GREAT 'WHAT SHOPS DON'T WANT US TO KNOW" HUNT

majvs

don't know if this has already been covered but a sales assistant in costco let this slip.if an items is priced £?.77 pence i.e the price ends in 77 pence before vat then this item has been reduced but they don't advertise the fact!

Michelle

jinks wrote:

OAKLEYS
If there are any members of the armed forces reading then contact Oakley UK direct and ask to be emailed the military price lists (email and tel # on the oakley.com website) there are special military discounts that are fairly well hidden.
These are the only Oakley discounts that I am aware of and some are as much as 50%.

MOBILES
Definitely haggle when your mobile phone contract is due for renewal (follow martins advice on this) I got a 'new customers only' contract and a phone worth £200 for free.

CARS
A friend of mine phoned 3 car dealers that were offering a discount. He managed to fight them off against each other for the same model and got a massive discount on a brand new car. In the end a pleasant lady told him that they get commission on each car sold (the lower the discount they give the more the commission!) and a bonus for monthly targets. She waived ALL her commission to give him an absolute bargain because otherwise he would have gone elsewhere and she would have one less sale towards her bonus!

SOFA
Does anybody have any experience with DFS. I have a sofa that is just over 2 years old (2 yr warrantee) and its knackered. We don't even use it that often as we both work. I'm not sure whether to write to them with a nice letter or try instore first. Are they helpful?

Hi Steve
DFS have been brilliant with us. We had a sofa (12 months) that lost its colour when cleaned and they replaced it with a brand new one. 18 months later the sofa again lost its colour and they replaced the total upholstery for us - we chose a new colour this time.
I cannot fault them - two thumbs up from me!
Michelle

shelagh

Hi, i bought 2 sofas and a footstool from DFS about 5 years ago but they were knackered from about 2 years after buying them. We also work and have only 1 chlidteenage, so we aren't hard users either. I have heard of a couple of instances when they were loads of hastle for people trying to get repairs etc. so i didn't bother. I am annoyed with myself now because the more people who complain the better services will be. However it's too late now.

AmandaD_2

Tis true about the debenhams/ nectar pointgate I'm afraid- I work there and we've been told not to ask customers anymore but you can still get points and use vouchers- it's just up to you guys!
A x

ttoli

TRAVEL INSURANCE FROM A HIGH ST AGENT

Probably the best mark up of all, I was a manager for Going Places and Travel Choice and can tell you that if a policy sells for £50 the net price is around the £7.50 mark,we were encouraged to tell 'scare stories', to encourage purchase of our policies, after all 'Who do you trust with your travel arrangements? if booking with a holiday state that you've been offered a policy off the web (Given the above price as an example and tell them you can get it for £10.)
Sales targets have to be met by close of business Saturday, otherwise the managers bonus is not paid, I and other managers regularly gave free insurance to close the sale on the holiday.

CAR INSURANCE (ESPECIALLY FOR GREY IMPORTS)

Phoning round Insurance brokers I dropped £200 off my previous quote with other brokers and they didn't seem to check, end result- cover for £210 less

ttoli

BOOKING A ONE WAY CAR FERRY?

Book a day return and pay in cash,(Travel agent or at Port) if you pay by credit card and the company twig that you've not used the return ticket(ie same day) they will charge the extra for standard one way(in height of summer this can be £150+ on DOVER-CALAIS). And they will twig as all car number plates are scanned now.

KleptisV

As a poor student (until recently) I visited Specsavers for my free sight test. This was at the rare time of year when they didn't have their 'Two for One' deal on. After my sight test, the optician recommended I look at frames, I said to her "will your two for one deal be restarting soon, because I'll come back then" her reply - "oh, I'll put a free pair through for you" - Just be nice, don't demand, and ask nicely! :cool:

superhoop

I bought something from Comet for about £100 at the weekend. I usually avoid them and DSG like the plague but I needed it for a gift in a hurry and it wasn't a bad deal etc etc.

Was about to pay when the cashier asked for my name and address. I challenged why she wanted it and she mumbled something about needing it for the "manufacturer's guarantee".

As I have hinted in earlier posts, this is absolute twaddle. Do you have to give your address if you buy a walkman from Woolies?

Checked the Ts & Cs on the invoice - they want your details to sell on to third companies to junk mail you.

Companies will also buy this data about who buys what from which postcode to ascertain levels of affluence, tastes etc.

My advice:

- Don't give out your address / personal details when purchasing in a shop

- Ask if providing your details are a condition of the purchase. It may be the case if you are buying an extended warranty, but then as many of us here know you should think twice about doing that anyway!

- If you're not satisfied, ask to see the manager before completing the purchase.

Why give your details to Comet so they can make a fast buck at your expense?

Steve

City_Gent_4

I worked in Miller Brothers when at university (10 years ago now) and the sales credits the salesmen got paid were shown to them by the pence on a price, eg. £49.99 paid 0.25%, £49.98 paid 0.5%, £49.97 paid 1%, £49.96 paid 2%, £49.95 paid 3%.

So beware of them trying to switch you from something with a ".99" suffix to a ".96" or ".95" suffix. And if you want something that has a lower suffix, you are more likely to be able get a discount

steve_c_7

In response to "5 STEPS TO ROCKET YOUR NECTAR POINTS BALANCE"

I tried this method with success for a couple of months and was doing rather well but a few weeks ago Meccagames.com closed my account whilst I had £4k deposited on the website. This meant that I could not withdraw the money back to my Barclaycard!!

After several frantic phonecalls to the company and being treated like a criminal by their "security department" who wanted an explanation of my gambling habits as they did not consider them normal, I was told that the only way that they would return my money was if I sent them copies of bills, driving license and BOTH sides of my Barclaycard (which I’m not sure is legal in itself).

I sent all this information to them and waited for a few weeks expecting a reply which did not come, I finally contacted the Meccagames security dept again who denied receiving my information.

I sent everything again by recorded delivery and received a letter today stating that my money would be returned in one weeks time, my account would remain closed and that a 5% handling fee is to be deducted, this is apparently stated under 6.5 of their terms and conditions-pays to read the small print.

Not only will I loose £200 for this 'handling fee' I am also incurring interest on my Barclaycard at about 25% apr.

Just a warning for those doing this, or thinking of it (oh, and also Barclaycard are stopping awarding Nectar points at the end of August but I’m sure this is relevant for other card award systems and gambling websites)

Although gutted I guess you have to accept that sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.

Steve