Have your say & ask the experts

went to buy a new sony kdl40z5500 because in their advert they sell it at £1149.95 (prices valid between 19th september - 2nd october) but instore was told it was £1249.95. at the moment stores are doing an offer stating if a sony tv is bought u can trade in your old t.v and get upto £150 back, buying a 40" this entitles me to £100 cashback and in all stores they would take this off the price but they then said at richer sounds that the price of the t.v would be £1299.95 and would go down to £1199.95. so in essence i wld only be getting £50 pounds cashbak off the increased price rather than the £1049.95 that it should be, which wld be a bargain

Are you sure Richer Sounds are participating in the Sony Trade-In scheme? When I put in our postcode here to find participating stores, none of the local RS stores come up. Same holds true when I try a number of towns where I know there are RS stores...

definately sure bin on the phone to them all day

 

Well, Sony's Trade-In promotion website doesn't seem to think they are. Perhaps they're just trying to match the kind of prices available elsewhere with the trade-in. And I'm afraid I can't see any advert in WHFSV where that TV is offered at the price you quote.

I have emailed Richer Sounds HQ asking for clarification.

Hi Mancub,
 
I’m pleased to confirm that we are indeed participating in the Sony trade-in scheme and have been involved with this promotion since Saturday 19th September.
 
Please accept my apologies but the price listed in our catalogue for the Sony KDL40Z5500 is unfortunately a genuine error, our correct in-store price is currently £1299.95.
 
We do also have a special offer web price of £1249.95 (which, as with all our web prices, we will always honour in-store); however this special offer price is not available in-conjunction with any other offer, which includes the Sony trade-in scheme.
 
Of course, we would be more than happy to accept your trade-in and you would therefore receive a £100 discount against a 40” Sony TV at our in-store price.
 
Meanwhile, I trust this clarifies our position although please let me know should you have any further queries.
 
Many thanks,
 
John Clayton
Operations Director
Richer Sounds

Thanks John – I was just confused as none of the RS stores come up on the Sony Trade-In postcode search, although lots of other stores independent of Sony do (ie not just Sony Centres).

What amazes me is that Richers have sets listed on their website, for example the SONY KDL37S5500, listed at £479,95 available in-store only, when you phone the store the TV is actually £529.95.

So what's the point of having a web only price that can only be bought in-store for a more expensive price?

Plus, the staff were astonishingly vague about the Sony trade in, it's between £50 or £150 trade-in, against the different price for this in-store only item, but no actual details of how the trade-in value is reached???

Bizarre.

If you phone Richer sounds and tell them the online price is cheaper they will match the store price with the online price.

Miggs

That wasn't what they said yesterday mate...

coldbobt:

it's between £50 or £150 trade-in, against the different price for this in-store only item, but no actual details of how the trade-in value is reached??

The trade-in is determined by the screen size of the TV you're buying, and is set by Sony, not RS. See the list at the bottom of the Sony trade-in site for details.

Richer Sounds:

Hi Mancub,
 
I’m pleased to confirm that we are indeed participating in the Sony trade-in scheme and have been involved with this promotion since Saturday 19th September.
 
Please accept my apologies but the price listed in our catalogue for the Sony KDL40Z5500 is unfortunately a genuine error, our correct in-store price is currently £1299.95.
 
We do also have a special offer web price of £1249.95 (which, as with all our web prices, we will always honour in-store); however this special offer price is not available in-conjunction with any other offer, which includes the Sony trade-in scheme.
 
Of course, we would be more than happy to accept your trade-in and you would therefore receive a £100 discount against a 40” Sony TV at our in-store price.
 
Meanwhile, I trust this clarifies our position although please let me know should you have any further queries.
 
Many thanks,
 
John Clayton
Operations Director
Richer Sounds

That's interesting, because John Lewis price matches even Richer Sounds' online prices (on the basis that Richer Sounds price matches its online deals instore) & further offers the £100 - £150 trade-in discount on Sony TVs in exchange for your old TVs. I know this because my friend got the deal at John Lewis store in Glasgow only 2 weeks ago.

My understanding is, that the £50 discount is offered by Richer Sounds for online purchases (which is matched by Richer Sounds for in-store purchases), & the £100 - £150 trade-in discount is fully borne by Sony, & not Richer Sounds. Why then, shouldn't the customers benefit from it?

Hmmm....no reply to my query yet? That's the main problem....dealers tend to cut back on their incentives & discounts if the manufacturer offers a discount / trade-in scheme, quite unfairly. Its no wonder that Richer Sounds is losing customers to John Lewis who offers a free 5 year guarantee on all TVs, as compared to Richer Sounds who charges for its 5 year warranties (although a small amount). Moreover, John Lewis is more honest with a generally consistently good customer service all over the country.

Hi bigboss,

As I have previously explained on this thread, we are running two different promotions which are independent of each other and unfortunately they cannot be used together.

Of course I am disappointed to hear that you are unhappy with our service, especially as we do put a lot of hard work into delivering a positive customer experience for all of our customers. Likewise, our price beat policy enables us to offer the best prices to our customers on the relatively few occasions when one of our competitors is cheaper than us.

I hope this clarifies our position although please let me know if I can be of any further help.

Thanks again,

John Clayton
Operations Director
Richer Sounds

 

Richer Sounds:

Hi bigboss,

As I have previously explained on this thread, we are running two different promotions which are independent of each other and unfortunately they cannot be used together.

Of course I am disappointed to hear that you are unhappy with our service, especially as we do put a lot of hard work into delivering a positive customer experience for all of our customers. Likewise, our price beat policy enables us to offer the best prices to our customers on the relatively few occasions when one of our competitors is cheaper than us.

I hope this clarifies our position although please let me know if I can be of any further help.

Thanks again,

John Clayton
Operations Director
Richer Sounds

 

Thanks for your reply. My understanding is, that the TV trade-in is a Sony promotion, not a Richer Sounds promotion. How can John Lewis do it then? It's never impossible to combine 2 promotions, especially in this competitive age. 

I went with my friend in Glasgow when he was shopping for a Sony TV. Richer Sounds refused to offer the online discount to couple with the Sony trade-in scheme. So we went to John Lewis, who price matched Richer Sounds' online price & offered the trade-in discount as well, along with a free 5 year guarantee.

I'm not against Richer Sounds, just conveying my experience which might help you retain such lost customers.

I've read this thread and now have a headache. Someone should put little Dom on the case. :o)