Awful Experience-Corby
I bought a battery from Halfords Corby. It was fitted to a classic car which doesn't get much use, so it was 6 weeks before the problem became apparent. The car wouldn't start, I tried to charge it on a known working charger but within a few minutes I was getting the message "bad" and an exclamation mark (!) which the instructions indicated meant that it was a faulty battery. I took into consideration that it was not impossible that my known working charger had become faulty so I took it to my Father to try it on his. He confirmed that he could also not charge it on his (he is a mechanic). I took it back to Halfords Corby where I bought it, they tested it with their tester and said that their wasn't anything wrong with it. But said that they could not properly test it until it was fully charged and their return policy states that they cannot offer refunds until it has been returned fully charged and their tester confirms a fault. I repeated that I could not charge it so that this would not be possible. They said that they are sorry (with the store manager in presence and confirming his agreement) but this is their policy and unless it is returned fully charged their is nothing that they can do to help me. I reiterated that I could not recharge it but the best I could offer is to bring in the charger that I am using to prove that it would not charge. They seemed very miffed with this solution. (I offered the solution that they attempt to charge it onsite with their charger but they said that if they did this I could claim that their charger had damaged it :;)
I returned a few hours later with my charger, I mentioned that it takes a few minutes before the "bad" and "!" Displays on the charger. After a few seconds I was again told that it appears to be charging and that their is no issue. I again pointed out that it takes a few minutes before the fault message is displayed. After virtually begging them to leave it plugged a couple of minutes longer the "bad" warning came up as expected. After some consultation with the manager I was told that on this occasion they would offer me a replacement but that in all likelihood it was my car that had broken the battery. (I explained that in a court of law they could not prove that it had or I could not prove that it had not) this seemed to rile them even more. At this point I was so grateful that they had agreed to swap my battery I thanked them profusely, their reaction was like they had done me a favour and was met with a shrug.
It was not until I had got home and calmed down that I felt that I had been short changed by this whole experience. I purchased a battery with a 5 year warranty and within a few weeks the battery failed. To be to given every excuse under the sun including that my charger was faulty, my father's charger was faulty and my car was faulty before a very reluctant exchange took place was disappointing. I will never purchase another item from Halfords again.
January 6, 2025
Unprompted review