MSE News: Comet in administration

Former_MSE_Helen

"Stricken electrical store Comet has gone into administration this afternoon, but there is no official news on what this means for customers with gift cards or outstanding orders..."

Read the full story:

Use Comet gift vouchers NOW before it goes into administration

And the updated story:
Comet crashes into administration: what it means for you

CRISPIANNE3

The last time I went into Comet was to buy a laptop. It was £500 and I asked if they would throw in a £10.00 carrier case for it. They said no.
I went next door to Currys and got the same laptop a £100 cheaper.

Sparkles87

Can't say I'm sad about the company, terrible customer services. But I feel for all those people losing their jobs.

lthrift

I have a washer dryer due for delivery Sunday.... Any ideas? I paid via PayPal:mad:

CoolHotCold

Lthrift it's likely business as usual until next week.

You will be protected by PayPal's scheme if Comet do go "T!T's Up"


The only thing to be worried is with your warranty, if it's a standard 12 months then unfortunately you wont be covered if anything goes wrong with it within that period if Comet do cease trading, look for alternative insurance schemes

VT82

CoolHotCold wrote: »

The only thing to be worried is with your warranty, if it's a standard 12 months then unfortunately you wont be covered if anything goes wrong with it within that period if Comet do cease trading, look for alternative insurance schemes

Nice that someone finally notes that's it's not an entirely foregone conclusion. The MSE article wouldn't have you think so! 'The electrical chain's demise will represent one of the biggest failures on the high street in recent years'

Didn't Game go into administration? And they seem back to normal a year later.

I hope Comet don't fail - I've had a few Quidco check-ins there, my little sister's washing machine only has the Comet 1 year warranty, and I've got £1.01 store credit on an SMS from them!

GooliesOfFire

A bit sad. Sorry for people who will lose jobs. Comet was my first job. Only for a week though as I found something better very quickly.

To be fair I was never attracted by Comet as a customer. It I was after a TV I would go to John Lewis to be honest (this year I bought my last LED TV in John Lewis, bluray player in Richer Sounds, new iPad abroad, some PC components in PC World - I usually get those online).

MerlinMags

So if I buy something with gift vouchers, I will have no comeback if it breaks.....but what if I spend some of the gift vouchers on a 3 yr warranty? Then I'd be covered, as long as the insurance was from a firm seperate to Comet????

KTF

CRISPIANNE3 wrote: »

I went next door to Currys and got the same laptop a £100 cheaper.

Why didnt you go to Currys in the first place?

jaxkesa

Good riddance.

I ordered a home cinema 2 weeks ago (was cheapest anywhere after discount code surprisingly), paid extra for Saturday delivery and waited in all day.

Nothing turned up and phone lines were closed so called them Sunday and was told 'it was delayed'. Asked for a refund and 9 days later it still hadn't been given so had to phone them again so they could 're-submit it'. It finally got paid back today! Phew!

With customer service like that, it's no surpise they have gone bust.

CoolHotCold

KTF wrote: »

Why didnt you go to Currys in the first place?

Probably didn't know they had the same laptop for £100 less.

BAD MSE USER BAD.

Anyway, Comet shutting their doors is my no means a forgone conclusion, however it's in a bad state.

Apparently the call centre people were told they were being made redundant.

The big issue is which company will want to take them over, it can't be a Venture capitalist or someone like OpCapita because no supplier will give stock without credit insurance or cash up front for deliveries. A VC or turn around company just doesn't have the cash to pay for "peak" stock, they also don't carry enough weight for the credit insurers (who insure the suppliers in case comet goes bust).


Best case scenario is a company like Tesco, Dixons, John Lewis, Argos, Best Buy or something along those lines with enough weight and finances behind them for the credit insurance companies to resume cover for stock. But I don't see anything like that happening due to the small timeframe involved in a administration procedure and the fact that Comet has pretty weak fundamentals.


Comet being sold to OpCapita for essentially Minus £90 Million (Dowry and Pension Deficit) was really the last chance for Comet.

What will probably happen is the property will be sold off and a Best Buy situation will occur, essentially a firesale of stock.


It's bad news for the employee's, it wasn't exactly their fault but OpCapita and senior management either couldn't or were unwilling to take the steps to solve the problem.




TL;DR Comet may survive, but unlikely and a Best Buy situation will probably occour