Dick Smith in store decline

Forums › Off topic › Dick Smith in store decline

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ... | 94

18464 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12124

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1439029 2-Dec-2015 08:13

tripp:
MikeB4: In Hutt City JBHFI have just opened in Queensgate down stairs from DSE, the Hutt City DSE always looks like it's closing due to very low stock units.
In the weekend JB HiFi was very busy, DSE had more staff than customers. DSE NZ is in its death throws and I doubt will here next Christmas.

That is the issue you go into a DSE at the moment and they look so bare, very little stock or no stock of products they have online. Nothing says "trouble" than not having stock. I really think there is room in the market for them but they really need to change on what they stock and stop being a "shop with everything" to a shop that is good at 1 or 2 areas of tech.

Like others have pointed out, pbtech = cheap cables, jbhif = tv etc I am sure DSE could have been the place to go for apple and laptops etc.

I use Jaycar but seldom buy in JB HiFi, they always have very loud music and getting around the stores in a chair can be a mission.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2158

#1439044 2-Dec-2015 08:24

Every so often DSE will do a really sharp deal though. For example, I bought a macbook pro (15% off I think) and UE boom ($144 or was that $188) from them. I'll miss that if they go under.

I will be looking for some ipod touch deals from them now :) Daughter wants one for xmas.

Although, it seems their backlog might be mostly in DSE branded products.

andrew027

1286 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 556

#1439045 2-Dec-2015 08:26

MikeB4: In Hutt City JBHFI have just opened in Queensgate down stairs from DSE, the Hutt City DSE always looks like it's closing due to very low stock units.
In the weekend JB HiFi was very busy, DSE had more staff than customers. DSE NZ is in its death throws and I doubt will here next Christmas.

I was going to say this. Queensgate is my "local" so I do go into DSE there from time to time, mostly for comparison shopping purposes, but with so many stores selling various consumer electronics of various quality levels around the central Hutt (Digital Imports, Farmers, Harvey Norman, Jaycar, Noel Leeming, Smith City, Stationery Warehouse, The Warehouse...) plus specialist stores for specialist products (e.g. phones and cameras) DSE have no point of difference and (apart from the TVs and laptops) the ever decreasing stock seems to get spread ever more thinly around the store. Now JB HiFi are open right in the same mall I can see even more of their potential customers not bothering to make the trip up the escalator.

I went there to buy some speaker cable a couple of months ago because I needed some "urgently" and they were the only place in the Hutt who were open and sold it, and it took me around 15 minutes to get anyone to come over and measure the length I wanted. My wife went there earlier in the year after she got an iPhone 5 handed down from her boss and wanted a cover for it. They had nothing for a 5 and the staff member asked if she was interested in an iPhone 6 because they had a good range of cases for those!

All that said, if there's a fire sale at Christmas I'll be there.

tripp

3848 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1220

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1439048 2-Dec-2015 08:28

Oh just reading on the DSE NZ facebook page and they seem to be charging people twice for online purchases currently and then taking a while to sort it out and expecting people to wait for refunds.

Not the best way to win/keep customers.

amiga500

1484 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 422
Inactive user

#1439050 2-Dec-2015 08:34

Yeah, similar at dse Riccarton. Lights not fixed hanging down.Don't seem to be too low on stock though. Brand new Apple display. But they move stock around and don't update signs above the shelves, subtle indications that all is not well..many days I will see more peeps in the small 2 degrees shop than dse.

Dingbatt

6771 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3629

Lifetime subscriber

#1439053 2-Dec-2015 08:35

Being geeky, I can just about guarantee to get at least one dse gift card from a non-geek relative. I will admit I did frequent dse but that was in the early 2000s when you used to be able to get stuff now sold by Jaycar. The gift cards just get converted immediately into Play Store or iTunes cards (hopefully when discounted).

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

reven

3746 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 870

Trusted

#1439056 2-Dec-2015 08:40

Dingbatt: Being geeky, I can just about guarantee to get at least one dse gift card from a non-geek relative. I will admit I did frequent dse but that was in the early 2000s when you used to be able to get stuff now sold by Jaycar. The gift cards just get converted immediately into Play Store or iTunes cards (hopefully when discounted).

I do the same but with jbhifi cards and steam cards ;)... sadly looks like dse dont sell steam cards, so Im hoping no one gives me a dse gift card for xmas.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

MikeB4

18464 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12124

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1439059 2-Dec-2015 08:43

amiga500: Yeah, similar at dse Riccarton. Lights not fixed hanging down.Don't seem to be too low on stock though. Brand new Apple display. But they move stock around and don't update signs above the shelves, subtle indications that all is not well..many days I will see more peeps in the small 2 degrees shop than dse.

Dammit DSE Riccarton was one of DSE's better stores.

Dunnersfella

4090 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 877

#1439066 2-Dec-2015 08:49

Brumfondl:
Dunnersfella: If they go out of business the consumer loses...
It's a fine line!

I get your point, but I don't think they have been particularly relevant or helpful to the consumer for quite some time. If they were then they wouldn't be in so much trouble.

The people that will lose are the staff. Short-term the consumer will gain and long-term the consumer won't care.

The other people who will care are those who have bought DSE or JVC branded products that fail - when there's no one left to chase for a warranty, the customer is stuck.

old3eyes

9132 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1340

Subscriber

#1439073 2-Dec-2015 09:03

Brumfondl:
Dunnersfella: If they go out of business the consumer loses...
It's a fine line!

I get your point, but I don't think they have been particularly relevant or helpful to the consumer for quite some time. If they were then they wouldn't be in so much trouble.

The people that will lose are the staff. Short-term the consumer will gain and long-term the consumer won't care.

What about DSE product warranty if they go under. Picked up by the new owner if any or by the manufacturer??

Regards,

Old3eyes

Gilco2

1556 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 134

#1439074 2-Dec-2015 09:03

Years ago Dick Smith was my main store for things then they went downhill. 2 years ago I wanted a new terrestrial aerial and went into Dick Smith at Owens Place for the aerial. They told me to go to Noelleemings so I did. Then when replacing the aerial, I found the diplexer badly corroded. As aerial didnt come with lead like used to, I went back to Dick Smith for lead and fittings to bypass diplexer since only DVB-T and no analogue anymore. Again they said no and sent me to Noelleeming where I got what I required. Needless to say I have never been back to Dick Smith. They have become a basic appliance store and better elsewhere now

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

Dunnersfella

4090 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 877

#1439182 2-Dec-2015 12:03

old3eyes:
Brumfondl:
Dunnersfella: If they go out of business the consumer loses...
It's a fine line!

I get your point, but I don't think they have been particularly relevant or helpful to the consumer for quite some time. If they were then they wouldn't be in so much trouble.

The people that will lose are the staff. Short-term the consumer will gain and long-term the consumer won't care.

What about DSE product warranty if they go under. Picked up by the new owner if any or by the manufacturer??

If they get a new owner... and don't just fold, you'll probably be covered (if the business is taken on as a going concern).
However, if they fold all together and the product is one of the DSE home brands, then... well... good luck.
If it's a Samsung etc, you should be able to figure something out with the supplier.

JimmyH

2891 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1541

#1439474 2-Dec-2015 19:51

Hmmm .... even if I was inclined to buy a big ticket item at DSE, which due to their poor product range and typically uncompetitive pricing I'm not, then this news would make me think twice about shopping there. I would be too worried about being left twisting in the wind with warranty issues if they subsequently folded, which looks moderately plausible at the moment.

I used to haunt DSE 10 years ago, spent quite a bit of money, and one of my colleagues used to joke that I was their unofficial spokesman.

Now, I don't really go there. My main issue is that unless there is a really good clearance price on a specific item, I have no reason to - their product range doesn't have most of what I want (they are basically an overpriced TV and phone shop now with a poor range); their sales staff mostly don't understand their products; and their pricing on accessories (cables, adapters) is often 3-4 times the pricing from Jaycar or PBTech (which also have a much better range, and generally technically competent sales staff).

DarthKermit

5346 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3317

Trusted

#1440004 3-Dec-2015 16:46

JimmyH: I would be too worried about being left twisting in the wind with warranty issues if they subsequently folded, which looks moderately plausible at the moment.

Ironically, if enough people think that way it could end up becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.

mattwnz

20259 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4524

#1440028 3-Dec-2015 17:53

JimmyH: I would be too worried about being left twisting in the wind with warranty issues if they subsequently folded, which looks moderately plausible at the moment.

Whenever I go to their website, they are always running the same types of promotions, discounts off for the day. But when I click on links, it often goes to a 404 page not found page. Just tried it now, they have a sale on, and the link is dead, just a 404 page

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ... | 94