Free P&P on Price Drop

[geoffg]

Has anyone else noticed how Price Drop hiked the price up of their 3PC Grunwerg Versa Frying Pans last night when the P&P was free. I bought a set on Monday, when the P&P was £7.99, for £11.99. Last night the same set sold for £21.99 with freeP&P. Do they really assume that nobody notices??
Geoff

 

[Bennyxp]

Do they really assume that nobody notices??
Geoff

If people are buying the item at that price I suppose there is no reason to lower the price. There will be lots of people who know the price is different but I don't think they are too bothered if they have enough people buying the stuff

 

[PJ.]

I would have total respect if they said "we have now incorporated the P&P in the price of the item, this means you pay the same price (if they did match it) but it does mean if you do have a reason for returning you get all the money minus the phone call"

 

[bingowings]

Has anyone else noticed how Price Drop hiked the price up of their 3PC Grunwerg Versa Frying Pans last night when the P&P was free. I bought a set on Monday, when the P&P was £7.99, for £11.99. Last night the same set sold for £21.99 with freeP&P. Do they really assume that nobody notices??
Geoff

What ?? the price of an item was different on two separate occasions? on a FALLING price channel? where the price is determined by demand? that's just outrageous

!

I get the feeling we are running out of things to moan about. the sensationalism is getting a touch thin.

 

[PJ.]

What ?? the price of an item was different on two separate occasions? on a FALLING price channel? where the price is determined by demand? that's just outrageous

!

I get the feeling we are running out of things to moan about. the sensationalism is getting a touch thin.

And yet when there is no free p&p offer the same items fall to the exact same price they do every day of the week.

As for running out of complaints, lets hope The One show talk to you before then!

PJ

 

[Bennyxp]

I would have total respect if they said "we have now incorporated the P&P in the price of the item

People will have their own opinion on what "No P&P" means and as bid is a 'falling dynamic price channel' it's all about supply and demand and bid are not in the wrong for not lowing the price to a regular price when they offer no P&P - if people will buy there is no problem.

 

[KingEurope]

It's a falling price channel, so I don't see the issue.
At the end of the day, it's better for customers. They don't refund P&P with returns. When there's no P&P, customers have less to lose

 

[merryone]

I've pretty much stopped using them now, I still watch - Old habits die hard you know. Yes, I know they've every right to do what they like with the price, and technically it's better to pay the same price with the p&p money incorporated into the cost should you wish to return it...but hey, I'd usually only return something if it was faulty or the quality was awful in which case they're obliged to return all your extras anyway - Otherwise what's the point? At least with a mail order catalogue, even a regular shop you can genuinely have something on home approval - Not with this lot, and I've shopped with them for quite a while now and I'm getting tired of all their gimmicks that don't deliver. Can you imagine how much it would cost you to return that set of pans 'cause you've decided you don't want them? eeek!

Clearance sales featuring items being sold for the price they normally go for

Worthless and useless vouchers

Scrapping the "basket " option on the website, so no more saving on p&p

Clocks at the end of almost every sale.

Falling price channel - My backside!!!!!

Think of a price - stick it on screen

Waffle on for about five minutes - make a hideous noise

pause for a while - display another random price that's slightly lower than the first one

Repeat this process until they decide to display the actual price (how much they're selling the goods for, the amount they knew from the start)

Waffle a bit longer so that nobody notices that the price ain't goin' nowhere!

Put a clock on the screen and give the bugg*ers 2 minutes to rush to the phone!

I'm not daft, I know they've got to make a profit, but surely they can have some "decent" deals........all evening from about 7pm ...big annoucement at 10pm...come 10pm they tell you that for the next three hours you won't have to pay any postage and packaging! Yay! Cue the real clearance sale - here comes all the stuff they really can't shift, and granny's stayed up way past her bedtime, she'll buy anything now for a good night's sleep!

What's wrong with a proper free P&P day? advertised on screen and on the web before hand - They can't afford it that's what

What's wrong with some geniune money saving vouchers? - They can't afford it

I'm sure however if they put more time and effort into finding ways in which they can offer the customers some really good deals and incentives with out losing too much - they'd be much better off in the long run. I think their motto must be " You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter!"

 

[Wirral70]

Peter Sherlock said something about a customer buying an absolute load of products during the '£10 Credit' promotion and with his 'wow' look mentioned how many credits he/she would have amassed. I would have had more respect if he'd also mentioned that they cannot be combined to buy anything so the customer would have to buy another load of products within the short window you can actually use them to get any use from them.

Rubbish!

 

[merryone]

Peter Sherlock said something about a customer buying an absolute load of products during the '£10 Credit' promotion and with his 'wow' look mentioned how many credits he/she would have amassed. I would have had more respect if he'd also mentioned that they cannot be combined to buy anything so the customer would have to buy another load of products within the short window you can actually use them to get any use from them.

Rubbish!

HEAR HEAR! That's exactly what I was thinking - Yeah not bad if you've accumulated £80 worth of vouchers and could spend it on a product between the price of £60-£80, in fact I'm sure most of us would probably be happy to get something worth £50 and forgo the change!..but no, as you said, to be able to redeem them all you'd need to spend at least a tenner on every item, make a phonecall every time 'cause they're not redeemable on line..so the least you could get away with is £195.20!..and let's face it, the stuff at that end of the price spectrum ain't gonna be amazing! £195? That's enough to buy something really worthwhile....hang on a mo, what'll it be......a new ipod and £20 change...nice bottle of sparkling? or ten items of the finest poundland plastic?...difficult that one!!!!

 

[Wirral70]

HEAR HEAR! That's exactly what I was thinking - Yeah not bad if you've accumulated £80 worth of vouchers and could spend it on a product between the price of £60-£80, in fact I'm sure most of us would probably be happy to get something worth £50 and forgo the change!..but no, as you said, to be able to redeem them all you'd need to spend at least a tenner on every item, make a phonecall every time 'cause they're not redeemable on line..so the least you could get away with is £195.20!..and let's face it, the stuff at that end of the price spectrum ain't gonna be amazing! £195? That's enough to buy something really worthwhile....hang on a mo, what'll it be......a new ipod and £20 change...nice bottle of sparkling? or ten items of the finest poundland plastic?...difficult that one!!!!

At least when Argos have their voucher deals you get over a month to use them, and you can combine them as well and use them on products that cost less than the voucher value although I accept you either have to spend at least £50 or £100 to get a voucher.

With Bid you usually get 3 days to 'spend' the credit, the item has to cost £10 or over, you have to call at £1.53 to redeem it, you cannot combine them and you cannot use them on an item that has another promotion attached.

And it has been noted by eagle eyed telly shoppers that there tends to be a deluge of sub £10 products on sale during the days the credits become valid, which of course you cannot use the credit on :headbang:

 

[merryone]

To be fair, I got that a bit wrong as I forgot to take off the price of the vouchers!!!!!! D'oh! so the real price of the exercise would be a mere £95, a smaller ipod or something else that's decent you could surely buy, and if from Argos they'd give you a voucher you can actually use - Still beats the hell out of the pile of rot you'd be able to get from bid!!!!

 

[Mommabear]

At least when Argos have their voucher deals you get over a month to use them, and you can combine them as well and use them on products that cost less than the voucher value although I accept you either have to spend at least £50 or £100 to get a voucher.

With Bid you usually get 3 days to 'spend' the credit, the item has to cost £10 or over, you have to call at £1.53 to redeem it, you cannot combine them and you cannot use them on an item that has another promotion attached.

And it has been noted by eagle eyed telly shoppers that there tends to be a deluge of sub £10 products on sale during the days the credits become valid, which of course you cannot use the credit on :headbang:

Do you remember when I had my faux voucher Wirral? I was sat here most of the day watching Bid and I think there were about three things I could have bought, that I didn't really want.

They always say 'we'll give you £10 credit back into your account'......now that sounds good but it isn't exactly what happens is it?

Apparently you have to phone and ask about the credit, the customer has to do that! And all this 'buy this for 1p plus postage and we'll give you £10 back into your account, you think about it, I don't know how we can do it' rubbish

 

[Wirral70]

Do you remember when I had my faux voucher Wirral? I was sat here most of the day watching Bid and I think there were about three things I could have bought, that I didn't really want.

They always say 'we'll give you £10 credit back into your account'......now that sounds good but it isn't exactly what happens is it?

Apparently you have to phone and ask about the credit, the customer has to do that! And all this 'buy this for 1p plus postage and we'll give you £10 back into your account, you think about it, I don't know how we can do it' rubbish

Yes Momma, I remember your faux credit. I particularly remember the potato peeler that regularly sold for around £11 and miraculously it went for £9.99 when the credit was valid but it soon returned to it's usual price.

And to actually use the credit you must call and physically ask to use it, as you say it dosen't show as an automatic credit balance on your account. The whole thing is grubby, and it dosen't surprise me in the slightest!

 

[MrMobo]

What annoys me about the vouchers is imo there is no reason that they couldn't make it so you can use them when buying or bidding on an item online, I've had two £5 ones mailed to me which had the voucher number on them so why can't they mail/email you your £10 voucher number then be able to use them when buying online?(which you can't) I presume its either so they rake back in the £1.53 phone charge as previously mentioned or they will try flog you another product when you phone up.

 

[Wirral70]

What annoys me about the vouchers is imo there is no reason that they couldn't make it so you can use them when buying or bidding on an item online, I've had two £5 ones mailed to me which had the voucher number on them so why can't they mail/email you your £10 voucher number then be able to use them when buying online?(which you can't) I presume its either so they rake back in the £1.53 phone charge as previously mentioned or they will try flog you another product when you phone up.

I'd say it's two fold:-

1. To get the phone call revenue
2. As they never publicise on air that the 'free credit' is 'now valid' i'm sure they hope people will forget about them and use no call back or order online on the days they are valid, which you cannot do to redeem the 'credit' (also, as far as i'm aware the credit dosen't show anywhere in your online account so you will have to have taken a note of when you can use them but i'm happy to be corrected if my understanding is incorrect).

I think it's fair to say they have made it as difficult as possible to actually redeem your 'free credit' without it being considered incredibly dodgy.

 

[merryone]

What annoys me about the vouchers is imo there is no reason that they couldn't make it so you can use them when buying or bidding on an item online, I've had two £5 ones mailed to me which had the voucher number on them so why can't they mail/email you your £10 voucher number then be able to use them when buying online?(which you can't) I presume its either so they rake back in the £1.53 phone charge as previously mentioned or they will try flog you another product when you phone up.

Again before anyone jumps in to remind me that they're a business out to make a profit (shock horror) - I know, but these vouchers do seem to be aimed to mislead/ suck people in as opposed to giving their customers a genuine reward.

What does this sound like?

Buy one item with us today - it might only cost you a penny and we'll put £10 credit right back into your account to spend with us...so in effect the item you're buying today is costing you nothing - even when you take the postage and packaging into account.

.....It sounds good doesn't it?

A lot of people are wary, a lot of people have grown wise to this. They've read the t's and c's when they've eventually found them, watched the screen, they've discovered that you can't use them online, then they've tuned in, watched for a couple of hours and realise there's actually NOTHING so far that's eligible for redeeming the voucher, and time's running out! Oh hang on a minute...here's something...mmmm do I need weedkiller, I live in a high rise block of flats?! They've come to realise that collecting the vouchers isn't worth doing either cause they all have to be used within the same timescale and have to be used separately.....Then there's the other people, those who've taken the offer at face value, listened to what the presenters have had to say, bought that extra item 'cause it'd be rude not to!!!! and I'm sure every single day hordes of people fall into the net - Kerching!

 

[Wirral70]

Again before anyone jumps in to remind me that they're a business out to make a profit (shock horror) - I know, but these vouchers do seem to be aimed to mislead/ suck people in as opposed to giving their customers a genuine reward.

What does this sound like?

Buy one item with us today - it might only cost you a penny and we'll put £10 credit right back into your account to spend with us...so in effect the item you're buying today is costing you nothing - even when you take the postage and packaging into account.

.....It sounds good doesn't it?

A lot of people are wary, a lot of people have grown wise to this. They've read the t's and c's when they've eventually found them, watched the screen, they've discovered that you can't use them online, then they've tuned in, watched for a couple of hours and realise there's actually NOTHING so far that's eligible for redeeming the voucher, and time's running out! Oh hang on a minute...here's something...mmmm do I need weedkiller, I live in a high rise block of flats?! They've come to realise that collecting the vouchers isn't worth doing either cause they all have to be used within the same timescale and have to be used separately.....Then there's the other people, those who've taken the offer at face value, listened to what the presenters have had to say, bought that extra item 'cause it'd be rude not to!!!! and I'm sure every single day hordes of people fall into the net - Kerching!

Indeed Merry, business makes the world go round and that's good. Promotions are good too (both for retailers and customers) and they, of course, always have terms and conditions attached to them. However, I would politely argue that the terms and conditions attached to Sit-Up's 'free credit' promotions are, at best, onerous.

 

[merryone]

I'd say it's two fold:-

1. To get the phone call revenue
2. As they never publicise on air that the 'free credit' is 'now valid' i'm sure they hope people will forget about them and use no call back or order online on the days they are valid, which you cannot do to redeem the 'credit' (also, as far as i'm aware the credit dosen't show anywhere in your online account so you will have to have taken a note of when you can use them but i'm happy to be corrected if my understanding is incorrect).

I think it's fair to say they have made it as difficult as possible to actually redeem your 'free credit' without it being considered incredibly dodgy.

You're right...I know I've definitely got a credit on my account 'cause when I placed my last order the promo was on...but looking on my account there's no trace of it, zilch, zip nada....why ****** not? Hoping I'd forget? I haven't forgotten, I don't care, I don't want it, as far as I'm concerned they can stick it where the sun don't shine. I'm not going to scrub around trying to sort out the date, scroll through umpteen terms and conditions, and I most certainly am NOT going to phone them! Or am I going to watch hours of bid during hours of their choosing in case in all unlikeliness that I happen to stumble upon something a. I actually want to buy and b. I can use the voucher on - STUFF IT BID!

 

[Wirral70]

You're right...I know I've definitely got a credit on my account 'cause when I placed my last order the promo was on...but looking on my account there's no trace of it, zilch, zip nada....why ****** not? Hoping I'd forget? I haven't forgotten, I don't care, I don't want it, as far as I'm concerned they can stick it where the sun don't shine. I'm not going to scrub around trying to sort out the date, scroll through umpteen terms and conditions, and I most certainly am NOT going to phone them! Or am I going to watch hours of bid during hours of their choosing in case in all unlikeliness that I happen to stumble upon something a. I actually want to buy and b. I can use the voucher on - STUFF IT BID!

It is a dreadful promotion. Just by having such a short, future validity window and only allowing their use on TV sales means they have complete control over their liability because they choose what products appear on screen and as we know there seems to be an absolute glut of sub £10 items on air when the 'free credit' becomes valid.

If they could be used on the Bid website (even just on products that cost £10 or more) it wouldn't be so bad.