Halfords 3-year battery warranty is a joke.

Jonny69

Jonny69

Jonny69

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For some time I've been reading about people having problems with their car batteries and I've been recommending spending a bit extra on a Halfords battery because it comes with a 3 year warranty while most come with only one year which isn't really long enough in my opinion. Well today was my turn.

I bought a new Halfords battery in August and it sat unused in my garage since then. I put it on the car a few days ago and it was flat. Charged it up 3 times now and though it shows just over 12V it won't crank the car unless I give it some help from jump leads.

I took it into Halfords this morning to get it changed and they refused. They put a "battery tester" on it which turned out to be no more than a voltmeter and it was showing 12.8V or "89% charged" according to their box. When I questioned the guy how it checked the current draw he told me it was illegal for them to use a drop tester which loads up the battery. I'd already used a proper battery meter on it and it sat in the red and read poor. So they have no way of testing the battery properly and because their box shows it as holding voltage they won't change it. I have to bring the car to them to show it won't crank. That means I have to put a different battery on it to get it though the MOT (because I doubt it will pass if it can't start itself) then jump start it to get it to the shop.

It's a joke and I'm not happy. I splashed out on a set of metric and imperial Professional spanners at great expense but they will be going back for a refund and I'll get them from Snap On or something instead, I'm fed up and they can't have my custom, time for a letter to head office :mad:
 
I had the same issue with them last week, my battery died and has a 4 year warranty, nope they wouldnt take it, even after arguing for 10 mins
 
go to trading standards, dont let those ******* get away with it. The item is clearly not fit for purpose and they aren't even testing it correctly. The voltage means squat, if it cant put out the amps it wont start anything.
 
[hugs bosch battery with 5 year warranty]

it amazes me how people are consistently surprised when they get done over by halfords, they have been playing this game for years, a friend of mine works for them they will receive a battery put it on the charger then immediately test the voltage to gain a higher result before the surface charge dissipates.

his branch doesnt even know how or have the equipment to test cell health and current.
 
yep I've had many problems with them ,bought a bike that was not right, took it back and it sat out the back of the shop for weeks with me chasing it up everyday .Every time they told me it was ready for collection it still had not been fixed ,they used the excuse they are not allowed to test ride it so until I ride it and tell them they don't know :rolleyes:

It seems you have to get real shirty with them before they act .

Shame really as they have some nice bikes and I need a new one but with the poor customer service and stress I'm not sure its worth it !
 
i had no problem with halfords replacing my battery 2 years in to the warranty
they just checked the date on the battery and replaced it no question asked.
didn't ask for a receipt and they tested it while it was still on my car
 
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Never had a problem, took a battery back with no reciept, they put it on the tested, checked the ampage and then tested it (so i assume their tester drew current from the battery). It was duff and i got a new one no questions asked.

Stick some bulbs on it overnight to flatten it and try again tomorrow?
 
Bosch here aswell, always and never ever had any problems. Altough never had to return one either.

Trading standards is where I would be going.
 
As mentioned, drain all the power from it by attaching bulbs to it or something.
When they test it it will show as completely dead, so they HAVE to give you a new one.

Worked a treat both times ive done it :)
 
As a halfords employee, I am kind of confused by the comment about only testing the voltage, as the test equipment we have at our store *is* capable of measuring the current output (CCA) as well as the voltage - part of the test process with our kit is inputting the CCA rating and you can't test the battery at all without doing this first! Some stores may have different equipment though, I don't know, all I can say it though that just testing the voltage is unacceptable. Our stores tester will also give you some measure of cell health too, and can also do a basic alternator test.

Leaving a battery for months on a car that doesn't move, or in a garage is something that a lot of people do and generally I (nor anyone else at my store) would not replace the batteries under warranty unless the customer puts them on charge for 24 hours first.

As for refusing to charge the battery for you, well health and safely means we can't leave a battery on charge overnight which means charging it in store for a useful length of time is often problematic.

Generally all batteries will start to go flat when sitting for a long length of time without receiving any charge, hence the availability of maintainance chargers for them. That it eventually goes flat when left for months on end should be no surprise to anyone and it is IMHO wrong to hold us accountable for someone elses inability to maintain the batteries charge properly. I apply the same rule to alternator faults - if the alternator is faulty why should we give a new battery under warranty every few weeks/months when the fault does not lie with the product that we have sold?

But if somebody stuck it on charge for 24 hours, came back for me to test it, and it was still testing as flat or demonstrably discharging too quickly then of course I'd have no qualms at all about honouring the warranty and give you a new battery straight away :). You seem to suggest you've already gone to the effort of charging it, so shouldn't have had the problems getting it swapped that you had...I would have swapped it for you!

My personal opinion BTW and not an exact statement of company-wide policy, before you ask :)
 
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Good thing really that i decided to shop around on the net before i attempted to use Halfords to get my new car battery 7 months ago. I came across a car accessories site on the net (Sorry i wont type the name incase i get in trouble for breaking the competitor's rule) and they have got a huge range of car battery's on there website & i took the plunge and i got the cheapest one that was available for my 205, got it delivered within 3 workings day & worked straight out of the box, my 205 started first time after sitting for 6 months prior with the old battery which had basically had it. The new one iv got now has never failed on me yet! Best £40 iv ever spent on my car to be honest. Have a good search on Google thats what i did.

Liam
 
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Forget trading standards, go to Watchdog. Granted you might not have any joy but, if you can get them to feature it, one bad story about Halfrauds on BBC1 will lose them a fortune in business.
 
Will said:
As a halfords employee, I am kind of confused by the comment about only testing the voltage, as the test equipment we have at our store *is* capable of measuring the current output (CCA) as well as the voltage - part of the test process with our kit is inputting the CCA rating and you can't test the battery at all without doing this first! Some stores may have different equipment though, I don't know, all I can say it though that just testing the voltage is unacceptable. Our stores tester will also give you some measure of cell health too, and can also do a basic alternator test.

Leaving a battery for months on a car that doesn't move, or in a garage is something that a lot of people do and generally I (nor anyone else at my store) would not replace the batteries under warranty unless the customer puts them on charge for 24 hours first.

As for refusing to charge the battery for you, well health and safely means we can't leave a battery on charge overnight which means charging it in store for a useful length of time is often problematic.

Generally all batteries will start to go flat when sitting for a long length of time without receiving any charge, hence the availability of maintainance chargers for them. That it eventually goes flat when left for months on end should be no surprise to anyone and it is IMHO wrong to hold us accountable for someone elses inability to maintain the batteries charge properly. I apply the same rule to alternator faults - if the alternator is faulty why should we give a new battery under warranty every few weeks/months when the fault does not lie with the product that we have sold?

But if somebody stuck it on charge for 24 hours, came back for me to test it, and it was still testing as flat or demonstrably discharging too quickly then of course I'd have no qualms at all about honouring the warranty and give you a new battery straight away :). You seem to suggest you've already gone to the effort of charging it, so shouldn't have had the problems getting it swapped that you had...I would have swapped it for you!

My personal opinion BTW and not an exact statement of company-wide policy, before you ask :)
Click to expand...

Thats generally how halfords is to be honest. My manager generally does the same. We use the green bosch one in my store. Seemed to work on my brothers dead battery.
 
I took two used cans of plasticote spray paint back to halfords and got a refund once.
It was genuinely duff. You should be able to get your battery sorted through them.
 
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