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

Sausage_Roll

In Greggs, if your food isn't cooked well enough, or the sandwich 'tastes funny' or is a bit on the light side, your entitled to a refund and a replacement.:cool:

hezb

don't know if this has been posted but waitrose still give offer discount to reduced food. (ie, 2 for £5 the money will still come of when you buy the same in reduced items!!!) worked for me yesterday buying milkshake.

mum2alex

Not sure if this will have been covered already, but the law on sales items says that an item has to have been at full price for a period of 28 days in the last 6 months. The shop I used to work in had a permanent sale on (made-to-measure curtains), and we had the stock divided into 6, and each month would be a different set of fabrics, so if you are looking for something along those lines at a store that always has a sale on, it is worth waiting till the following month (or asking the staff) to see if what you want is reduced.



Also, not sure if it got answered in the end, but re: nectar in Debenhams, I was told by one of the staff (I worked there a few years ago so am still friendly with some of the staff) that they are not allowed to ask for the cards as they feel customers have had long enough to get used to using them. They still accept them at the moment, but the idea that they are pulling out certainly seems plausible!

jago25_98

Goods sabotaged to break.

When you buy anything it can be designed so it can break shortly after the warrenty period. A personal contact at a company confirmed this, as has personal experience with many products;

• laptops(Acer hinge),
• mobile phones (k750i joypad),
• wetsuits(billabong ocillator thread patch glue and excessive stitching),
• TVs with components with magnets that degrade after exactly 53 weeks,
• the silver effect finish on plastics that rubs off (Acer laptops and many more),
• the list goes on!

It's most common with the bigger companies.

- so examine the quality of your goods before you buy, ALWAYS. This should be a tip from Martin repeated

gifteddante

jago25_98 wrote:

Goods sabotaged to break.

When you buy anything it can be designed so it can break shortly after the warrenty period. A personal contact at a company confirmed this, as has personal experience with many products;

• laptops(Acer hinge),
• mobile phones (k750i joypad),
• wetsuits(billabong ocillator thread patch glue and excessive stitching),
• TVs with components with magnets that degrade after exactly 53 weeks,
• the silver effect finish on plastics that rubs off (Acer laptops and many more),
• the list goes on!

It's most common with the bigger companies.

- so examine the quality of your goods before you buy, ALWAYS. This should be a tip from Martin repeated

Rubbish, absolute rubbish!!!

Obviously paint finishes on 'Cheaper' items will go before 'better' makes.

I think your ' personal contact' has 'verbal diarrhea' - 'TVs with components with magnets that degrade after exactly 53 weeks' LOL this is !!!!!! for 2 reasons.
1. The only components in a tv that uses magnets are the speakers!
2. Magnets take years and years to degrade in hot conditions, you are talking 10's of years. So your tiny tv speakers should outlast you easily They simply cannot be manufactured to fail within a certain time frame.

Please don't see this as an attack on you, have a word with your 'contact' and suggest he/she stops fabricating the laws of physics!

jago25_98

I admit that I hadn't personally seen the TV one. It could be an old wives tale, that wasn't something that I heard about from someone inside an R&D lab. They did give me an exact example of something they did but it's not fair to say what.

The TV example is rubbish, forget it. There is a magnet inside the transformer that could have been the component, but I can't remember, sorry. To be honest this was something an electrician told me at work ages ago who said it was 'from years a go' and that he had hundereds of the same model all failing shortly after the warrenty period. I've lost contact with this guy and I don't even remember the exact component that was failing exactly and I'm not even 100% sure it was anything to do with magnets but I remember him convincing me pretty well.

Regarding the wetsuit here's a picture:
http://lh5.google.com/image/ajpearceUK/RWtuTDZmABE/AAAAAAAAAAk/MzPTKYQY_vg/s160-c/UntitledAlbum.jpg

Under that iron-on tab is an open thread. When the tab comes off the whole wetsuit comes unstitched. Each tab is glued on. You can buy stuff called `iron mend` that is just like the iron on patches used on the wetsuit. However, the iron mend doesn't peel off so a different glue is used there. Alone it isn't enough as it doesn't mean it's deliberate of course but bear this in mind.

Regarding the silver finish on things.
On some newer Acer laptops you have arrows on the scroll bit a bit like this:
http://212.66.5.7/mediaserver/media/10413/AMILO_D1845_touchpad_lo.jpg
these scratch off with a light fingernail rub. Try it in your local comet. Again, this could just be a mistake.

See the fabric finish on newer mobile phones - designed to wear out?

There are 2 layers to get the silver effect. Get it right and both layers stay together. Get it wrong and the top layer rubs off.


I admit I could do with one definate example to be absolutely sure. But having heard it from a guy who has designed stuff to do this, and who has a company email address that was enough for me to believe it.

I would recommend consideration of long term economics when buying something rather than just looking at the price in any event.

Examine how stitching is terminated especially.
Examine seems. Examine glue that can come unstuck. Examine the clamshell design of your phone that has a ribbon copper cable inside. Things are not made like M&S in the forties anymore.

It also it doesn't work to assume that higher price equal better quality. Price is actually increased because we think that and it actually sells more because of it! Plasma TVs sell for thousands and they aren't cheap. I used to work in a factory making these TVs. The bit that does all the colour costs thousands to replace and generally wasn't worth it. The people on the line always recommended not buying one at the discounted rate for exmployees as they were all going wrong at the same time. The grass was greener on the other side of town though as we know about dead LCD pixel policies don't we!

gifteddante

jago25_98 wrote:

I admit that I hadn't personally seen the TV one. It could be an old wives tale, that wasn't something that I heard about from someone inside an R&D lab. They did give me an exact example of something they did but it's not fair to say what.

The TV example is rubbish, forget it. There is a magnet inside the transformer that could have been the component, but I can't remember, sorry. To be honest this was something an electrician told me at work ages ago who said it was 'from years a go' and that he had hundereds of the same model all failing shortly after the warrenty period. I've lost contact with this guy and I don't even remember the exact component that was failing exactly and I'm not even 100% sure it was anything to do with magnets but I remember him convincing me pretty well.

Yeah, as I say I'm not saying you are wrong about the others but the only magnets in a TV are in the speakers. The HV transformer has coils of wire which create an electro-magnet, so unless it was that was failing all the time.

Incedently, The cyberhome range of DVD players have really poor PSU's inside, Myself and my parents bought one each and both failed within a week of each other after 18 months. I fixed the pair of them using uprated components for 2 quid! The PSU is where they cut the cost as the laser units are all precision units and cannot really be made on the cheap.

real1314

jago25_98 wrote:

Regarding the wetsuit here's a picture:
http://www.ajpearce.co.uk/files/pics/DSC00209.JPG

Under that iron-on tab is an open thread. When the tab comes off the whole wetsuit comes unstitched. Each tab is glued on. You can buy stuff called `iron mend` that is just like the iron on patches used on the wetsuit. However, the iron mend doesn't peel off so a different glue is used there. Alone it isn't enough as it doesn't mean it's deliberate of course but bear this in mind.
QUOTE]

Er, that's a rechargeable battery????

jago25_98

Apologies! Goodness me I've never laughed so hard! What on earth was going on there!?

I seem to be having very stange website problems! Very strange indeed! Let's try google instead:
http://lh5.google.com/image/ajpearceUK/RWtuTDZmABE/AAAAAAAAAAk/MzPTKYQY_vg/s160-c/UntitledAlbum.jpg

marklar_2

jackrabbitslim wrote:

Did you know that if your food takes more than 3 minutes to arrive @ McDonalds you can ask for your money back and keep the food? I do it nearly every time I order. Someone told me who worked there ages ago, I've been doing it for years and they always cough up.

Simply place your order and if it takes more that 3 mins take your food and then ask for your money. Veggie option WILL ALWAYS take more than 3 mins cause they have to cook them fresh. As a "Fast Food" restaurant the food must be delivered in 3 mins to be considered "fast".

Happy Eating:T :rotfl: :T

I know this is an old comment I have stumbled across but felt it appropriate to comment that this is the usual load of rubbish. Like McDonalds myths almost. I worked for McDonalds for 10 years and never has it been common practice to do this. Its simply down to discretion.