Don't fall for "sale" prices!

edgex

The approach i take to sales:

i work out how much i would be willing to pay for an item thats needed, eg towels
then look at places like John Lewis & Debenhams to see if they are available at up to that amount, if they are, get them

eg; if i was going to spend £20 on a bale of towels, i can spend that at JL or Debenhams, & get some decent towels, from a good store, rather than have the hassle of trying to find some for £10 in a cheap store, where they are 'special purchase' & you dont know what they really are

spankymonkey_2

i am totally gutted..... at last i get to have my bathroom done and thought it would be better to wait till B&Q jan sales...even saw the bathroom suite i would like!!! although now the sales have started i cannot even find it!!!! it was only a cheap one mind you £180 but there are not any that price at all online.......

PinkJenn

Argos - I was looking at a Graco interactive doll that my daughter 'needed' in about October, it was £40. I hummed and hawed about it. Then I noticed in about November it was half price at £20.....hummmm. I kept thinking about it. Then in December I looked again and it was £15...so I snapped it up. In the 'sale' its £20 again.

mbriody

Already posted here

BettiePage

mbriody wrote: »

Already posted here

Not really. This thread is about stores in general ripping us off with their 'sales'. The one you highlighted is about Band Q.

dumbrill

BettiePage wrote: »

Not really. This thread is about stores in general ripping us off with their 'sales'. The one you highlighted is about Band Q.

Nothing wrong with highlighting B&Qs rip off practices more than once. I uploaded the pages from the catalogues for just that reason. I also complained to Trading Standards and got nowhere, see my letter and the reply below:

******

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to advise you of what I believe to be a contravention of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 by B&Q plc. My complaint concerns the pricing of their kitchens that I believe is unreasonable and likely to mislead consumers.

As an example I have attached two pages from their Summer 2008 catalogue and also the pages that deal with the same products from their current catalogue. You will see that the prices have all exactly doubled in the new catalogue for doors and units. I have taken this up with B&Q and they have suggested that on the 26th of December they will be offering a 50% discount on their kitchens. If this offer goes ahead then it will clearly not be a ‘good offer’.

In an attempt to source equivalent items I have obtained prices from various alternative suppliers. The price of B&Q flat pack carcasses has gone from competitive to very uncompetitive. This suggests that the current pricing cannot be sustainable and has been revised purely to mislead customers on the value of a future offer. An increase in prices of 100% in one month is not justifiable.

On a personal level I am mid way through modifying my kitchen and I now find that to continue my work I have to purchase additional units at twice the price of the units I bought in September. The future offer of ‘50% discount’ is unacceptable.

I believe that the B&Q pricing strategy is unreasonable and not in accordance with the standards expected of a major UK retailer. Any future discounting will be false when compared against the earlier pricing and the economic judgment of consumers will be adversely affected. It is an unfair commercial practice in contravention of Regulation 3.

I typically use the B&Q branch in ******** and so I assume this falls within your remit.

Regards,

*************

Dear Mr *****,


Your e-mail of the 10th December regarding the pricing of kitchen units by B&Q has been passed to me for consideration and I apologise for the long delay which was caused by an administrative error at this end.


I am aware of the situation at B&Q regarding the fact that the prices in the new kitchen brochure (issued early November 08) were ,in the main, double that shown in the preceding brochure and I can fully understand your suspicion that the primary driver for these increases is to provide the Company with a pricing platform from which they can subsequently advertise discounts.However, you will be aware that there is no control on retail prices in the UK and if a retailer decides to double their prices then this is a commercial decision they are allowed to make and not one that they have to justify.

What is not permitted is the subsequent publication of false or misleading information which causes the consumer to make a transactional decision he would not otherwise have made.


To assist retailers the Government have issued guidance in the following document http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file46254.pdf and, whilst this document has no legal validity as such, if it's guidance is followed then it is unlikely that the advertisement/promotion in question would be deemed misleading.


I can assure you that over the next few weeks I will be monitoring the advertising/sale claims made by B&Q and that this Authority will take action if we feel that the Company has not met the required standards, in particular the requirements set out in Section 1.2 of the above guidance.

If you wish to discuss this matter further please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

dumbrill

BettiePage wrote: »

Not really. This thread is about stores in general ripping us off with their 'sales'. The one you highlighted is about Band Q.

Just worth mentioning that if you search for "B&Q kitchen sale" on Google then a thread from this site comes in third place.

Give it a go:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rls=GGLR%2CGGLR%3A2006-11%2CGGLR%3Aen&q=b%26q+kitchen+sale&btnG=Search&meta=

BettiePage

And your point is?


The 5th one to come up is titled sex on a washing machine, lol.

truman_sparks

BettiePage wrote: »

And your point is?


The 5th one to come up is titled sex on a washing machine, lol.

I should think the point is that people looking to buy these products may come across this thread and realise they are not getting the bargain they thought they were.

Health and safety wouldent allow that, what if you fell off?

dumbrill

BettiePage wrote: »

And your point is?


The 5th one to come up is titled sex on a washing machine, lol.

The point is that we all agree that these type of sales practices are despicable. So the greater the visibility of what retailers are up to the better. Since Trading Standards do nothing then opening people's eyes to a rip off is the next best thing.

Why should we be bombarded all day on the news with drivel on the great bargains to be had when in fact it's generally nothing of the sort.