Halfords staff harass me at home after their error.

[Thesparkled1]

2 weeks ago I took my ford mondeo to halfords auto center in Walsall for 4 new tyres and tracking. The job took 90 minutes and when I returned to collect the vehicle I was informed that their chip and pin machine wasn't working and so they would have to process the payment using an imprint. I thought this strange and joked about not seeing many carbon copy machines around anymore, and the store manager told me he was surprised to find it himself, in a box out the back. It annoyed me that they didn't tell me about this problem when I dropped the car off as I could have then returned with cash when it was time to pay the £316 bill.

 

Two days later I had a call from the store telling me their machine was now working and could I give them the security code from the back of my card so they could process the payment as an over the phone transaction. I declined this telling them that I would require the other part of the carbon copy back first and would then pay using chip and pin or cash. I did not confirm a date but told them I would pop in when it was convenient for me, since it was their error. It seemed like perhaps they have taken a form of payment that they can't process and are now trying to cover their backs. But hey, mistakes happen, right?

 

Since then I've had numerous calls, voicemails, and letters from the store asking me to pay. I never refused to pay, but simple wouldn't give them my card security number over the phone.

 

Well now I feel vindicated. Yesterday my partner answered a call from them while I was in the shower and asked them to call back in 5 mins, and if they did they would have heard me saying I would be in town the following day to sort it out. They didn't call back. The store manager and a mechanic actually came to my house! They demanded payment in 7 days, tried to intimidate me by pointing to my car and remarking how they knew it was mine with a smirk, before interrupting me every time I tried to speak then cowardly getting back in their car and driving away.

 

Their level of unprofessionalism is astounding. They have harassed me at home, made my partner feel uneasy while alone in the home with our 2 year old, and invaded our privacy. All from something that was their error. When I left the store the bill was settled, as far as I was concerned.

 

After yesterday's episode I am now refusing to return to their store or give anyone from halfords payment until I have the imprint returned to me.

 

Am I over reacting? I need advice on where to go from here. I have contacted customer services who seemed truly shocked that they would act in such a way and promised to have the regional manager call me, but they are yet to do so.

 

Regards,

 

Andy.

[renegadeimp]

First get the police involved then head to halfords and pay.

[Thesparkled1]

First get the police involved then head to halfords and pay.

 

So I should just back down and use my time and petrol to correct their error? I think I'm entitled to a little recompense in light of the stress they have caused me and my family, and usually that would be achieved by way of claiming a partial refund, but obviously in that respect I have a little advantage.

[renegadeimp]

You need to meet them half way. You wont get a refund, but since you still owe them money, they could commence court proceedings against you or refer the debt to a DCA. They have no right to have done what theyve done so far, but really you should have gone and paid the amount you owed without trying to goiad them on by saying "I would pop in when it was convenient for me, since it was their error".

 

I'm not trying to antagonise you, but you owe them money, no matter who the error was caused by. Stalling it out for whatever reason will only make any court side with the claimant in this instance.

 

The best way to deal with it would be to bite the bullet, and head to the store to pay what you owe. While you are there, THEN you can issue a complaint. To halfords and their management, it would simply look like you are avoiding paying what you owe right now.

 

Regarding the actions of the management so far, as i said, you can complain at point of payment, or write a full complaint to their CEO. Witholding the money you owe will NOT look good for you if they choose to proceed further.

[Conniff]

You aren't backing down, you had a service and owe them payment. As you have had letters, you must be talking weeks, a bit unfair.

[scotgal68]

2 weeks is a long time, the staff at Halfords will have to account for the money for the service you received , it was unfortunate the machine wasn't working, and bad customer service and unprofessionalism on their part by calling at your home, but you've compounded if not caused the situation by digging your heels in and being deliberately awkward an uncooperative, pay what you owe and make a complaint to the senior manager.

[renegadeimp]

While, in some respects, you do have cause for recompense due to their small error, you are going about it the wrong way. If they were to bring a court claim against you now, they would win completely. Thats why you need to pay what you owe them, THEN deal with the abuse/harassment/recompense afterwards.

[Thesparkled1]

While, in some respects, you do have cause for recompense due to their small error, you are going about it the wrong way. If they were to bring a court claim against you now, they would win completely. Thats why you need to pay what you owe them, THEN deal with the abuse/harassment/recompense afterwards.

 

I am willing to pay and have never refused to do so, but after yesterday's visit I'm not prepared to go to the store. I've contacted customer services and they seemed truly shocked at the staffs behaviour and have passed my contact details onto the regional manager. I'll post an update if and when he gets in touch.

[renegadeimp]

If you arent prepared, then how about using a cheque, or contacting the head office and ask them to process it. The good thing is that you have done the right thing and contacted the head office. The best thing to do now, as you know already, is to wait for the regional managers reply. Make sure you state that you have the money right there to hand to him. You could even arrange to meet him at a halfords store, and hand the money directly over to him. It doesnt even have to be the same store.

[ploddertom]

What did they do with the copy from the ZipZap (imprinter)?

[tezza1234]

Halfords have obviously acted wrongly in certain manners BUT so have you, you are going about it the wrong way. Just pay what you owe and then complain, pay via phone to head office.

[raydetinu]

Hang on a minute, you have paid! why can they just use the imprint that you signed, still valid IMHO.

What they should of done is write to you returning the imprint and confirm it has not been processed and ask for you pay by returning to garage to complete the process or do it over the phone.

As you say, you want proof that the original method has not or will not be processed. You don't want to be charged twice, understandably.

I suggest you write to them outlining that want the return of your original swipe and then you will pay as they request. and not to harass you.

If they continue to harass you, report to police.

[scotgal68]

Halfords asked him to pay over the phone, he declined( rightly so) he said he would return to the garage to pay (where I suspect he could have retrieved the original imprint, which by the way is useless as that method is well and truly defunct) he didn't go back to the garage either.

[raydetinu]

It is not defunct at all, I had to pay this way a few months back at a garage for fuel as their lines had gone down, all went through OK ( about two weeks before it ended up on my statement ).

[scotgal68]

Well I stand corrected, I worked in retail 20 yrs ago and we received memos from access n visa informing us that it was being phased out and to only accept electronic mop... There you go, can't believe it's still being used

[crem]

Looks to me like the OP has been/is being purposely obstructive on this. For whatever reason, the attempt to process the imprint has failed. Unless the retailer is way out of the OPs area, which is unlikely otherwise he wouldn't have been getting the original job done there, then a quick visit to the store when they first contacted him would, I am sure, have resulted in a quick re-processing of his chip'n'pin and the return of the imprint counterpart.

[Westmead Fan]

here is a question for the op, what would you have done if Halfords refused to let you leave with your car due to problems with not processing your payment?

 

get it sorted now before anything more arises

[ericsbrother]

The imprint vouchers are easy to process, Halfords should just take it to the bank and handle it the same as you would a cheque but using their merchant number instead of bank account number. I still use the paper imprint vouchers for all of my face to face CC takings. Cheaper than an electronic or phone machine. I would phone Halfords Head Office and tell them the whole story and point out that you have paid and are expecting them to speak to the branch about this as a matter of harassment and incompetence. It may be that a certain amount of retraining is required as they clearly have no CS skills and a poor understanding of banking procedures. I reckon they are trying to input the card number of the imprint into their MOTO account and it fails because they need the CVV off the back of the card rather than going to the bank and paying the slip in. The OP has proof that he attempted to pay so Halfords wouldnt get very far if they decided to give it the big one. However, I would write to them if it is not resolved soon and offer an alternative payment method on the condition that your paper slip is returned to you or made available for collection. You wouldnt put up with people taking a cheque and then insisting on a debit card some time afterwards, the payment is a promisory note or instruction so ultimately the debt still exists but when a company makes a mistake it has a duty to ensure the payee isnt inconvenienced unnecessarily and this is unnecessary.