sharney houghs Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Anybody had any bad experience over the festive while doing their shopping?I went to a local electrical retailer to look for a home cinema system and when i asked the salesman for some advice on the one i was interested in, he replied "its a 5.1 home cinema system, theres nothing more to tell" then turned his back on me. So i sent a couple of E-mails and bought one off the internet instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splodger Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Customer service isn't too great up here, do nearly all my non-food shopping on-line, big, big fan of Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodeyn Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Yep unfortunately there is a serious lack of customer service in some of the local shops which makes shopping online with delivery to your door all the more appealing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xoni Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Ebay and amazon ...cheap , good stuff and easy to deal with , and thats all I ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trout Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Just out of interest a sticky thread on this forum has a compiled guide to shops that deliver to Shetland and the couriers they use: Companies who deliver to Shetland & Courier Agents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubber Ducky Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Left my xmas shopping too late to buy online so I had to nip into a well known record shop in Lerwick the other week to purchase a dvd. Cost £17.99 in the shop, would've cost £9.99 online with free delivery. Will never go to said shop ever again. Fair enough if it had been a few quid more expensive, but £17.99 was just taking the p*ss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodeyn Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 ^^ditto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swc123 Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Where I can I try to support local businesses but unfortunately some of the customer service is not what I expect. But on the other side of the coin, some will go out of their way to help. It is very difficult to compete as a bricks and mortar retailer against competition from online retailers. However the local bricks and mortar options provide a lot more which may not be immediately obvious - retaining money in the economy, providing employment and there are also social benefits around this. I factor this into all buying decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 ^^ I'm very mindful of this in my day to day purchases, as I'd hate to lose the local access, but in some cases the price simply outweighs the honour. Car parts are a good example. I recently paid £84 including VAT & 2 day delivery for 3 parts I was quoted 150+VAT for locally, with 5-7 working days before I could pick them up. And before anyone says, it was for the exact same parts, not cheapo duplicates. I buy all my CD's locally, but they are few and far between now, as downloads are more convenient, cheaper, and more money (generally) goes to the musician(s). I've often wondered how Clives/High Level would do with an online order, pick up in person, system. Probably more hassle than its worth, but if I could see they had something in stock at night and reserve it, I would probably patronise them more. After all, how often do you decide during a day in town that they want a specific CD? It must be murder to judge stock levels for DVD's and Games these days. Full retail price seems to last a week at very best with the likes of play.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Well, for me, it is not the lack of customer services, ie helpfulness, a smile, etc, it is the complete lack of knowledge about the product that puts me right off buying locally. If I go into an electrical shop, I expect the person behind the counter to know about their product, assist me when I tell them what I need and produce the right piece of equipment. Not for me to have to return again and again because they are talking out of their ass basically. Petrol is expensive and when you have to go back to the same shop 3 times on 3 different occasions specifically to make good what they have got wrong, it begins to irk a bit. This is becoming far too regular an occurrence so guess what, we are buying off the internet which is a pity because I am an avid compaigner of local shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piddly Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 ^^^^^^^ Can you be a little more specific about which retailer(s) you are talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 The staff in the Scottish Hydro electric shop in Commercial St are particularly unfriendly when I have been in to enquire about something whereas the sales staff in Robertsons are brilliant in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosn Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 there seems to be room for both in the marketplace, the biggest benefit wi going online is it highlights who the "knock off merchants" are locally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharney houghs Posted January 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 my experience was in Bolts electrical. overpriced, out of date and badly laid out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 So was mine. They have lost our custom plus we were also told that if we opened one of the packaged leads, we could not return it if it did not do the job required. We did open it, it didn't do the job required so we did return it and yes, they did give us our money back in full but really...... how can you tell if a thing is not up for the job by telepathy only? I suppose as it was our 3rd time in the shop they had got to know our faces by then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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