The great Comet (and the rest) rip-off

A._Badger

yellowrock wrote: »

I have a beko frost free fridge freezer - biggest mistake I ever made, only 18 months old and broken down. Looking at various forums its a common fault on beko frost free's hope that helps with your decision making

If that's the case, then you probably have a good claim against the retailer (and the credit card company if that's how you paid for it it). Despite what the warehouse thugs like to pretend, consumer protection doesn't automatically end on the 59th minute of the first year.

charlysez

this year has been the biggest disappointment in sales for me, its like i have discovered there is no father xmas (sorry kids if you're reading this)

i went into b and q for a ceiling light, they had 50% off, but strangely enough, only on items which were not on display, simply on the shelves and marked down. cynical old me decided they had just bought in some cheap items for the sales.

but even worse than that, why do shops open early, namely matalan, at 0900 on news day, but then not be prepared. i walked in there at 0905 this morning full of anticiaption for the 75% off deals, to find staff wandering around half asleep and just starting to mark te shelves up and move stock around. granted had i gone back after lunch i may have had a bargain, but i had lost interest by then.

the only store that seems to get it right year in year out is..... next.... well done to all who had the items priced and ready to fly out the doors at 0700 boxing day morning. you made my xmas!!

worcestersaver

A._Badger wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't find the argument 'it keeps people in jobs' at all convincing. Why not, by that logic, double the price and employ even more?

The wider issue is the deceitful practice of advertising a sale, while continually rearranging prices. It gulls the consumer into believing he is getting a bargain when, in point of fact, he is paying more, not less, than he would have the day before.

Generally the market dictates selling prices, cost of manufacturing, competitors both manufacturers and retailers.
It doesn't make good business (or logical) sense to make a small profit on an item when you can sell at the market rate and make a reasonable profit, likewise if you charge too much you are not going to sell many products.
Nothing deceitful in Comet raising their price if they are not showing an illegal price reduction or if they are advertising all products are in their sale, neither of which is true in this case.
You just have to look at the number of retailers, both High St and Online, that have gone bust by being unprofitable, Unemployment is an obvious consequence.

A._Badger

worcestersaver wrote: »

Generally the market dictates selling prices, cost of manufacturing, competitors both manufacturers and retailers.
It doesn't make good business (or logical) sense to make a small profit on an item when you can sell at the market rate and make a reasonable profit, likewise if you charge too much you are not going to sell many products.
Nothing deceitful in Comet raising their price if they are not showing an illegal price reduction or if they are advertising all products are in their sale, neither of which is true in this case.
You just have to look at the number of retailers, both High St and Online, that have gone bust by being unprofitable, Unemployment is an obvious consequence.

And there you have the problem - what market? Comet and DSG, between them, have all but eliminated the traditional High St electrical retailers and can now charge more or less what they like (and behave how they like - just look at the endless complaints about their customer service behaviour).

What price the unemployment caused by the creation of this two-headed, market-distorting monstrosity?

I don't doubt for a moment that the particular action I've posted about is legal. But it is also misleading to the point of being deceitful. The two are not mutually exclusive.

worcestersaver

A._Badger wrote: »

And there you have the problem - what market? Comet and DSG, between them, have all but eliminated the traditional High St electrical retailers and can now charge more or less what they like (and behave how they like - just look at the endless complaints about their customer service behaviour).

What price the unemployment caused by the creation of this two-headed, market-distorting monstrosity?

I don't doubt for a moment that the particular action I've posted about is legal. But it is also misleading to the point of being deceitful. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Misleading to increase a price, lol!:rotfl:

A._Badger

worcestersaver wrote: »

Misleading to increase a price, lol!:rotfl:

No, misleading to tempt people into your store by plastering 'SALE' signs all over your windows, then raising prices. It's quite elementary.

deanos

charlysez wrote: »

cynical old me decided they had just bought in some cheap items for the sales. !

Thats exactly what they do, i used to work in B+Q and Texas Homecare (Homebase) and we would get goods delivered that we had not seen before, put them on the shelves with sale POS, they get away with it if 2 or 3 shops sell them at the full price for a few days, they they can sell them nationally across the chain showing the amazing saving.

worcestersaver

A._Badger wrote: »

No, misleading to tempt people into your store by plastering 'SALE' signs all over your windows, then raising prices. It's quite elementary.

Comet are not announcing that everything is in the sale, hence no deception
Why single out Comet? Marks and Spencers, John Lewis and even Harrods do the same thing, not many retailers reduce all items in their sales.

dehaani

Virtually all retailers are doing this and to be perfectly honest, if it weren't for the idiotic customers who only buy things at a "reduction" then it wouldn't be necessary at all.

The retailers have to *establish* a price for a certain duration before they can legally advertise a "saving".

This is very much the norm for electrical retailers. When I worked in Currys, we would routinely receive products that were double the price you'd expect anyone to pay. They would be displayed in a corner somewhere for a month then suddenly, they'd be "half price" and moved to a premium display spot.

I was amazed for years at how people would fixate on the massive "saving" and nobody ever took a moment to think "would any sane person pay double for that?". People just assume that the previous *price* indicates the product's *value*.

There are hundreds of products which have been running in and out of their "normal" and offer prices for years. Sometimes I just wish people would open their eyes and see what's going on. It's far less consequential in a supermarket because of the relatively cheaper products, so they can do it more often without people getting annoyed about it.

Quite often a "deal" would run into a price establishment phase during a "sale". It happens ALL THE TIME!!! You just wouldn't normally notice, unless you work there or happen to have procrastinated about a certain product at the wrong time.

A._Badger

worcestersaver wrote: »

Comet are not announcing that everything is in the sale, hence no deception
Why single out Comet? Marks and Spencers, John Lewis and even Harrods do the same thing, not many retailers reduce all items in their sales.

Because I was writing about a specific example - would you prefer that people
simply generalised?

I might, just as easily, ask why you are so particularly defensive of Comet. Do you work for them?