so i went up to Halfords at Middlebrook to get a fibreglass repair kit and thought i might get some Acetone for cleaning my brushes off with and for general cleaning.
I approched a glum looking sales assistant bloke (older bloke, not a wet behind the ears 16 year old work experience dude) leaning against the counter
ME: hello, do you sell acetone?
BLOKE: if you tell me what it is, I'll help you.
ME: it's the stuff in nail varnish, you can use it as a cleaner.
BLOKE: nope you'll need to go up to Boots for that sort of thing......
ME: err, ok.
Now is it me or the rest of the world?
Good job he didn't ask 'what car is it for?' or i might get into one of those conversations:
ME: it's a Delorean
BLOKE: What's one of them?
ME: that car out of Back To The Future.
BLOKE: oh. no we don't do parts for those cars.
sigh.....
I think I'll stay in the house from now on and only answer the door when DHL deliver my Acetone...
Hi Barson,
I get the same response,
Asked for a Tap and Die set and was told to try B&Q plumbing department!
Oh yeah DONT use any of their aerosol car paint its now all acrylic and falls off at the sight of petrol. "Unsuitable for painting cars" was the managers reply!!! (must be for pushbikes!)
Best regards
D
plus you get some punk in there always trying to accost you trying to sell you a credit card.....flip!
Barson Wrote:plus you get some punk in there always trying to accost you trying to sell you a credit card.....flip!
Yea! This bothers me all the time!!
I avoid going to Halfords at my best nowadays, seeing that all the prices they quote are simply ripping people off...
hi
i got a worse response at Halfords
i think i was after the correct water hose size
the assistant said, no sorry we don't sell hose of that size.
what car is it he asked..Delorean i said.
have you tried a main dealer he said!!?? :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
they could be selling anything and do not know what they sell.
tried to get red rubber grease for calipers the other day....whats that they said?.
gone are the days when you could go to a motor shop or even main dealers and just explain the problem/part and the chap would know everything.
i remember buying stuff for my triumph spitfire many years ago.
and we have meant to progressed!.
personally if i worked in sales...i would not sell anything i did not know plenty about.
Consumable parts can be had from any motor factors, you just need to know the car that they are cross ref'd to. Anything engine can be had from a Renault Alpine GTA, Volvo 760, Renault Espace... If you need air filters, fuel filters, oil filters then get them at a motor factors, if you need silly bits like screws or electrical connectors then buy them in Halfords, its the only thing they are good for.
Things like hoses which are pretty much Delorean specific I always get from DMCH or Ed.
I must admit I'm quite pleased with my experiences of GK Autos in Colchester, they have a couple of older guys in there who genuinely take the time to listen, help and offer sound advice.
They did manage to piece together all of the hoses (bar 1) for the DeLorean cooling system.
Halfords seem to employ students probably to save money but ultimately they loose our trade.
With my own business and my full time employment I personally believe customer service and product knowledge is paramount, but not many other places seem to think so these days, it’s quite sad really.
Luck of the draw I guess.
James
Which hoses were you after for the delorean james? Colchester is just up the road for me and I want to change some of my pipes fairly soon.
Dan1986 Wrote:Which hoses were you after for the delorean james? Colchester is just up the road for me and I want to change some of my pipes fairly soon.
Sorry there were 2 i didn't get, they were the long ones either side of the water pump, i think I got those from DMCH or PJ.
All the others are fairly straight forward, the ones either side of the pump were just 2 45degree bends which I cut out of a pipe ment for a ford Escort.
J
Its really the straight ones im after that join up the metal pipes. I'm changing one of my pipes cos its dented and wanted to change some of the rubbers while I was under there as they look a bit old and hard. Halfords and some local motor factors didnt have anything big enough. Just thin heater hose. Did GK's have it in stock?
Dan1986 Wrote:Its really the straight ones im after that join up the metal pipes. I'm changing one of my pipes cos its dented and wanted to change some of the rubbers while I was under there as they look a bit old and hard. Halfords and some local motor factors didnt have anything big enough. Just thin heater hose. Did GK's have it in stock?
Just buy a length of hose and cut it yourself, that's what i did, i'm pretty sure GK's had a selection of hoses of various diameters and they come in 1mtr lengths.
J
Yes.. you need 32mm internal bore, you could get silicone hose if your that way inclined
Yeah its just finding the stuff!! I will have to hunt further this week...