Halfords Bike to Work scheme

[Cotty]

I know I spoke to JAYB and Swerni at Dirty Dicks but being a Dirty Dicks night I don’t remember too much. My company does the Bike to Work scheme though Halfords, one of my colleague wants a new bike but Halfords do not stock it, am I remembering correctly that Halfords can order a bike in if they do not stock it?

His local Halfords claims not to know about this so has anyone got anymore information.

[princeperch]

My work does it through Halfords. I want to get a brompton on the C2W scheme (I think they are cool even though one looks like a bit of a nobber on it). Halfords do not stock Bromptons, however I was told by the C2W email helpdesk that I can get my Brompton from another bike shop on the embankment - Action cycles or something?

So from what I was told, there seems to be little difficulty in getting another bike if Halfords doesn't stock the one you want...

[Rolls]

I did my halfords b2w thingy through leisurelakes - top service from them :-) Shockingly bad service from halfords!

[Cotty]

I was under the impression that the Cycle to work scheme was run by Halfords. Can you bypass them and go direct to a bike shop of your choosing?

Do you have that C2W helpdesk email.

[princeperch]

[e-mail]

I dont think its bypassing them as such - you still need to apply for the £££ through them but you simply go to a "partner" shop to cash the voucher and get your bike ...

Edited by princeperch on Monday 26th April 17:38

[Sarkmeister]

I did the same as Rolls. Got a £1000 Halford voucher last week. Just went into a Leisure Lakes and got myself a Trek 1.5c and £225 of accessories (helmet, pedals, camelbak, clothing etc).

Give them a call and they let you know what shops take the vouchers. Just tell them you want a Trek as they have to be sold in person by authorised Trek dealers.

[Cotty]

Cheers for the help guys

Edited by Cotty on Monday 26th April 22:23

[waughie]

If you go in store at Halfords and speak to someone who knows what they are on about, rare i know, but thats through lack of training, they can ring up Head Office and order in any bike from any company!

I know because we had an airborne, a few treks, specializeds and a merlin come in while i worked there.

[Rolls]

waughie said:

If you go in store at Halfords and speak to someone who knows what they are on about, rare i know, but thats through lack of training, they can ring up Head Office and order in any bike from any company!

I know because we had an airborne, a few treks, specializeds and a merlin come in while i worked there.

Wasn't strictly true when I did my B2W scheme (albeit last year) - there is a wide range of bikes, but they wouldn't order anything from wiggle (so any bikes from focus are out of the question) - maybe this has changed this year though?

[The_Gza]

Yup - they can get their hands on bikes from outside their normal shop range, but can't do everything. My work operates the Halfords scheme but I had to go outside it as I wanted a Cube which they couldn't supply.

[Rob Crutch]

So far I've had a Dolan Hercules and a Specialized FSR XC Expert through the Halfords C2W scheme, neither being bikes stocked by Halfords. Getting something that they don't stock does seem to have advantages too; the Dolan was a bespoke build and worth a fair bit more than the £1k limit but sold to me for that sum, and the Specialized purchased through a shop in Berkshire (maybe even Berkshire Cycle Co.? I forget who now) who after a bit of a chat allowed me to put a 'deposit' on the bike and pay the rest with the voucher allowing me to have a bit more bike, but me paying the amount over £1k.

Rob

[waughie]

Rolls, it was 3 years ago now that i last looked into the scheme so it may well have changed.

But the nice lady on the end of the phone did say they/we could get anything. It was just a case of putting a special purchase order in for it.

But it may well have changed since i last did one...

[Cotty]

He is still strugling with their "pick one of our bikes" help desk attitude, thing is at 6foot 5 there is nothing suitable.

[Rob Crutch]

Cotty said:

He is still strugling with their "pick one of our bikes" help desk attitude, thing is at 6foot 5 there is nothing suitable.

Maybe suggest he gives these guys a call http://www.berkshirebikes.com/ , I'm 99% sure they're who I bought the Specialized through. They had to order the bike in, but upon collection I just handed them the Halfords C2W voucher (having already paid the monies on top when I ordered the bike) and walked out with the bike a few minutes later, they were very helpful.

Rob

[GreatGranny]

Halfords administer the scheme much like Cyclescheme.co.uk administer our scheme at work. It means you can order from any approved supplier and Halfords sort all the tax etc. for your company. Saying that the Boardman bikes are excellent value if your mate can fit on one.