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6,500 jobs at risk. Shoppers urged to spend vouchers soon.
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6,500 jobs at risk. Shoppers urged to spend vouchers soon.
Feel sorry for all there staff, but glad I never bought my new tv from there last month now
Vale Comet I hardly knew ye.
Actually, that was the problem. They didn't invest in customer service and their online presence.
How to compete with online only boxshifters who have no retail presence to pay for?
It just surprises me they've lasted this long - same with DSG.
IMHO people buying the same gadgets are interested in
1) Price
2) Customer service / ease of RMA
10) Buying experience
Comet and DSG are doomed.
I was in our local comet last week and was the only person in the shop for a good 20 minutes - apart from about 5 staff floating about.
The problem that Comet had is that they were simply box shifters operating in retail premises - for instance the tv's were poorly set up and you could learn more in 5 minutes reading on the internet than the majority of their staff seemed to know about the relevant products.
Our high streets are fast becoming populated by charity shops and pound shops and I am not sure what that says about where we are heading ...
Got to say that while I'm happy to buy electronics via online-only, (Scan, Amazon, eBuyer, etc), there's no way that I'd want to buy TV, washing machine, fridge, etc via online. Plus DSG and Comet also offer "value add" features like product installation (not a big deal if you're talking about a PC, but very nice if you've bought a dishwasher) and disposal of the old equipment, (again, not a big deal for an iPod, but great for a fridge).Quote:
Originally Posted by dangel
In the absence of Comet and DSG (although I'd expect for them to do well with Comet's out of the way) what's the alternative? I can't see Amazon etc doing much more than taking your money for the product and arranging delivery.
In which case I'm going to miss Comet - although surely GAME was in the same situation earlier in the year, so maybe all hope is not lost.
Other thing I fail to understand is the slagging of Comet's computerisation - I always found their click and collect type service to be pretty good. And they also did some nice trade-in deals - e.g. traded in my old 128MB Samsung YEPP MP3 player for a very nice Sony MP4 one. Again, can't see Amazon et al doing trade-in deals, (youngest kid just got £60 off of an iPod Touch by trading in her old one at HMV - so there's another example of why I like "real" shops rather than "online" ones).
Poor Customer Service.
Poor Availability.
Poor Prices.
Good riddence!
Why would you use them over amazon say, Amazon make doing a return easier, have people who are well trained to a consistent level available etc.
Why would you go to a store, look at a washing machine or freezer, only to then order it for delivery. Thats a tube fair I've spent, or fuel for my car, so I can look at it in person, rather than a photograph? How the hell am I going to know that I shouldn't buy the AEG because the brush motors wear quickly or some other thing I'll find out from a review on the internet.
If they solve those two, then I might even be willing to pay the same or more than I pay for an online firm.
I was in a Comet in Surrey last month to return something....about 7.30pm....
1 staff at customer service clearly doing paperwork before store closure....
4 staff talking and laughing to security guard (all ignoring me)
...10 minutes with only eye contact from the 1 staff at the customer service desk....eventually she said "are you being served?" to which I replied "no, I'm being ignored"..
.Probably not too good, but I was so frustrated...eventually left just before closing.
Not good customer service...Satff knowledge was rubbish...when looking for a TV the member of staff was reading the sticker on the side of the TV to me....couldn't answer a simple questions....
Sad day, but it's evolution...
(Having said that I was returning an unopened product I'd bought on ebuyer for £50 cheaper...so that's me bad)
They leave things too late, same with Woolworths. They should of just drop all the stores that didn't make a profit, hopefully that woudn't of been all of them lol.
I guess it depends on your store; my local store is very good and I'll be sad to see it go.
Damn I bought a coffee machine from them less then a year ago.....fingers crossed it doesn't break anytime soon.
last thing I bought from them before that was a video cassette player 22 years ago!
The wife and I went to Currys a couple of years ago, asking to buy a certain washing machine which was showing on their website. When we got there, it was £120 more expensive. We asked if they'd match the online price (on their own website), they said no, we'd have to buy online. So we went and bought from Appliances Direct, who delivered and took the old one away for an extra tenner. Plus, they were another £50 cheaper that Currys' best online price. That's why we'd never buy from DSG/Comet...Quote:
Originally Posted by crossy
I honestly think we are our own downfall by paying the cheapest prices, at least Comet gave 6000 people jobs, now all them jobs will go and we have less places to go shopping and looking at the product to make sure it is adaptable for what we want.
Just a big shame I wish all of the staff well and lets hope they get jobs in the near future.
Yes, they gave people jobs, but they didn't train them to provide anything like decent CS, only how to sell extra warranties. The impression I get whenever I go in one of these stores is that the staff really aren't that bothered, and they know less than I do, but try and cover it with b*lls**t...
As hash as this might sound, its about efficency and the bigger picture.Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff I
One of the reasons our quality of life has improved so much over the last 200 years is exactly because of such efficencies. It is simply not viable to pay people, who know nothing about the products to read the label under them. That is the thing, not that we are getting sub-par services online, often it's the opposite, amazon are normally cheaper and better.
It's only because of the changes that we can all have Fridges, Freezers Washing Machines TV and heck pretty much anything comet sells!
If we start getting all protectionist, saying we can't afford to let anyone loose their jobs, even when the industry is obsolete, we end up with a Pol Pot esk situation!
Compare John Lewis with Currys/Comet. Similar prices, but which would you rather buy from?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smudger
John Lewis/Waitrose have concentrated on 2 and 10 without hitting 1 too hard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phage
JL and Waitrose price-match with major competitors on a large number of items. But they aren't box-shifters and aren't typically (and probably can't) match box-shifters on price.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phage
So it depends what you want. Personally, I'd buy in JL/Waitrose over a box-shifter any day, unless the price difference was very large. And that attitude is partly why I haven't used Comet in, oh, 20-ish years.
Yes there is a big word Training and just a shame they were bugged by senior management to sell that useless warranty after you get manufacturers warranty with products and not caring for the customers needs, when the manufacturers refuse to supply you with products you know the game is up, but that also has to be down to management.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smudger
I am not sure how many stores Comet had but surely they could of done the sums and closed the stores that were not profitable, but maybe they knew the outcome many months ago.
I have to admit I buy small stuff after careful research and normally Amazon is at the top of the list of suppliers, but when it comes to bigger items like washing machines I like to see what I am buying it must be a touchy touchy feel thing, but who do we have left oh yes that currys now I do not like that lot they do give you the abusive sell sell of extended warrantys.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAnimus
And as for Pol Pot well the goverment springs to mind.
bit of a shame as they were useful for short notice need it now items, any big/expensive items i would get price matched from JL, both stores staff are pig ignorant and don't seem to give a toss but JL offer a better warranty.
I can see why as we have a big store on the Ikea retail park and a few miles away they have a comet that's been there as long as i can remember, its a dive, staff are really useless in there and i have no idea why they keep it open.
the only time i was spoken to was a young girl who tried to sell me a warranty for a point and shoot camera that took offence when i told her this was a cheap thing to toss about and not my expensive DSLR.
I still enjoyed walking round the big comet stores and seeing in person a big tv I've been looking at online or a fridge, I'll miss that but when I bought a dishwasher from comet a few years back I found the cocky staff member who served me to be quite annoying!
Electronic products are ideally suited to online sales, you're better off reading reviews and gathering similar expert knowledge, than looking at the product yourself (unless you have non-standard requirements or personal preference). As such, it's hardly surprising then that operations maintaining large, out of town retail sites are struggling.
I must admit the last time I bought anything in Comet was in 2006, which was a TEAC stereo a few months after I bought a Samsung flat screen TV with some vouchers, drastically reducing the price.
The last time I actually went into a Comet store was about Xmas 2009 to look at a Sony Vaio laptop... and within 5 seconds of stopping to look at it, a sales assistant had pounced on me and started going for the "hard sell" approach, which to be honest, just put me off buying it. Luckily, I received a call in the middle the of it all and I made my excuses and left. Comet obviously encouraged this kind of pushy approach, which still ironically puts me off going in today even if there is a firesale going on.
I actually bought a freezer there just under a year ago, that was after looking online at many and finding the cheapest was actually click and collect with a store 5 minutes away.
I never go there to browse.
Hmm, from the comments here I must be in a very small minority that had's consistently good service from my local Comet (less than 10 minutes walk away). Also, last time I went to my local John Lewis the staff member concerned was pretty damned snooty - gave the impression that I'd be better off heading down the local Brighthouse. Hopefully that's just my bad luck, and other sales folks are more accommodating - not that I'd noticed that Lewis' were particularly cheap so maybe my focus on price had annoyed that particular sales droid. ;)
They also paid their taxes which is something that the likes of Amazon seem not to do very well ...Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff I
I have only been in the Glasgow John Lewis once - I went to get some smart tops/polo shirts for my summer holiday ... to say I was shocked at the prices they were charging for their gear was an understatement and I would have needed a loan just to get 5 or 6 tops @£70/80 a pop.Quote:
Originally Posted by crossy
Having said that I buy quite a bit of my TV's online from them due to the price match and 5yr warranty ... hopefully got a new one coming today.:)