Retailers in Waterford

Sully

So now that people are shopping for their Christmas Presents for friends and family, with the recession eating away at your usual budget and with retailers crying out for business - are you giving them business in Waterford? Are you going over the border maybe?

I'm tempted to go shopping over the border. I tried to buy a phone from o2 (retailing at €400 in o2, €380 in other stores and €325 of eBay). o2 wont budge at all on the price. Not a cent.

Heard a story about someone who went shopping in town for a load of clothes for family in a well known local clothes shop near McDonald's. Regular shopper there. Came to €300 in total at the till with a returns policy of New Years Eve. The manager of the store refused to budge on the price, so she didn't buy them.

I find it shocking that these retailers are crying out for business yet they are happy to charge high prices and refuse to negotiate with customers. Even local businesses are winging in the paper about how poor business is yet they refuse to give way on price.

kensutz

I couldn't be bothered buying in town. Trip up North next week is planned.

Jambo

If your looking for discounts keep well away from the large
British Multiples \ Chains in the town and head to your local retaillers or franchises which are operated by local business people, In my experience once you buy more than one item the price is generally rounded down and if its a decent enough spend you can expect in region of a 10 to 15 % markdown without requesting it .

Im sure last week I heard a rep from rgdata on the last word saying he never heard of a customer who looked for a discount not getting one !

To be totally honest with sterling so low at the moment ( Approx £1 = €1.10 ) the consumer should be able to ask for a decent markdown with their purchase as the euro conversion rates displayed on the products price ticket is always way off the mark.

Sully

The retailer who refused a discount on the €300 sale was a private local store owned by a local business person. I guess the larger companies wont, some might, but its probably harder. o2 have really annoyed me as I have been using them for years and spent a lot on phones and credit.

seanybiker

Bought presents online. Dont care if Im not helping the local communiy. their not helping me so why would I pay more just to keep them greedy fookers in business.

ex_infantry man

well they do say that consumers should shop with there feet and search around for the good bargains, i always pop into jamie in jc originals for my clothes as he looks after ya with a discount if you buy a few things off him always!!!!

durrus

As someone who works in retail and knows first hand just how bad things have been for the last number of months I am surprised that the shop in question didn't show some leeway on discount or added value for that sale. Of course every case is different and we don't know all of the facts here - was the stock already reduced maybe? There have been a lot of 'spot' sales in clothing stores in town and there may not have been scope for any more discount. Notwithstanding any of that, it is a brave retailer who allows a sale to walk out the door at the moment. Come January/February there WILL be closures (my own job is not safe) and there will be a lot of retail staff joining the dole queue.

wmpdd3

Yes I think we should put prices on products only as decoration and make up the discounts we offer to people at the till based on the mood we feel in.

Stores that offer discounts are selling too high anyway. It would have to be budgeted like each other outgoing. So we save on light and heat and give a 10% discount to all customers spending over a set amount.

What about when you stop offering the discount.
Is it discrimination if you don't the discount the next time you shop there?

What if th person in front of you gets it and you don't?

Too much hassle, free market prices are set and they will fluctuate based on market forces.

Sully

durrus wrote: »

As someone who works in retail and knows first hand just how bad things have been for the last number of months I am surprised that the shop in question didn't show some leeway on discount or added value for that sale. Of course every case is different and we don't know all of the facts here - was the stock already reduced maybe? There have been a lot of 'spot' sales in clothing stores in town and there may not have been scope for any more discount. Notwithstanding any of that, it is a brave retailer who allows a sale to walk out the door at the moment. Come January/February there WILL be closures (my own job is not safe) and there will be a lot of retail staff joining the dole queue.

Well this specific shop had no offers on and the prices in question were normal. The retailer may not have known the customer was a regular but the staff member most certainly did and even apologised to her as she left! The store is in Waterford many years so its a bit of a shock to see this manager wasn't pushed. With regards to the returns offer - Debenhams allow 28 days in general and up to the 31st of January if the product was a gift.

I believe Shaws have taken off the VAT from products they have on sale. Other stores have plenty of special offers around including the bigger retailers. Still probably could be cheaper!

chrism2007

this person that wouldnt give a discount. was it there shop? or was it just someone who worked there.

maybe it wasnt there decision to drop the price

ec18

Sully wrote: »

The retailer who refused a discount on the €300 sale was a private local store owned by a local business person. I guess the larger companies wont, some might, but its probably harder. o2 have really annoyed me as I have been using them for years and spent a lot on phones and credit.

You do know the phone prices are fixed by o2 and they have to record the serial number of every phone sold and fax them to o2. If you want a discount for being an o2 customer try the online store.....they gave me a loyalty discount earlier this year

KevIRL

Sully wrote: »

o2 have really annoyed me as I have been using them for years and spent a lot on phones and credit.

Get a bill phone imo

durrus

Here's another annoying thing - actually it's illegal - my wife was looking at a particular electrical item in an electrical store located close to WLR. The price was 699.00. Then she heard an ad on the radio that there was 150.00 off all of those particular electrical items. She goes in, expecting to pay 549.00 - instead, the poster says "was 800.00, now 650.00".

People get fooled by these things all the time. TK MAxx has made a business out of putting prices on things that bear no relation to what price they could have been bought for to make it look like the discount is bigger than it is. There is no law against this.

There is also no law against Gift Vouchers having an expiry date - something I absolutely hate.

Sully

ec18 wrote: »

You do know the phone prices are fixed by o2 and they have to record the serial number of every phone sold and fax them to o2. If you want a discount for being an o2 customer try the online store.....they gave me a loyalty discount earlier this year

No discount on o2 website. They wont give a discount because the phone is to new and popular apparently (so an agent in an o2 store on Grafton St. in Dublin said).

KevIRL wrote: »

Get a bill phone imo

Was considering, they told me id be spending a lot more as right now im getting unlimited free texts and I wont if I switch. Phones a good bit cheaper on Bill Pay too.

durrus wrote: »

There is also no law against Gift Vouchers having an expiry date - something I absolutely hate.

Its being brought in, slowly but surely.

Trick of the Tail

durrus wrote: »

People get fooled by these things all the time. TK MAxx has made a business out of putting prices on things that bear no relation to what price they could have been bought for to make it look like the discount is bigger than it is. There is no law against this.

I think there is.

I think an item has to have been sold at the higher price for a minumum of 30 days prior to the sale price being applied.

A.

Sully

chrism2007 wrote: »

this person that wouldnt give a discount. was it there shop? or was it just someone who worked there.

maybe it wasnt there decision to drop the price

Well it was the manager of the store. The previous owner passed away a few months back so im not sure who owns it now. He used to manage it as well IIRC.

durrus

alinton wrote: »

I think there is.

I think an item has to have been sold at the higher price for a minumum of 30 days prior to the sale price being applied.

A.

This is correct and this law would apply to the electrical retailer as outlined but there is no law to prevent a retailer putting ANY price on an item and saying that is the normal rrp. i.e. A jacket which is for sale in normal stores at, say, 250.00 will be marked in TKMaxx as "Was 350.00, now 199.00". I'm just using this as an example. There is no law against this.

durrus

Sully wrote: »

No discount on o2 website. They wont give a discount because the phone is to new and popular apparently (so an agent in an o2 store on Grafton St. in Dublin said).



Was considering, they told me id be spending a lot more as right now im getting unlimited free texts and I wont if I switch. Phones a good bit cheaper on Bill Pay too.



Its being brought in, slowly but surely.

I work in retail and the store I work in has no expiry date on vouchers - we have accepted vouchers that were ten years old and battered no problem. I am not aware of any move by the Consumer Affairs Office or Goverment to bring in any legislation on Gift Vouchers, I just think people should ask these questions when they are buying the voucher. Some places have really tight deadlines on their usage - I've seen vouchers that have to be used within 6 months.

KevIRL

Sully wrote: »

Was considering, they told me id be spending a lot more as right now im getting unlimited free texts and I wont if I switch. Phones a good bit cheaper on Bill Pay too.

Is it an iphone Sully? Im assuming it is. If so the Eirtext app will take care of your texting needs

Sully

KevIRL wrote: »

Is it an iphone Sully? Im assuming it is. If so the Eirtext app will take care of your texting needs

Nope, Nokia E71 I know about a lot of those text programs, never used em really!

King Ludvig

Sorry for highjacking the thread (maybe you can help me out tho sully).

Anyone know if there a HMV or Virgin megastores in Waterford or surrounding areas? And if so where? Google wasnt much help! :rolleyes:

Ive got gift cards for of them so may aswell use them to buy some of this years presents!!

Sully

HMV is in Cork. Virgin (Zavvi now) is in Kilkenny and Cork.

Probably the closest to us?

Sooner one of these comes to Waterford the better!!!

A bit of an update.. Spoke to the lady today who told me the story. She got the clothes in another store who even gave her a discount :P She went to the sister store of the one she had a problem with and they promissed to give her a good deal if she shopped there. Funny how it all works out. Im still miles away from a cheaper phone though :P

ziedth

Hey Sully,

I can't speak about the Clothes shop sale, but i'm indirectly involved with the 02 shop down there by City Square (assuming thats where you went about the Nokia phone). Someone else said it earlyier they couldn't give any kind of a discount all prices are set by 02 and AFAIK 02 go mental if every cent is accounted for down there,

In my younger days I would have siad to hell with local retailers but since I know work in the industry I TRY to do the majority of my shopping locally in waterford based companies,

They are not helping their cause by being so harsh the story Sully mentioned in particular makes me sick seeing as there at least a 100-150% profit Margin on clothes.

Partizan

The majority of Irish retailers have been ripping us off for years and when the show is on the other foot, are crying wolf. Well **** them. I'll be back in Waterford next week and will do my shopping in John Michael's on John Street, Gregory's Menswear on Patrick Street and JC's where Jamie always fixes me up on the discount. Johnny de Courcy has been doing business with the family for years so I always go out of my way to shop there where I have an account. Greg all gives me 10% discount on the spot. Cant beat that. Good honest guys looking out for their regular customers.

Wouldnt go near Heroes, total rip off and selection is crap.

Sully

I tired 2 stores on grafton st. in dublin. One asked his boss who said no as the phone was to new. The other simply said no. Same as the waterford store. However, iv been sorted. Kinda. O2 matched the price of the phone and someone else is looking into me getting it at an upgrade price. So here is hoping!

Partizan

Train to Newry.

Baby4

This post has been deleted.

old gregg

yes it will be interesting to see the local shops that fleeced everyone during the good times, including the shoe store that always had the crappiest Jan sale (anyone for white moccasins) crying fair play now that the supply/demand balance has tipped back in the customer's favour somewhat.

p.s. Jamie in jc originals is a legend for sure ex_infantry man

ec18

Partizan wrote: »

Train to Newry.

Mightn't be that easy phones up there could be locked to the uk o2 network

old gregg wrote: »

p.s. Jamie in jc originals is a legend for sure ex_infantry man

very true!

Trotter

I went into 2 local shops with €350 looking for a PS3. I told them I was going to the North over the next fortnight and I'd prefer to spend my money locally. Neither offered me a discount and basically both said.. go to Newry.

I tried!

Sully

Id love to send this thread to WLR and local press as an example of why people are going north. Fed up of local retailers screwing us and not even during a time of recession wanting our custom below the price they set. And WLR have the cheek to ask us to shop locally!