The Great 46" Sony Bravia Hunt

Loobeylou

Hi there chrispyphillips - the way things went for me was that I phoned John Lewis at the Trafford Centre and the lady there took all my details, name, address, telephone number, the TV I was interested in and where I had seen it cheaper (Empire Direct). Within three days I received a letter which enclosed the leaflet I have quoted from, and stating that they would price match with Empire at their price of £949.99.

We then had to go to JL with the letter - the letter is important because it has on it a code which JL then feed into their computer as a kind of double check. The only thing that we did wrong was not checking prior to our visit that they actually had the goods in stock - we have to go back within the next couple of days to pick up the TV.

JL had stated that they would have preferred to deliver (for which they charge extra if you are not in their area, and we are not) so as not to "invalidate the warranty". My argument with that is that we could get the goods home and they may not work due to something which happened in transit from Sony to the store, and that I did not accept that this could invalidate the warranty.

Empire Direct have at least one shop if not two - certainly there is the Bradford store which my OH and I have visited previously, although you then have to travel to another part of Bradford for the pickup of the goods. I think their head office is Leeds and they may have another store there, I'm not sure.

As for the five year guarantee - I believe it is the standard guarantee on TV's from JL, not just a short term promotion.

As for Sony Centres, my experience is that they are great for seeing all the goods, but the prices are horrendous. Not sure if they are all the same, or even if they are willing to do a deal, but I have had no problems whatsoever finding the goods considerably cheaper elsewhere. We purchased a 20" TV in 2006 which we had initially priced up at a Sony Centre and then got from an on-line store. Had we known about JL's five year guarantee and price match at that time, no doubt we would have got it from them.

chrispyphillips

Thanks for your in depth reply Loo, very helpful.

I'm surprised JL matched you quite as efficiently as that, from what i'm reading about them recently. I think its a case of high demand and all that thats making them a bit snowed under with work and less festive, but at the end of the day, they're the ones getting the money for the TV's, so why they have a moan and be awkward to certain customers I dont know!

Another quickky, does the shop you are comparing the price with JL with, have to be in your, or your local JL's catchment area? i.e can i say to JL Bristol "Yeah but Bradford Empire Direct offer this TV for £1499.99" and still expect them to match, or does it have to be a shop local to that particular JL? Will they tell me to travel to JL Bradford and order from them, or pay for delivery from there to Wales? Its a great offer, but only if you can get a great deal on it!

Thanks again, the 40W2000 has never looked closer!!!

Loobeylou

chrispyphillips wrote:

Another quickky, does the shop you are comparing the price with JL with, have to be in your, or your local JL's catchment area? i.e can i say to JL Bristol "Yeah but Bradford Empire Direct offer this TV for £1499.99" and still expect them to match, or does it have to be a shop local to that particular JL? Will they tell me to travel to JL Bradford and order from them, or pay for delivery from there to Wales? Its a great offer, but only if you can get a great deal on it!

I have a feeling that one of the other posts (and it may not be this particular thread) mentioned that JL price matched with Empire Direct, even though Empire was not local to them. Empire do add £30 for delivery. Also mention to JL that Empire do match their own Internet price in-store.

Be aware that on the JL site it was stating that delivery was free, but their price for our particular TV was much more. By going to the store with the already received price match offer they were then wishing to charge extra for delivery as we were "not in their area". However, we insisted on collecting.

To be honest, I think it is worth a try with your most local JL - what have you got to lose? But be prepared with all the details of the Empire offer.

My motto -if you don't ask, you don't get!

Twopints

For those not going the John Lewis route, this is available at dabs for £1999.99 (+£22.20 Delivery):

Click Here

Plus if you go via Pigsback.com (a "cashback" type site) you can get the equivalent of 10% back, giving a net price of just over £1800. The points can be exchanged for Leisure vouchers or Boots vouchers etc.

:beer:

Pricy147

From what I have read here and elsehwhere - different JL stores seem to be more strict that other on PM.

I got JL Bristol to PM Empire Direct Bradford on the Sony KDL-46W2000 and also include the 5 yr warranty. I am out of their delivery catchment area - so were going to match Empire's delivery charge until I asked to pick the set up. They had no issue with this, and didn't mention anything around invalidating the warranty. Not sure if its going to fit in my boot - but picking up tomorrow.

I have also seen the set for 1980GBP on PRC Direct which I also believe JL PM - going to give this a go once I have the TV for another 90GBP discount.:rolleyes:

Loobeylou

Pricy147 wrote:

I got JL Bristol to PM Empire Direct Bradford on the Sony KDL-46W2000 and also include the 5 yr warranty. I am out of their delivery catchment area - so were going to match Empire's delivery charge until I asked to pick the set up. They had no issue with this, and didn't mention anything around invalidating the warranty. Not sure if its going to fit in my boot - but picking up tomorrow.

When I stated that I did not accept JL's claim that "collecting the TV may invalidate the warranty" I was advised that any reputable company should advise customers collecting TVs that due to the delicate nature of the contents they should be transported upright in the box, not laid flat.

Pricy147

They are contradicting themselves then in that case as they didn't warn me that!