Halfrauds labour at £80 an hour pro rata
Discussion
My mother is 71 and unlike many, checks her lights and recently found a rear brake light out. She went to Halfrauds and bought a pack of bulbs and took up the offer of fitment for which they charged her £5. The other brake light went and I fitted it and it took about 3 minutes but let's allow 5 for the "trained fitter" as he may have needed a manual.....
It's a Ford Galaxy so you pull a panel off, flick a clip, pull out the light board, replace bulb and reverse the process. With training, you could do it in under a minute.
Shocking. That is all.
It's a Ford Galaxy so you pull a panel off, flick a clip, pull out the light board, replace bulb and reverse the process. With training, you could do it in under a minute.
Shocking. That is all.
It's not that easy to change the bulbs on some vehicles. On the Peugeot 206 for example you have to carefully drain out all the water which has been sitting inside the light lens, including all the mould that has built up in there.
Do you think they should charge a different amount for every vehicle, determined by how easy it is to swap the bulb. Perhaps it's just easier to charge a flat £5.
Do you think they should charge a different amount for every vehicle, determined by how easy it is to swap the bulb. Perhaps it's just easier to charge a flat £5.
Don't see the problem. If she didn't want to pay £5 then she should have just done it herself. Maybe she prefers paying for peace of mind knowing that (1) it will work properly (2) she won't risk breaking any fitments (presumably they are insured for breakages to a customer's car if they fluff it up).
They also cahrge for fitting wipers too - although I am sure that many people find the service to be very useful.
I have only ever got Halfauds to fit one bulb before and was quite happy for it -
my nearside front indicator bulb went so I got them to fit it (I had previously broken part of the clip so it is an absolute nightmare, added to the fact the light was fading I didn;t fancy cutting my fingers up).
I spent the next 25 minutes perusing their store whilst the 'techincian' battled with the job. Made me smile.
I have only ever got Halfauds to fit one bulb before and was quite happy for it -
my nearside front indicator bulb went so I got them to fit it (I had previously broken part of the clip so it is an absolute nightmare, added to the fact the light was fading I didn;t fancy cutting my fingers up).
I spent the next 25 minutes perusing their store whilst the 'techincian' battled with the job. Made me smile.
Hardly shocking, is it? They are there to service a market, one that will pay £5 to have a lightbulb fitted. Had your Mum gone to the local motor factors, the bulb would have been cheaper and had she said "can you tell me how to fit this please?" they would almost certainly have done it for her gratis.
If it was £5 for a 5 minute job with their "trained fitter" then that's £60 ph, no?
I think its extortion too, but I'm sure they have to have some kind of insurance and training to do the different jobs - and most people are too lazy/scared to do things themselves, so probably consider it a bargain.
I think its extortion too, but I'm sure they have to have some kind of insurance and training to do the different jobs - and most people are too lazy/scared to do things themselves, so probably consider it a bargain.
mnkiboy said:
It's not that easy to change the bulbs on some vehicles. On the Peugeot 206 for example you have to carefully drain out all the water which has been sitting inside the light lens, including all the mould that has built up in there.
Do you think they should charge a different amount for every vehicle, determined by how easy it is to swap the bulb. Perhaps it's just easier to charge a flat £5.
I agree entirely but in cases like this, they should have waived the charge and done it for nothing. She'll probably buy her neons, rims and supercharger elsewhere now.... Do you think they should charge a different amount for every vehicle, determined by how easy it is to swap the bulb. Perhaps it's just easier to charge a flat £5.
I used to work at Halfords and got in trouble with the boss fairly often for failing to charge customers for the fitting of things but only if I knew it was going to be a piece of piss. I was the only person to go and look at the car before attempting it and had a habit of when I went to look just fitting the bulb/stereo/whatever and then just charging for the item.
Had some very grateful customers though including a woman with a 306 who was going to be charged £35 to have a stereo fitted and when it took me a whole 2 minutes to do the job there was no way I could charge her that much. I reckon most of the people I did that favour for came back and spent more money in the long run anyway.
Don't know why they still insist on fixed rates without bothering to check how hard or how long the job will take first.
Had some very grateful customers though including a woman with a 306 who was going to be charged £35 to have a stereo fitted and when it took me a whole 2 minutes to do the job there was no way I could charge her that much. I reckon most of the people I did that favour for came back and spent more money in the long run anyway.
Don't know why they still insist on fixed rates without bothering to check how hard or how long the job will take first.
Dog Star said:
I don't see why they shouldn't charge - what if someone wants a sidelight bulb changing on a Mk3 MR2 for example? 
(On a related note of mechanical numptiness - I know a chap who takes his bike to the dealer when his chain needs adjusting
)
At least he acknowledges the chain needs adjusting from time to time! However to be fair to him, if you have no mechanical know-how, adjusting a motorcycle chain can be quite tricky to do it right.(On a related note of mechanical numptiness - I know a chap who takes his bike to the dealer when his chain needs adjusting
)If it's not a % of an hourly rate then what's the problem?
By the time you've put your coat on, been made to hang around by idiots and struggled with a potentially nightmare job half an hour could easily pass.
Even at minimum wage the tax and other deductions makes £5 marginal and more of a goodwill gesture than profiteering.
By the time you've put your coat on, been made to hang around by idiots and struggled with a potentially nightmare job half an hour could easily pass.
Even at minimum wage the tax and other deductions makes £5 marginal and more of a goodwill gesture than profiteering.
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