Carphone warehouse closure in ireland

Dempo1

the_pen_turner wrote: »

im suprised that phone shops are still surviving. the only benifit you get by going into the shop is you get to hold it in your hand, you cant use it in anyway because its brick and just the shell.
it is the perfect opertunity for online .

you wouldnt put up with going into a car showroom to buy a car and all you can do is sit into it, you want a testdrive and to play with the controls and experience the features.

I worked in one for a network a few years back, to be honest it was more holding the hand of customers. 99% of what goes on in a store is customer care, billing issues, dsmaged phones /repairs, coverage issues etc etc (all of which generate no income or turnover for franchise stores) , sales a fraction of activity. What I noticed was more and more buying online then coming into stores to get them set up. This all well and good if its an actual network store, a disaster if its franchise of which 85% of 3 are and 95% Vodafone. Eir to a lessor extent. I'd be surprised if more stores close. Its gone SIM only and purchasing online.

CrabRevolution

Feisar wrote: »

A pub at home closed a good few years ago now. Everybody was saying "what a loss" etc. Sure if people went there it'd still be open.

In a regional forum I read a big thread about pubs that are no more. A lot of pubs were sorely missed by the posters, saying it's a shame/ it was a popular spot.

There was a noticeable pattern though where posters' favourite memory of the pub was the owner kicking out large groups in favour of regulars, or closing the doors early to have a drink with a small few locals, banning 12 pubs groups etc.

Pretty clear to see why these places closed....

the_pen_turner

Dempo1 wrote: »

I worked in one for a network a few years back, to be honest it was more holding the hand of customers. 99% of what goes on in a store is customer care, billing issues, dsmaged phones /repairs, coverage issues etc etc (all of which generate no income or turnover for franchise stores) , sales a fraction of activity. What I noticed was more and more buying online then coming into stores to get them set up. This all well and good if its an actual network store, a disaster if its franchise of which 85% of 3 are and 95% Vodafone. Eir to a lessor extent. I'd be surprised if more stores close. Its gone SIM only and purchasing online.

iv almost no experience of carphone warehouse. only browed a few times.
but any time i went into the shop for o2 or vodafone and walked out satisifed was buying a phone. any billing or coverage issues i had to ring up the network directly. repairs fair enough but the reapir places can easily do that faster and cheaper

Dempo1

the_pen_turner wrote: »

iv almost no experience of carphone warehouse. only browed a few times.
but any time i went into the shop for o2 or vodafone and walked out satisifed was buying a phone. any billing or coverage issues i had to ring up the network directly. repairs fair enough but the reapir places can easily do that faster and cheaper

Yes the principal is fine but in practice retail stores have over time become customer care centre's. Your correct re having to contact networks directly re a host of issues but in practice explaining that to a desgruntled customer not always easy, indeed I spent over 30 years in the Hotel business and never experienced the abuse I received in a network phone shop.

Re repairs, I should have clarified, devices in warranty and mot physically damaged can only be processed for repair by network stores.

Test For Echo

I feel sorry for the staff. Used to live a few minutes walk from CPWH and always had a positive experience with the shop until last month. Rang looking for a replacement SIM for 3 and got a blunt "no, we don't do that here, you'll have to contact 3 directly".

Who could possibly have guessed that the Government's demented, year-long hate campaign against the retail and hospitality industries would lead to foreign-owned businesses fleeing Ireland?

Hurrache

b0nk1e wrote: »

Who could possibly have guessed that the Government's demented, year-long hate campaign against the retail and hospitality industries would lead to foreign-owned businesses fleeing Ireland?

Well anyone who did think that were wrong.

sporina

very sad news..

Sleeper12

MrMusician18 wrote:

Not the first and I doubt will be the last casualty of the pandemic.

The real reason is Vodafone isn't renewing the contract with them. Carphone Warehouse couldn't continue without being able to sell phones and contracts for Irelands biggest provider.

MrMusician18

MrMusician18 wrote: »

I presumed they made most of their money acting like a broker, taking a cut of the contracts they sold.

What is interesting that they note people are holding onto handsets for longer.

Wasn't it part of their pitch that they didn't get commission?

flazio

b0nk1e wrote: »

Who could possibly have guessed that the Government's demented, year-long hate campaign against the retail and hospitality industries would lead to foreign-owned businesses fleeing Ireland?

Don't think this had anything to do with the Government to be honest, or that there was anything they could do for CPW.
They had already closed their stores in the UK last year.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51923295

So the Ireland stores were a bit of an anomaly.

Strumms

Eric Cartman wrote: »

The consumer electronics sector was the hardest hit by online shopping even from the beginning, tech savy people were the first to go online and now theres no maplins, peats, etc...

Sometimes getting odd parts or little bits can be quite hard now.

Its a real shame as bricks and mortar stores were always good for having a look at products before buying.

I dont mind buying certain things online...

But If im spending a grand on a tv...i want to choose said TV by actually looking, comparing and speaking to somebody in the know.

If im booking a holiday... i like speaking to a travel agent in person with experience, knowledge and intelligence...

If im buying a car i want to see, feel, experience it... before i shell out 40 plus grand.


My weekly shopping ? I want the best veggies, fruit etc.. online has been handy with covid ok...

If im booking a flight, concert tickets, i dont need a human ....

So i not believing this schtick that we should be all prepared to do 100% online...just to appease the money muppets.

Frankie19

People are holding onto handsets longer as the networks extended the amount of months in a contract. 12 months used to the the standard which then moved to 24 months and mostly likely 36 months contracts are on the way. The cost of the latest and greatest handsets are increasing every year and the only way networks can get their money back is by making customers pay higher upfront costs or extend the contract.

So say 10 years ago carphone had customers coming back every 12 months to upgrade their phones.....it then moved to every 24 months....halfing their customer footfall and sales opportunities

Normal One

Most phones are very similar to each other these days, the days of upgrading every year are long gone. I've an S9 plus for over 3 years now, i was looking at an S21 but there's really no need to blow €1k+ on it to do exactly the same job.

Gunmonkey

Them losing Vodafone would be a serious death-kneel but you can also look at the competition within the phone sector. Near me in Tullamore there are: a CPWH, a Three store, an Eir store, a Vodafone store and An Post and Tesco also offer their own phone contracts. There is also at least 3 independent "unlock" stores (you know the type) selling cases/accessories/2nd hand phones, and D.I.D, Expert and Argos all sell bits and pieces. Even Woodies sells some of the Doro and Nokias, trying to target the older gen (like my father) who abhor smartphones and want the chunky button styles of yore.

Thats 11 other stores in one town running in the same market, and some have other business to fall back on. A pure telecom store just couldnt cut it anymore.

suicide_circus

I havent bought a phone from a network for years. I've just bought handsets online or occasionally from dodgy shops on Moore Street and used sim only plans. I worked for Meteor rrtail for 8 months during the celtic tiger. The mark ups and associated staff commission were obscene. CPW's business model has been dead for some time. Lockdown was the Coup de grace

beauf

One of the last times I bought a network phone, when it was obviously faulty they wouldn't replace it. Took 3 repairs and 3 or 4 months to get a refund. With Amazon I'll have it replaced in a week. Likewise they take a stock phone add network bloat that causes problems. Lock the phone to their network. Lifes too short for that messing around. You're paying more for crappy service and worse software.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

It's been going this way for a long time

Many years ago I worked in the HMV and you'd always get people coming in, browsing around and not actual buying anything

They are just killing time. Or if they do see something they like such as an album or dvd, they won't pay the store price for it and will order it online for cheaper or maybe even download it for free.

So it's no surprise this has happened with car phone, people shopping around online for better phones for less money upfront, the sim only plans from 3 and gomo etc taking over.

This might spread to other industries too, with online clothes shopping on the rise and good shopping on the rise with SuperValu and Tesco etc.

Ikea is another fantastic one. Plenty of people just wandering around the show rooms just for a look, or might go in just to buy the dinner or sweets and not actually buy furniture. They sell an awful lot online now and why not, sure what you see in the image is what you get and without the trouble of having to get it to the house yourself ! Which is why it doesn't surprise me it's the only one in Ireland, bar the click and collect in carrickmines

It's an awful shame, but as said on the first page, people are sad they are gone but weren't willing to support the store etc.