pslewis

Just heard rumours that Comet may be about to go under.

Why can it not be that CURRYS go under? CURRYS deserves to sink purely on the basis of their awful Customer Service!

Come on, Folks ... get shopping at Comet - we don't want CURRYS having the High Street to themselves, you really don't!

ado

iTrader: (4)

Heard the same this morning on radio

Tony Harrington

iTrader: (8)

If Comet goes bust does my 4 year insurance warranty follow on a 50 inch TV only bought last year?

pslewis

Not if it's Insurance backed - which it is.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Probably.

This is hardly surprising really is it?
I can't see how Currys and PC World will be around in 5 years either.

All the tech that is being sold by them at the moment, just helps the user shop online.
Now that you can view hundreds of reviews for any one item online, you don't really need to visit the store anymore.

I can't remember the last time I purchased an electrical good from a shop.

Argos has woken up to this and is why they are closing some stores and concentrating on their online business. This is where the potential for growth is.
It is even helping Royal Mail with all the extra deliveries that this trend is creating.

The high street shop and retail park store are dead, at least for electrical goods.
I said this at the end of 2008!

Tony Harrington

iTrader: (8)

Phew!
Cheers PSL

David Lock

Don't agree entirely. There will always be people who actually want to see the goods they are buying and if PC World and others can roughly match on-line sources they should be OK but their margins will be slim. I think there were just too many electrical stores around and Comet were always at the bottom end of the list. I have used them quite a bit over the years but you had to be careful as about half their white goods on display were dented


dl

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

I agree, but those who do actually want to visit the store and be harrassed by staff are few and far between these days. These companies wouldn't be going bust otherwise.

I stupidly agreed with the mrs to go and look at new sofas last week.
We tried Furniture Villiage, DFS, Paul Simon etc.
In every store, we were hounded by idiots who think that I don't know what a sofa is or that they know what we want more than us!

The same happens in Currys or Comets and it really puts me of going to any type of shop.
Then again, I hate shopping anyway.

David Lock

But you wouldn't buy a sofa on-line without trying it out first. It's not so hard to just say to the "helpful" staff - "Thanks pal but just looking, will shout when I need you"

dl

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

To be honest the last two big goods I've bought, sofa last year and tv this year, I did a mixture of internet research and visiting shops. In the end the sofa was bought from Harvey's with a big discount regardless of the supposed customer service horrors, and the tv bought from Comet, again with a hefty discount.

Maybe it's my presence but neither time were me or the mrs bugged apart from a hello when walking in. Must be my face

I still prefer to physically see the goods and use the Internet as a research tool and if cheapest afterwards, the buying tool also.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

But it is as soon as you walk into the store.
Then, even when I say that we are just looking thanks, the same pleb will reappear 5 minutes later.
I feel like like saying to them 'Ok fine. You tell me what I want. The can I go please?'

May be it is just me, but I don't like being pushed into buying anything.
It just puts me off and I have walked out more than once because of such tactics.

Leslie

I shall be sorry if Comet do go to the wall. I have had good srvice from them in the past and never had cause to complain.

Les

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

I absolutely agree and I think it is that type of customer service that actually can deter customers. What most people probably want is staff that are friendly and helpful, when they are needed, not to be hounded as soon as they walk through the door. It's not the staff's fault though, and I bet a lot of them agree with you.

I work in retail and my company is still trying to get us to approach all customers within reach. Some do like that, a lot of that is down to the fact the store I work in has a lot of 'demanding' customers, but more don't, some can even be quite rude when asked if they need any help. I personally think what service a person gets is a key factor in the success of a company, it's getting the balance right, helpful but not in your face.

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

I run a Independent Electrical shop and the news about Comet has been flying around for a long time.
Seems like nothing is going to stop them going under this time. They apparently have zero credit rating with almost all brands they are dealing with and working purely on turnover not profit to keep running.
Not sure why anybody would shop at a multiple anyway. Most Independents offer better service than them. If like us you're a member of Euronics we can kick their prices out the window and be there if anything goes wrong in the future.

paulr

Dont totally agree. I have returned quite a few online purchases recently and what a pain it was.

1. Weights bench. Amazon gave it great reviews, but the leg curl was too low and my feet hit the floor. If i'd seen it in a store i'd have noticed this.
2. Hi-fi speakers. Great reviews, but i thought they sounded awful, but the build quality was poor too.

Both i wasted lots of time returning.

Tidgy

PCworld can be ok if you pick and chose, we bought a printer form there and it was only £2 cheaper online (couldnt be bothered with the hassel of online for that little).

dpb

It'll just get split up, too large, too slow into online selling

Oldun

It's demise has just been announced on the radio, it's in receivership now.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Another one bites the dust.

It's a shame for all involved but the writting has been on the wall for a number of years now.

speedking

How will that purchasing model work if there are no high street stores?

The only way I can see it is that the manufacturers have a High Street presence funded out of the profits they make from the online sales by Amazon etc. Then you could physically see the goods before purchase.

There are also people who have to have the item there and then, like a colleague who bought a too large steering wheel because he couldn't be bothered to wait a week

I also remember doing all the on-line research for some hi-fi speakers and settling on a pair. When I went to look in the shop they were only about 6" tall, completely not what I expected

jazzyjembreaze

iTrader: (11)

So in this week alone
Kimberly Clark , ford , & now commet
This country is well & truly smashed

dpb

Nothing put away for a rainy day, depending on the nation spending off of crazy cheap credit with never a thought for where it might end
Mr Darling knew the answer

mrmadcap

Just think of the millions they must have spent during peak viewing advertising on the telly.

Stevesbluewrx

iTrader: (4)

+ 1

FFS!!

pslewis

My local Independant is with Euronics .... his prices went UP not down. He will haggle, but struggles getting close to Online prices ...... but, he is just 300 yards away and sells everything from Fridges to Sofas from Light Bulbs to 60" 3D TV's - so, his proximity wins for me (mostly).

Last item I bought was a Dishwasher from ARGOS - £210, delivered, fitted and old unit taken away ..... how can they do that?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I use our Euronics place as well, sometimes service and convenience win over price (within reason)

We always found with our local Comet that you go in, choose something, they haven't got it, you go for your second choice, ditto, and so on until that 42 inch plasma you went in for becomes a Smoothie Maker or something, went in for a laptop the other week with the wife and got pissed off as after three choices they didnt have it, can see why now but it used to happen back years ago, remember going in for a mobile phone for my mums birthday, ended up getting the assistant to just bring out the phones they actually had in stock.

Still, used to have fond memories is Comet in Stockport as a kid, a palace of glittering delights, used to love going, my dad with cash saved up to get a new telly or something, always an event, now its just a lesson in tedium and dissapointment.

WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

Have just had a nightmare with this. Our oven when capput a couple of weeks ago, and we were looking to get an expensive rangemaster at some point. Comet where one of the cheapest to buy the particular one we wanted and offered a buy now pay nothing for 12 month plan. As we hadn't enough saved yet, but didn't want to spend hundreds on an oven we would only get rid of in a few months we went for this option.

Put a deposit of a couple hundred down, and the rest was a credit agreement with Santander.

So today many phone calls flying around to Rangemaster, Comet and Santander and we had to hotfoot it to the store and get the credit agreement cancelled. It proved fairly difficult to get to the bottom of what was going on with our order, if anyone else is in this boat they need to do something about it NOW.

hodgy0_2

because you have £70.00 worth of dishwasher,

Mouser

Lol @ hodgy0 2

Pity about Comet and their staff, always had good service from them in the past. I'm surprised HMV are still on the go along with a few others on the High Street.

douglasb

It's ironic that Comet are going down because they haven't adapted to online business.

In the mid seventies their business model was that they operated from out-of-town warehouses where none of the stuff they sold was on display and the staff were just warehouse people who didn't know any technical details about what they were selling. The idea was that you went to a High Street place and researched what you wanted then went to a Comet warehouse and asked for a Hoover X5HB75 (or whatever) and the person would go off to the warehouse and get it for you. Comet's price reflected the cheaper premises and lack of staff who could tell you anything about the product.