Halfords Auto-Centres (Battery Check)

[Dave20046]

Hi All,
Probably a bit patronising as I'm not sure anyone here'd be that foolish, I've just a lot of work to do and procrastinating so thought I'd warn the friendly masses... IF anyone was thinking of getting a battery test that Halfords have been advertising free recently - don't bother!

My car battery's seemingly been dying recently so I wanted to get it tested to be 100% my cash was going in the right place, on my way to a tried and tested garage I pass a Halfords Auto-centre in Sheffield city centre...much more convenient, popped in and asked for a test.

Being a cynical **** I stuck by the car so I could read the output for myself...I didn't really need to bother; the bloke took a multimeter out, popped it on the battery (engine running) read the screen then scurried inside the car turned on the lights, went back to the multimeter and shook his head. So off I went to report to the dude at the desk, unfortunately my battery is weak and needs replacing £100 for an OEM spec battery. I asked him what amperage the battery he was quoting me was, his eyes widened for a second and he said "the right one, it's the one for your car", I then asked him the ColdCrank value which he couldn't give me. I said I'd leave it!

Really wish I'd put more pressure on them at the time but I was in a rush as it was and now I'd wasted time there AND had to go to my original destination for a proper check. Also, I went in there because I was pretty sure my battery was knackered... it wouldn't have been too satisfying to dramatically announce "Aha! you're conmen! that battery you just reported as weak is in fact completely unserviceable and ready for replacement!" so popped off to a proper establishment. Will complain to Halfrauds at somepoint.

Anyway, if you want your battery checking don't go somewhere with an awful reputation and be aware some people are full of **** intentionally or otherwise. Also, something I didn't know; Varta and Bosch are the same units - I've always used Varta or Yuasa for bikes ...but when I've been quoted between £100-£130 for OEM spec Bosch car batteries, and decided to go for a trusty VARTA, I didn't realise I was getting the same product for £80 .*



*So says the Varta salesman :smt104 , he seemed genuine and had already got the sale, so no point in lying but do your research before relying on the above.

[tigersaw]

Agreed - you are not going to realise anything with a multimeter.
I'd expect any 'battery tester' to have a conductance tester like this:
http://www.aideautomotive.com/products/mot_garage/battery-testers.php?gclid=CMX5rpeT_7QCFQzKtAodUygAFg
I bought one for work, was over 2k but we have many many batteries to look after.

[Dave20046]

Nor the engine on! (well unless I had a problem with the charging system)
As the bloke started doing it, I said "don't worry about that mate, it's only having trouble turning over when it's been stood overnight" - I thought the multimeter bit was a preliminary check!


Later had it checked with something that did indeed resemble what you've linked, and had bosch written on and ....displayed "UNSERVICEABLE" and gave an indication of the cranking capacity it had left in it.

I suspect Halfords Auto-Centres are franchises rather than Halfrauds ran branches...not sure if that'll help or hinder a complaint to be honest!

[Kenzie]

Probably just checking it was charging. The volts are around 13v when the engine is running. Some testers don't have a charge system checker, the one we had at Motorworld only checked battery and cell condition.

[Dave20046]

Probably just checking it was charging. The volts are around 13v when the engine is running. Some testers don't have a charge system checker, the one we had at Motorworld only checked battery and cell condition.

Yeah, I asked him not to bother doing that and explained it was fine. (just posted above).
The multimeter also displayed 14v so I don't know why he'd tell me it was weak .... *scratches chin*

[Kenzie]

Batteries are strange. The one in my old jeep was ok in summer but wouldn't hold charge in winter.

[Specialone]

Multimeter will show if car is supplying charge to the battery, eliminate this, it's normally the battery.

Was it a sealed battery or had little screws on top to access the cells Dave?

I kept my connect van going for four more years by topping up the acid which was at low level, just replaced it over Xmas actually, £55 :)
Mate does own a motor spares shop though, connects are big ass batteries too.

[Specialone]

Probably just checking it was charging. The volts are around 13v when the engine is running. Some testers don't have a charge system checker, the one we had at Motorworld only checked battery and cell condition.

13 volts? Your alternator is fubar'd if it's only kicking out that much, should br around 14.4v from a healthy one.

[Dave20046]

Multimeter will show if car is supplying charge to the battery, eliminate this, it's normally the battery.

Was it a sealed battery or had little screws on top to access the cells Dave?

I kept my connect van going for four more years by topping up the acid which was at low level, just replaced it over Xmas actually, £55 :)
Mate does own a motor spares shop though, connects are big ass batteries too.

Sealed Yuasa Unit (probably the same as what's in your golf unless it's petrol). It's been slowly failing for months, I rely on the car to work & more importantly eat, so really shouldn't have left it until it was such a state.

Bloody hell, that's cheap! They did have the "cheapo" range at about £60 (which are the one's halfords quoted at £100) but wanted one I could have a bit of faith in!

I'm still of the opinion they're conning customers from what I saw. I was told "it's weak and you should replace it, here's the price", not "we've eliminated the charging system".

[Kenzie]

13 volts? Your alternator is fubar'd if it's only kicking out that much, should br around 14.4v from a healthy one.

I knew it would be more than 12v, but couldn't remember off the top of my head what it should be!

[Specialone]

I knew it would be more than 12v, but couldn't remember off the top of my head what it should be!

Battery off charge will be around 11.5v-12v, anything above 14v for charging, above 15 ish could mean another problem.

[metalmonkey]

Not a battery but I went into halfords to ask for red rubber grease, they tried to tell redex is what I needed:smt104

Then I needed a headlight for my car, they gave me wrong bulb luckly I was :smt094 at the car in their carpark so it get replaced straight away. So when they ask do you want us to change that for you I said hell no walk away from my car!

Halfords are:toss:

[tigersaw]

but they are great if you want to ripspeed up your chevette

[Specialone]

Showing your age there dude lol

[Jayneflakes]

Not a battery but I went into halfords to ask for red rubber grease, they tried to tell redex is what I needed:smt104
I cannot say that I am surprised. When I worked there I saw the number of young lads with no training given access to customers cars. Be very careful when allowing Halfords staff anywhere near your vehicle.


Then I needed a headlight for my car, they gave me wrong bulb luckly I was :smt094 at the car in their carpark so it get replaced straight away. So when they ask do you want us to change that for you I said hell no walk away from my car!

Again, be careful. They mark up their bulbs by a huge amount so unless you have a trade card, buy your bulbs else where. With a trade card a £17 head light bulb comes down to close to £4. As for the we fit it, management almost bully staff into selling this service because it is a no brainer easy way to make money. Again with this make sure that the staff doing the job are capable. I saw several cases of badly or non trained staff causing damage to vehicles

Halfords are:toss:

I don't think that this is entirely fair. Most of the lads and lasses who work there are enthusiastic and do try to offer the best customer service that they can. The difficulty comes from the management who do not provide enough training to their employees or they employ school leavers with no experience who they can pay the lower level of minimum wage. When I was made redundant from Bike Hut, I was replaced by a group of lads who could not even set up a gear cable, let alone build a wheel. These lads were let loose on customer bikes and I know that damage was done and serviceable machines were scrapped because they did not know how to repair them.

We have a garage here in Weston that was taken over by Halfords, even before they provided a pretty poor level of service before, but recently they told friends of mine (one of whom was a mechanic) that their cars were unroadworthy and needed hundreds of pounds of repairs. My Mechanic friend was aghast with the faults they listed and stated that it was more to do with money making as opposed to safety advice.

As with all things, as consumers we need to make an informed choice and vote with our feet. If any of you do want to complain to Halfords, do it through Customer Services rather than in store. In store the staff are often told to just say no. My experience with Customer Services was that they are well used to serious complaints and have different policies that floor staff did not have access too.

[yorkie_chris]

We have a garage here in Weston that was taken over by Halfords, even before they provided a pretty poor level of service before, but recently they told friends of mine (one of whom was a mechanic) that their cars were unroadworthy and needed hundreds of pounds of repairs. My Mechanic friend was aghast with the faults they listed and stated that it was more to do with money making as opposed to safety advice.

About the same as kwik fit then.

Same with any garage if you either go to a big chain or can't be *rsed to educate yourself or take someone along who is then expect to be ripped off. Think about it, you're not going to be able to afford hundreds of TV adverts by charging fair prices are you? If you think that then you're probably too stupid to drive any sort of motor vehicle.

My policy is to either never use a garage which offers repairs for an MOT. Or to make it very clear to them that they are being asked for JUST a test no more and work will be done elsewhere.

This tends to get through a lot of the "making work for yourself" MOT testing.

[Wideboy]

I suspect Halfords Auto-Centres are franchises rather than Halfrauds ran branches...not sure if that'll help or hinder a complaint to be honest!

IIRC they were national/nationwide autocentres (something like that, had a green sign). They were notorious rip off merchants especially on MOTS.

Halfrauds are ****. Most of what they sell is crap, their primers should be removed from the shelves, too mixed and thin.

[Sir Trev]

IIRC they were national/nationwide autocentres (something like that, had a green sign). They were notorious rip off merchants especially on MOTS.



The one in HW used to be Lex Auto-something. One of my wife's workmates uses them for MoTs and wonders why they always find lots of work to do on her ancient Micra... When I tried to explain she shrugged and said "they have a convenient car park". Bet they love people like her!

[embee]

I've been getting stuff from http://www.eurocarparts.com/ recently. Their discount offers change all the time, but battery "discounts" for Bosch/Exide are usually 20% or thereabouts, the actual amount is pretty arbitrary really, it's just a case of what the bottom line is. I had to replace my Yaris battery before Chrissy, cost just on £50 compared to a Half's equivalent at £70.

No connection with them, just a customer.

[timwilky]

I've been getting stuff from http://www.eurocarparts.com/ recently. Their discount offers change all the time, but battery "discounts" for Bosch/Exide are usually 20% or thereabouts, the actual amount is pretty arbitrary really, it's just a case of what the bottom line is. I had to replace my Yaris battery before Chrissy, cost just on £50 compared to a Half's equivalent at £70.

No connection with them, just a customer.


+1

also General Traffic (http://www.generaltraffic.co.uk)

[tonyt]

+1

also General Traffic (http://www.generaltraffic.co.uk)
+2............

[Wideboy]

The one in HW used to be Lex Auto-something. One of my wife's workmates uses them for MoTs and wonders why they always find lots of work to do on her ancient Micra... When I tried to explain she shrugged and said "they have a convenient car park". Bet they love people like her!

she'll be their bread and butter.

[Sir Trev]

I've been getting stuff from http://www.eurocarparts.com/ recently. Their discount offers change all the time, but battery "discounts" for Bosch/Exide are usually 20% or thereabouts, the actual amount is pretty arbitrary really, it's just a case of what the bottom line is. I had to replace my Yaris battery before Chrissy, cost just on £50 compared to a Half's equivalent at £70.

No connection with them, just a customer.

Another +1 for Euro Car Parts. Had to replace the battery on the Mondy as it died over Chrimbo. Halfrauds web site not too helpful and I'm always wary of their own brand parts... ECP site had all the dimensions and specs - excellent. The battery on mine is non-standard as part of the box is taken up with LPG gubbins so I needed to be sure of the dimensions and output to ensure it would fit and be up to the job. ECP were cheapest by far for a unit with a much longer guarantee. Helpful staff too.

[phil24_7]

I've been using Exide batteries lately and they seem good value.

[metalmonkey]

@Jayneflakes (http://forums.sv650.org/member.php?u=7814)

Yes that maybe is a bit much, just becasue my experince hasn't been the best then it doesn't mean its the same everywhere else, though that was at different stores. They just seem to lack product knowlege, if your selling something you should know it inside out. Having said that its not possiable to know everything, that why you have a sales team.

I have no idea about their bike knowledge I'm lucky that I can have massive group to talk about bikes which is useful.

[Dave20046]

I've been getting stuff from http://www.eurocarparts.com/ recently. Their discount offers change all the time, but battery "discounts" for Bosch/Exide are usually 20% or thereabouts, the actual amount is pretty arbitrary really, it's just a case of what the bottom line is. I had to replace my Yaris battery before Chrissy, cost just on £50 compared to a Half's equivalent at £70.

No connection with them, just a customer.
I do use eurocarparts usually for parts but they couldn't beat the varta on price for the spec I wanted even with the 20%all discount code.

They are good though.

[Dave20046]

@Jayneflakes (http://forums.sv650.org/member.php?u=7814)

Yes that maybe is a bit much, just becasue my experince hasn't been the best then it doesn't mean its the same everywhere else, though that was at different stores. They just seem to lack product knowlege, if your selling something you should know it inside out. Having said that its not possiable to know everything, that why you have a sales team.

I have no idea about their bike knowledge I'm lucky that I can have massive group to talk about bikes which is useful.

The management is extremely poor. As Jayne says they do have some hardworking, enthusiastic employees but I understand they treat them like **** and they are offered no direction or training.
A mate used to work for them in cycles, but they were appalling.
He reckons the big 'proper' halfords stores have battery testers.

[andrewsmith]

The management is extremely poor. As Jayne says they do have some hardworking, enthusiastic employees but I understand they treat them like **** and they are offered no direction or training.
A mate used to work for them in cycles, but they were appalling.
He reckons the big 'proper' halfords stores have battery testers.

They do. Bosch units, which are correct as I give them a totally shot battery to test

I do stay away from Halfords, unless I've got no option

[Dave20046]

They do. Bosch units, which are correct as I give them a totally shot battery to test

I do stay away from Halfords, unless I've got no option

Same, pricing is way too high which is a shame because some areas of the business are good.
Wouldn't be surprised if they're one of the flurry of natiowide shops to go under in 2013.

[454697819]

I use partco or now know as UNIPART AUTO CENTRES is where a lot of the trade buy and they do cash sales too, very useful very helpful and as cheap as chips...