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

cwp500

xxdiddiexx wrote: »

I didn't think Debenhams were accepting the Nectar card anymore? Are they?

Nope. They discontinued it and offered me a voucher for a cup of coffee in compensation!

havent bought a thing from them since.

Hkem

James_Bond wrote: »

I've heard that various "GAME" and other similar shops can sell pre-owned games for whatever they want aslong as they make at least 40% profit. So if more than 40% profit is made, the workers get a share. So I guess it's worth haggling in these types of shops, although I'm haven't tried it myself.

Rgds,

James Bond

Wrong. Can't haggle in GAME. No-one has that power in store so don't try.

You can work out the margins yourself. Trade in a game for £10, sell it for £20, that's 100% margin. That's why we offer the cheaper pre-owned alternative, it makes a hell of a lot more margin. It's one of the Key Performance Indicators of a store, how much pre-owned is sold, so don't expect anyone to fall over themselves to help you out on that.

Should add my own tip I guess. Damaged stock - the discount on these is at the line managers discretion, but for instance, a damaged plush doll could net a 40% reduction. Similarly, games that have lost the box are discounted at the managers discretion up to about 30%, depends how old it is. Just ask. Also, old strategy guides get 'written off' frequently and then sit about in the stockroom. They are effectively free (1p). I made a little girls day last week by giving her a free Pokemon Ranger strategy guide to go along with her preowned copy of the game (£17.99 preowned, trades in for £4, £19.99 new).

mrfourcreditcards

Be very wary of any Halfords sales as they over inflate prices on most sale items a few weeks before in order to claim a discount e.g.

Apollo X-Rated XC.05* 14/26" Mens Dirt Jump Style Bike

WAS £299.99 save £155.00

price: £144.99


This bike usually sells for £149.99, has done for years. The same is true for promotional Shockwave bikes that are supposedly half price at £149.99, when in fact this is all they are worth and £300 is way over the odds for the spec of the bikes.

avedajunkie

When sending in written complaints, ALWAYS address the complaint to the CEO of the company and always CC the letter to Watchdog. No retailer wants bad press and you will find that they will settle any complaints favourably.

zain355

Just a few little things i picked up from working in GAP: 1) When they are going into a sale (usually a few days before or the day before until very late at night) they will move stock around, maybe putting newer stock to the back of the store and bringing all the sale forward. Note, if you see staff carrying round a list and a pen, the are usually finding items that are due to go in sale, and will generally take one of each item anad take it into the back or the fittting rooms.

Sale prices when first marked down will end in a 9. I.e. £9.99. If an item is marked down to a price ending in a 7, i.e. 9.97, it means that this is the final mark down by head office of that item. I say head office because...when items have been in the store a long time, managers have the discression to "Kill Price" these items. On several occasions in two years i was told to do this to all items ending in a 7, usually markeing them down by half price. if an item has ben kill proces or the manager has set a lowere price than the one the item scans for...thee is usually a cross through the barcode so that it wont scan/the cashier notices to cut price scanning at. If ending in a 7, check other items, it may be that it was kill priced and the label has fallen of, and/or the staff forgot to damage the barcode. Say...i was here last week and this item/same item diff size was kill price, why isnt this one??? all sizes wil be discounted. Oh...on the same note...inside gap labels you'l find the season that the item entered the store...this can be a good indication as to wether it should be kiil price...or just to check how muc it scans for. Whilst there i saw skinnys, long and lean and bootcut go for £4.99Bargain!!!
BEWARE!1 Gap have changed their return policy twice in the last 6 months. It is now 30 days from the date of purchase. Some managers will use their disgression and allow the return if its over the 30 days in some circumstances, always ask ( but dont be ridiculous) we had people trying to return stock that wasnt even on our system or bared no resemblence to anything we sold...mayeb why policy changed. Also...if a long time out of 30 days but you have a good reason and say that you only want an exchange or you want to buy a different item, assuming the item is in stock, you are more likely to be sucessfull in returning the item.

The price reduction/alteration scheme has unfortunately stopped, i'm assuming again, probably becuause customers were being ridiculous, I had a customer (a frequent shopper in sale perid) returning several times in two weeks (usually on a saturday) returning almost a hundred items to recieve a price alteration of 1p...saving about £1!!! She probably spent more on petrol/bus rides getting into the city centre...the damage to the environment...all for £1. Needless to say i had great pleasure in telling her of the new policy .

Last bit...this isn't directly a money saving tip, but...Although gap have stopped doing stock transferrs and requests that were sent to the customers store or home...the tills can still carry out the merchandise locator function. If you see an item you want that is in the sale...and they dont have yoursize, perhaps a store nearby or near a relative will have it. Go to the cash wrap (till) and ask them to do a mercandise locate for you (it can provide a list of the four nearest stores that currently have the item or it can search a specifed store ( the codes for the stores are at all tills on a list with their telephone number, which you can request) along with the results comes the contact number for the store, you can try asking them to phone but as it is not a service they are meant to do anymore, you'll probably be unsucessfull. Get the cashier to write down the items style code and size, then take the list home and contact the stores on it, quoting the numbers. They can usually old for 24 hrs. Be polite and give a good reason as to why they should hold it.

Thats it really, hope it helps

trampoliningrach

If you go to a service station check out the kids deals. I spotted a "any 5 items for £2.99" deal at Oxford services and bagged 4x cheese sandwiches and a babybel (felt 5 sandwiches would've been a bit much!) and i got a capri sun drink thrown in as part of the deal. Works out at greater value for money than buying one "adult" sandwich. Didn't say you had to be a child or that the items had to be different. Winner!