HMV Consumers Beware

the_syco

This is an another example of how much the Irish public is being ripped off. Read this and shop carefully.

Wednesday, 13 August 2003



Mr. John Taylor
Marketing Manager
HMV U.K.
Film House
142 Wardour Street
London  W1F 8LN
U.K.

Dear Mr. Taylor,

I have been a regular customer of HMV in Ireland since I moved
 to Dublin in 1999.  I am an avid collector of films on both video 
and DVD and probably spend on average €80 per month toward 
my collection.  My partner is a very aggressive collector of music, 
spending around €200 per month on music. I would estimate that 
we give 80% of our music and movie-buying business to HMV.


I am writing to you today to let you know that we will no longer 
be giving our custom to HMV.  This past weekend we were 
shopping on Grafton Street in Dublin.  We were drawn into the 
HMV shop by the large signs posted in your window advertising a 
buy one, get one free promotion you are currently running on 
DVDs.  I had intended to purchase a film that day to add to my 
collection and was enticed by the offer.


When we started looking at the films that were part of your 
promotion we were shocked to see the prices they were being 
sold for – ranging from €29.99 to €44.99.  Since I am a regular 
buyer of DVDs I have a good idea of what the going prices are for 
DVDs and was instantly aware of the blatant underhandedness 
of your so-called promotion.  It was obvious that the prices had 
been inflated to compensate for the “free” DVD.  Your promotion 
was only intended to sell your customer a second DVD that they 
may or may not have wanted under the guise that they would be 
saving money by getting a “free” DVD.


I have attached a copy of a spreadsheet comparing the prices of 
eight of your promotional titles with that of five of your 
competitors and the HMV on-line shop.  I found these prices 
myself on the Internet and by ringing my local shops for quotes.  
They are all the exact same films, special editions etc., and I 
obtained the prices all on the same day.  The Internet 
comparisons even include the costs for shipping and handling.



As you can see from my brief research your promotion is no 
promotion at all and in some cases two titles could be purchased 
from your competitors at their full price and still be cheaper than 
one of your titles at your inflated “promotional” prices.  I am not a 
business minded person and I don’t know much about marketing 
but your attempt at fooling your customers is not very well 
disguised.


My partner and I have taken such offence to your insult to our 
intelligence and your attempt at greedily trying to trick us out of 
our hard-earned money that we will no longer give HMV our 
business.  He and I work for companies with several 20-
somethings on staff who are avid consumers of movies, music 
and games. We have brought this discovery to their attention 
and have shared the research with them.  A few have already 
passed on the information to their friends as well.


Perhaps HMV is not aware of the current global economic climate.  
Maybe HMV thinks that consumers are making money hand over 
fist and spending it just as frivolously.  It is conceivable that HMV 
is not aware that our Tanaiste Mary Harney is impressing upon us 
how important it is to compare prices and shop around due to 
companies like yours who are more interested in ripping us off 
with underhanded marketing ploys than giving us a fair price and 
good value.


People in Ireland are very aware of fair and unfair prices, Mr. 
Taylor.  Every week there are stories of businesses closing down 
and hundreds of people losing their jobs.  The cost of living in 
Ireland is one of the highest in the European Union.  We are 
aware more than ever of how much things cost and where we 
want our money to go.


Is it because you are an entertainment-oriented company that 
you feel your customers will tolerate overpriced products and 
marketing manipulation?  Is HMV aware of the growing popularity 
of Internet based companies who are happy to give customers 
fair pricing, value and service?  Maybe HMV should spend less 
time thinking up ways to trick customers into spending more and 
figure out a more respectable and respectful way of gaining and 
keeping customers.


I am one customer that your little trick did not work on, Mr. 
Taylor.  Not only did you not sell me that extra DVD that I had no 
intention of buying but you didn’t sell me the DVD that I had 
intended to buy AND you have lost my partner’s and my business 
and respect indefinitely.  The people I work with, all of my friends 
and anyone any of them pass this information to will think twice 
before giving HMV their business as well.  I call it my “piss one 
cautious customer off, lose ten customers free” promotion!


Sincerely,



Kelley Miller
Dublin, Ireland


Cc:  Simon Douglas, HMV Operations Manager; Breffni O’Malley, 
The Irish Times; Bill Tyson, Irish Independent; Tanaiste, Mary 
Harney

prices as of 13/08/03 INDIVIDUAL RETAIL COST

• DVD TITLE- HMV IRE- hmv.co.uk -Tower IRE- Music City IRE -Golden Disc IRE -amazon.co.uk -tower.co.uk
• The Terminator - Special Edition 2 disc set Film & features NOT 1 & 2 -€44.99 -€36.27 -€36.99 -€32.99 -€32.95 -€27.32 -€32.31
  
• Dirty Dancing- -€31.99 -n/a -€16.99 -€27.99 -€12.95 -€11.96 -€9.94
• The Shining - Kubrick -€31.99 -€29.20 -€16.99 -€27.99 -€28.95 -€23.36 -€13.26
• I Am Sam -€30.99 -€29.20 -€36.99 -€31.99 -€32.95 -€27.63 -€16.58
• Gone With The Wind -€29.99 -€29.20 -€14.99 -€12.99 -€12.95 -€11.96 -€16.58
• Basic Instinc - Special Edition 2 disc set -€29.99 -€29.20 -€31.99 -€14.99 -€25.95 -€27.63 -€19.90
• Ben Hur -€29.99 -€29.20 -€31.99 -€12.99 -€12.95 -€11.96 -€16.58
• Cleopatra - Special Edition 3 disc set -€39.99 -n/a -€43.99 -€33.99 -€32.95 -€29.06 -€32.31
• Shipping & Handling -€0.00 -€1.99 -€0.00 -€0.00 -€0.00 -€1.99 -€4.95
• TOTAL -€269.92 -€184.26 -€230.92 -€195.92 -€192.60 -€172.87 -€162.41
• Average cost per DVD -€33.74 -€30.71 -€28.87 -€24.49 -€24.08 -€21.61 -€20.30

NOTE: UK prices have been converted from Sterling prices with the exchange rate as of 13/08/03. Internet prices include shipping and handling charges.

Seth Brundle

This is already being discussed in the thread HMV "Buy 1 DVD, get one free" RIP-OFF!

spongebob

http://www.cdwow.com

(prices are in UKP incl VAT and delivery by post ...all Region 2)

In Euros They are

Terminator Special Edition 2 Disc €20
Cleopatra 3 Disc €21.30
Gone wih de wind €13.00

Creamy Goodness

lol buying from cdwow you save 19 quid omg!


I will never buy from hmv ever again

spongebob

and that is from Hong Kong by post in less than a calendar week too.

Straight in the letterbox , no grief from DHL .

M

sceptre

Originally posted by Muck
and that is from Hong Kong by post in less than a calendar week too.

I was pretty shocked last December when I ordered the LOTR extended DVD four days before Christmas only to get it through the letterbox two days later. I'd recommend them to anyone.

I was in HMV yesterday with 60 euros of vouchers in my pocket and decided buying any DVDs I'd be interested in would still equal me being ripped off (Family Guy season one was €44 so I ordered it elsewhere (not CDWow as it happens, they don't have it in stock) for €14 delivered to my door). I'll use them in Waterstones or Hodges Figgis instead (yeah, I know it all goes to the same place but that's not the point)


Anyone who gives me HMV vouchers for end-of-year-not-necessarily-religious-Santa-festival will be killed once for every voucher they give

gandalf

Just as a follow up to this Aideen Sheehan has taken up the torch in the Indo

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=35&si=1036051&issue_id=9706 [Requires Registration]

How DVD prices can vary greatly



MUSIC and video chain HMV has been accused of ripping customers off by selling DVDs at up to twice the price charged by their competitors while loudly proclaiming a special two-for-one deal.

HMV has categorically denied inflating their prices to compensate for their promotion, but said they will review the policy of staging two-for-one deals after an avalanche of email objections sparked by a consumer complaint.

Dublin-based movie buff Kelley Miller was so incensed by the prices she discovered on sale in HMV in Grafton Street that she conducted a survey of DVD prices at other stores, and found massive disparities.

As an avid collector of films, on which she spends around €80 per month, Ms Miller said she was drawn into HMV by large signs advertising a 'buy one, get one free' promotion, but was shocked to find prices ranging from €29.99 to €44.99 as she was well aware of the going rates.

She was so incensed by her findings that she has written a strong letter of complaint to HMV's marketing department in the UK, and alerted Your Money to the problem, and circulated her findings very widely by email.

"As you can see from my brief research, your promotion is no promotion at all, and in some cases two titles could be purchased from your competitors at their full price and still be cheaper than one of your titles at your inflated 'promotional' prices," she wrote to HMV.

"My partner and I have taken such offence at your insult to our intelligence and your attempt at trying to trick us our of our hard-earned money that we will no longer give HMV our business," she said.

Ms Miller has also made a complaint to Tánaiste Mary Harney and has been told she will consider the matter on her return from holiday.

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said they were very disappointed that Ms Miller's criticisms had been widely circulated without giving them a chance to respond.

"HMV totally rebuts the serious assertion that we have sought to mislead customers in this promotion or that we have inflated the price of the DVDs in question," he said.

HMV tried to have special offers every months, sometimes at a reduced price or occasionally as a two for one offer which the complainant had ignored.

"So when a combined figure of €269.62 is quoted as being the price for the eight items at HMV, the actual price the customer would pay is only €141.96, over €50 cheaper than at Golden Discs and nearly €89 cheaper than Tower," he said.

"Going forward, we accept that if some customers perceive that they are getting better value from straight sale type offers rather than 'buy one, get one free' activity, then it may be appropriate to run more of these offers in future," he said.

Your Money carried out a similar survey on the price of DVDs last week, coming out with almost identical results to Ms Miller, although HMV's prices were actually slightly higher than she found.

We discovered that online websites offer by far the best value, with cdwow.ie selling DVDs at an average price of €19.52, compared with €34.12 at HMV. You could save up to €22 on individual films.

This website is easier to use than some of its rivals such as amazon.co.uk or tower.co.uk because it quotes prices in euro, and has no delivery charges. A CD we test-purchased arrived within three working days.

But even if you want to buy in shops there are significant savings to be made - for example Dirty Dancing was €12.95 at Golden Discs compared with €31.99 at HMV, and Gone With the Wind was half the HMV price everywhere else.

Personally I buy nearly 100% of my DVD & CD purchases off the net. There is no way I would buy anything at the inflated prices over here.

Gandalf.

p.pete

Was there any response from HMV to the letter?