Harvey Norman - not impressed

Kotek Besar

shapez wrote: »

I have nothing against staff or sales people who work in these places. It's the managers that have the final say on prices. But, I'll tell you from my experience from buying a fridge there about 6 months ago. I had searched all over the city for one and as it turned out that Harvey Norman was slightly cheaper with the one I was looking for.

I went into haggle the price and I got it down to a figure of 303.12 or something like that after calculations were done. I haggled more to round it down to the 300 mark. The sales person had to go to the manager twice to see if this was possible!! Twice!! He said no. So, I said look it's €3.12. Surely you can give it to me at 300 even?? Nope. The manager made some excuse about balancing books and price margins. I couldn't believe it. This is NOT, good business. I haggled to get €20 of the original price and they couldn't sacrifice another €3.12!!!

In the end, I told them this was their loss, walked out and bought my fridge elsewhere.

It wasn't really their loss though was it, it was yours. As you said, Harvey Norman were cheaper for the item you wanted, but you chose to leave HN and buy elsewhere.. ?

manus30

large multinational shop managers do have to balance their books. if he/she had let you off with 3.12 euro he would probably have to make it up out of his own pocket, thats the way it works.
it would be different if you were haggling at locally owned shop with the owner..

savic04

there is another waterford electrical store that i know of that sells faulty goods and sometimes copies bought in from china on the cheap, even tho they are actual brand names, they are often some slight differances, which goes unknown to 90% of people..Unfortunately i found out the hard way, after bringing back 2 different items..when i spoke to a mate of mine he said he has the same problem, and this is how he found out in the first place.Have spoken to several people since who have problems, sometimes small little things goin wrong with their items from fridges to cookers to tv's!!!

Mossy Monk

savic04 wrote: »

there is another waterford electrical store that i know of that sells faulty goods and sometimes copies bought in from china on the cheap, even tho they are actual brand names, they are often some slight differances, which goes unknown to 90% of people..Unfortunately i found out the hard way, after bringing back 2 different items..when i spoke to a mate of mine he said he has the same problem, and this is how he found out in the first place.Have spoken to several people since who have problems, sometimes small little things goin wrong with their items from fridges to cookers to tv's!!!

Name and shame.

mike65

I can't belive someone walked over €3.12, talk about proving a point!

ziedth

savic04 wrote: »

sometimes copies bought in from china on the cheap, even tho they are actual brand names, they are often some slight differances, which goes unknown to 90% of people!

Ah hell, why didn't I think of that in my place :pac:

ex_infantry man

i work for an irish multinational food company as a sales rep and i know from experience that its all about the profit margins even for the small shop and not just the multinational even if another company comes in and under cuts me by 5 cent can take business away from me its a war out there at the moment for businesses to survive so it is

Phsyche

savic04 wrote: »

there is another waterford electrical store that i know of that sells faulty goods

Seriously though, Name? Wouldn't want to become one of the 90% !

shapez

gscully wrote: »

So, you spent a lot of time and effort haggling with them, had major success, pushed it a little more and got refused, only to walk away from a practically-done deal, wasted another few hours in other shops, wasted about a fiver or more in petrol and got home a few hours later than you had planned, and feeling bad enough about it to waste more time on this thread?

Serves you right for haggling over €3.12...this country needs more like you

Imagine how happy you (and us in hindsight) would've been if you'd just paid that small amount

Just combining a few replies here. As we all well now, we have been ripped off for far too long now. Harvey Norman , along with other large electrical shops, are well able to balance their books on sales. If they loose €3.12 on one product, you may bet, that there are a vast majority of people who do not haggle will be stung for far more than €3.12. Some of their prices are outrageous and I've actually laughed out loud walking around the store checking prices out.

Yes, fuel costs, time, etc. Do all come into play. But, if you're like me, I actually like hunting for the best price, but more importantly for the best customer/sales service. I cannot stand a sales person who acts like a dumb terminal.

No, people could say I am being tight about it, maybe I am. But, as one person put it, it's proving a point or the principle of it.

Because of this tread alone, do you see how many people over viewed their opinion on HN? Majority are negative. What does that say about the next person looking for a TV or a fridge?

shapez

Phsyche wrote: »

Seriously though, Name? Wouldn't want to become one of the 90% !

Yes, you should name. If you have concrete evidence to back it up, then you should name the company.

ssmith6287

regards the haggle promo, been honest in the computer department were told to welcome haggling. its part of been a sales man, otherwise all wed have to do is get boxes. in the store im in, im basically told to give a good deal, one of the joys about harvey norman is the sales staff are given a bit of freedom to lower prices if need be without consulting management, id rather you took a laptop off me then someone else!!! regards the €3 thing, youd be surprised when it comes to margin how little there is but whoever was in charge shudve used common sense. as far as im concerned if i go in somewhere and get threated with respect and have a bit of craic ill return there eg i wont shop in lifestyle sports but ill shop in elverys despite em being slightly dearer. I find if you give the customer a good deal and you go the extra mile eg give advice or throw in stuff cheaper or for free theyll tend to come back which means more money for the shop and more importantly more money for me

south

i was talking to a woman from ballybeg the other day who was telling me Harvey Norman wanted €50 for a bed to be delivered to her house and nearly €100 if she wanted it on the same day..she went somewhere else

ssmith6287

well like i said i work in the computer department, believe it or not were 3 different shops so i wouldnt have a clue how much it is to get things delivered. give you a good one though. My auntie went into an expert shop up here and saw a tv that in D.I.D and Harvey Norman was €600 cheaper, theyre excuse was they don't charge for delivery!! thought it was pretty good.

trishw78

I was out there looking for a 3-seater I wasn't even going to entertain Haggling 'cause they couldn't match the prices I saw in cost plus sofas or Tony Burkes

old gregg

south wrote: »

i was talking to a woman from ballybeg the other day who was telling me Harvey Norman wanted €50 for a bed to be delivered to her house and nearly €100 if she wanted it on the same day..she went somewhere else

yea but the €100 includes Harvey himself dropping round, making the bed, tucking you in and then reading you a story ..... for an extra €5 he'll check under the bed for monsters :P

Cabaal

south wrote: »

i was talking to a woman from ballybeg the other day who was telling me Harvey Norman wanted €50 for a bed to be delivered to her house and nearly €100 if she wanted it on the same day..she went somewhere else

Its a standard delivery change, they charge the same if you live in Ferrybank, if she doesn't want to pay it then she can arrange for it to be collected herself.

Have to say I'm pretty happy with service from Harvey Norman's, ordered as desk got it at a great price, was told 6-8 weeks to order...next day got a call it was in and collected it two days later.

No problems at all

gscully

south wrote: »

i was talking to a woman from ballybeg the other day who was telling me Harvey Norman wanted €50 for a bed to be delivered to her house and nearly €100 if she wanted it on the same day..she went somewhere else

Danger money?