'This luxorious recliner has an extra 10% off – my bum it does!' blog discussion

Tim_Deegan

Percy1983 wrote: »

I would quite happily buy from the likes of DFS, yes I may have to wait a week for the next 'Sale' but if the price is right then why not?

Because the quality is low, and their so called guarantee is a con.

Percy1983

I wil agree I generally only use argos in the sales, but anyway I was pointing out (inline with the topic) that argos do now show the previous cheapest price items have been sold at when they are in the sale, eg I saw a video game 50% off £9.99, previous on sale at £9.99.

I am not defending argos for quality or normal pricing, just the fact they have cleaned up there act when it comes to sales and information give.

Percy1983

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

Because the quality is low, and their so called guarantee is a con.

To which I said if the price is right buy it, if you deem it to be low quality, get it cheap enough or don't buy it.

Nobody is forcing people to buy stuff here, as i say I don't care how they get to the price, just if the price is right, I see past marketing hype and if more people did the same it wouldn't be a problem.

Tim_Deegan

michellew wrote: »

I think its in consumer law that the product has to have sold at the higher price for a certain number of days, but in the case of large chains this only needs to have happened in one store not all of them - its all a con at the end of the day only you can decide what price you're prepared to pay for something

That's exactly what many big chan stores do. In fact Dreams are the worst I have come across.

To start with they have a price promise. But almost all of their products are renamed, so you can't buy them anywhere else.

Then there is their fake 'better than half price sale', where as you say they have only sold the items in one or two stores, for a couple of weeks a year, in order to comply with the law. And because their made up RRP's are sky high, it actually means that their so called sale prices are sometimes double what you should be paying for the equivalent.

Tim_Deegan

Percy1983 wrote: »

To which I said if the price is right buy it, if you deem it to be low quality, get it cheap enough or don't buy it.

Nobody is forcing people to buy stuff here, as i say I don't care how they get to the price, just if the price is right, I see past marketing hype and if more people did the same it wouldn't be a problem.

It's not the right price if the quality is terrible. If you compare production costs to sale prices, then you would probably find that DFS are far more expensive than many others.

If you want a really nice comfortable sofa that you can relax in after a hard days work, then you don't go to Ikea and buy an uncomfortable, cheap sofa, with arms that feel like cardboard boxes, just because the price was cheap, do you?

Tim_Deegan

ErikTheViking wrote: »

What Harveys are doing (and is done by all of the furniture stores, and I suspect most electrical, carpet etc etc stores too) is called 'price establishment'. For a period of 28 days within a 12 month period (if my memory serves me correctly) the company has to display the product at the higher price, in order for them to use the price as the 'reduced from' price in a sale. The trading standards office do regular checks on this practice. So do keep an eye out for reductions in these stores, as if there isn't 'x'% off, you might be one of the mugs who gets caught buying the product during price establishment, and you have very little hope of sympathy if you go in guns blazing when you see the same product at half the price 2 weeks later.

Just to comment on a couple of other things here too...

Delivery charges, even if you pick it up yourself: Harveys (and others) don't keep the goods in store, so if you buy a sofa from them, they still have to have it delivered to the store. You're better off just letting them deliver it. The delivery cost at Harveys is by far the cheapest of all of the furniture stores, and they usually unwrap it and even assemble in some cases.

Regarding the person using Argos... good luck. Low prices indeed, but the quality is generally terrible.

And finally, to the person using local furniture stores, given that this is a moneysaving forum generally, I wish you all the luck in the world. Having used local stores previously, all I can say is that I have been ripped off (price & aftercare-wise) many times. As the stores are smaller businesses, you will doubtlessly be paying a higher price for your goods. There is a highly regarded firm in Macclesfield called Arighi Bianchi, which is considered almost an elite store in the area. However, a couple of years ago, I saw the exact same 3-piece suite in both Arighi's and Harveys, but Harveys were charging literally 50% of the price.

I probably sound like I'm defending Harveys a lot here, which isn't strictly the case, but I think they get a bad rap (not always unfairly). Many of Harveys' problems are caused by the dreadful courier service they use. Most delivery problems seem to be caused by them. If they got off their backsides and sorted out that problem, they would be much better off in the customer services stakes.

Off my soap box now.
Trust me, I used to be in the business.

Harveys are part of the Steinhoff group, which also includes Bensons for Beds, Sleepmasters, Cargo, Reid, Relyon, and The Bed Shed. Most of these receive a bad rap, but that's because they deserve it, due to dodgy sales tactics, poor customer service, and in some cases poor quality products.

You have to remember that stores like Arighi Bianchi will always over charge, because the sort of clientel they attract aren't looking for a bargin. However Harveys will have massive buying power, and probably have a bigger profit margin on the same product.

Tim_Deegan

philneedham wrote: »

Halfords are bad for this too. Our daughter's birthday is in October and I was spotted a bike in August that she would like, priced at around £80. We were just about to order it when the price doubled overnight. We didn't bother but i received a number of "Christmas special offer" emails on kids' bikes over the next few weeks trumpeting a series of reductions until the bike was back at the original selling price but a "50% off" bargain. Shocking really, I'm amazed that supposedly reputable companies such as these are allowed to get away with it.

It's the 'supposedly reputable companies' who are the worst for it.

Unfortunately most consumers don't realise how much they get ripped off on a daily basis.

There are very few honest retailers left.

Percy1983

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

It's not the right price if the quality is terrible. If you compare production costs to sale prices, then you would probably find that DFS are far more expensive than many others.

If you want a really nice comfortable sofa that you can relax in after a hard days work, then you don't go to Ikea and buy an uncomfortable, cheap sofa, with arms that feel like cardboard boxes, just because the price was cheap, do you?

Sorry if I wasn't clear my idea of the right price is what you deem it to be worth, so if you go in DFS (or any other store you seem to have a problem with) and think its rubbish quality and over priced then don't buy it.

I do believe in choice as with all products you can pay less and get a worse quality product, it if you chose to do that then thats fine.

very_irate

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

That's exactly what many big chan stores do. In fact Dreams are the worst I have come across.

To start with they have a price promise. But almost all of their products are renamed, so you can't buy them anywhere else.

Then there is their fake 'better than half price sale', where as you say they have only sold the items in one or two stores, for a couple of weeks a year, in order to comply with the law. And because their made up RRP's are sky high, it actually means that their so called sale prices are sometimes double what you should be paying for the equivalent.

Sorry to disagree with your wisdom but you are wrong with regard to Dreams pricing policy. When Dreams increase a product in price in order to bring it down in price later in the year, the prices go up in EVERY store for a minimum of 28 days.


As for the price promise, yes the goods are renamed but this is the same nearly everywhere, and Dreams will honour the promise on equivilant items.

very_irate

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

It's the 'supposedly reputable companies' who are the worst for it.

Unfortunately most consumers don't realise how much they get ripped off on a daily basis.

There are very few honest retailers left.

Consumers don't walk around with their eyes closed, you know! If someone is stupid enough to pay full price for something when it is clearly being price established then they deserve all they get. Of course the big companies use loads of different techniques to drive people through the doors, but at the end of the day if they don't like what they see when they get into the shop there is nothing to stop them walking straight back out again!