Halfords and my car park woes.
Discussion
kds keltec said:
steve singh said:
Let's be honest Kelly - aren't you the guy people respect for the work but not so much for the chip on the shoulder when customers want to speak to you to get quotes?
You seem to think it's quite ok being rude to others don't you?
You do a great job but completely lack social skills based on wide spread reviews.
Not nice is it being treated like an idiot.
Just saying how I see it...
Not sure when and why this was etc, i take feedback well and try to improve You seem to think it's quite ok being rude to others don't you?
You do a great job but completely lack social skills based on wide spread reviews.
Not nice is it being treated like an idiot.
Just saying how I see it...
Edited by steve singh on Wednesday 25th September 18:56
and sorry if you feel this way and i do Apologise.This is a reason why i now got full time front man who started FEB 2013 to deal with all customers enquires due to it become a full time job, that i could not cope with,,, i am fully aware of my skills and weakness.
Also i introduced a inspection fee for spending time with each customers running through what ever they wished and asked about their pride and joy.
This can be carried out with either the staff or me and you get our full attention using all the equipment and knowledge we have.
It's refundable when any booking is made so in Essence a free consultation for serious customers.
lost count of the amount of times we spend long time sometimes hours in the car park or in side the workshop for free showing public (which i thought at the time were customers) about our trade and what the best products to use on their car,sometimes even doing a demo of whats best, only to never see them again our weakness was working out who were serious customers and who were not.
Also introduced an auto reply to emails to get instant reply back to customers with the most commonly asked questions and phone number direct to new front man for instant service, so we/I are trying our best to cover all bases as much as possible.
You would not know this but i was getting around 5000 emails per year , then on some days dozens of walk ins (mainly saturdays) , recorded around 60 odd incoming phone calls on some days , all this meant it got out of hand for me and just one other staff member in the earlier days, and we ended up working 20 hours shifts for 4-5 hours actual work.
we were and still fully booked for most/ nearly all of the year so yes it was actually painful to deal with regards to actually trying to make a living when we are fire fighting constant enquires (which only a very small percentage turned into actual work maybe due to how we come across).
All change now as we have 5 staff and me, we all have more dedicated roles and hopefully each person is in the best rule that suits their skills.
Its growing pains of a company growing i guess we are trying to improve on all areas as fast as possible with more coming in the future.
Kelly
A lot of grumblings over on the porsche forums typically which is where i picked it up from - however everyone says one thing, you do a stunning job on the cars you take in.
AlexRS2782 said:
I used to have to deal with emails / letters like that for 7 years in a previous customer service / management job.
Start with a statement about how "important" you are in comparison to every other customer that happens to use the same store and that due to this you should get better treatment than the "lesser" people (who aren't you). Then throw in a threat that you or your business may stop using the store or company because of how you've been treated. Finally, finish off with the usual veiled threat to post about your "awful" situation on a forum or FaceTweetAche, where evidently said company will now be humiliated and shamed into giving you what you want
I can only imagine the amount of laughter in the office of said Customer Service Department when they read that email
Personally i'd say that reply is totally fair - It's fairly obvious that the car park was / is regularly abused by numerous people using it to park and then bugger off to go shopping / to get drinks nearby, when not actually using the store itself. Espcially when, by the sounds of it in the reply, the carpark is actually signed to say you must not leave the carpark & go elsewhere
This thread has really not gone the direction the OP hoped
Although based on the last post by OP it's now serving to give an overview / publicity for their own business 
Believe me kds does not need publicity - i suspect they are overwhelmed with work if anything - it's a bit like chris at centre of gravity in that stacks of business comes from word of mouth.Start with a statement about how "important" you are in comparison to every other customer that happens to use the same store and that due to this you should get better treatment than the "lesser" people (who aren't you). Then throw in a threat that you or your business may stop using the store or company because of how you've been treated. Finally, finish off with the usual veiled threat to post about your "awful" situation on a forum or FaceTweetAche, where evidently said company will now be humiliated and shamed into giving you what you want
I can only imagine the amount of laughter in the office of said Customer Service Department when they read that email
Personally i'd say that reply is totally fair - It's fairly obvious that the car park was / is regularly abused by numerous people using it to park and then bugger off to go shopping / to get drinks nearby, when not actually using the store itself. Espcially when, by the sounds of it in the reply, the carpark is actually signed to say you must not leave the carpark & go elsewhere
This thread has really not gone the direction the OP hoped
Although based on the last post by OP it's now serving to give an overview / publicity for their own business Edited by AlexRS2782 on Wednesday 25th September 19:25
Ok guys , i suppose i had it coming 
It was just was not aware of this sort of car park thing before and , the ONLY bit that got me (yes i should of explained properly i guess) was the reply that if you spend more than 30 minutes in the car park even shopping you will receive a fine , i thought this seemed just plain silly.
So it looks like a failed in a big way at my first time complaining then
wont be doing that again then
learnt to stay away from the general gassing section too
kelly
It was just was not aware of this sort of car park thing before and , the ONLY bit that got me (yes i should of explained properly i guess) was the reply that if you spend more than 30 minutes in the car park even shopping you will receive a fine , i thought this seemed just plain silly.
So it looks like a failed in a big way at my first time complaining then
wont be doing that again then
learnt to stay away from the general gassing section too
kelly
kds keltec said:
Ok guys , i suppose i had it coming
It was just was not aware of this sort of car park thing before and , the ONLY bit that got me (yes i should of explained properly i guess) was the reply that if you spend more than 30 minutes in the car park even shopping you will receive a fine , i thought this seemed just plain silly.
So it looks like a failed in a big way at my first time complaining then
wont be doing that again then
learnt to stay away from the general gassing section too
kelly
Don't worry about it !It was just was not aware of this sort of car park thing before and , the ONLY bit that got me (yes i should of explained properly i guess) was the reply that if you spend more than 30 minutes in the car park even shopping you will receive a fine , i thought this seemed just plain silly.
So it looks like a failed in a big way at my first time complaining then
wont be doing that again then
learnt to stay away from the general gassing section too
kelly
The halfords email sounds polite and spells out the situation correctly, but you already know that as you say in your email to them, you seem to know the rules
Your email is, to be frank, bloody awful. The opening line has 'yourselves' instead of 'you' and this is representative of someone who is trying to big themselves up as some amateur lawyer and tell them how it is. They don't give a s
t! You then go on to tell you what a great business you run, how wealthy your customers are, well, again they don't give a st. You then tell them how convenient the store is to you and your mountain biking staff, and how much you use it due to it being open 7 days, and convenient with excellent products. You them tell them how you 'thought about' taking the goods back, but didn't. And how you may never use them again. And how you will be a whistleblower and tell the motoring forums about it.
Well you've just told Halfords that you need them for your business far more than they need you for theirs. Well done.
And you've told the motoring forum how you think the rules apply to everyone else but not you. Oh, and how poor your complaining skills are.
And you didn't actually get a ticket either.
Have a read about what you are complaining about and realise what a plank you've been. And Chris will see you in store next time yup need something for your wealthy clients' cars.
Your email is, to be frank, bloody awful. The opening line has 'yourselves' instead of 'you' and this is representative of someone who is trying to big themselves up as some amateur lawyer and tell them how it is. They don't give a s
t! You then go on to tell you what a great business you run, how wealthy your customers are, well, again they don't give a st. You then tell them how convenient the store is to you and your mountain biking staff, and how much you use it due to it being open 7 days, and convenient with excellent products. You them tell them how you 'thought about' taking the goods back, but didn't. And how you may never use them again. And how you will be a whistleblower and tell the motoring forums about it. Well you've just told Halfords that you need them for your business far more than they need you for theirs. Well done.
And you've told the motoring forum how you think the rules apply to everyone else but not you. Oh, and how poor your complaining skills are.
And you didn't actually get a ticket either.
Have a read about what you are complaining about and realise what a plank you've been. And Chris will see you in store next time yup need something for your wealthy clients' cars.
Edited by s3fella on Wednesday 25th September 19:51
steve singh said:
That's fair enough and appreciate your honesty & reply.
A lot of grumblings over on the porsche forums typically which is where i picked it up from - however everyone says one thing, you do a stunning job on the cars you take in.
steve thing is i do care , this is the total truth i did not care about my home life and health well being which were suffering very badly in the early days (near to break down) and making NO money what so ever , but had more enquires and demand than i could cope with and most companies would dream of having the phone ringing off the hook all the time , my failings was i tried to help everyone instead of just helping the correct people/ potential customers, as i said the failing is Recognising whos who , lost count of the amount of times i heard the term "busy fool" from close customers, friends and family.A lot of grumblings over on the porsche forums typically which is where i picked it up from - however everyone says one thing, you do a stunning job on the cars you take in.
many big changes have happened in last 2 years more so in 2013 to solve the issues mainly being our waiting list back log, getting back to enquires and managing the logistics better from start to finish.
I am fully aware of a Fortunate position my company is in the present climate, but we must also be doing something right.
kelly
Spitfire2 said:
when did you last spend more than 30 minutes in Halfords?
non-issue.
Every time I go there - trying to get served by some brain dead monkey. I hate Halfords. Costco sell some identical products, only then do you realise their ridiculous mark up. They have, on the whole, unhelpful staff (probably treat them worse than there customers) and no longer appear to know what product lines to sell, so sell a bit of everything but never enough of one line to actually have what you want most the time. On top of that, they've squeezed most Indy stores out so there are very few alternatives. non-issue.
Add to that its the one in Chatham and you can't get much s
tter really. Only time I ever goto Chatham these days is if I have to collect from the Post Office and that sucks every time kds keltec said:
Ok guys , i suppose i had it coming
It was just was not aware of this sort of car park thing before and , the ONLY bit that got me (yes i should of explained properly i guess) was the reply that if you spend more than 30 minutes in the car park even shopping you will receive a fine , i thought this seemed just plain silly.
So it looks like a failed in a big way at my first time complaining then
wont be doing that again then
learnt to stay away from the general gassing section too
kelly
I agree with you that the 30 minute limit is stupid, then again I always go to the Halfords outside Maidstone which doesn't seem to have as zealous wardens about!It was just was not aware of this sort of car park thing before and , the ONLY bit that got me (yes i should of explained properly i guess) was the reply that if you spend more than 30 minutes in the car park even shopping you will receive a fine , i thought this seemed just plain silly.
So it looks like a failed in a big way at my first time complaining then
wont be doing that again then
learnt to stay away from the general gassing section too
kelly
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