Boycott Harvey Norman

DublinWriter

Considering the disgracefull coments by Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey likening his company's fiscal performance as 'worse than the Irish Potato Famine', I for one will be boycotting his stores from now on.

TarfHead

DublinWriter wrote: »

Considering the disgracefull coments by Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey likening his company's fiscal performance as 'worse than the Irish Potato Famine', I for one will be boycotting his stores from now on.

Well, that should tip them over the edge :rolleyes:

We Irish, we truly are the Most Opressed People, Ever !

Carturo

DublinWriter wrote: »

Considering the disgracefull coments by Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey likening his company's fiscal performance as 'worse than the Irish Potato Famine', I for one will be boycotting his stores from now on.

Ah get a life will ya!

Mountjoy Mugger

Yeah - why don't we have organise an online petition, followed up with a march to the Dail - and maybe then we can tell the Americans to boycott Mary Harney's hairstylist in Florida....$410 extortion!

tallaghtoutlaws

DublinWriter wrote: »

Considering the disgracefull coments by Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey likening his company's fiscal performance as 'worse than the Irish Potato Famine', I for one will be boycotting his stores from now on.

If we boycotted anything or one that has offended us in anyway we would live dull lives. Who hasn't mocked us paddys for crying out loud. Jebus move on already. DublinWriter you would be best not going anywhere near the US and turning on a TV they use us as the brunt of many a joke on TV. Maybe for him losing a Million a year is worse than the famine who knows who cares.

ejmaztec

Most people with an eye for a bargain have been boycotting them from day 1, but only because they haven't got any to speak of.

Red Alert

Let the market take care of them... and his comments are probably a good thing seen as the government have ignored the dire state of the economy. Maybe they might listen when a retailer says something because they definitely don't listen to joe public.

sdanseo

ejmaztec wrote: »

Most people with an eye for a bargain have been boycotting them from day 1, but only because they haven't got any to speak of.

I'm a repeat customer. They're cheapest of any places near me tbh.

Bought a telly from them, same price as everywhere. Bought a laptop, marked down €250. My mam got a new fridge €20/30 cheaper than DID right next door. etc.

Don't have a problem with them. OP - get a sense of humour will ya it was meant as humour, he was slagging his own company of course he didnt mean it to be taken to heart in the way you did. If an Irish person had said it you probably wouldn't have had a problem.

Read Alert's right too. Market needs a few realists instead of scared politicians hiding behind their debilitating bailouts.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Oh lighten up OP!

I find them great value for electrics and cameras sometimes but like all purchases it pays to shop around.

Rosita

DublinWriter wrote: »

Considering the disgracefull coments by Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey likening his company's fiscal performance as 'worse than the Irish Potato Famine', I for one will be boycotting his stores from now on.

What is irritating is the politically correct furore that would happen if an Irish store owner said something of that type about about Africans or whoever is the PC brigade's latest interest.

But the (admittedly entirely understandable in my experience) self-loathing of the Irish means that when it's an inappropriate - and downright stupid - remark against the Irish it's okay.

ejmaztec

sdonn_1 wrote: »

I'm a repeat customer. They're cheapest of any places near me tbh.

Bought a telly from them, same price as everywhere. Bought a laptop, marked down €250. My mam got a new fridge €20/30 cheaper than DID right next door. etc.

Don't have a problem with them. OP - get a sense of humour will ya it was meant as humour, he was slagging his own company of course he didnt mean it to be taken to heart in the way you did. If an Irish person had said it you probably wouldn't have had a problem.

Read Alert's right too. Market needs a few realists instead of scared politicians hiding behind their debilitating bailouts.

Perhaps they're cheaper up in the big city, or perhaps the Kerry competition is better. I generally walk in, walk around, then walk out again. I just haven't found anything that I couldn't get cheaper at Soundstore (who only seem to operate in Munster).

bmcgrath

Harvey norman are great apart from their annoying tv ads! :pac:

sdanseo

ejmaztec wrote: »

I just haven't found anything that I couldn't get cheaper at Soundstore (who only seem to operate in Munster).

I keep hearing about this mystical place of wonderment. Make them open one in Dublin :rolleyes:

Wacko

Rosita wrote: »

What is irritating is the politically correct furore that would happen if an Irish store owner said something of that type about about Africans or whoever is the PC brigade's latest interest.

But the (admittedly entirely understandable in my experience) self-loathing of the Irish means that when it's an inappropriate - and downright stupid - remark against the Irish it's okay.

Harvey Norman will be fine, they just have to "work like blacks"

(It's ok Mary O'Rourke said it)

ejmaztec

sdonn_1 wrote: »

I keep hearing about this mystical place of wonderment. Make them open one in Dublin :rolleyes:

Perhaps they'll open a few in Australia first, then Dublin. :P

10-10-20

ejmaztec wrote: »

Perhaps they're cheaper up in the big city, or perhaps the Kerry competition is better. I generally walk in, walk around, then walk out again. I just haven't found anything that I couldn't get cheaper at Soundstore (who only seem to operate in Munster).

Ever priced their 'monster' AV cables in Harvey Norman?
I dunno - but I reckon I can get better cables for half the price ANYWHERE!

Ciaran500

10-10-20 wrote: »

Ever priced their 'monster' AV cables in Harvey Norman?
I dunno - but I reckon I can get better cables for half the price ANYWHERE!

Monster cables are just a rip off full stop. No matter where you get them from.

Bob the Builder

I completely agree with his comments. At least back in the famine, everyone was poor, and they had nothing. Now, they have worse than nothing - they have mortgages that they can't pay, food that they can't buy, and children that they can't look after. But we can still compete with each other in an attempt to see who has the biggest SUV that they can't pay for.

Harvey Norman, like many other retail stores are struggling. My tiny little computer store that i work in is cheaper than harveys on most things, but i can tell you that all their policies and staff are great.

Actions speak louder than words. He said something that insulted you, but theres other people out there with a vendetta to rip people off.

ejmaztec

10-10-20 wrote: »

Ever priced their 'monster' AV cables in Harvey Norman?
I dunno - but I reckon I can get better cables for half the price ANYWHERE!

From what I've seen, that covers all of their cable collection. I bought an HDMI cable from Tesco because the HN price was double, and have since seen them in my local one-off hardware shop for the same price as Tesco.

staker

Have to say i agree with OP. They've made their millions,using statements like this as a prelude to pulling the stopper on their outlets here.
Oh we irish with money are a stupid lot!!:mad:

projectmayhem

sdonn_1 wrote: »

Bought a telly from them, same price as everywhere. Bought a laptop, marked down €250.

I've seen them put "marked down" stickers on items that remain the same price as they were the day/week/month beforehand. I saw a 32" TV go up in price with a "marked down" sticker going on it in there. They can be right scheisters when they want to be.

Bob the Builder wrote: »

but i can tell you that all their policies and staff are great.

Can't comment on their policies but a lot of their "older" staff (I'd exclude the younger student-type part-time lads) tend to badger people into buying certain brands/products because it gets them more commission, regardless of what the customer wants. I'd rather go into a shop and get advised on the product that best suits me then get shoved out the door with something I don't want/need that's probably more expensive then I should have paid just because there's more margin in it for the sales chap.

Bob the Builder

projectmayhem wrote: »

Can't comment on their policies but a lot of their "older" staff (I'd exclude the younger student-type part-time lads) tend to badger people into buying certain brands/products because it gets them more commission, regardless of what the customer wants. I'd rather go into a shop and get advised on the product that best suits me then get shoved out the door with something I don't want/need that's probably more expensive then I should have paid just because there's more margin in it for the sales chap.

Indeed, you could very well be right. But apart from the odd small shop on the street, every place does that.

In castlebar, my closest one, it's a new store, and the staff seem to be well motivated at least, and they are generally young enough. I know a few people who bought goods, and brought them back after 2 or 3 months and got 30% off their new laptop even though it was their own fault.

Or something is wrong with the laptop after one week (in this case, the RAM), it was a straight swap-out. The manager just asked a few questions, took his number, and said, sure, which do you want?

Rosita

Bob the Builder wrote: »

I completely agree with his comments. At least back in the famine, everyone was poor, and they had nothing. Now, they have worse than nothing - they have mortgages that they can't pay, food that they can't buy, and children that they can't look after. But we can still compete with each other in an attempt to see who has the biggest SUV that they can't pay for.

Harvey Norman, like many other retail stores are struggling. My tiny little computer store that i work in is cheaper than harveys on most things, but i can tell you that all their policies and staff are great.

Actions speak louder than words. He said something that insulted you, but theres other people out there with a vendetta to rip people off.

What utter nonsense. Over a million people died during the famine - the majority as a result of public policy rather than poverty per se. Comparisons with an economic recession that will come and go are simply ridiculous, inappropriate, and totally over the top.

The inability of retailers such as Harvey Norman's to maintain super-normal profits bears no comparison with what happened unfortunate people during the famine.

If people want exaggerated comparisons try Weimar Germany or 1930s USA, but let's leave the famine out of it.

Bob the Builder

Rosita wrote: »

What utter nonsense. Over a million people died during the famine - the majority as a result of public policy rather than poverty per se. Comparisons with an economic recession that will come and go are simply ridiculous, inappropriate, and totally over the top.

The inability of retailers such as Harvey Norman's to maintain super-normal profits bears no comparison with what happened unfortunate people during the famine.

If people want exaggerated comparisons try Weimar Germany or 1930s USA, but let's leave the famine out of it.

I'm all for memories, and I'm all for being proud of our national history, but what he said was metaphoric. If he had said "great depression of 1929", the economists would be pulling out their books to disagree. At least by mentioning the famine, you can't pull out statistics.

And also, the famine was 150years ago. British Oppression was almost 90 years ago. Whilst I'm just as sad as you are, the famine happened, so did british oppression, thankfully we're out of both of them now, and we can't keep looking for sympathy on the matter forever.

labarmand

I for one have decided to boycott Harvey Norman. Not that they will miss me as I regard them as overpriced (both here and Australia).

It was a daft thing for them to say. If sales were bad before, they will only get worse now.

ongarite

Time to lock this thread or move it to the Politics forum. Its nothing to do with a Consumer Issue and the thread has/is about to take a detour now onto The Famine & British rule. Yawn...

Bob the Builder

ongarite wrote: »

Time to lock this thread or move it to the Politics forum. Its nothing to do with a Consumer Issue and the thread has/is about to take a detour now onto The Famine & British rule. Yawn...

lol. it was never a consumer issue anyway. Just a call to boycott because someone messed with an event in history. Ryanair do it all the time, except they do it intentionally.

JohnC.

10-10-20 wrote: »

Ever priced their 'monster' AV cables in Harvey Norman?
I dunno - but I reckon I can get better cables for half the price ANYWHERE!

That's true of Monster cables in general, not just in Harvey Norman.

mikemac

Sure he was critizing his own company too, calling the results catastrophic. You won't find many companies doing that, it's usually done in some unclear and diplomatic term

Pure bluntness, it's the Australian way
get over it OP

Bluetonic

I heard Gerry Harvey supplied the British land owners with flat screen TVs during the famine.

eth0_

Not at all cool to make light of the Irish famine.
But I would boycott HN's more because of their irritating adverts and ridiculously priced goods!