Halfruads

Author
Discussion

Frederick

5,698 posts

221 months

Monday 26th May 2008
quotequote all
The up to half price stuff is either old kit (garmin 350t's etc), soon to be obsolete kit (sony nav-u range as they're pulling out of the euro nav market) or billy basic, non user friendly stuff (route 66's)

The amount of people who really think that a branded, current unit (say TomTom One XL UK) that was at sale everywhere for £169.99 will suddenly become £84.99 really makes me worry for the sake of the country.

The adage that you don't get something for nothing is still very apt. If people were to pay attention to advertisements they'd then see that the "up to" bit is not only repeated during the advert but it is also put up at the end in actual real letters too!

FWIW the ASA did have a pop at Halfords the first time they ran the Up To 50% off Sat Nav offer, and they sided with the company being that it wasn't their fault people were mongs (basically).

Read it for yourself here

What I don't agree with is the ramping of prices up to unrealistic levels to sell at a massive discount, but that is unfortunately synonymous with retail. Imo consumers have brought this kind of action upon themselves - constant "discount" this, "bargain" that, "what's the best price for cash guv'nor" etc has forced companies to play hardball back.

You aren't getting a "discount" unit, you're getting a unit that is worth the money you're paying for it. If you paid the higher price for it, then tough titty - If you would pay £249.99 for a no-name Route 66 over a branded TomTom 720 or similar, you deserve all the hassle it is going to undoubtedly give you.

And if you don't, can't or will not realise that "up to" means that they could quite literally give you 0.0001% off, then again, I fear for the state of the country!

What makes me laugh is that people STILL ask for discounts, things chucked in for free even during high profile marketing blitzes such as the above! FFS - Give it a rest!!!

Owt for nowt pikeys, plain and simple!

Alfa_75_Steve

7,489 posts

201 months

Monday 26th May 2008
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Are you serious that 'Route 66' are 'no name'?

They're one of the biggest names in mapping and SatNav after TomTom and Garmin.

Frederick

5,698 posts

221 months

Monday 26th May 2008
quotequote all
Alfa_75_Steve said:
Are you serious that 'Route 66' are 'no name'?

They're one of the biggest names in mapping and SatNav after TomTom and Garmin.
Yes, I am serious - have you used their hardware?

They may be a big player in the software market, but in hardware - they don't have a hope in hell.

The biggest names in mapping are Navteq and Tele Atlas, the biggest names in the PND market are TomTom, Garmin and Navman. R66, along with Mio (who own Navman incidentally) and Navigon tend to sell their software to multiple companies.

Just because they we their software all over the place does not make them good.

page3

4,922 posts

252 months

Monday 26th May 2008
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Frederic, remember though in the case of TomTom, the One (v3), One XL, 520, 720, 920 are old versions.

Frederick

5,698 posts

221 months

Monday 26th May 2008
quotequote all
page3 said:
Frederic, remember though in the case of TomTom, the One (v3), One XL, 520, 720, 920 are old versions.
True, however the v4 One and One XL are yet to hit the market, so the v3 One and One XL are still technically current.

The x20 kit is 'end of life' now, you're correct.

Negative Creep

24,990 posts

228 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
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Adrian W said:
to top it all i was just channel hopping and started watching an old fifth gear on Dave, and theres a sponsers ad implying Halfords would spray your car while you wait,

How are they getting away with it?
Are you being serious? You'd expect to turn up them someone walk outside, give you car a quick once over, then drive away? Would you take your car to get the clutch done then expect the receptionist to do it in the car park in 10 minutes?

Adrian W

Original Poster:

13,881 posts

229 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
Negative Creep said:
Adrian W said:
to top it all i was just channel hopping and started watching an old fifth gear on Dave, and theres a sponsers ad implying Halfords would spray your car while you wait,

How are they getting away with it?
Are you being serious? You'd expect to turn up them someone walk outside, give you car a quick once over, then drive away? Would you take your car to get the clutch done then expect the receptionist to do it in the car park in 10 minutes?
I wouldnt but at first glance thats what the advert implies, someone on here said it's a chips away type service. Why can't adverts be simple honest and clear to everyone. smug clever types on here keep harping on about the ads saying up to and therefor their honest. No there not! In the old days when a shop had a loss leader at least they had it.

dern

14,055 posts

280 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
Adrian W said:
I wouldnt but at first glance thats what the advert implies, someone on here said it's a chips away type service. Why can't adverts be simple honest and clear to everyone. smug clever types on here keep harping on about the ads saying up to and therefor their honest. No there not! In the old days when a shop had a loss leader at least they had it.
If honesty has become the name of the game then and we're coming across as 'smug clever types' then the simple truth of the matter is that you're just being thick.

Have a nice day.

Negative Creep

24,990 posts

228 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
Adrian W said:
Negative Creep said:
Adrian W said:
to top it all i was just channel hopping and started watching an old fifth gear on Dave, and theres a sponsers ad implying Halfords would spray your car while you wait,

How are they getting away with it?
Are you being serious? You'd expect to turn up them someone walk outside, give you car a quick once over, then drive away? Would you take your car to get the clutch done then expect the receptionist to do it in the car park in 10 minutes?
I wouldnt but at first glance thats what the advert implies, someone on here said it's a chips away type service. Why can't adverts be simple honest and clear to everyone. smug clever types on here keep harping on about the ads saying up to and therefor their honest. No there not! In the old days when a shop had a loss leader at least they had it.
I don't think in the 5-10 seconds the ad runs they'd have time to tell you it's by a 3rd party, is subject to inspection and can't be done instantly. Can't thin of a way to say this without being offensive, but how do you not realise repainting a car takes more than 5 minutes? If you take everything ads say at face value you must be disappointed at every shop you go to!

Frederick

5,698 posts

221 months

Friday 30th May 2008
quotequote all
Adrian W said:
Negative Creep said:
Adrian W said:
to top it all i was just channel hopping and started watching an old fifth gear on Dave, and theres a sponsers ad implying Halfords would spray your car while you wait,

How are they getting away with it?
Are you being serious? You'd expect to turn up them someone walk outside, give you car a quick once over, then drive away? Would you take your car to get the clutch done then expect the receptionist to do it in the car park in 10 minutes?
I wouldnt but at first glance thats what the advert implies, someone on here said it's a chips away type service. Why can't adverts be simple honest and clear to everyone. smug clever types on here keep harping on about the ads saying up to and therefor their honest. No there not! In the old days when a shop had a loss leader at least they had it.
Erm, yes - they are being honest... do you realise just how much money a length of advertising whitespace on TV can cost?? To get value for money they have to cram as much as possible into that whitespace and make it as easy to understand as possible.

Just because you think that the distinction of the words UP and TO could be made more forthcoming, doesn't mean they *have* to...

FYI Halfords use M&C Saatchi for advertising, they're a big big player... it's not some bod at Halfords HO saying "lets make this one deliberately misleading", they contract Saatchi to run an advert, Saatchi produce an advert and the HO say "yeah, we'll run that one". If your vitriol is to be directed at anyone it's M&C Saatchi.

In the old days, people didn't harp on about discount, or try smug crap like "I like it, but I don't like the price" or some other junk like that. If you want to get honest sale prices, then don't expect the earth, don't ask for discounts when they're not being offered and don't complain when a sale event starts up.

As for the dent repair advert - it may as well imply that they only do it if your car is blue, driven by a female and is of indeterminate manufacturer of origin. Get real, seriously. You're saying that adverts would be nice and clear in the old days, yet you're picking up on one of the simplest adverts on the TV saying it isn't clear...

Would you rather they put a big block of text saying "service not done outside in the carpark, will require up to 2 weeks lead time, service subcontracted through to an outside agent, not all chips, dents or scratches may be repairable and the job may require a bodyshop. Price varies with application, please contact your local store for details"

If you can read all that as it flashes up on TV in a 5 or 10 second advert, then you're a better man than I.

Frederick

5,698 posts

221 months

Friday 30th May 2008
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Just realised I've echo'ed NC's points - sorry mate, was unintentional!

Funk

26,300 posts

210 months

Friday 30th May 2008
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Can't complain really though - I went into my local one today to replace my TomTom 910 (with daily use, it no longer charges or works properly when on the (very crap) mount).

Bullet bitten, I went for the TomTom 920T as I want European and US mapping (I know there's a 930T out now, but wait 'til you hear what I got it for..!). The original price was £279 and I haggled them down to £249. The 930T was £380 and all it seemed to offer over the 920T was 'Intelligent Mapping' based on average speeds (arguably useful) and something about clearer images or lane guidance when you get to roundabouts etc - basically not worth paying another £130 for..! Certainly I've not had issues with the clarity of lane guidance on the 910 I had.

The 920T's a lovely-looking bit of kit, took all the updates seamlessly from the TomTom Home software and my favourites etc were moved over in seconds. Can't fault it.

Edited by Funk on Friday 30th May 02:23

Robbed666

38 posts

210 months

Friday 30th May 2008
quotequote all
Strange I have a 910 which has US mapping as standard??
Tte biggest problems I find with the 910 are:

The fking stupid place and size of the reset button!

The fact you can set position as a favoutite which is off the road, such as a new housing
estate road etc, no problem! You just can't navigate back to it!!!

This became apparent on hoilday in Florida, whilst staying in a new build villa.
Had to find the closest shown road, and set a point on it!

Having had serveral other systems, Route66 , Mio, Navman, Garmin, Autoroute (Streets & trips in the US), Co-pilot, I-Guidance, Medion, Navigon and Telmap to name a few...

I find this crap for the so called 'premier' System (P.s I don't think it is, personally!! ;-) )

Edited by Robbed666 on Friday 30th May 19:19

Funk

26,300 posts

210 months

Friday 30th May 2008
quotequote all
Robbed666 said:
Strange I have a 910 which has US mapping as standard??
It does indeed - I wanted to keep US mapping, hence the choice of 920T rather than 730T which I don't believe has US maps pre-loaded. smile

Kinky

39,575 posts

270 months

Friday 30th May 2008
quotequote all
I think the way it's coded is that the 530 has the UK/IE maps, the 730 has the euro maps, and the 930 has the US/euro maps.

I have to confess, I'm in the market for one at the mo and torn between the 730T, the Garmin 760T and the Pogo Drive. Really struggling frown


Funk

26,300 posts

210 months

Friday 30th May 2008
quotequote all
Kinky said:
I think the way it's coded is that the 530 has the UK/IE maps, the 730 has the euro maps, and the 930 has the US/euro maps.

I have to confess, I'm in the market for one at the mo and torn between the 730T, the Garmin 760T and the Pogo Drive. Really struggling frown
If I hadn't gotten such a good price on the 920T, I'd have gone for the 730T. TomTom still deliver the best performance IMO, and I've tried others out. It's like Nokia - very intuitive and nothing else feels quite 'right'.

Irish

3,991 posts

240 months

Monday 2nd June 2008
quotequote all
page3 said:
audidoody said:
Looks like there clearing out end-of-line TomToms etc before the new updated stock arrives
But not trying particularly hard. I just got my TomTom 720 online for £50 less than the Halfords 'deal'.
Where are the best deals at the minute? Would like to update my Garmin pre Le Mans.

Kinky

39,575 posts

270 months

Monday 2nd June 2008
quotequote all
Irish said:
page3 said:
audidoody said:
Looks like there clearing out end-of-line TomToms etc before the new updated stock arrives
But not trying particularly hard. I just got my TomTom 720 online for £50 less than the Halfords 'deal'.
Where are the best deals at the minute? Would like to update my Garmin pre Le Mans.
http://www.satnav-discounts.co.uk/tomtom-go/nuvi_deals.htm

Thirsty33

250 posts

237 months

Monday 2nd June 2008
quotequote all
The other Halfraud is having offers only on the web site which are out of stock - they are in stock in all the branches, just not in stock on-line. Now I call that dishonest.

Frederick

5,698 posts

221 months

Monday 2nd June 2008
quotequote all
Thirsty33 said:
The other Halfraud is having offers only on the web site which are out of stock - they are in stock in all the branches, just not in stock on-line. Now I call that dishonest.
That's why they do reserve & collect, so that you get the web price but (shock, horror) have to get off your arse to visit the shop...

If it's a web exclusive offer then you will find they're better deals than the shops can offer, albeit delivery only. If not - most (if not all) stores will honour a website price if they have it in stock... where is the dishonesty there?