**Comet Liquidation Sale. Yeah. Right. . . **

hybernia

Comet isn't in liquidation but administration. The bean-counters now overseeing things have a duty to maximise whatever monies they can make. This presumably explains why the great 'Liquidation Sale'. . . isn't any such thing, but a further reminder of why an uncompetitive Comet landed in such a mess in the first place.

We went yesterday to the Liquidation Sale at our local Comet with a view to buying a new Panasonic Lumix TZ25 camera. It only came out this year and even at the full RRP of around £300 was excellent value for money. Thanks to the great Liquidation Sale, Comet has it on offer today at £55 less than RRP. Gosh wow. A £300 camera reduced to £245. Better grab it before anyone else does.

But we didn't. Instead, we came home, went on Amazon, and ordered the identical camera on free delivery for £170. And because we've ordered from Amazon as the supplier, our purchase qualifies for £30 cashback in the current Panasonic UK promotion.

So the actual price of the Panasonic Lumix TZ25 is just £140.

Comet is not a recognised retailer by Panasonic UK so the cashback offer doesn't apply. More to the point, Comet isn't going to be a retailer much longer anyway, so there'll be no recourse to it during the 12 month warranty period, and certainly no chance to take anything back after purchase (unlike the 30-day refund/replace period offered by Amazon.)

Deloitte, the accountants who have taken over Comet's affairs, might have been thought to know something about how to add up. Clearly not. And the fact that so many, many shoppers turned around and walked out empty-handed from our local store in the same way that we did makes you realise, how easy it is to earn £millions if you're a bean counting outfit that knows nowt about retail. Liquidation Sale?? Yeah. Right.

* If anyone is in the market for a new camera for Christmas and has a Panasonic model short-listed, then be careful of the way the Panasonic cashback offer is being run. For example, entering Panasonic Lumix TZ25 on Amaon UK will *not* take you to the page where the cashback is applicable because the camera being sold there is not by a retailer recognised by Panasonic. Instead, click on the righthand side of the page and choose the Amazon price. That way you'll qualify for the £30 cashback.

Ionkontrol

Shouldn't be a vulture then should you.

Azari

Thanks, hybernia.

Lots of useful info there that may stop someone paying more than they need.

Ignore any fatuous comments you may get.

shaun_from_Africa

Ionkontrol wrote: »

Shouldn't be a vulture then should you.

What is wrong with wanting to save over £100 on a single item?

lally666young

Ionkontrol wrote: »

Shouldn't be a vulture then should you.

That is not a very nice thing to say to a person, it would be different if the boot was on the other foot wouldnt it? I am not impressed with their sale i went to see about a breadmaker and the ones they had , had missing parts or no box and they still wanted the RRP, so yes I am with you on this one, shop around before you buy from there!

johnsons_baby

Our local branch was one that closed its doors yesterday. On Sunday there were queues to get in. My dad went with a view to buying a TV, in the window there was a 50% off sign, so he was hopeful of a bargain. Alas the TV he wanted was reduced but not by 50% and it was still cheaper elsewhere. The only difference he says he could see was that you could take the item away that day rather than awaiting delivery

George_Michael

The only difference he says he could see was that you could take the item away that day rather than awaiting delivery

There are other differences as well such as getting home and finding the item doesn't work then having to fight for a refund or exchange, or having it go wrong after the manufacturers warranty has expired and therefore having no one to attempt to enforce your SOGA rights upon.

I realise that it's often possible to claim from a credit card issuer under S75, but this isn't always easy and can take a long time to get a problem resolved.

johnsons_baby

True but I doubt he was thinking in that way at the time!

hybernia

Ionkontrol wrote: »

Shouldn't be a vulture then should you.

Aw, diddums. Mommy forgot to change your nappy again?

jhe

i went into comet just before it became public it was to go into administration to price some epson ink, price in comet £60, price at tesco £34. when i pointed the price difference out to the salesman he said yes but comet ink are buy two get one free!!!. called into comet last week to collect a pre ordered item, epson ink is now £60 (no buy 2 get 1 free), so maybe they dont really want to sell it.

mr_sharma

If Amazon's tax issues get addressed, will that mean an increase in their prices though?