Car Radio/CD/MP3 - High tech Handsfree Kits - Dont All Rush

vinylmusic

This morning at 9am I queued for the opening of Lidl to purchase items of such high spec at such low prices it was hard to believe to be true

People were literally running down the aisle in order to get to them first. By the time I got to them they had all gone

Yes All 4 of them

Lidl staff admitted that there were only 4 of each item in spite of the huge publicity a week or so before. They are not aimed to be a big seller but just a means to get the public into the store
Every customer gets a leaflet showing their incredible offers, Its posted outside and I believe, published in the local press too.

They hide behind the statement "subject to availability"

I would question the legality at this point
Its common knowlegde that its illegal for a company to advertise goods they do not have to attract customers
Is having only 4 such items in each store enough to make them exempt from this law?
Considering the amount of publicity put out to attract hundreds, possibly thousands of customers into the store unknown to them that so few of those items are available
Also bear in mind that this is happening on a National scale.
I think that this is absolutely dishonest

Items in question are
MP3 in-car radio CD with USB memory stick and MMC & SD memory card slots for just £59.99
A Bluetooth Car Handsfree set with loudspeaker and ultra sensitive microphone for £39.99

shays_mum

I was sooooooooo mad this morning, same thing happened to me . I called customer services, she was really nice, saying she'd had loads of call like that, but what could she do?!?!

The thing is, this is not the first time this has happened, it happens EVERY SINGLE TIME :mad: & I totally agree that they are REALLY DISHONEST :mad: .

Its got to a point that i would never go back there even if their stuff was free, i don't think they have any idea about fufilling customer expectations/needs & hopefully its only a matter of time before they really know the feeling of a customer backlash. I for one am boycotting their stores & will encourage friends/family to do so.

savingpennies

Have you tried asking the store manager if they could get what you wanted? Similar thing happened with me but it was over a computer at Aldi - they'd sold out by the time I got there. But the store manager ordered one for me and it arrived the following week.

vinylmusic

I spoke to a manager and the response was they cant give anyone preferential treatment - I think that remark is supposed to indicate fairness. For me it indicates being fobbed off.

Its not the first time its happened to me either, thats why I'm looking into the legality of it all. Tomorrow I'm going to speak to trading standards about it

savingpennies wrote:

Have you tried asking the store manager if they could get what you wanted? Similar thing happened with me but it was over a computer at Aldi - they'd sold out by the time I got there. But the store manager ordered one for me and it arrived the following week.

panther

I imagine it'll be worse on Monday with the £149.99 DVD recorder with 160gb hdd. My store says there will only be a few available and with it being a regional offer I imagine anyone travelling long distances are going to be disapointed.

shays_mum

The store managers are just as bad, they either don't care or they can't order as lidl still have not managed to get their logistics sorted out!!

vinylmusic

I think it would be good if anyone touched by this issue would complain by calling Lidl at 0208 9711100 and ask for customer services
And/or Consumer Direct 08454040506

MyUserNamesTaken

I think we need to ascertain whether the OP meant Lidl or Aldi, as he mentions both in his opening post.

vinylmusic

MyUserNamesTaken wrote:

I think we need to ascertain whether the OP meant Lidl or Aldi, as he mentions both in his opening post.

It was a mistake.
Both Aldi and Lidl are German owned and very similar kinds of stores.
They have been around all over Europe long before their appearance in the UK

I cant say for sure but Aldi may be as bad as Lidl. I no longer live near enough to Aldi and Lidl are just 2 miles away from me

I find it a pity Lidl have to be so dishonest because they are much cheaper than Tescos, Co-op, Summerfields etc for groceries etc. They also provide excellent quality foreign products at very low prices

MyUserNamesTaken

vinylmusic wrote:

It was a mistake.
Both Aldi and Lidl are German owned and very similar kinds of stores.
They have been around all over Europe long before their appearance in the UK

I cant say for sure but Aldi may be as bad as Lidl. I no longer live near enough to Aldi and Lidl are just 2 miles away from me

I find it a pity Lidl have to be so dishonest because they are much cheaper than Tescos, Co-op, Summerfields etc for groceries etc. They also provide excellent quality foreign products at very low prices

I am well aware of the fact that both Aldi and Lidl are German owned companies. I am also aware that they've been around all over Europe long before their appearance in the UK. My OH works for one of those companies and is German. I spend a lot of time in Germany, too.


Lidl isn't being dishonest. Everyone knows they don't get huge stocks of their specials in. Aldi do the same thing. It's called marketing. Incidentally, did you know that it's illegal for companies to have loss leaders in Germany?

speedyjoe

I am quite suprised. In years past every offer seemed to be like this, but recently they seem to be much fairer about the stocks they have in. OK they sell out but it's usually after at least half an hour or more so at least the diehards qeueing before opening get a chance.

I'm sure that they are well aware that an unhappy punter is unlikely to be back.