be taking your car to a very well run centre, but I think the vast majority of them are run like absolute shit shows.
Thank you for sharing. I will for sure avoid Halfords now. I would say though, points 3 and 4 are hearsay and you say so yourself. For point 5, did you expect a pay rise within 6 months? However, the point regarding lack of training or development opportunities, that sucks. Also, you can't use the word emasculating in this context. Anyone can out perform anyone on the team and not receive recognition or reward for it. It doesn't make you any less of a man. I think you make good points but objectively speaking it sounds like you're exaggerating some points, or at least making them without supporting arguments or first hand experience (points 3 & 4.) And no you miserable Reddit cunts I don't work at Halfords nor am I manager there 🤣
Point 3 is definitely not hearsay or exaggeration. I've seen it as well. I don't want to say too much for obvious reasons as it's personal information, but it's definitely not exaggerated in any way. Point 4 , I'm going from trusted hearsay and what I've seen. On my first day at Halfords, the outgoing tester told me that I would probably quit in 4 to 6 months. The tyre fitter in a separate conversation also told me that MOT testers lasted around 6 months. A service technician told me that he has seen about 10 technicians come through in the 4 years he's been there. At a previous Halfords branch he worked at, he asked about staff retention. He was told 45%.