Argos sneaky price rise dressed up as offer?

Stv67

Last week I bought a Dyson DC25 vacuum cleaner from my local Argos. So far as I could tell it was not on any special promotion at the time, and Argos were selling it for £229.99.

Today I noticed on their website that there is a new sales promotion on vacuum cleaners, which is 20% off when you spend over £100. A good deal, you might think. That cleaner I bought last week might now be on sale for £184 this week, a drop of about £46.

Not so!

In time for this "special promotion", Argos appear to have sneakily pushed the price UP ... by a whopping £90! The very same model that I bought last week for £229.99 is now on sale at £319.99. Even after the 20% discount it is still nearly £256, which is an INCREASE of £26 since last week.

I'll concede that £319 is the manufacturer's recommended price, so Argos are now selling at at the normal price. But what I find distasteful is that the price has increased massively under the guise of a special offer, so anyone being hoodwinked into thinking they are getting a good deal might be shocked to learn that the product was for sale last week (without any special offers) for much less money.

And the icing on the cake? At the foot of every web page is the following: "Argos : Helping you live for less".

Perhaps I should just be grateful I bought last week and not waited until today!

Sooler

This is often the case with Argos.
Their January Sale prices can be exactly the same or higher than what they were in December

UnderPressure

Well spotted although I have suspected for a long time this is common practice in most big shop "sales"

vinto

well spotted good to know for future shops- cos i do tend to pick things that supposedly have most money off thinking u getting bargain

cdam

I don't believe this for a second. Why would a large multi-national corporation seek to mislead the British public in such a manner, anyone would think that all they care about is money. Next you will say that the banks have been screwing us for every last penny, and no doubt claim that they have destroyed our economy as well...shame on you...oh .....hang on....

Wake up people.....they are all at it, every second, of every day.

Stv67

Yeah, sorry, my mistake. They are a caring company, they listen to their customers and they were only rising prices because that is what customers have been telling them they want most!

Vuze

Inflating the price before slashing it again in the form of a 'special offer' is a common marketing and sales tactic, though it does have a damaging effect on customer trust when highlighted like this.

However all is not lost and you can still get the Dyson DC25 vacuum cleaner for about £227 if you shop around a bit and compare prices.

Stv67

Lo and behold (or should that be LOW and behold?): Argos have dropped the price again on the DC25 ... this time to £239.99, so last week's hike was so they could claim "save £80 ... was £319.99" this week. Yeah, but, you could have saved a bit more if you had bought a few weeks ago. This week's "save £80" is still dearer than the price offered only 2 weeks ago. So, in a way, "save £80" is loosely translated as "spend £10 more and lets pretend it's a good deal". Lies, damned lies, and retailers promotions!

Vuze, you are right, this does happen a lot, and yep, when exposed it does damage customer trust, particularly when paired with a bold claim like "helping you live for less" as Argos do. Yep - helping you some weeks but not every week. That old adage "buyer beware" was never more true!

tabskitten

The little Stinkers!!

Stv67

tabskitten wrote: »

the little stinkers!!

lol!

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