Need a new job!

[Bazthemod]

Officially now hate working in electrical retail and need to have a wee rant to get it out my system! :sad:

No. 1 Problem Asshole Customers

Doesn't matter what they wish to buy be it TV or dishwasher they expect a discount like its their god given right! We already price our products competitively and offer price promise should you see it cheaper elsewhere - even up to 7 days after purchase! What do they throw in our face? Its the credit crunch you can surely do something off! I mean we are laying off staff because the company isn't best placed financially at moment but yeh sure we will sell this to you at margin and make nil profit!!

What i love is the reply "O'well we will just take our business to Comet"
With all due respect do i look like i give a.... Comet are in same boat as ourself!

Then its the 'How much for cash?' C'mon people we aint a back street dealer!

Next problem - company itself

We now run with hardly any staff... im a marchandiser and now im getting shoved onto the sales rota so i can sell. Thus my job isn't getting done so all the shiney new stuff isnt getting put out for customers to actualy buy!

Suppliers wont send us stock as the company recently couldnt get a credit facility in place. So even if we do actually have it on display our stock levels are still crap that you wont be able to get it!

Meanwhile we have to hit huge targets that take none of this into account and sell all the leads, tv stands, warranties and techguy services we can. Oh not forgetting hooking them up to Sky and Virgin and screwing an extra fiver for a timed delivery charge.

ARRRRGHHHH!!

Rant over lol feel soo much better... anyone else work in the joys of retial?

[GCA3N]

do you give discount for NMS members:Whistle:

[AndyP & Lenore]

I feel for you mate.:sad:

There's something to be said for being your own boss, I guess. Along with the worry, stress, pressure, workload and financial balancing acts, at least I don't have a boss breathing down my neck also.:thumbs up:

The discounting thing.... I'm afraid your industry has caused this themselves, with the way the marketing was done back in the 90's and early 00's. Discounts were the norm, and now the margins have fallen and overheads have rocketed (not going to start on what the cause is), discounting is almost impossible for you guys. Doesn't stop some folk asking though.:argh:

As for the customers, you're right, some are getting harder and harder to deal with.:frown:

But, look on the bright side. At the moment - you have a JOB!:thumbs up:

A.:D

[AndyP & Lenore]

do you give discount for NMS members:Whistle:

Someone reach over and remove Greig's stick from his grasp.:laugh:

A.:D

[Bazthemod]

Greig you get a carrier bag and a smile free of charge :thumbs up::p

Yeh back in the day we seemed to be a discount retailer when margins were a total joke and we made huge profits. Now margins are tighter and we rely on extended warranties and product attachment like cables to pad some profit into the sale. We offer discounts or rather When Bought With package prices on these products however. As an example tv stands are roughly £179 but if you buy with a TV you get it for £79 and we still make a profit :hand:

it just wears you down... if i had the balls i would do graphic design freelance as most months i earn more doing that than my job... its just not a garunteed income though to pay my car.

[Forbes]

We are getting tighter at M&S aswell. They are picking up on things alot more. Changed the staff waste to try and create more revenue aswell.
Just the way it goes.

Could you not drop your hours at Curry's to do more Graphic things?

[Bazthemod]

dropped them to 16 hours but things are so tight im getting pulled in for overtime all over the place. worked 8 days solid last week.

Just seems stupid that they made staff redundant then pay me time and a half overtime!

i guess it pays for all my toys but money and happiness are two very different things!

[Scottie]

Officially now hate working in electrical retail and need to have a wee rant to get it out my system! :sad:

No. 1 Problem Asshole Customers

Doesn't matter what they wish to buy be it TV or dishwasher they expect a discount like its their god given right! We already price our products competitively and offer price promise should you see it cheaper elsewhere - even up to 7 days after purchase! What do they throw in our face? Its the credit crunch you can surely do something off! I mean we are laying off staff because the company isn't best placed financially at moment but yeh sure we will sell this to you at margin and make nil profit!!

What i love is the reply "O'well we will just take our business to Comet"
With all due respect do i look like i give a.... Comet are in same boat as ourself!

Then its the 'How much for cash?' C'mon people we aint a back street dealer!

Next problem - company itself

We now run with hardly any staff... im a marchandiser and now im getting shoved onto the sales rota so i can sell. Thus my job isn't getting done so all the shiney new stuff isnt getting put out for customers to actualy buy!

Suppliers wont send us stock as the company recently couldnt get a credit facility in place. So even if we do actually have it on display our stock levels are still crap that you wont be able to get it!

Meanwhile we have to hit huge targets that take none of this into account and sell all the leads, tv stands, warranties and techguy services we can. Oh not forgetting hooking them up to Sky and Virgin and screwing an extra fiver for a timed delivery charge.

ARRRRGHHHH!!

Rant over lol feel soo much better... anyone else work in the joys of retial?


I've got to say I'm one of those that ask for a discount.

What you got to remember we are not asking you for the discount but the company I know it may be hard and get on your nerves but it nothing personal. As for the rest well that's just work for ya been like that for years wait until you've been working 29+ years.

If you could what job would you like to do?? sensible answer now.;)

[Bazthemod]

My own job as a Merchandiser at Currys is great but after uni, in the big bad world, i want to work as a creative artworker in advertising agency.

Nearly got job with JC's as part time sales but they are holding off to see how busy the new showroom is... can but hope :thumbs up:

[Mini Ecosse]

I feel for you mate.:sad:

There's something to be said for being your own boss, I guess. Along with the worry, stress, pressure, workload and financial balancing acts, at least I don't have a boss breathing down my neck also.:thumbs up:

A.:D

:off topic: I thought Lenore was your boss:Whistle::laugh::laugh:

[GCA3N]

I guess it pays for all my toys but money and happiness are two very different things!


I was in a really good job about 10 years ago taking home at the time 35-40k a year, but was not happy. I bit the bullet, sold my pride and joy and joined the police, starting on 16k:eek:. Now i left and it was not for me, but never regretted it. You are young if you don't do this now you may regret it for the rest of your life.

[MrMischief]

Rant over lol feel soo much better... anyone else work in the joys of retial?

Your woes sound familiar, although you should try working in the manufacturing sector. :eek: Luckily enough, we're really busy but that doesn't stop 'those above' from tightening the purse strings whilst still increasing our targets....and forgetting to share the profits. :ragin: It's scary watching the manufacturing and retail sectors struggle so much, so many big names are disappearing :frown:

[Smitty]

I've got to say I'm one of those that ask for a discount.

And rightly so - we in the UK are to nice and tend to just accept the price tag. :frown:

Go to any other Europeon country and you'll get much more hagglng/bartering on goods and services :smilewinkgrin:

Makes shopping more exciting!! :D

[AndyP & Lenore]

:off topic: I thought Lenore was your boss:Whistle::laugh::laugh:

I like to let her think so.;)

A.:D

[Bazthemod]

And rightly so - we in the UK are to nice and tend to just accept the price tag. :frown:

Go to any other Europeon country and you'll get much more hagglng/bartering on goods and services :smilewinkgrin:

Makes shopping more exciting!! :D

To be honest you will piss the salesman off ... if i have a customer who doesnt haggle hard for discount but is swaying slightly i will use discount to close the sale if the store has enough discount to play with.

We are allowed 1.1% discount for the whole store so there is very little to play with lol

We get more grief for discount than for missing pound notes targets and when you see the figures of how much the company lost due to discount you understand why. So unfortunately sometimes you have to let the sale walk... thats retail in this climate.

[Forbes]

That's the difference with Currys and Markies. They can't haggle over a pint of milk.

[Bazthemod]

That's the difference with Currys and Markies. They can't haggle over a pint of milk.

lol exactly mate... i wouldn't dream about going into a supermarket and saying... since im buying bread AND milk can you do anything on the price?:rolleyes::p

[Gismo]

Understand your dilemma, but, i'm gonna throw it back at you, we know there are deals to be made, especially when you go on to confirm that there is a 100 quid saving on a table :rolleyes:

Also, it annoys me as much as your scenario when sales guys/galls try to fob us off with extended warranty, when i say i don't want it and they try again, i walk away.

Not sure your company are legally allowed to have you work all those extra hours when you've made someone redundant, if someone is made redundant that means that the job is removed totally, not a basis to make someone do that work

[Big Gordy]

Alans right:eek: It's the position that goes. If you make someone redundant because that position is no longer there you can't make someone else do the job:idea:
Baz what confuses me about the company you work for is that they offer the same goods on-line, delivered for less than you guys can sell it for in the shop:eek: If they want the shops to succeed surely they must make them the same:argh: When I bought my tele I went on line, saw the one I wanted, went to shop and had a look at it then went home and bought it on-line at way less than the shop price.......where's the sense in that.....of course the shops gonna flop when it's considerably cheaper in their on-line shop:frown:

[euan]

I'm going to try and be objective here. May struggle though ;-)

I understand it's annoying for you guys, but it's to be expected at the moment. When you bought your car, did you haggle and expect some money off? Why is that different from a pint of milk? Goods for money after all, but you'd expect the best deal, no?. How the staff react to that and how they handle that will determine if I use that shop to buy the item, regardless what it is. I'm a realist, people need to make money to stay in business, so long as everyone makes a bit of money I'm fine with that.

I do often wonder about some of the big chains where the customer service is not great, overheads are big - how are they still in business? It's a vicious circle though as they cut staff and make people work longer hours (illegal, btw) and the staff will get demoralised. Therefore the level of sales suffers, company suffers, and before you know it the money runs out and your out of business.

I bought my last TV in a shop and not online. There was no pressure to buy. There was no selling of cables, just a check that I had everything I needed to get it working with my existing kit. No warranty challenges - it came with a free 5 year warranty from the manufacturer. They didn't have a sample out, so took one out and set it up for me to see. I bought from an independant, at about 100 quid less than it was on sale on the chain stores. Great customer service, less overheads. Not saying everyone should do that, but if a shop or chain, no matter what it is, is well run with staff not being run to the ground, you'll get good service with decent prices.

How people ask the question about discount and how it's handled are the keys to making a sale and reducing your own stress levels. You put forward a rational argument as to what you can do here, but i've never heard that from anyone instore. And that's the difference between me walking out of one shop to another - being treated in a manner that, if I were the customer, I'd want to be treated. If that happens I'll buy the item.

[Livi]

do you give discount for NMS members:Whistle:

NO HE DOESNT!!

I went in and bought a phone and got bugger all!! :frown:

maybe i might miss the discount button next time :hand: ;):p


i know how he feels, people come here and expect discount left right and centre, i just tell them 'Does tesco/asda give you discount?' then they go in the huff :hand:

[Bazthemod]

Haggling with a car wasn't an issue for me... I went in said I wanted to pay in region of £250 a month and I got the car I wanted. When you get into the regions of £17,500 there is considerably more margin to play with!

When I get Hotel owners etc who come in and buy multiple TVs that come to £10/15k then I will make sure they get discount even if they don’t ask!

Your point about stands if you read it back you will understand we discount those and we also discount cables as they are high profit lines. However this discount is controlled by head office and doesn’t appear on our sales figures as discount. If your still worried about us making a profit on £79 stand then jeez we may as well close lol

The pressure for extended warranty is there because we no longer get paid commission we get paid bonus for extended warranties.... depending what overall store achieves makes the payment per unit fluctuate. I will be honest and say its not required on half the things we sell but for TVs, laptops and washing machines it’s worth it, if you know how to work the system. We also get paid for every sky we sell or mobile broadband etc.

I understand everyone wants a good deal ... as for your independent if you had come to a chain the price would be matched with further 10%. I also understand not every member of the sales team knows what they are talking about and blag it for too often! Problem is if you employ monkeys on peanuts you don’t get dedication and people willing to read the online training, only select few will actually put in 100% like I do and eventually you get rewarded by pay increases.

Euan you don’t hear what I say in store as it shouldn’t be discussed with customers as its business data is essence and I guess shouldn’t be on here either. Somehow I think if I explained this instore it wouldn’t change anyone’s mind. If someone asked me for discount I reply with: we are already the cheapest on the high street and pitch or prices competitively im so confident of it that if you find your product elsewhere cheaper I will match it and refund 10% difference even up to seven days after the purchase. That works in many cases but people have this myth we are rolling in the dogh off their sale. I don’t even go to ask my manager for discount if it's not a profitable sale i.e. has essential add ons and warranty, as sales without this just aren't recognised. I think this is wrong a customer spending £1000 but not taking any extras is now treated as a negative sale and a bit of a hot potato but that’s how this pay structure goes im afraid.

Online pricing I agree 100% we will match our own website but not anyone else’s. The one we get most frequently is Dixons as they sell things very competitively and if you haven’t checked them out do so. Amazing thing is they are our sister company and we aren’t allowed to match them. Reasons we get thrown back at us are... oh it costs 30k a month rent on your shop unit and you have bigger overheads than a website. The only fortunate thing for us here is that most of the sites you use online we actually own so your money comes to us eventually. Our online revenue is quickly catching up with the stores.

In the next 12 months you will see a radical difference to one electrical retailer in general. If you live in aberdeen and have been to berryden retail park you will get a sneak preview of what is coming. This change is making stores more profitable and hopefully this will lead to us getting back on our feet and being able to wheel and deal slightly more :lol:

[Bazthemod]

NO HE DOESNT!!

I went in and bought a phone and got bugger all!! :frown:

maybe i might miss the discount button next time :hand: ;):p


i know how he feels, people come here and expect discount left right and centre, i just tell them 'Does tesco/asda give you discount?' then they go in the huff :hand:


Haha should you not be working!? ;)

I had another dude from your place in for a microwave!

[Livi]

Haha should you not be working!? ;)

I had another dude from your place in for a microwave!

perks of the job.

aye, the micro in the canteen blew up so i sent my apprentice driver in for it :P

DISCOUNT THEN!?!? :hand: :laugh: Jokes bud :D

[Bazthemod]

lol you buy 20 microwaves and i might think about discount ;)

least we couldn't sell you extended warranty as its for business :rolleyes::p

[GCA3N]

NO HE DOESNT!!

I went in and bought a phone and got bugger all!! :frown:

maybe i might miss the discount button next time :hand: ;):p


i know how he feels, people come here and expect discount left right and centre, i just tell them 'Does tesco/asda give you discount?' then they go in the huff :hand:

please note the :Whistle: