Harvey Norman - Furniture - Too good to be true

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Forums › Bargains and Deals › Harvey Norman - Furniture - Too good to be true

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#1399101 2-Oct-2015 20:25

I would also like to point out that some people calling others clowns / idiots etc are the same people that had issues with jbhifi and the windows 8 tablet.

How fast people forget when they did not get in on the "deal" whether it was a mistake / error or not.

Yes I did purchase on HN, I had nothing to lose apart from having funds on my credit card on hold, if it was a "real" deal then I would have got a cheap sofa.

But my issue is the leak of the email list, this is what i have a problem with.

So next time people want to call others names, have a think that some other members might be the people you are calling a "clown / idiot"

Show some respect.

freitasm

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#1399104 2-Oct-2015 20:39

hairy1: Steve, you obviously didn't purchase a lounge suite during this sale as you are very negative about the 327 disaffected customers receiving their lounge suites. ;-)

I will admit that I am one of the enraged disaffected customers that is looking forward to receiving my lounge suite.

My only comments on this whole fiasco have been private emails to Harvey Norman up until now. I have not said anything publicly.

I know it's not gratifying, but this is not the first case of a large company screwing up and won't be the last. Just a month ago there was JB HiFi which made big announcements of a "crazy mad sale" so obviously when one or two items appeared with incredibly low prices people thought it was part of the "crazy" and "mad" sale they promised.

All orders were cancelled and they didn't even communicate properly.

This is just one example... Harvey Norman is going to be another example.

TonyR1973

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#1399128 2-Oct-2015 21:38

Dunnersfella: The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) is also on their side for genuine mistakes...

As is the Contractual Mistakes Act 1977.

sbiddle

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#1399130 2-Oct-2015 21:44

I also see a much bigger issue that the ASA should really be dealing with. How companies such as Harvey Norman, Godfreys and so on can continue to advertise the "biggest sale ever" or "vacuum cleaners below wholesale"..

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know these stores aren't selling product below cost. If they did they wouldn't be around for long.

richms

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#1399141 2-Oct-2015 21:59

sbiddle:
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know these stores aren't selling product below cost. If they did they wouldn't be around for long.

This for sure. Also while they are at it look at that mattress place that lets the crazy woman get them overstocked all the time.

Richard rich.ms

mattwnz

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#1399154 2-Oct-2015 22:32

I would add those sales where they say 'cost plus GST' or similar, which can be higher priced than their normal sales rotation. It is impossible to know what their true Cost price is taking into account all their costs.

TonyR1973

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#1399157 2-Oct-2015 22:35

richms:
sbiddle:
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know these stores aren't selling product below cost. If they did they wouldn't be around for long.

This for sure. Also while they are at it look at that mattress place that lets the crazy woman get them overstocked all the time.

I'm so glad I don't have any broadcast television reception any more - I don't even know of the woman to whom you refer. Bliss.

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TonyR1973

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#1399158 2-Oct-2015 22:36

mattwnz: I would add those sales where they say 'cost plus GST' or similar, which can be higher priced than their normal sales rotation. It is impossible to know what their true Cost price is taking into account all their costs.

I was going to say this next. Their "cost" in their "below cost" sales isn't merely the purchase price of the goods.

mattwnz

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#1399159 2-Oct-2015 22:46

TonyR1973:
mattwnz: I would add those sales where they say 'cost plus GST' or similar, which can be higher priced than their normal sales rotation. It is impossible to know what their true Cost price is taking into account all their costs.

I was going to say this next. Their "cost" in their "below cost" sales isn't merely the purchase price of the goods.

Yes that is my point, the cost would include a percentage of staffing cost, rent for the store, freight of the goods etc, so impossible for the consumer to really know the true cost. It is not just the raw wholesale cost they may buy it in from their supplier at. So this sort of promotion is not transparent to the consumer. Unfortunately I have found that the regulators don't have the resources to investigate every single compliant they receive.

gzt

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#1399174 2-Oct-2015 23:55

A simple 'please explain and send detailed documentation' should be enough to discourage it.

MikeB4

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#1399191 3-Oct-2015 07:01

sbiddle: I also see a much bigger issue that the ASA should really be dealing with. How companies such as Harvey Norman, Godfreys and so on can continue to advertise the "biggest sale ever" or "vacuum cleaners below wholesale"..

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know these stores aren't selling product below cost. If they did they wouldn't be around for long.

I think if these Adverts are taken seriously there is aa bigger issue.

sir1963

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#1399230 3-Oct-2015 10:10

mattwnz: I would add those sales where they say 'cost plus GST' or similar, which can be higher priced than their normal sales rotation. It is impossible to know what their true Cost price is taking into account all their costs.

Cost:
Purchase price
Shipping costs to the store
Storage fees (price of floor space per sq m per day)
Power/phone/internet/cleaning costs for the store
Selling cost (staff, accounting, transaction costs)
Advertising
% of sales per store to run head office
Costs to run the warehousing
Support costs (warranty, returns)

So, if you think "cost" is what they buy it at, then you are very wrong.

sir1963

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#1399235 3-Oct-2015 10:22

richms: Not really that hard to ensure things are not sold at less than cost. They know the cost, they know what they are selling them for.

Its easier than you think.

Just look at the Rotorua couple who accidentally got a VERY large loan from the bank and disappeared overseas.

All it takes is for someone to get distracted and put a decimal point in the wrong place, mistype something, etc.

Even NASA gets it wrong where they though the EU calculations were in feet/sec so a probe hits mars at 3 times the speed.

Then we get into software bugs, poorly designed software that makes mistakes easy.

Then you have low paid sales droids in shops who often can do nothing about these errors, and so long as they get the commission they don't care.
I get cost +5-10% at one store and some of the sale staff walk away from me because their commission drops too and they don't believe I am worth their time to make the sale , especially if there are multiple customers waiting to be severed, I get shunted onto the "new guy" instead.

I am always surprised at how often they get things right.

sir1963

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#1399238 3-Oct-2015 10:30

sbiddle:
mdooher:

I agree the law has not caught up with the computer age. I think morally Harvey Norman is correct. But remember The Law has nothing to do with justice or Morals. The law is the law.

Harvey Norman is going to lose.

I'd hate to say this buy I see very little chance of this whole case going anywhere.

Yes somebody screwed up, but there is plenty of precedence for such issues, and a fair trading act that includes provisions for such issues.

The far bigger issue here is the breach of privacy, but the 300 odd people seem to be totally ignoring that issue because they're way too obsessed about cheap furniture. Such a breach can have (and should have) serious consequences for the company.

blah blah blah.."human error"....blah blah blah "already got $100 gift card"..... "blah blah blah "identified where error occurred".... blah blah blah " changed procedure to reduce mistakes ".....dismissed

1. Any punishment for this (and its on the LOW end) will be a fine of thousands , not millions.
2. The payment of compensation will be more than enough to get the situation closed.

The cost to audit their systems (and present to the privacy commission) to understand these errors is large, that is their punishment , no one is going to get a public hanging out of this.

That is another ugly face of NZ, the baying for blood when someone makes a mistake.

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#1399247 3-Oct-2015 10:49

sir1963:
richms: Not really that hard to ensure things are not sold at less than cost. They know the cost, they know what they are selling them for.

Its easier than you think.

Just look at the Rotorua couple who accidentally got a VERY large loan from the bank and disappeared overseas.

All it takes is for someone to get distracted and put a decimal point in the wrong place, mistype something, etc.

Even NASA gets it wrong where they though the EU calculations were in feet/sec so a probe hits mars at 3 times the speed.

Then we get into software bugs, poorly designed software that makes mistakes easy.

Then you have low paid sales droids in shops who often can do nothing about these errors, and so long as they get the commission they don't care.
I get cost +5-10% at one store and some of the sale staff walk away from me because their commission drops too and they don't believe I am worth their time to make the sale , especially if there are multiple customers waiting to be severed, I get shunted onto the "new guy" instead.

I am always surprised at how often they get things right.

Hmm i have to say i can't argue with that!

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