Misselling at Currys retail stores

[Hesther]

Are companies still getting away with this?

[CuttersGoose]

If you have to see the TV first, go to John Lewis or Richer Sounds. By all means go to Currys to look at a tv, but I would always then go home and buy it from Amazon.

 

There's nothing more frustrating for a retailer than a potential customer coming in to your store and using it as a real life catalogue for Amazon shoppers. I wouldn't necessarily say this is the case for Curry's (they did this before the internet) but most retailers resort to upselling something because they need to make some sort of profit due to the additional costs of running a local store, compared to online retailers.

 

I've only been back in the UK a short while but it's got quite annoying actually not being able to walk into a store and view a product before it's purchased. Shops have been closing down at an alarming rate and it's no good saying "Well they should charge proper prices then" because there is no way they can operate a physical store at the same costs online retailers operate.

 

As for retailers already mentioned in this thread I'd say Curry's/PC World pretty much destroyed the reputation of most physical electrical stores thanks to their shocking lack of knowledge of their own products, ripping their customers off, and advertising products they don't intend to stock in their stores. Unfortunately they are one of the main ones left.

 

John Lewis as everyone else has said is an excellent retailer. Just be aware that their price match will include things like their own included extended warranties (2 years generally, sometimes 5) which they will compare to Curry's price plus extended warranty price (normal warranty only a year).

 

Before I left the UK I was a regular Richer Sounds customer. Products were great, prices even better and staff enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Bought 5 items from them in the last few months, a couple of which have been of lower than expected quality (and then discovered cheaper in the Coop of all places). The other three items each time round I had found on their website and ended up having to push in the store to actually purchase them with the general attitude of being 'Hmmm, not sure these are in stock, but this model is the alternative (£30 more)'. Eventually the computer is checked and they manage to find the box in the stock room. They do have excellent warranties though. One item (a smart blu-ray player) was advertised as having Netflix which was my main reason for purchasing that model and it turned out not to have the function but as it had taken me 25 minutes and a small parking charge to purchase it in the first place couldn't be bothered to return it.

 

Sorry for the long post. I will always recommend buying locally if possible but physical retailers really need to improve on stock, quality and staff knowledge/service (without pouncing on customers) for people to justify in their own minds paying the extra for local purchase. I am surprised people don't seem to think about 'what if it goes wrong, how long to return it' when purchasing online. I hear a lot of people whinging about stuff not delivered on time, broken on delivery, rude couriers, wrong item etc yet still persist on buying online from retailers who really don't give a damn and would rather make money back on volume selling than customer satisfaction.

[Berberis]

There's nothing more frustrating for a retailer than a potential customer coming in to your store and using it as a real life catalogue for Amazon shoppers. I wouldn't necessarily say this is the case for Curry's (they did this before the internet) but most retailers resort to upselling something because they need to make some sort of profit due to the additional costs of running a local store, compared to online retailers.

 

I've only been back in the UK a short while but it's got quite annoying actually not being able to walk into a store and view a product before it's purchased. Shops have been closing down at an alarming rate and it's no good saying "Well they should charge proper prices then" because there is no way they can operate a physical store at the same costs online retailers operate.

 

As for retailers already mentioned in this thread I'd say Curry's/PC World pretty much destroyed the reputation of most physical electrical stores thanks to their shocking lack of knowledge of their own products, ripping their customers off, and advertising products they don't intend to stock in their stores. Unfortunately they are one of the main ones left.

 

John Lewis as everyone else has said is an excellent retailer. Just be aware that their price match will include things like their own included extended warranties (2 years generally, sometimes 5) which they will compare to Curry's price plus extended warranty price (normal warranty only a year).

 

Before I left the UK I was a regular Richer Sounds customer. Products were great, prices even better and staff enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Bought 5 items from them in the last few months, a couple of which have been of lower than expected quality (and then discovered cheaper in the Coop of all places). The other three items each time round I had found on their website and ended up having to push in the store to actually purchase them with the general attitude of being 'Hmmm, not sure these are in stock, but this model is the alternative (£30 more)'. Eventually the computer is checked and they manage to find the box in the stock room. They do have excellent warranties though. One item (a smart blu-ray player) was advertised as having Netflix which was my main reason for purchasing that model and it turned out not to have the function but as it had taken me 25 minutes and a small parking charge to purchase it in the first place couldn't be bothered to return it.

 

Sorry for the long post. I will always recommend buying locally if possible but physical retailers really need to improve on stock, quality and staff knowledge/service (without pouncing on customers) for people to justify in their own minds paying the extra for local purchase. I am surprised people don't seem to think about 'what if it goes wrong, how long to return it' when purchasing online. I hear a lot of people whinging about stuff not delivered on time, broken on delivery, rude couriers, wrong item etc yet still persist on buying online from retailers who really don't give a damn and would rather make money back on volume selling than customer satisfaction.

 

I understand your points and I did say if you can, use retailers such as Richer Sounds and John Lewis over the likes fo PC world and Currys.

 

One thing everyone needs to understand is, the salesman is there to sell you the product ad the best price for them and you are there to buy the product at the best price for you.

 

With Richer Sounds, I would not make them aware of the price match you are looking for until you were in the shop and knew the item was in stock. You can call them and ask if they have TV X in stock and they will put it aside for you. Then when you arrive, you present them with the evidence of the cheaper product and thy match the price. Thats how I did it many years ago with a Bluray player and I got approx £50 off. No problem.

[Resident]

A company owned by DSG mis-selling, NEVER /sarcasm

 

I got BANNED from the one on Meadowhall retail park (it was a sunday and I was desparate for a cable) because I overhead one of their sales team try to convince a middle-aged couple into parting with over £1200 for a PC when their stated requirements would have been met by the one at £500 and I kinda let them know he was trying to mislead them into spending more that they needed to and to go down the road to an independent. They did & I was escorted from the premises.

[Rob_1]

Ita because the staff are on comission for every sale and every extra they sell....

 

If it was sell and make money or sont sell and loose yr job, what would you do?

 

No they aren't, but it's the extras (cables, memory cards, extended warranties etc) that make most of the profit. There actually isn't much profit at all in the appliances themselves.