I used to love DSE and wandered in their at least once a week during my lunchtime walks. Brought a lot of stuff over the years too - $700 radio scanner, games console, early DVD recorder, two cellphones, tons of components/cables/wire/blank disks etc. They had interesting stuff and knowledgeable staff and I was forever picking stuff up - one of my colleagues used to joke that I was the Wellington Dick Smith Product Tester.
Now they have gone uber-consumer (kind of like a Metro Noel Leemings). They seem to have a limited range of stuff, which is generally more expensive than the competition and of no interest to me, staff who barely understand what they are selling, and no interest in customer service.
I have been in a few times because someone gave me $100 of vouchers as a thank-you for some work I did. I was keen to spend them, particularly when I say endless clearances, empty shelves and products out of stock, which I interpreted as warning signs that they might be going under, leaving me with worthless vouchers. Trouble was, even with vouchers burning a hole in my pocket, I couldn't find anything I actually wanted.
In the end a non-technical friend wanted something bog standard (a FV set top box from memory), so I brought it with my vouchers and they gave me the cash.
insane: TLDR; I used to work for DSE many years ago, the commission was 1.5% of profit made, meaning you didn't get much, and the area managers constantly pushed us to sell the extended warranties.
And that figure explains the churn you see from Dick Smith staff... It would have to be one of the lowest commission rates out there in the electronics retail game? 1.5% of profit - wow.
I think he must mean 1.5% of value of the item.
doh! I stand corrected, 1.5% of profit would be a bit rough, even for DSE. Now that you've re-jogged my memory I recall why I was so bitter at my one colleague who used to discount EVERYTHING and still pull in a decent commission despite actually loosing the company money.
I used to sell sockets, plugs, wire, cables 'green/p section' stuff which had HUGE HIGE margins and actually made money. Hard to understand why they went into big ticket items.
insane: Hard to understand why they went into big ticket items.
One answer. Rebates from suppliers on big ticket items.
If you're being paid 1.5% on turnover... to essentially move boxes, then I'd be hanging out to sell big items, not switches / cables etc. When the company is foolish enough to reward people for hawking expensive stuff off for cheap, well, you, the sales person should take advantage of the stupidity. Of course, it's not sustainable, but the hope would be, that your bosses would get wise to the practice and put an end to the commission structure.
Having seen their financial issues recently. They never quite figured out how to solve the problem.
JimmyH: I used to love DSE and wandered in their at least once a week during my lunchtime walks. Brought a lot of stuff over the years too - $700 radio scanner, games console, early DVD recorder, two cellphones, tons of components/cables/wire/blank disks etc. They had interesting stuff and knowledgeable staff and I was forever picking stuff up - one of my colleagues used to joke that I was the Wellington Dick Smith Product Tester.
Now they have gone uber-consumer (kind of like a Metro Noel Leemings). They seem to have a limited range of stuff, which is generally more expensive than the competition and of no interest to me, staff who barely understand what they are selling, and no interest in customer service.
I think your experience is exactly the reason I never buy anything in there either.
I used to go into our local Westgate DSE a bit, but the good guys drained to a single guy (who was pretty decent and would remember people et al.) and were replaced by in my opinion rude/indifferent people. I only purchase from DSE if I have to.
Anyway, to the original subject of the post, I've got a quick question, most extended warranties have a cooling-off period, so lets say what OP has said is true (you could read that it's not as DSE are trying to find the OP, or counter point that DSE are just worried about the truth getting out), and staff need to make an extended warranty target. Would a cooled off extended warranty be counted against a salesperson's targets?
Personally, I prefer manufacture extended warranties because 'generally' they offer a bit more reliability in world wide coverage for portable goods.
dsnz1: Get ready for extra pushy sales people, dick smith is only going to give their sales people any commission if 15% of their sales have extended warranties on them. so long as the item is over $50 and doesnt already have a 3 years or more warranty they need to sell extended warranties on 15% of sales or they get no commission for two weeks.
If you have thoughts they had a customer service feedback email feedback@dicksmith.co.nz
With such a good consumer guarantees act here extended warranties shouldnt be pushed onto people.
They are just cheating their staff.
I never buy the warrantees as the goods are cheap enough they either fit into the consumer protection laws or I'll buy a replacement myself in the event something fails.
Few things fail soon after purchase ("soon" = 1 year).
If they do fail, I don't buy that model again ...and may not return to that retailer if they have too many things fail too quickly. Why buy rubbish?
I tend to buy the "sweet spot" in terms of the products: most functionality at a reasonable price. Rarely the top model. Never the cheapest models.
____________________________________________________ I'm on a high fibre diet.
JimmyH: Trouble was, even with vouchers burning a hole in my pocket, I couldn't find anything I actually wanted.
If you or your family members use prepay phone, you can use your vouchers to buy prepay top up credit. That will help you to get rid of those vouchers. =-)
Little while ago I went into DSE to check the prices of a new mouse, an impulse purchase so I didn't have time to price check all the retailers online. The MS Touch Mouse was there for $110 or so - figured I may as well check Bond&Bond that was next door, found the same mouse for $55.
I did buy my Envy x2 from DSE a couple months ago though as it was far cheaper than the competition on an easter sale. I do normally find their prices consistently higher for run of the mill products.
macuser: Little while ago I went into DSE to check the prices of a new mouse, an impulse purchase so I didn't have time to price check all the retailers online. The MS Touch Mouse was there for $110 or so - figured I may as well check Bond&Bond that was next door, found the same mouse for $55.
Of course Bond & Bond's were going out of business around then, so they would have been running everything at cost (or there-abouts) in order to drop stock holding / liquidate...
macuser: Little while ago I went into DSE to check the prices of a new mouse, an impulse purchase so I didn't have time to price check all the retailers online. The MS Touch Mouse was there for $110 or so - figured I may as well check Bond&Bond that was next door, found the same mouse for $55.
Of course Bond & Bond's were going out of business around then, so they would have been running everything at cost (or there-abouts) in order to drop stock holding / liquidate...
This was 6-8 months ago, maybe more when I bought the mouse. It was before the Warehouse bought it, I remember that much.
macuser: Little while ago I went into DSE to check the prices of a new mouse, an impulse purchase so I didn't have time to price check all the retailers online. The MS Touch Mouse was there for $110 or so - figured I may as well check Bond&Bond that was next door, found the same mouse for $55.
I did buy my Envy x2 from DSE a couple months ago though as it was far cheaper than the competition on an easter sale. I do normally find their prices consistently higher for run of the mill products.
The touch mouse is a special case, that mouse's value dropped dramatically due to very poor demand. DSE must have just been late to the game in updating their prices.
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