Comet

[Butts]

Has anyone been around any of the stores that are scheduled to close in a couple of weeks ?

Is it all "smoke and mirrors" or are there genuine bargains to be had - by that I mean mammoth reductions not 20% or so

 

[Geezertronic]

Smoke and mirrors in my opinion. Some of the "sale" prices I have seen can be beaten by Amazon or other websites.

Plus if you buy anything and it fails, you'll be liaising with the manufacturer rather than Comet should they disappear.

 

[Butts]

Smoke and mirrors in my opinion. Some of the "sale" prices I have seen can be beaten by Amazon or other websites.

Plus if you buy anything and it fails, you'll be liaising with the manufacturer rather than Comet should they disappear.

Perhaps it will be better to wait until the "whole lot" are going down the pan when there will be no other outlets to dispose of unsold stock in

 

[richw]

I bought a TV cabinet on Saturday, The cabinet was already on 50% off in a pre administration sale, and they then 30% off'd it at the till as part of the administrator sale

 

[wintonian]

I can't even seem to find a list of those closing.

I expect the good expensive stuff will be sold on bulk style to someone else.

In any-case the risk is your new toy fails and as it is the merchant rather than the manufacturer that is liable (unless you bought it from the manufacturer direct) you will end up in the queue for the chocolate penny's thrown out to customers after all the other contracts have been paid off.

 

[Butts]

I can't even seem to find a list of those closing.

I expect the good expensive stuff will be sold on bulk style to someone else.

In any-case the risk is your new toy fails and as it is the merchant rather than the manufacturer that is liable (unless you bought it from the manufacturer direct) you will end up in the queue for the chocolate penny's thrown out to customers after all the other contracts have been paid off.

Pay by Credit Card

 

[wintonian]

Pay by Credit Card

Only if the item is over £100, but yes I had forgotten about that.

 

[richw]

I can't even seem to find a list of those closing.

I expect the good expensive stuff will be sold on bulk style to someone else.

In any-case the risk is your new toy fails and as it is the merchant rather than the manufacturer that is liable (unless you bought it from the manufacturer direct) you will end up in the queue for the chocolate penny's thrown out to customers after all the other contracts have been paid off.

When buying from a store after 28 days the manufacturer is liable, just when a store is trading they normally act as the middle man. Comet are advising customers to ensure they register item with the manufacturer, on any large purchase at the moment.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The administrators have just announced more than 700 staff in the Home Delivery Service are being made redundant.

 

[swj99]

Their website says Massive Stock Liquidation, but on the same page it also says, "New Stock Arriving Daily."
How does that work then ?
It reminds me of a clothes shop near where I used to live. They had a closing down sale which lasted for about 6 years until the shop was finally demolished to make way for a new shopping centre.

 

[richw]

It reminds me of a clothes shop near where I used to live. They had a closing down sale which lasted for about 6 years until the shop was finally demolished to make way for a new shopping centre.

The Shoe Zone branch near me had a closing down sale from about a month after it opened, in around 2004, and has had the sign since!

 

[Clip]

When buying from a store after 28 days the manufacturer is liable, just when a store is trading they normally act as the middle man. Comet are advising customers to ensure they register item with the manufacturer, on any large purchase at the moment.

Actually that is not true.. Your first port of call within a reasonable amount of time is always with the retailer who you should go to first and foremost.

 

[wintonian]

Actually that is not true.. Your first port of call within a reasonable amount of time is always with the retailer who you should go to first and foremost.

During the first 28 days it is the customers choice to have a refund, replacement or repair. After this is is the retailers choice and after 6 months the onus is on the customer to prove that the fault was present at the time of purchase (rather than manufacture I think).

Assuming I have remembered correctly.

The customer has formed a contract with the merchant not the manufacturer.

 

[Clip]

During the first 28 days it is the customers choice to have a refund, replacement or repair. After this is is the retailers choice and after 6 months the onus is on the customer to prove that the fault was present at the time of purchase (rather than manufacture I think).

Assuming I have remembered correctly.

The customer has formed a contract with the merchant not the manufacturer.

No idea where this 28 day rule has come about - its not found in SOGA legislation from what I can remember reading it. AFAIUI retailers may give you a refund under their own T&Cs which may be 28 days but its not a statutory right of an immediate refund - if buying in store - but refund,repair or replace is their choice not the consumers.

AQnd yes after 6 months you have to prove the fault was inherent. And its always through the retailer - not manufacturer. Though its worth pointing out that for some goods from some stores they will get you to liaise with the manufacturer yourself as it may be easier.

 

[jon0844]

From some of the tech sites that have been covering this, along with comments on those sites, it seems that anything half decent is not cheaper - and in some cases, they've been inflating the SRP so the discounted price is still more expensive than Amazon, PC World/Currys, Tesco, Argos etc.

They do seem to be doing some big discounts on things like TV stands and other accessories, presumably as they always enjoyed bigger margins (especially on cables - but 10% off a Monster HDMI cable is still a waste of money when you can get one from Amazon for a few quid!).

As a result of this, I am not even going to waste the petrol to drive to my local Comet.

 

[Butts]

From some of the tech sites that have been covering this, along with comments on those sites, it seems that anything half decent is not cheaper - and in some cases, they've been inflating the SRP so the discounted price is still more expensive than Amazon, PC World/Currys, Tesco, Argos etc.

They do seem to be doing some big discounts on things like TV stands and other accessories, presumably as they always enjoyed bigger margins (especially on cables - but 10% off a Monster HDMI cable is still a waste of money when you can get one from Amazon for a few quid!).

As a result of this, I am not even going to waste the petrol to drive to my local Comet.

If thats their idea of a "sale" no wonder they have gone "belly up"

 

[michael769]

All statutory guarantees lie between the retailer and the customer - the manufacturer does not come into it at all so where a retailer goes bust or otherwise ceases to exist this can leave a customer high and dry, unless it was bought via a credit card and cost more that £100 in which case the S.75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the credit issuer jointly liable.

However for electrical goods most manufacturers offer their own 12 month (sometimes longer) manufacturer warranty and within that period will be willing to assist in the event of a failure. This warranty whilst customer and practice is not backed by statute so buyers seeking to rely on one should check the terms (for example some require that the customer return it to the retailer) before purchase.

 

[jon0844]

If thats their idea of a "sale" no wonder they have gone "belly up"

To be fair, this is the action of the administrator. Comet did do some reasonably competitive deals (if purchased online, or ordered online to collect in store) over the years.

It was the in store pricing that was stupid, and - like PC World/Currys - I think Comet underestimated the number of people who could - and did - check prices on their mobile while in store.

The demise of Comet might be good news in the short term for Dixons Retail Group, but it's going to go the same way if it isn't careful.

 

[wintonian]

No idea where this 28 day rule has come about - its not found in SOGA legislation from what I can remember reading it. AFAIUI retailers may give you a refund under their own T&Cs which may be 28 days but its not a statutory right of an immediate refund - if buying in store - but refund,repair or replace is their choice not the consumers.

AQnd yes after 6 months you have to prove the fault was inherent. And its always through the retailer - not manufacturer. Though its worth pointing out that for some goods from some stores they will get you to liaise with the manufacturer yourself as it may be easier.

My understanding was that it is 28 days, however this suggests that it is 1 month. Either way although its not defined you have a reasonable time in which to accept the goods and this is I understand generally taken to be 28 days/ 1 month - I presume this is a result of case law somewhere down the line.

I think my understanding of this comes from Consumer Direct but as they have been abolished I can't hunt round their website.

Also of interest are the 2009 proposals form the Law Commissions (p. 34), a small quote from which is:

We recommend that the law should do more to clarify how long the right to
reject lasts. We recommend a normal period of 30 days in which the right to
reject should be exercised. This normal period could be extended or
reduced in the limited circumstances set out below.

 

[Butts]

To be fair, this is the action of the administrator. Comet did do some reasonably competitive deals (if purchased online, or ordered online to collect in store) over the years.

It was the in store pricing that was stupid, and - like PC World/Currys - I think Comet underestimated the number of people who could - and did - check prices on their mobile while in store.

The demise of Comet might be good news in the short term for Dixons Retail Group, but it's going to go the same way if it isn't careful.

"Everything must go" - thats the big poster outside the Falkirk Store. Having been in I feel they should add the caveat.....

"To our nearest store that is staying open....."

I don't think Currys next door are "quaking"

ps Comet won't be missed I still miss Woolworths !!!

 

[jon0844]

I am sure there are a fair few gullible people who will buy things marked down, even if they're more expensive than anywhere else.

I doubt many stores will survive. DRG has already pointed out that it has rival stores near most Comet stores, so there's no advantage in taking them over.

 

[wintonian]

I am sure there are a fair few gullible people who will buy things marked down, even if they're more expensive than anywhere else.

I doubt many stores will survive. DRG has already pointed out that it has rival stores near most Comet stores, so there's no advantage in taking them over.

It's a common trick used buy shops such as Sports Direct. They sell some item of there own brand rubbish for say £100 for 28 days and then sell it for £50 for the next 5 months claiming that it has been discounted by 50%.

In fact I'm convinced the likes of Tesco also do this with stuff they have brought in specifically to sell with the illusion of a discount. There is a set of saucepans on 'offer' ATM that springs to mind that I saw for sale at £29.99 reduced from £49.99 and 2 days later they were £24.99, they loo rather nice from a distance but on closer inspection they seem to only be worth the so called discounted price.

Also look at WHSmith who in my opinion are one of the worst offenders, the amount of time I have seen them off 60%/ 70% discount on something only for it to even cheaper still almost anywhere else including over priced places like Dixions on occasion. Personally I think there whole business model revolves round diddling people.

 

[Butts]

It's a common trick used buy shops such as Sports Direct. They sell some item of there own brand rubbish for say £100 for 28 days and then sell it for £50 for the next 5 months claiming that it has been discounted by 50%.

In fact I'm convinced the likes of Tesco also do this with stuff they have brought in specifically to sell with the illusion of a discount. There is a set of saucepans on 'offer' ATM that springs to mind that I saw for sale at £29.99 reduced from £49.99 and 2 days later they were £24.99, they loo rather nice from a distance but on closer inspection they seem to only be worth the so called discounted price.

Also look at WHSmith who in my opinion are one of the worst offenders, the amount of time I have seen them off 60%/ 70% discount on something only for it to even cheaper still almost anywhere else including over priced places like Dixions on occasion. Personally I think there whole business model revolves round diddling people.

My belief is that the legislation with regards to "sales" needs to be tightened up considerably to prevent the above abuse.

When i was a child there were only January and Summer Sales - compare that with someone like Dreams today...

Has anyone ever known them not to have a sale or similar - the whole process has been devalued

 

[richw]

It was the in store pricing that was stupid, and - like PC World/Currys - I think Comet underestimated the number of people who could - and did - check prices on their mobile while in store.

I was recently in a Mothercare store buying a pushchair. The sales agent actively encouraged me to price check on my phone, and said he'd then beat the best price by 10%. Ironically the best price i found online was Mothercare's own website selling for £55 cheaper than the instore price. The sales agent went ahead and beat their own website price by 10%. Not sure if the price guarantee they offered included beating their own website by 10% though!

 

[radamfi]

The key is never to look at the old price.

 

[wintonian]

I was recently in a Mothercare store buying a pushchair. The sales agent actively encouraged me to price check on my phone, and said he'd then beat the best price by 10%. Ironically the best price i found online was Mothercare's own website selling for £55 cheaper than the instore price. The sales agent went ahead and beat their own website price by 10%. Not sure if the price guarantee they offered included beating their own website by 10% though!

They normally exclude themselves and associated brands from such things.

 

[jon0844]

In fact I'm convinced the likes of Tesco also do this with stuff they have brought in specifically to sell with the illusion of a discount. There is a set of saucepans on 'offer' ATM that springs to mind that I saw for sale at £29.99 reduced from £49.99 and 2 days later they were £24.99, they loo rather nice from a distance but on closer inspection they seem to only be worth the so called discounted price.

Also look at WHSmith who in my opinion are one of the worst offenders, the amount of time I have seen them off 60%/ 70% discount on something only for it to even cheaper still almost anywhere else including over priced places like Dixions on occasion. Personally I think there whole business model revolves round diddling people.

Tesco definitely do it, as do Dixons and no doubt many others. Look at the ads on TV that say 'Dixons exclusive' and you'll see how easy such a scam is.

Let's say you look around for a certain brand laptop, commonly available. Chances are there might be SOME competition (not too much as many big retailers quite like the cartel arrangement to keep prices artificially high) but what about those other models that are exclusive? They're quite often almost identical, but have a different model number and a slightly modified specification. As it's an exclusive, Dixons (or Tesco etc) will be free to create any suggested retail price it likes - then mark it down for big savings.

They ALL do it. Forget 'XX% off' and 'Previously £xxx' as they're usually always misleading. Quite often Dixons knocking money off a product is only because the price has come down across the board.. like Apple launching a new iPad and lowering the price of the previous one.

As for WH Smith - I try to avoid buying anything from them. Even a bar of chocolate or a bottle of coke purchased there makes me angry, along with them scanning vouchers that they often don't even give me (so they can rip off the company that issued the vouchers by claiming to have handed out more than they really did).

One of the best scams of recent years (well, more like 10 years ago!) was the furniture business and all that high quality pine furniture with massive savings. If you sell furniture, you can get the suppliers to reprint their nice catalogues for you - adding your company details and then adding whatever markup you ask for. Want to make everything 5x the normal price? No problem! Now you can give them out in store to customers and say 'we'll give you 50% off the catalogue prices' and they feel privileged, and possibly keen to buy sooner rather than later in case the prices go back up.

DFS is smarter as they never sell a sofa for too long. It's discontinued and they re-release it with some minor changes and a new name. Therefore, you can't check and see that over time the prices haven't really fallen, despite numerous 'sales' because it disappears.

I know Amazon has been getting a lot of bad press of late (but, come on, did anyone NOT know how it worked before the media picked up on it?) but as long as I can save LOADS of money, I'll continue to use it.

My last purchase was a Sony NEX-F3 camera. SRP £479 (from Sony's website) and £349 from Amazon, and still qualifying for a further £50 cash back deal. With Amazon Prime, I got free next day delivery - delivered on a Saturday (normally a £7-15 premium in itself).

The customer should only ever look at the end price and then decide if that price is what they are happy to pay.

 

[Butts]

I'd like to know why "Computer Games" are largely the same price in a "One Man Band" or a multiple purchaser like Tesco or Game .

No economies of scale here and remarkably looking like "price fixing"

Comet were never that cheap either

 

[jon0844]

I was recently in a Mothercare store buying a pushchair. The sales agent actively encouraged me to price check on my phone, and said he'd then beat the best price by 10%. Ironically the best price i found online was Mothercare's own website selling for £55 cheaper than the instore price. The sales agent went ahead and beat their own website price by 10%. Not sure if the price guarantee they offered included beating their own website by 10% though!

Mothercare impressed us too. They encouraged us to check prices online too, and then matched them. It got to the point where I was actually asking to pay the higher price on some items costing just a few quid (to save time) and they were insistent - so we even got money off those too!

Ironically, John Lewis - a company that has offered price matching for as long as I can remember - now makes it incredibly difficult to price match. They expect you to pay the full price*, fill in a form and make a claim.. Sod that! Sure, they will often lower the price automatically but if they don't, expect a lot of hassle.

(*This was at Oxford St over a year ago, so the policy might have changed since)

 

[Yew]

How have we gotso far into the thread about sales, without mentioning DFS.. I've got to agree that sale legislation needs to be tightened however.

Dont get me started on computer game prices, something fishy must be going n there. (I have aso heared that Gibson guitars have a similar scheme with their dealers)