Curry's Sales Staff Advice

ForestFire

Posting in here, as its really just so laughable, I doubt anyone in consumer issues would take it seriously:D

Was in local Currys store to find a new washing machine replacement, when I was privy to 2 incredible pieces of sales "information"

The first was a conversation I overhear.

Elderly lady looking to get a new TV, Asks the sales guy about what looked like about a 32in TV for about 300ish Euro. So the sales guy starts into his advice....

Sales:-
There are three types of TV, the latest 4k which has 4000 Pixels Per Inch Full HD with 1000 pixles per Inch and 10 years old and HD ready TVs....

Completely wrong but at least he kept the same mistake across 4K/FHD/HD Ready, so the comparison was somewhat okay :rolleyes:, but his first question should be, what is she planning to watch on the TV?

Anyway, I didn't have time to hear anymore as it was time for my own Sales "Info"...

Me:-
These washing machines come with 2yr parts and labor and 10 year parts only warranty?
Sale:-
Yes
Me:-
What happens after 2 years if the washing machine breaks and there is no cover for Labor?
Sales:-
I guess they send you the parts by Post
Me:-
But how do they know what parts I need?
Sales:-
Not sure
Me:-
When I receive the parts who is going to install them in the machine??
Sales:-
eh not really sure
Me:-
Do you not have to send out a engineer?
Sales:-
I'll have to check with someone else
Me:-
Its okay I have to leave now

So on ringing the washing machine supplier directly, it turns out there is a fixed charge of 80euro per call-out plus labour time, so to expect it to be around 150 euro at least.

This was on a washing machine valued at about 350euro so I think i would prefer to save the 150 and just buy a new machine for 350 with full 2 yr warranty again, because I am sure there would be another failure as the machine gets older and more fees to keep it going.

selwyn froggitt

Hello is that Curry's?

'I'd like to place an order for two supplementary, auxiliary speakers, to go with my Midi Hi-Fi system, apropos achieving surround sound'

'Apropos...it's Latin'.

You got to have a basic grasp of Latin if you're working in........Curry's.

Samuel T. Cogley

If you're in Curry's in the first place you pretty much deserve what you get.

Beyondgone

Rice or chips?

Best guess on everything else, 2 year warranty on a 350 quid washing machine and a Kerry lad mixing up inches and centimeters on a cheap telly sale?

Samuel T. Cogley

OSI wrote: »

Yeah, sure who wouldn't expect some lad on 9 quid an hour and a 20 hour contract to know the minutae of every single warranty attached to every one of thousands of products they sell :rolleyes:

Do you expect the shelf packer in Tesco's to be able to tell you what kind of tree is used in making the toilet paper you're buying?

To be fair they have google, but then so do the people shopping there, probably proving they haven't used google.

ScumLord

ForestFire wrote: »

So on ringing the washing machine supplier directly, it turns out there is a fixed charge of 80euro per call-out plus labour time, so to expect it to be around 150 euro at least.

This was on a washing machine valued at about 350euro so I think i would prefer to save the 150 and just buy a new machine for 350 with full 2 yr warranty again, because I am sure there would be another failure as the machine gets older and more fees to keep it going.

That's a fairly standard service charge. The guarantee is fairly good for a washing machine, I don't think they really make big money on servicing so it's not really their intention to be giving out free parts and keeping the service guy in work. A ten year guarantee usually means you'll get ten years out of it.

If the machine breaks down outside of guarantee and you assume it will last 3 years before breaking down again you're still saving on the service charge over buying a new machine that will also break down every 3 years.

magentis

Beyondgone wrote: »

Rice or chips?

Best guess on everything else, 2 year warranty on a 350 quid washing machine and a Kerry lad mixing up inches and centimeters on a cheap telly sale?

Them kerry lads are always mixing up inches and centimeters.

theteal

ForestFire wrote: »

This was on a washing machine valued at about 350euro so I think i would prefer to save the 150 and just buy a new machine for 350 with full 2 yr warranty again, because I am sure there would be another failure as the machine gets older and more fees to keep it going.

I know this is a pi$$ on the shop thread but seriously, a warranty is only a sales tool. If my washing machine stops working after just 2 years, I'm getting it repaired by the retailer at no additional cost to myself as per my consumer rights.

Teyla Emmagan

Samuel T. Cogley wrote:

If you're in Curry's in the first place you pretty much deserve what you get.

Worst shop on earth.

ForestFire

It should not matter what wages someone is on, they are sales staff and it's there job to give the correct information, or if they do not know find out or simply say "so I do not know".

Should someone on basic wages in food outlets ignore food safety just because they are on low wages?

They certainly should not be making up BS answers like they will post parts.

The reason I was asking this question is because I suspected that this 10yr warranty did not make that particular model more advantages over another I was looking at.

Galway_guy_33

ah reminds me of a time I was giving my delivery details for a tv in currys... as he entered my details standing next to me... I finished my address with co. Westmeath... he turns to me is that in north dublin or south dublin.. I laughed at him thinking he was taking the piss... but to my horror he was serious.

Samuel T. Cogley

Galway_guy_33 wrote: »

ah reminds me of a time I was giving my delivery details for a tv in currys... as he entered my details standing next to me... I finished my address with co. Westmeath... he turns to me is that in north dublin or south dublin.. I laughed at him thinking he was taking the piss... but to my horror he was serious.

What part of Galway is that?!

El Weirdo

ForestFire wrote: »

It should not matter what wages someone is on, they are sales staff and it's there job to give the correct information, or if they do not know find out or simply say "so I do not know".

Should someone on basic wages in food outlets ignore food safety just because they are on low wages?

They certainly should not be making up BS answers like they will post parts.

The reason I was asking this question is because I suspected that this 10yr warranty did not make that particular model more advantages over another I was looking at.

I wonder did he know the difference between there and their?

Johnson_76

ForestFire wrote: »

Posting in here, as its really just so laughable, I doubt anyone in consumer issues would take it seriously:D

Was in local Currys store to find a new washing machine replacement, when I was privy to 2 incredible pieces of sales "information"

The first was a conversation I overhear.

Elderly lady looking to get a new TV, Asks the sales guy about what looked like about a 32in TV for about 300ish Euro. So the sales guy starts into his advice....

Sales:-
There are three types of TV, the latest 4k which has 4000 Pixels Per Inch Full HD with 1000 pixles per Inch and 10 years old and HD ready TVs....

Completely wrong but at least he kept the same mistake across 4K/FHD/HD Ready, so the comparison was somewhat okay :rolleyes:, but his first question should be, what is she planning to watch on the TV?

Anyway, I didn't have time to hear anymore as it was time for my own Sales "Info"...

Me:-
These washing machines come with 2yr parts and labor and 10 year parts only warranty?
Sale:-
Yes
Me:-
What happens after 2 years if the washing machine breaks and there is no cover for Labor?
Sales:-
I guess they send you the parts by Post
Me:-
But how do they know what parts I need?
Sales:-
Not sure
Me:-
When I receive the parts who is going to install them in the machine??
Sales:-
eh not really sure
Me:-
Do you not have to send out a engineer?
Sales:-
I'll have to check with someone else
Me:-
Its okay I have to leave now

So on ringing the washing machine supplier directly, it turns out there is a fixed charge of 80euro per call-out plus labour time, so to expect it to be around 150 euro at least.

This was on a washing machine valued at about 350euro so I think i would prefer to save the 150 and just buy a new machine for 350 with full 2 yr warranty again, because I am sure there would be another failure as the machine gets older and more fees to keep it going.

You are a barrell of laughs

neonsofa

I had a great experience in currys, found the guy really helpful and he advised me to go for the laptop that was cheaper than the one I had intended to get. Answered all my questions and wasn't patronising in the way that most sales advisors tend to be when they realise I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to technology!

Samuel T. Cogley

neonsofa wrote: »

I had a great experience in currys, found the guy really helpful and he advised me to go for the laptop that was cheaper than the one I had intended to get. Answered all my questions and wasn't patronising in the way that most sales advisors tend to be when they realise I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to technology!

He won't last long.

neonsofa

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

He won't last long.

Maybe not but I appreciated him at the time

Capt'n Midnight

d2ww

When buying something from a general store with hundreds of disparate goods, would the onus not be on you, the purchaser, to inform yourself via the internet before you set foot in the store. If I come across a knowledgeable member of staff in say Woodies, I consider it a bonus, not an expectation.

(Btw, any Woodies staff I have dealt with, have been great)

Glenster

Theyre just some lads on minimum wage, give them a break.

Winterlong

It's not reasonable to expect the staff to know everything about all products but it is also not reasonable for them to lie to you.

I was always having issues with finding staff in the likes of PC Worlds & Currys that were even on the shop floor. Heard a great tip before - if' you're in that same position, go stand beside the most expensive thing in the shop or the most expensive thing in the department you're in, and act like you're crazy interested in it. You'll soon have someone sent over to you.

neonsofa

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I was always having issues with finding staff in the likes of PC Worlds & Currys that were even on the shop floor. Heard a great tip before - if' you're in that same position, go stand beside the most expensive thing in the shop or the most expensive thing in the department you're in, and act like you're crazy interested in it. You'll soon have someone sent over to you.

This is exactly what I did when buying my laptop. It works. Looked around, nobody there, went to mac books to get their attention, shot over to help! :pac: in fairness he was a great help!

me_right_one

d2ww wrote: »

When buying something from a general store with hundreds of disparate goods, would the onus not be on you, the purchaser, to inform yourself via the internet before you set foot in the store.

No it would not. You are the customer who may or may not buy the product, not the manufacturer / supplier / seller trying to make money on it.

neonsofa

neonsofa wrote: »

This is exactly what I did when buying my laptop. It works. Looked around, nobody there, went to mac books to get their attention, shot over to help! :pac: in fairness he was a great help!

You've no idea how much the one that was helping me's face dropped when he saw me move from the laptop costing nearly €2,000 to the one that cost maybe €600. :pac:

magicbastarder

OSI wrote: »

Yeah, sure who wouldn't expect some lad on 9 quid an hour and a 20 hour contract to know the minutae of every single warranty attached to every one of thousands of products they sell :rolleyes:

Do you expect the shelf packer in Tesco's to be able to tell you what kind of tree is used in making the toilet paper you're buying?

false equivalence; the staff in curry's are not there to merely place the products on the shelf, they are primarily there to help customers. you wouldn't expect to get an answer from someone in tesco about whether the korma sauce they're packing is better than the curry sauce, but you'd expect reasonable technical knowledge from a staff member in currys.

neonsofa

[Deleted User] wrote: »

You've no idea how much the one that was helping me's face dropped when he saw me move from the laptop costing nearly €2,000 to the one that cost maybe €600. :pac:

A sales assistant spent ages answering my questions before and he was genuinely really helpful and it broke my heart to tell him that I had to wait until tomorrow (pay day) to actually make the purchase, he looked so disappointed, guessing he was on commission. I took his name and spoke to the manager about him when I did go back to let them know how helpful he was cause I couldn't find him on the shop floor to get him to serve me. Felt awful though!

magicbastarder

ForestFire wrote: »

Me:-
These washing machines come with 2yr parts and labor and 10 year parts only warranty?

this warranty issue is something which should be relatively straightforward to educate floor staff about (not that it seems to be in the interest of the retailers); on the few occasions i've talked with sales staff about it, most seemed genuinely ignorant on the law regarding sale of goods, and regarded a manufacturer's warranty as being set in stone.

in the example above, i would not consider two years full warranty to match a reasonable expected lifespan of a washing machine.

Erik Shin

magicbastarder wrote: »

false equivalence; the staff in curry's are not there to merely place the products on the shelf, they are primarily there to help customers. you wouldn't expect to get an answer from someone in tesco about whether the korma sauce they're packing is better than the curry sauce, but you'd expect reasonable technical knowledge from a staff member in currys.

No you wouldn't, nobody in their right mind would expect staff in Curry's to know much more than how to tie their shoelaces in the morning.
I've bought the odd thing in Curry's because it was a product at the price i wanted.... I point...I say give me one in a box...I give them money..I say bye bye .... Thats the Curry's experience

magicbastarder

maybe i should change 'you would' to 'you should'. used in the aspirational sense.

Neames

selwyn froggitt wrote: »

Hello is that Curry's?

'I'd like to place an order for two supplementary, auxiliary speakers, to go with my Midi Hi-Fi system, apropos achieving surround sound'

'Apropos...it's Latin'.

You got to have a basic grasp of Latin if you're working in........Curry's.

Just buy the Bang & Olufson stereo Alan, you deserve it you've got a second series...

Back of the net.

exaisle

selwyn froggitt wrote: »

<snip>

'Apropos...it's Latin'.

You got to have a basic grasp of Latin if you're working in........Curry's.

More recently from 17th century French actually...à propos (to the purpose).

ForestFire

At no point did I say I expect them to know everything, but I do not think it is acceptable to make stuff up, as I said 'I don't know' or 'I need to check' are reasonable responses.

There is a clear difference between Tesco packers and sales assistance, but if I did ask a question, I would still not expect lies, I mean 'the parts will be posted to you' seriously!

If you don't know the technical details of 4k, HD, and HD ready in a shop that sells tv's, stick to general terms, better quality, more resolution, better detail, don't go making stuff up if you don't know.

As for low wages, I don't see why people think this is a valid reason not to fulfil you responsibilities. As I said dose a deli work ignore food safety, does a lollipop person not pay attention while school children crossing.

You are heading over 400euro, I do no expect false information for a shop when doing this. I'll repeat, just say I don't know.

And just to reassure everyone, I always do my own research before buying products and buy most of my electronics online, but the average person shopping in Currys I can't be expected to have the knowledge or ability to do this.

Finally I would like to thank the grammar correction, it is so helpful and as I have never seen such helpful correction before on the internet.

P.s. typing on phone so please excuse any further typos in advance.

Take care all

TerrorFirmer

I agree that sales staff cannot be expected to know everything but they should be honest when they're not sure about something and offer to find out or check with someone else rather than try and bluff their way through a sales pitch.

Most shops usually have assigned departments, so that particular staff members are expected to know the basics of a particular department (eg washing machines and fridges, TV and audio, laptops and tablets etc.) Most large retail stores have staff that are geared towards certain areas of knowledge, they don't expect staff to know everything about everything.

mikeoneilly

They used to be brutal for selling warranties and insurance you didn't need.

Breakdown cover in case you crashed on the way home with the vacuum or the TV fell off the wall and that sort of thing.

magicbastarder

ForestFire wrote: »

As for low wages, I don't see why people think this is a valid reason not to fulfil you responsibilities.

i don't see this issue as the responsibility of the staff, i see it as a responsibility of their employer.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

Glenster

magicbastarder wrote: »

i don't see this issue as the responsibility of the staff, i see it as a responsibility of their employer.

agreed. the issue isn't that the staff don't know, it's that you have the gall to ask them technical specs of a newly released electronic device beyond the facts that are on the box.

they're just lads....

magicbastarder

i think my favourite interaction with a staff member after a commission was years ago when my dad asked me to help him buy a new TV - CRTs were still the standard at the time. the guy in the shop was hell bent on selling us a 25" widescreen trinitron, for i think IR£750, but we had our eye on a normal aspect 29" trinitron (from the exact same range) for IR£650. he genuinely could not understand my point that even viewing a show letterboxed, as the screen was wider on the normal aspect TV, you'd still get a bigger picture. it was a real 'but, but... these go to 11' moment.

ForestFire

Glenster wrote: »

agreed. the issue isn't that the staff don't know, it's that you have the gall to ask them technical specs of a newly released electronic device beyond the facts that are on the box.

they're just lads....

It's the management responsibility to train the staff to a suffient level to do there job.

It's there individual responsibility not to lie to customers.

Gall to ask the sales staff a question!!

The elderly lady never ask about technical spec, she was looking at a 32inch tv. Nothing new about it. It was the sales guy that just started giving her incorrect info and proably trying to convice her to buy a more expensive model that she did not neec. I can see her at home now with her new 50inch 4k smart tv connected to soarview now watching pat Kenny and out of pocket.

Asking about product warranty, yes the gall of some if us

_Brian

Was walking about curries years ago looking at pcs and stuff.

One lad started pushing stuff on me and I was really only passing the time.

So I played along and kept asking questions, his knowledge of the computers was awful, he absolutely insisted that AMD was a company that Intel had set up so it could sell its chips cheap and they were all made in the same factories in China.

ForestFire

magicbastarder wrote: »

. it was a real 'but, but... these go to 11' moment.

But if it goes to 11, you can rock much harder.;)

Glenster

ForestFire wrote: »

It's the management responsibility to train the staff to a suffient level to do there job.

It's there individual responsibility not to lie to customers.

Gall to ask the sales staff a question!!

The elderly lady never ask about technical spec, she was looking at a 32inch tv. Nothing new about it. It was the sales guy that just started giving her incorrect info and proably trying to convice her to buy a more expensive model that she did not neec. I can see her at home now with her new 50inch 4k smart tv connected to soarview now watching pat Kenny and out of pocket.

Asking about product warranty, yes the gall of some if us

I dont ask the shelf stackers in tesco if the tuna in this can is ethically sourced.

me_right_one

Glenster wrote: »

I dont ask the shelf stackers in tesco if the tuna in this can is ethically sourced.

The shelf stackers are not actively trying to sell you the tuna, or any other product. Curry's reps are.

thelad95

I absolutely despise Currys and the sales staff are always slimy and annoying, always trying to upsell and give you insurance and warranties which only add very minimally to your consumer rights if at all.

Thankfully, there's two independent family run electronic stores near me where they give a good level service and aren't too bothered about pushing insurance at you if you're buying a speaker that costs €30.

Funnily enough, I bought a speaker in Currys that was on sale for €30, nothing special but good enough to play music from my phone when I'm at home. So at the till, it's the usual rhetoric:

Staff: would you like to add lifetime insurance on this product?
Me: ehm how much is it?
Staff: €39
Me: so that's more than what the speaker actually costs?
Staff: yes but it's good value because it's for life.......
Me: ehm I think I'll leave it...

She was probably just quoting what the insurance would have been at the original price but it's baffling how she still tried to wrangle a sale out of it anyway!

ForestFire

Glenster wrote: »

I dont ask the shelf stackers in tesco if the tuna in this can is ethically sourced.

Taken direct from their own website:

....Every day, we use our people’s expertise to reach out and help new customers......

...we can offer our customers the most comprehensive service....

Robsweezie

ForestFire wrote:

...we can offer our customers the most comprehensive service....

*Lip service

BailMeOut

bought a new washing machine at Harvey Normans yesterday and the very young guy we dealt with knew everything about every model they sold. He could do mastermind with washing machines as his specialist subject! Very impressive young lad and very positive experience.

Victor

Beyondgone wrote: »

a Kerry lad mixing up inches and centimeters on a cheap telly sale?

While printers are specified by 'dots per inch' (DPI), screen size is for the width of the screen - it's 4000 pixels across the width of the screen.

cml387

thelad95 wrote: »

Staff: would you like to add lifetime insurance on this product?
Me: ehm how much is it?
Staff: €39
Me: so that's more than what the speaker actually costs?
Staff: yes but it's good value because it's for life.......
Me: ehm I think I'll leave it...

She was probably just quoting what the insurance would have been at the original price but it's baffling how she still tried to wrangle a sale out of it anyway!

I believe staff are graded on how much useless insurance they sell so I would always decline gracefully because I know they know it's all pants.

Given that all this stuff is available to buy directly from Amazon we still choose to go to a store and interact with people to buy something, so maybe we should cut the shops a little slack or one day they'll be gone.

Eire Go Brach

I work for an electrical retailer but not for sales. Some of the bigger suppliers provide training for the items they sell us. Mainly white goods though.