BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Halfords may be in a battle to the death with the soon-to-be-one Wiggle and Chain Reaction but the latest discount from Britain’s biggest bike retailer is so good it can’t be true. But that didn’t stop consumers trying to bag a Cinelli Mash Parallax track frame for a penny. The 1p price tag is still visible on Halfords.com but, surprise surprise, the £700 track frame is now "out of stock".
This could be because there’s been a run on the frames, with some consumers saying they ordered 30 of them. The sudden run on a single product will have no doubt alerted Halfords to its pricing glitch.
News of the bargain frame was posted on the Singletrack forum by "Gary_M". He teased: "I’m sure it’s a mistake and whilst I don’t need a fixed frameset I just couldn’t resist."
"Vintagewino" was the next in the virtual shopping queue: "Bought one too. Even got a text confirmation just now."
He later joked: "I cancelled my order after I realised it wouldn’t take mudguards and a rack."
Other jokes followed. "Scotroutes" asked if the frame was eligible for a British Cycling discount?
Some consumers may strike lucky and pick up frames in-store for the clearly-a-mistake price but it’s worth noting that the terms and conditions on Halfords.com spell out that the store is under no obligation to honour price boo-boos:
"In the event that there are any errors regarding price or description, we reserve the right to correct that price or description and notify you accordingly. In these circumstances, it will be deemed that a contract has not been entered into and you will not be bound to continue with your purchase. We will cancel your Order and your credit/debit card or your Paypal account will be refunded in full."
UPDATE: Halfords is now sending out emails informing would-be purchasers of the 1p frame that "due to a pricing error" the orders have been cancelled. However, some consumers have claimed they were able to buy the 1p frames in-store.
