http://www.smh.com.au/business/bleak-august-compounds-woes-a…
The man is just too funny ! He blatantly ignores the single biggest reason sales are down.
Gerry Harvey making us laugh again !
kirasuran on 31/08/2011 - 01:55
Last edited 01/09/2011 - 00:08
Last edited 01/09/2011 - 00:08
Comments
So true Pauly. Besides, I am always sick of getting poor customer reception at harvey norman (Hardly normal). The billing people are nicer than the technical sales guys, who think they are giving a big favour to you for searching the item or giving u the details. Also surprisingly, their priority of selling another product is so desperate ( like antivirus or power surge protector on a netbook or laptop sale)
Best thing, I have learnt is, to have full research online here on ozb or whirlpool for that product and get the best deal ( most of that comes online retailers or import).
We bought a coffee machine from Harvey Norman on the weekend… customer service was not bad. We were quite happy. We did do a tiny bit of research on our own though. :)
I've never trusted sales staff expertise so I always do a lot of technical research before I set foot in a store. I usually know more than the staff when I go into a shop, and I almost always catch them spinning bs about the products
Most recently when I was looking for a coffee machine I was walking past HN so went in for a laugh. Instantly got pounced on by a sales guy, who had the air of an expert. I asked to see what they have in semi-auto machines. first he went to the full automatic machines and started showing off his expertise ("this one does capuccino, this one doesn't etc…). I started asking technical questions, how many bars the pump puts out, how many boilers are in it and what they're made of.. He thumbed the user manual for a while then decided I'd be better off browsing on my own haha.
On the other hand I've been to a few specialty coffee machine shops and their knowledge is usually very good. You can actually learn something by chatting to the staff.
Im sorry to say but put yourself in their position. I used to be a salesman so people that have a whinge about this pisses me off especially the comment 'so went in for a laugh' Its obvious that a specialty shop you would learn more they only have a few select products to learn. I would love to see you work in a retail store and the have to learn at least 200+ products then some guy comes up to you that has sat on his PC for a week researching on 1 product then quiz you for his own enjoyment. Granted there are some poor salesmen out there but this is just rude.
Re: M0nkeycheese
I think I worded my comment poorly. "For a laugh" is a phrase I (over)use to mean "for no good reason" - I didn't mean I went in there to literally laugh at someone. I went in because I was passing by.
"I would love to see you work in a retail store and the have to learn at least 200+ products"
— You'll be surprised to know that I have worked in retail. I learned not to approach people who don't look like they're after assistance; not to hardsell things they're not looking for (this is patronising); and not to pretend to be an expert in things I know nothing about.
The gentleman that served me broke all three commonsense rules. Approached me while I was happily browsing, asked what I needed then proceeded to push products that I had specifically told him I wasn't interested in. The whole time he was pretending to be an expert and acting as if he knew what I wanted better than I did. Under the circumstances, dropping a couple of technical questions to let him know that I'm not the idiot he takes me for and to get him to leave me alone was not out of line."then some guy comes up to you… [to] quiz you for his own enjoyment."
— As I explained I didn't come up to him, he came up to me. And as above I didn't mean that I went in there to quiz someone for my entertainment, that was poor communication on my part.I do sympathise with sales staff who are honest with customers with regards to what they know and what they don't and are literally there to assist them as best they can. Sometimes customers are overly demanding and get annoyed when staff can't give them all the info on their merchandise… I understand and sympathise. But more often I run into sales assistants who know very little but are there to pull the wool over peoples eyes and make a sale at any cost - usually by passing themselves off as experts and talking absolute BS in the process.
their priority of selling another product is so desperate ( like antivirus or power surge protector on a netbook or laptop sale)
IMHO, that's part of their sales tactic. They sell you something after all the haggling with very small margins, then try to push highly marked up accessories.
A mate went in, haggled down a TV to match a competitor, but then got suckered into buying a 'quality' HDMI cable for around $150. Apparently, the sales guy told him that the el cheapo cables would damage the TV and he believed it.
to have full research online here on ozb or whirlpool for that product and get the best deal
Exactly why I love this site. :)
LOL feel sorry for your friend most of the sales team are throwing bs at the comsumer.
It's part of the reason they end up with a bad reputation and no customers. You repeat that story to at least 5 mates, and they pass it on - and it would be very difficult for even spectacular customer service from Hardly Normal to wash the bad taste out of peoples' mouths.
Repeat that across the populous, and add in Gerry whining, and people shy away from the store, worrying they are going to get screwed over. Exactly the people they most want, those who don't know anything, are the ones that most avoid it after hearing the stories and knowing they wouldn't be able to tell the BS from fact.
They'd do better to have a bucket of free HDMI cables to give to people buying the product, telling them the truth (you don't need an expensive cable). Same for antivirus, etc. The gain in reputation would more than offset the lost profit margin.
This weekend we went to buy a new fridge and that was a spectacular experience, LoL.
Rep in Good Guys (which I dealt with before) - told me the same story again - that he's bought the exactly same fridge for his mother and she is extremely happy with it. BTW I've heard the same story from him before when I was buying LCD last time :)
In Harvey Norman when we've pointed out that there is no sizes shown on the fridges (height, width, depth) - rep gave me 2 meter long stick with Australian flag on top of it so I can measure the size myself… LoL
LMAO @ …rep gave me 2 meter long stick with Australian flag on top of it so I can measure the size myself
Agree with the above reasons.
Also, as many of the comments on that thread have said, Tony Abbott and his constant negativity hasn't done much for retail or for Australian confidence. As mentioned, it's much easier to stop spending and put your money into term deposits than go and spend when you're scared.
Yet we have one of the best economies in the world at the moment. The power of the media!
""Tony Abbott and his constant negativity hasn't done much for retail or for Australian confidence.""
Politics…? FYI.. The mining boom is the floatation device for this country atm, not brilliance applied by politicians. Politicians will take over when hot air and BS become a valuable comodity.
Re Monkeycheese >> "Im sorry to say but put yourself in their position. I used to be a salesman".
So true. It is impossible to be full bottle on every product in the store at all time. You will always get want2be smartarses trying to ridicule a salesperson just for the fun of it. They usually have spent the past week on the net reading every speck of detail on the item and expect the salesperson to have done the same on that exact item. If they are so knowlegeable then they should apply for a job.
On the other hand, many salespeople do BS and relate to customers as if they are some sort of low life. The ones that instantly assume you know sweet bugger all about nothing rile me up. The first step for any decent salesperson is to listen to the customer and assess their objective, then fulfil it if possible.
Recenty went to a HN store to buy a cordless phone set and asked "Kid Caffiene" (he was hyper) what was a particular model like and his reply was, "hey they are cool"! Dumbfounded, I left and purchased elsewhere.
When businesses spend a lot of money on advertising then have pathetic salespeople in the store it defies logic to me. Why do they bother?
Just do your own research before heading out and try to be polite to the salesperson, he/she may be one of the decent ones, they do exist.
That's a fair comment fair. When I use the phrase "for a laugh" when I do something even though it's unlikely to be useful. I was walking past HN, knew I was unlikely to find what I was looking for but I went in anyway. I didn't mean I wanted to go in and laugh at a sales assistant.
The guy approached me when I wasn't looking for help, started trying to hardsell stuff that I had specifically told him I wasn't interested in (assuming the customer is an idiot) and really did try to pass himself off as an expert in something he clearly knew very little about. I think my dropping a couple of tech questions to drop the hint that I wasn't an idiot and to get him to leave me alone wasn't out of line.
You guys are so harsh on Harvey Norman… I just want to put my two cents in.
Every time I go there, they offer to sell me their items for cost price… I am very appreciative of this because from what I have found, they have HUGE cost prices on most items. Sometimes their cost prices are higher than their competitors retail prices!
For them to sacrifice their profit margins for me is something most businesses refuse to do. From what I have seen, they often go into debt to assist me when I factor in the GST they pay from their own pockets..
lay off Harvey Norman, they are just looking after consumers the way no other company does.
facts of this post:
- everytime i go to Harvey Norman they do offer to sell me at cost price.
- They sure do 'look after' consumers like nobody else does… and I mean nobody.You realise the "cost price" that they offer you isn't really their cost price. It's a common ploy the sales guys use to convince you that you're getting a great deal. Oldest trick in the book.
Ah Modokun, you're so naive…I just want to take you under my wing and give you a talk about the world and the harsh reality that it is…
"Cost price" as cobalt has pointed out, is really the minimum cost that sales staff are allowed to sell at. When HN were selling a 750gb harddrive, I brought in a brochure that they had from an interstate HN. The tech guys looked at it (more than half the cost of the sticker label) and said yeap thats fine. They directed me to the front desk where the girl said "Woah this is way below cost price". Now why would HN be advertising stuff "way below" cost price.
Cost price may refer to the cost they buy from a wholesaler…before discount. So if you wanted ONE item of X, it would cost you 100 bucks and the RRP is 130. But they would offer harvey norman a special bulk price where you would buy 100 units for 50bucks each. HN's competitors would be selling it at 85bucks or so, and thus if they have to pricematch, they will still be making a good 35bucks profit.
I really don't know what I could have typed to make that sarcasm more obvious…
Modokun that was really funny !!!! !!! !!!!! !!!!
@modokun, how about a wink, like this -> ;) works for me online and real life…
A few!!!!! Or maybe a :p or lol at the end
Lol well sarcasm is 50% tone of voice…which is quite difficult to vocalise over the internet…Look at what kirasuran did…Now thats how u show e-sarcasm.
He should get himself a TouchPad and check out his overseas competitors before bed each night, then he'd be able to explain sagging consumer confidence in Australia.