To think that after almost a year of correspondence Halfords

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Should offer me more than £20 for endangering my sons life by selling and fitting a faulty car seat???

instead they sent this reply....

Thank you for your email.

Halfords do not advertise that our child seat fitters are qualified. They
benefit from cascade training and undertake training sessions. Each fitter
is then given a "grading".

Once again, we really do understand that this situation could have been a
lot worse and we are thankful that it wasn't but we are under no obligation
to offer compensation for something that did not happen.

Please accept my apologies.

MrsC I in my emails to halfords used the word "expert" as they advertise as having Carseat fitter Experts. Their reply said they undergo training.

No, I mean they knocked it off the cost of the new one, if you see what I mean? So you haven't paid for two car seats? You just paid the extra for the more expensive one.

No i haven't paid for 2 seats but when a manager albeit an assistant tells me the car seat fitter should have seen the fault straight away then I have an issue.

It will all be ok in the end I have a case being opened as we speak!! its good to have a brother who owns a company like his

I see what you mean. Another poster had expressed surprise that they weren't qualified and I wonder what makes a 'qualified' fitter, if you see what I mean?

OH I understand exactly.I have wondered myself but they do say they are lol

I have visions of massive classrooms with row upon row of car seats now!

How long did you have the original seat for before you realsied that there was a problem with the straps ? How many times did your little one get his arms out before you took it back ?

I think that it doesn't matter if their carseat installers are "qualified" or not - total bullshit.

The Supply of Goods & Services Act offers something for you here - they were offering a service that was not 'fit for purpose' which they must do - I'd certainly be quoting that in your reply.

"Someone providing a service must do it:

With reasonable care and skill
In a reasonable time, if you haven't specified a completion date
For a reasonable price, if this hasn't been agreed in advance

In addition, any goods fitted during the work are covered by legal controls under the Supply of Goods and Services Act which says they must be:

of satisfactory quality
fit for purpose
and as described

"Brief guide here www.bbc.co.uk/wales/x-ray/x_guides/consumer_law/12-2.shtml

As to compensation - there is no loss suffered - as long as they offered you a full refund that is all they had to do. So the £20 is a bonus!

But they are CRAP and now MN's are aware of it.

Sassy I had the seat about 8 weeks it was only when i took it back i was told it was faulty. before that i just thought ds2 had been able to get the straps loose iyswim?

My sister worked for Halfords a few years back as a teenagers and she fitted car seats sometimes - they're taught how to fit them but calling them experts would probably be stretching it in some cases. Maybe more expert than a first time parent who's never used a car seat before, but unless they've worked there for years and are experienced with all the nuances of the individual seats you can't guarantee anything!

Not saying that's good enough for a company that advertises itself as being the go-to place to get your important safety equipment fitted correctly, but just thought I'd add it to the mix.

MrsC2010, I think it was me who was the other poster who referred to the fitters "not being qualified" What I was referring to was the letter from Halfords to TLE which contained the wording:

"Halfords do not advertise that our child seat fitters are qualified."

This to me, is a statement by them saying that they do not vouch for their fitters being able to do the job properly (notwithstanding some of them having received a certain level of training). Actually, even less than vouching for them, it pretty much says "we have no idea whether our guys will do a satisfactory job or not, or can even recognise what a properly fitted seat should look like, and frankly, we don't care, as no-one got hurt and therefore no-one's going to sue".

I have no idea as to whether there is some sort of formal car seat fitting "qualification", but I took the statement in their letter as being more of a "fit for purpose" type reference, IYSWIM.

As their ads indicate that buying a car seat and having it fitted by Halfords gives you a certain peace of mind, this statement is disgraceful.

Did the assistant actually fit the seat that you bought into your car, and then fit your child into it? I do car seat fitting for another retailer, and we aren't allowed to fit the seat into the car after purchase, what we do is check that the model fits the car before purchase, using the floor sample. I'm confused as to why it should have been obvious to the assistant that it was faulty?

I meant them!

hang on if they had a few of the same make of car seat returned that day then they should have brought it to the notice of the manufacturer of the car seat and Halfords can say they are not liable as the didn't know the seat was faulty when they fit it so your claim should be against the maker of the car seat

An update on this.

Customer Service Manager has sent 2 emails recently below is a paragraph from each of them....

As a company, Halfords have over 1600 fully trained and qualified child
seat fitters, and as such we have every confidence that each and every one
of our fitters complies with instructions given by the manufacturers of the
seats in our range. This is something that we are extremely proud of and
are continually working hard to improve further.

AND

Halfords do not advertise that our child seat fitters are qualified. They
benefit from cascade training and undertake training sessions. Each fitter
is then given a "grading".