2020 Retailers in trouble thread

[anonymous-user]

I wont recount them again but 2 bad experiences with Currys mean I will go anywhere else, even if it costs more (it hasn't so far) rather than use them again

I'll also steer anyone I can away from them, bunch of s the lot of em

[survivalist]

Joey Deacon said:

dmahon said:

Curries are surely one of the worst retailers in the UK. I’ve often needed IT equipment at short notice and tried them and I don’t think they’ve ever had the item in stock.

The staff are completely disinterested too apart from the bit where they try to up sell the extended warranty.

It’s a shame because I think a good, well stocked electrical retailer with knowledgeable staff could still thrive.

Just remembered another one, my mother wanted two monitors the same with DVI sockets as her docking station only had DVI. We ended up going to 3 different currys before we found a branch that had two monitors the same. She didn't even care what brand they were as long as they were the same.

So I asked the helpful assistant if they had DVI sockets and he said "Yes". We get home, I open the first one and guess what......

We then ended up driving back to return them. In all we wasted five hours on a Saturday to end up empty handed. I could have ordered them in five minutes on Amazon and had them the next day.

I have given currys a few other chances since then and always come home empty handed. When I hear they are closing down I will have zero sympathy as they did it to themselves. Numerous times I have been there, money in hand to just pay and take my item and they have nothing in stock.

The reality is that there is so much information available now, that even seeing a product ‘in the flesh’ isn’t a huge value add for many items. Even for a monitor or laptop there are in-depth online reviews and videos on YouTube allow you to get a very good sense of what the item will be like to live with.

Anyway, it’s not like the staff in Currys provide much in the way of product knowledge, so you need to do your own research anyway.

[abzmike]

At the risk of re-opening the Italian casual dining tin of salami, Pizza Express shipping another 1300 jobs due to poor trading.

[noopets]

abzmike said:

At the risk of re-opening the Italian casual dining tin of salami, Pizza Express shipping another 1300 jobs due to poor trading.

We visited the one at Gretna Gateway on Tuesday. An absolutely soulless, expensive awful experience. I will gladly never step foot in one again.

[survivalist]

noopets said:

abzmike said:

At the risk of re-opening the Italian casual dining tin of salami, Pizza Express shipping another 1300 jobs due to poor trading.

We visited the one at Gretna Gateway on Tuesday. An absolutely soulless, expensive awful experience. I will gladly never step foot in one again.

Our local ones used to be fine before covid, however out of everywhere we’ve visited since July they have the highest quantity of stupid signs, arrows and unnecessary processes that have removed any sense of enjoyment.

[anonymous-user]

abzmike said:

At the risk of re-opening the Italian casual dining tin of salami, Pizza Express shipping another 1300 jobs due to poor trading.

Never mind that, Boots are shedding 4000.

[anonymous-user]

RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat said:

Never mind that, Boots are shedding 4000.

All that will be left is the supermarkets, Amazon and Woolworths.

[jammy-git]

And Pizza Express selling Tesco pizzas.

[hyphen]

abzmike said:

At the risk of re-opening the Italian casual dining tin of salami, Pizza Express shipping another 1300 jobs due to poor trading.

So having banked the profits from Eat Out To Help Out and maximising Furlough benefits, the private equity owners are now stripping down to the bare minimum. It's not like they will struggle to recruit at short notice if needed.

[jammy-git]

hyphen said:

abzmike said:

At the risk of re-opening the Italian casual dining tin of salami, Pizza Express shipping another 1300 jobs due to poor trading.

So having banked the profits from Eat Out To Help Out and maximising Furlough benefits, the private equity owners are now stripping down to the bare minimum. It's not like they will struggle to recruit at short notice if needed.

I imagine this will be true of a lot of businesses. In fact, it's that the whole point of the government schemes? Try to help businesses stay open as long as possible in the hope that they can find a way to keep going long term in the meantime, and those that don't, well at least it helps to stagger the closures and redundancies.

[LookAtMyCat]

One of the only times i've ever seen my wife lose her temper (other than with me) was in Currys about 5 years ago when the employee simply wouldn't let us purchase a laptop. He went on and on and on about the 'extras' for about 20 minutes, all along us politely stating that we weren't interested and we simply wanted to pay for the laptop. He just wouldn't stop, or let us buy the laptop.

We went home and bought it online, cheaper. Still can't understand how they survive.

[vaud]

LookAtMyCat said:

One of the only times i've ever seen my wife lose her temper (other than with me) was in Currys about 5 years ago when the employee simply wouldn't let us purchase a laptop. He went on and on and on about the 'extras' for about 20 minutes, all along us politely stating that we weren't interested and we simply wanted to pay for the laptop. He just wouldn't stop, or let us buy the laptop.

We went home and bought it online, cheaper. Still can't understand how they survive.

Because sadly a lot of their metrics are on the extras; just as they used to be on the extended warranty. No margin in the base unit. Heavy targets on upsell with very little commission for the salesman.

So bizarrely it can be better for the salesman for customer to walk than to buy the basic laptop with no extras... and avoid a grilling from the manager as to why you sold no extras...

(I started my life in shop floor retail)

[eccles]

LookAtMyCat said:

One of the only times i've ever seen my wife lose her temper (other than with me) was in Currys about 5 years ago when the employee simply wouldn't let us purchase a laptop. He went on and on and on about the 'extras' for about 20 minutes, all along us politely stating that we weren't interested and we simply wanted to pay for the laptop. He just wouldn't stop, or let us buy the laptop.

We went home and bought it online, cheaper. Still can't understand how they survive.

I had a very similar experience when I went to buy my first tablet. They wanted all my contact details 'for the warranty', which I refused to give. They tried to sell me Mcaffee for £65, but ended up giving it to me! I ended up with 2 salesmen and the manager trying to tell me it was for my own good that they needed all my details.I started to walk out and they finally relented. Got escorted to the till by the manager and one salesman, and the first question the girl on the till asked was for my email address!
Two weeks later after the tablet died, I took it back and all they needed was my mobile number to tell me when it was back. Looking back it makes me wonder why I sat thee arguing for half an hour, I should have walked out!

[vaud]

eccles said:

I had a very similar experience when I went to buy my first tablet. They wanted all my contact details 'for the warranty', which I refused to give. They tried to sell me Mcaffee for £65, but ended up giving it to me! I ended up with 2 salesmen and the manager trying to tell me it was for my own good that they needed all my details.I started to walk out and they finally relented. Got escorted to the till by the manager and one salesman, and the first question the girl on the till asked was for my email address!
Two weeks later after the tablet died, I took it back and all they needed was my mobile number to tell me when it was back. Looking back it makes me wonder why I sat thee arguing for half an hour, I should have walked out!

Just set up a gmail address for goods. Having the e-receipt isn't the worst idea in the world and you can ignore the rest of the junk. Just access the address when you need a warranty claim, etc.

[eccles]

vaud said:

eccles said:

I had a very similar experience when I went to buy my first tablet. They wanted all my contact details 'for the warranty', which I refused to give. They tried to sell me Mcaffee for £65, but ended up giving it to me! I ended up with 2 salesmen and the manager trying to tell me it was for my own good that they needed all my details.I started to walk out and they finally relented. Got escorted to the till by the manager and one salesman, and the first question the girl on the till asked was for my email address!
Two weeks later after the tablet died, I took it back and all they needed was my mobile number to tell me when it was back. Looking back it makes me wonder why I sat thee arguing for half an hour, I should have walked out!

Just set up a gmail address for goods. Having the e-receipt isn't the worst idea in the world and you can ignore the rest of the junk. Just access the address when you need a warranty claim, etc.

That's just it, they are purely data harvesting, there's no need for my home address or email address or phone number, all that matters when I walk in is that I have a valid receipt.

[anonymous-user]

You can cancel any uplift insurance sale using the 14 day cooling off period law if you don't fancy arguing the toss in the store.

[anonymous-user]

jsf said:

You can cancel any uplift insurance sale using the 14 day cooling off period law if you don't fancy arguing the toss in the store.

Or just walk and buy from Amazon or Manufacturers direct and force them to change

Can we predict on this thread? Based on being in town a few times in the last couple weeks can I nominate Pret?

3 within 5 minutes of my office near Cannon Street, all prime locations, they must be haemorrhaging money

[vaud]

eccles said:

That's just it, they are purely data harvesting, there's no need for my home address or email address or phone number, all that matters when I walk in is that I have a valid receipt.

Personally I find email receipts very useful as I often lose the physical version...

[jammy-git]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I imagine they'll announce lots of closures but they'll be OK in the long term.

[hyphen]

vaud said:

eccles said:

That's just it, they are purely data harvesting, there's no need for my home address or email address or phone number, all that matters when I walk in is that I have a valid receipt.

Personally I find email receipts very useful as I often lose the physical version...

Especially for things that have a 3 year/5 year warranty. You just need to make sure you opt out- big names who do this such as Halfords, JL etc are not going to spam you without permission.