I’ve been taken for a ride by Halfords’s price-match promise

Halfords’s price-match policy promises to refund the difference within seven days if you find the same item cheaper from elsewhere. Unfortunately, it makes it practically impossible to actually make a claim. I ordered a Xiaomi Mi Smart electric folding bike online at Halfords for £899.10. I then found it on scan.co.uk for £599.99. Halfords first told me I had to claim in store, and when I pointed out that this was not in the terms and conditions, it promised a callback that never came. I called again and this time was told that scan.co.uk did not count in the offer, as it was online only. That’s untrue, it has a branch. Moreover, the T&Cs don’t state that exclusively online retailers are excluded from the price match. When I mentioned this, I was put on hold for an hour until I gave up. Most laughably of all, Halfords then removed the item from its website and claimed that it couldn’t refund me the price difference as it didn’t sell it!