Deceptive Sales Tactics at Halfords
Published: 2019-12-31 22:29:53

On December 16th 2019 I went into Halfords, Carrickmines, Dublin 18, to buy a bicycle for my daughter's birthday. I spoke with a sales person and explained I am only interested in the bicycle if it is in stock, as with the holidays -- I would not have faith that they would be able to order one for me to pickup on the 27th of December, the day before my daughters birthday. 

They checked the backroom and told me it was indeed in stock and I could take it in the box that day, or have it assembled by the staff and pick it up on the 27th. 

I agreed to have the in stock bike assembled, with the addition of stabilisers, and pick it up on the 27th. I was then quoted a price for the bike, assembly and stabilisers  for €192. I paid that in full on the day with a credit card. I noted to the sales person that the assembly and stabilisers were not on the receipt. He told me not to worry, that they are included in the price. 

On the day I was to pick up the bike I got a telephone call at 9:56 am to tell me that they did not have the bike I had purchased, that they sold it to someone else. I asked if the in store display was in good condition, as if not I could still go to another bike shop. The store employee agreed to check and ring me back. I never got a call back and spent the next four hours at work trying to ring the store, they never answered the phone that day. 

The next day, the 28th (my daughters birthday). I finally got through to the store to -- and then to the manager. He said he would look into it and call me back. I missed a few of his calls as we were driving in the car to my daughter's birthday party when he rang. Though I rang him back and he said they could give me a 15% discount on the damaged in store display (prominent scratch on the frame and badly discoloured white tyres) -- or that they would build a new bike the following Monday -- but would not do anything to remedy selling the bicycle I had already purchased to another customer. 

Then when I went to the shop to pickup the display model, they told me they would need to charge me extra for the stabilisers, even though this was included in the quoted price on the 16th of December by the sales person. 

In my view their are two deceptive practices here:
 * Selling a product as in stock -- then selling that stock to another customer. I would have left the shop and gone to another shop if they were honest and told me they were going to do this. I stipulated upfront I was only interested in purchasing the bike if it was in stock.
 * Claiming the stabilisers were included at time of the sale and then changing this when I went to pick up the bike. 

I left the shop without the bicycle because it was clear to me that they are engaged in deceptive practices. I felt bullied and condescended-to by the manager when I brought up these deceptive tactics.

After contacting Halfords customer support and reporting the above, this is the response I received:

> Dear Martin, 

> Thank you for the response. After speaking to the store and my managers here at Head Office, we have come to the conclusion that we would stick by the store with this matter.

> I can advise if you wish to go to the store to get your refund for the bike you can go there with the card this was paid for and I can then advise the store of this for you. The other option is that the store are advising the most they can do is the 15% off the bike as discussed in the store. 

> I am ever so sorry about this. If you are unhappy with the outcome you can seek legal advice regarding this

> I hope this helps and if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me via email or on 0330 135 9779. 

>Kind regards, 

> Niamh
> Customer Support Team