HMV false advertising
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Nintendo have also been pulling this deliberate shortage crap since the days of the NES, as well as CEX selling the Wii for double the RRP I remember the episode of some consumer programme, probably Watchdog, where they reported the amount of stock every other continental European country had of the original Wii compared to the UK. Relatives of mine copied Nomoneytoday and bought from Germany for the original Wii.
It's not HMV's (or Game's or any other UK retailer's) fault, despite the rubbish service the OP received being squarely down to the shop, that shop is dealing with a nightmare manufacturer and supplier that likes to artificially hike the demand level before Christmas for everything they sell, especially when brand new.
My been going on for years comment, was referring to shortages of technology products that has been going on for years.
In this case and in my case of the ZX81, I don't blame the shops it is definitely the companies, not being able to meet demand.
Just want to make that clear, that I appreciate the shops aren't at fault on that score.
But, it would take 5 mins tops to get a pieces of paper, write all Wii U's out of stock or similar and put it over the advertising.
Surely this would benefit the shop, as they wouldn't have numerous people getting frustrated/annoyed, when they go in to be told, no sorry we are advertising it, but we don't have any.
Of course there will always be people who will ignore it or not read the notice and still ask. But at least you have a notice to say, well we did have a notice to that effect.
I bet now they are getting people saying, why the hell, don't you put a notice up saying out of stock and save me wasting my time.0 -
Just about the sign, when I worked at Gamestation, we were not allowed to put "Sold Out" signs up at all. Apparently, this could stop people from coming in, at which poor they may see something else they would want to purchase. It's possible HMV have a similar policy0
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Hi, i had the same sort of problem with HMV when i was trying to buy a new ipod (gen5) for my dd. They had a trade in offer of £75 on ipod(gen3) which i thought was good. Anyway they had no stock in all their stores and were waiting for delivery from Apple.
The offer ran for 4 weeks and they finally got some stock 2 days before it ended..0 -
Hi, i had the same sort of problem with HMV when i was trying to buy a new ipod (gen5) for my dd. They had a trade in offer of £75 on ipod(gen3) which i thought was good. Anyway they had no stock in all their stores and were waiting for delivery from Apple.
The offer ran for 4 weeks and they finally got some stock 2 days before it ended..
And Apple are every bit as bad as Nintendo if not worse, they will routinely exhaust stock before replenishment at a warehouse level, when combined with high demand you get yourself an issue!
I won't deny HMV have been badly run for years, there's no secret in that - your share price doesn't go to 2.5p for no reason! But in this instance they're not really doing anything wrong or incorrect.Retired member - fed up with the general tone of the place.0 -
Just about the sign, when I worked at Gamestation, we were not allowed to put "Sold Out" signs up at all. Apparently, this could stop people from coming in, at which poor they may see something else they would want to purchase. It's possible HMV have a similar policy
Yes I can well imagine that they probably aren't allowed and for the reason you say as well.
But I bet it will still p a lot of people off and the staff get the flak, particularly when very likely many would have been Christmas presents for kids.
I suppose they must have done research, which suggests that p'ing off some customers, is still ok, if they make sales they might have not, if they had an out of stock sign up.0 -
About that last sentence - you do rather...bluenoseam wrote: »Right I'm not quite sure if you know this, but in 19 days there's this little festival/holiday thing called "CHRISTMAS" for most retail stores this happens to be their PEAK TRADING PERIOD. Having been in an HMV stockroom at Christmas I can tell you upwards of 100 phone calls a day will come into a small shop. As you can imagine that takes someone time to stop working & answer the phone as well as answer the question - I assure you, 100 phone calls you'll probably find 99 of those phone calls were pointless! (think along the lines of "do you have the new Kelly Clarkson CD in stock?" and you'll be close).
When it comes to a certain point in the year they cannot spare staff to act like receptionists when every member of staff in there is up to their eyes in customers & work that needs doing. The stockrooms are filled with items coming in which all needs to be sorted out 15 minutes ago as your CD guy needs a list of stock that he's given you that morning. I know it's difficult to understand but common sense should tell you that when things are the way they are at Christmas "normal service" is impossible!
If you were REALLY that fussed about it, you had months to pre-order the console - sorry to sound like a jerk but you're expecting them to bend over backwards because you're spending £400?
I'm not expecting anybody to bend over backwards and I am not complaining about product availability (and we all know that Nintendo play that "shortage" game anyway); it is about the shop advertising items that they don't and can't sell (ie. (a) they have none, (b) they have none ordered, (c) they won't accept orders).
Yes - it probably is HO, and (as I said) they have none on order.Sounds like the store isnt at fault tbut rather HO or whoever was in charge of ordering the stock ( they might have been told you have x amount of Wii U by the guys at Nintendo )0 -
Actually I wouldn't rather expect anyone to bend over backwards to sell me a console - although that's more because I know the "margins" on these things and they're not worth writing home about! In essence your purchase probably nets them less profit than the guy who just came in, grabbed the latest Now CD, Ted on DVD & a mars bar at the counter - I kid you not!
You're also conveniently forgetting what I'd said, while I agree it takes 30 seconds to put a "SOLD OUT" sign up, it could be they've been told not to given the uncertain nature of replenishment for the item. They get them in and essentially they need to sell out within an hour of getting them in the back door OR their area manager will be so far up their backside he'll be able to brush their teeth! With these things the quicker you sell out the further up "the list" you are when they're dishing them out at HO.
Like I've said multiple times, HO have ZERO control over it, Nintendo released 40,000 Wii U consoles to the UK for launch, think about that for just a few seconds. They released less consoles than there were people at the average English Premiership match - what do you want either HMV or infact Game/Argos/anyone else who stocks these things to do when they're basically being supplied from a stock THAT small?Retired member - fed up with the general tone of the place.0 -
Like I said - it's not about whether there is stock in the country; it's about whether a particular shop should offer things for sale that they full well know they do not have and will not have.bluenoseam wrote: »Actually I wouldn't rather expect anyone to bend over backwards to sell me a console - although that's more because I know the "margins" on these things and they're not worth writing home about! In essence your purchase probably nets them less profit than the guy who just came in, grabbed the latest Now CD, Ted on DVD & a mars bar at the counter - I kid you not!
You're also conveniently forgetting what I'd said, while I agree it takes 30 seconds to put a "SOLD OUT" sign up, it could be they've been told not to given the uncertain nature of replenishment for the item. They get them in and essentially they need to sell out within an hour of getting them in the back door OR their area manager will be so far up their backside he'll be able to brush their teeth! With these things the quicker you sell out the further up "the list" you are when they're dishing them out at HO.
Like I've said multiple times, HO have ZERO control over it, Nintendo released 40,000 Wii U consoles to the UK for launch, think about that for just a few seconds. They released less consoles than there were people at the average English Premiership match - what do you want either HMV or infact Game/Argos/anyone else who stocks these things to do when they're basically being supplied from a stock THAT small?
So what I want is for them to not put up a sign saying "come on in and get yer luvverly consolez", when they don't have any to sell.
And of course, it's not just about the console, but also the games and accessories. In the end, if a shop can't make a profit selling an item then they are being fools to themselves to stock it.0 -
Like I said - it's not about whether there is stock in the country; it's about whether a particular shop should offer things for sale that they full well know they do not have and will not have.
So what I want is for them to not put up a sign saying "come on in and get yer luvverly consolez", when they don't have any to sell.
And of course, it's not just about the console, but also the games and accessories. In the end, if a shop can't make a profit selling an item then they are being fools to themselves to stock it.
Ultimately they're advertising something they CAN sell when they have the stock (you'll almost always find a disclaimer somewhere in the shop saying products available where stocks last), that's basic retail common sense.
As for "if they can't make a profit selling an item" again, it's long term thinking, they might not make any profit on the console/bundle but they WILL make a profit on the games after the initial bundle purchase. Now if you take that viewpoint no one would sell the consoles - for as long as I worked in games retail new console sales were the smallest margin products in store! But you HAVE to sell them if you want to sell your core product - if you get my meaning - it's a necessary evil.Retired member - fed up with the general tone of the place.0 -
They are advertising something that they have no expectation of selling this year, and with no disclaimers on display, which is false advertising.bluenoseam wrote: »Ultimately they're advertising something they CAN sell when they have the stock (you'll almost always find a disclaimer somewhere in the shop saying products available where stocks last), that's basic retail common sense.
As for "if they can't make a profit selling an item" again, it's long term thinking, they might not make any profit on the console/bundle but they WILL make a profit on the games after the initial bundle purchase. Now if you take that viewpoint no one would sell the consoles - for as long as I worked in games retail new console sales were the smallest margin products in store! But you HAVE to sell them if you want to sell your core product - if you get my meaning - it's a necessary evil.
Also, they are showing a certain price, which they may not be able to honour (and will probably change) when they do get the product next year.
On the point about the console being a loss leader - I didn't buy any games from them either.0
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