akito-man

anyone else have one?

Steve200+

Yup.. appears to bring prices in line with everywhere else

TrevCannon

NOOOOOO!

~nomad~

iTrader: (4)

how do you get one?

Steve200+

I've no idea . Mine was given to me by an ex-employee who left with about 50 of them.

Discount on parts only, and to be brutally honest, I find them overpriced compared to other trade sources anyway.

EDIT : And they're largely a bunch of feckless twats *cough* 'Spark plugs for a TVR sir? Certainly. How do you spell that?'

foreigneRS

sounds like a good idea for those emergency sundays or late evenings when halfrauds is the only place open

TrickyDicky

they are good as you get 25% of the tools and a third i think it was off the batteries.

JamesR

Had one for two years and have never used it. Well over priced either way

i gave the staff the card number tho so they could use it to get a better discount than the standard staff discount.

Shocking!!!!

Steve200+

Aha! So that's the upside. Never thought of the tools. Might actually stop using mine for clearing the windscreen on frosty mornings

TrickyDicky

its the headlamp bulbs that tickle me, there something like 65% off the retail price!

Brookesy

How do you get your hands on a discount card or should i just keep getting the lady at the till to give me her staff discount

TrickyDicky

just go to the parts counter and ask for trade appl form, i had a jobsworth who asked me to prove i was trade so i threw my company chequebook at him-my mate went in the next day though and spoke to a human and got one with no hassle, just asked for tradecard and they gave him one.

RichardC

do you know if you have to be a trader in the motor industry or can any Company apply?

TrickyDicky

In the motor trade (its a motor trade discount card after all!), dont matter though just call yourself joe bloggs mobile mechanic-print a letter head off on the computer or a business card, they will just give you a card then.

hth

Tricky

RichardC

sounds like a plan

I do have a multimedia Company, but I would have had to blag that I did Car audio installations, hmm, that might work I 'spose

Brookesy

I'll ask the young lady at the trade counter for a form

PhilM

I got one, handy as fuck, was buying tools at the time

Doesn't have to be strictly "motor trade", when they asked me, they said I was fine and I'm an aircraft engineer. Seems to be those who are buying stuff for their job (motor or otherwise).

Moonstone Mart

iTrader: (1)

I have one, got quite a bit off a few tools i bought a couple of weeks ago.
When i applied for mine i had to take my payslip in to prove a was in the motor trade.



Mart

Cowboi

the manager at my local stroe liked me so ive got one.

for the amount of stuff i ever buy its handy.
the discount differs between ths stuff. there aint a set discount with a trade card.
but when u can get plugs, leads and filters for a pretty decent price its handy just to pop down halfords and grab them.
even easier for me as my mate works there and has my number, so i just stick in my order and he drops it round.

if u r doing it day in day out though it probably dont compare to other places, but they will price match!
the manager who gave me my card knew what stuff the local shops sold cheaper than halfords and he just gave it all to me for that price any way.

even red dot brake pads, he knew he wernt the cheapest but always sorted me out! top guy, shame he has left now

neilm

I have to say some people just take the piss out of Halfords in an attempt to be clever or cool.



How many factors are open until 8 at night ?

How many factors are open until 6 on a Saturday or a Sunday ?

And where do you go when you need a bulb or some oil on a Sunday afternoon ?

I buy a lot of my stuff from Partco for my Alternator Conversion kits, all my pre-crossflow stuff etc etc BUT no one can touch Halfords for things like Spark Plugs.

And Halfords are equally as competitive on things like disk pads etc, they will order you anything you want and they were guaranteeing to beat any factor in town recently, dont know if they are still doing it but thats what the guy said when I opened my trade account.



So what if you are served by some spotty oik... a lot of the chimps that work in Motorfactors arent much better..

'Can I have a starter motor for an Anglia please ?'

'No mate they've been discontinued for years !'

'Can I have a starter motor for a Mini please ?'

'Yes certainly sir'

'Well they are the same thing you KNOB HEAD ! If you only bothered to look in your book instead of standing behind the counter like you know everything.....'


To get a 'Trade Account' you need to prove you are 'trade' and this can be in the form of a payslip from your employer so if you are a mechanic working at a garage, if you own a business and that can be with letterhead or business card etc


There is no subsitute for a good motorfactor, the guys at Partco Bedford are spot on because they all grew up with the stuff I want and they put themselves out to source things for me that most people would right off as unavailable BUT Unipart as a company dont want trade accounts like mine, just spending a couple of hundred quid a month they want major accounts...

As for tools I think you'd go along way to get tools as good as the Halfords Professional range at the price they are when you have a trade card.

SteveB

iTrader: (3)

Thats where the "special Beds RSOC account" comes in......

Steve200+

I'm guessing that's aimed at me Neil.

I've had sadly years of experience dealing with them, (no longer) and in my local Halfrauds I've been blatently lied to, given wildly incorrect parts (didn't look, was in a hurry, but it rarely happens anywhere else) found nearly everything cheaper elsewhere, and I'm sick of them acting as if it's an imposition to serve you, and would you kindly wait until they've finished their coffee and talking to their mate.

I'm not slagging them off to be 'clever or cool', I'm slagging them off because in my experience they're next to useless. Admittedly, the tools aren't bad though

I prefer either waiting until the next day, or going to another local place that's open until 7 (and weekends), and usually getting a better service.

neilm

No mate not at all, its just whenever there is a post about Halfords they get a panning and I think its just become an easy target when a lot of people forget its the first place they go when they need something 'out of hours'

Steve200+

lol that's alreeet then! Feeling a bit persecuted thkis morning

neilm

Actually, you'd probably find that you get treat a little better with a trade card as your are served by the 'more mature' guys on the parts counter and they seem to treat trade a little better