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Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Steph Savill on February 23, 2010, 10:56 am I wonder how the Halfords name will affect the Nationwide Autocentres offering. As things stand, Halfords fit bulbs and wipers for c£3 (which women drivers like) but will this service still make sense when they have a garage partner? I don't think any Nationwide Autocentres offer car collection or comfy waiting areas...but they are making much of booking online, employing female mechanics and Halfords are open on Sundays. How do you see this development guys? Very little in the trade mags yet. Are they more of an aftersales threat for dealers (because of their name and UK marketing reach) than independents? Will this affect your business? FOXY Steph Link: FOXY Choice female friendly garages

Re: Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Mark Banks on February 23, 2010, 8:00 pm, in reply to "Halfords Autocentres #" Hi Steph, I heard about this on the news last week and am surprised there has not been more talk about it on here. It will be interesting to see what changes they make with becoming Halfords service centres. Will they stick with the AA approval I wonder? There are not many Daewoo's about for them to service these days, are there? I don't think they are a direct threat to us because we would not want to compete with an offer of MOT & interim service for £99 anyway! Regards, Mark

Re: Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Simon Dean on February 23, 2010, 8:15 pm, in reply to "Halfords Autocentres #" Simon Dean Hi Steph, Tell us more...Nationwide going back as original halfords service centresor the other way around! No effect on me and i have one around the corner. Business really at the end of the day comes from refferal of doing the job correctly with first fix. Regards Simon

Re: Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Phil Dunmore on February 23, 2010, 10:05 pm, in reply to "Re: Halfords Autocentres #" Philip Dunmore People will get fed up of over pricing and poor service that will inevitably come from any large organisation in time. Headline offers may seem attractive but will cost in the long run. Those customers who cannot see this will continue to use such organisations and as such reduce stress for quality independents. We do not charge our regular customers anything for fitting bulbs and wipers, even awkward fits. This applies to female and male customers. We do however market research Halfords parts prices for these items, prompting us to increase our margins whilst still considerably undercutting Halfords. They must be able to buy better than us. But they do have overheads of large heated, often empty shops. We do have a comfortable waiting area and a clean washroom. Do Halfords?

Re: Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Tom Williams on February 25, 2010, 1:01 pm, in reply to "Re: Halfords Autocentres #" Tom Williams Halfords is a very large impersonal operation. I would think that most of us on UKAT are small to medium independents whose main aim is to do quality work and we all take pride in our technical ability. There will always be customers for place like Halfords and other major fast fit operations. It's the impersonal and often hit and miss type of service at the larger operations that seems to send customers to us. Their lack of attention to detail and in-depth technical ability works to our advantage. I'm sure for most of us, fitting a wiper blade or bulb labour free is second nature. Motorists who don't have the basic nous to see through advertising gimmicks often face disappointment in other areas of the 'consumer experience'

Re: Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Dave Hill on February 27, 2010, 10:08 pm, in reply to "Re: Halfords Autocentres #" Hi Steph I really feel quite uncomfortable when I read comments such as "(which women drivers like)". This rather implies that female motorists are different to their male counterparts. Your comment taken in context suggests that women motorists are thriftier than men & appreciate a bargain or possibly even a freebie! I think that most fellas would feel slightly discriminated against if you are suggesting that, only women appreciate a good deal, waiting room facilities or collection service. The majority of independent garages understand that customers need to be treated fairly, regardless of gender. I for one treat all customers with respect & I hope that my genuine approach & honesty shines through. On the other hand I do not tolerate bad manners or unjustified skepticism. However, there is a "flip side" to this debate & that is the way customers perceive us "the repairer". I can understand that folks are slightly dubious when approaching a new garage, but I like to be given the "benefit of the doubt" before stones are thrown. All too often we find that customers are distrustful & wary, as they have often had their fingers burned elsewhere. This is not unique to the motor trade either. As a garage owner I understand the importance of customer relations, but I fail to see why the female motorist should be treated with kid gloves, when they are generally just as savvy as the fellas. Actually if I am truthful, I think there are just as many male drivers who will freely admit that, they don’t know the first thing about cars & place their whole trust in what I tell them. Don’t get me wrong Steph, but I hope that your crusade, or at least the need for it, is irrelevant in this day & age. The motor trade isn’t perfect, but problems are rarely gender related in my experience anyway. Kind regards Dave Hill

Re: Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Tom Williams on March 1, 2010, 11:13 am, in reply to "Re: Halfords Autocentres #" Tom Williams It's interesting to read Dave's comments. When Bosch sent us the literature to sign up to Steph's Foxy Drivers website, I felt it was slightly insulting. I treat all my customers with respect and courtesy, irrespective of gender.

Re: Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Steve Scott on March 2, 2010, 7:40 pm, in reply to "Re: Halfords Autocentres #" Stephen Scott I agree with the above two threads. It is insulting, almost as if it is only women that need protecting from Rogue traders. Good Customer service is vitally important whatever the gender of the customer. In this PC world gone mad, I still put the loo seat down after use, open the door for a lady and give respect to my elders. Or should I not do that any more in case the next user wants the seat up, the lady feels insulted that I show common courtesy to an equal or the senior person feels I am being ageist? Cheers.

Re: Halfords Autocentres # Posted by Peter Warman on March 3, 2010, 1:10 pm, in reply to "Halfords Autocentres #" Peter Warman - Administrator Hi Steph Its not good news for all the Nationwide Autocentres (now Halfords Autocentres), F1 Autocentres have just opened up a new centre in my home town of Crawley, all high tech, glass fronted workshop, flashy waiting rooms with TV, coffee machines, games consules etc. This is 100 mtrs from a Nationwide Autocentres and 500 mtrs from a Kwik-Fit Is this good for the consumer?......MOT and Service for £99:00 all round Its not good news for all the smaller Independents who rely on MOT's and servicing, they will probably have to drop their prices to compete....will quality suffer? Even the main Dealer are feeling the squeeze, they are loosing their bread and butter customers on mass The march of the Fast Fits goes on... Peter PS: Glad my workshop is 10 miles away

Do not be conned by the £99:00 service and MOT Posted by Peter Warman on March 3, 2010, 1:36 pm, in reply to "Re: Halfords Autocentres #" A lady friend of my wife has a 2006 Peugeot 206. She enquired at the local Peugeot dealer about a service and MOT They quoted £235:00 for the Dealer 40K service and MOT or £99:00 for non dealer service and MOT She opted for the £99:00 as this appealed to her as it was CHEAP Two weeks later the car developed a misfire, so she took the car back, they booked it in for the following week. She got a call to say they had done a diagnostic check and it required new spark plugs. When she went to collect the car she was presented with a bill for £125:00 for diagnosis and plug fitting, plus it needs an air filter She said, well you have just done a service "is it not covered under warranty"? They told her that as she had opted for the £99:00 service and MOT, those items are not changed, she would have to re-book it again for a 40K service to have the required items replaced at a cost of £199:00....... .........they are a Motor Industry Code Member Peter

Re: Do not be conned by the £99:00 service and MOT Posted by Graham Bullock on March 3, 2010, 4:43 pm, in reply to "Do not be conned by the £99:00 service and MOT" Graham Bullock So what they should have said is "£235:00 for the Dealer 40K service and MOT or £99:00 for OIL AND FILTER and MOT" It would be interesting to see how they stamped the service book - dealer stamp or do they have a non-dealer stamp? Graham

Re: Do not be conned by the £99:00 service and MOT Posted by John Ritchie on March 3, 2010, 9:31 pm, in reply to "Re: Do not be conned by the £99:00 service and MOT" John Ritchie The way i see it is how can the customer possibly think they are getting a 40k service and mot for £99 . You cant blame the dealer for matching the price of the fast fits .The dealer and fast fits should make the customer aware that the "service" is just an interim service and not the recommended 40k service the car should get .In the service book it should be stamped and marked as interim service . Regards John

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