Noel Leeming price match

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sbiddle

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#222588 19-Aug-2017 18:30

Is there anybody else out there who's ever had trouble with Noel Leeming and their price match offer?

I took my $1400 elsewhere after they refused to price match a washing machine from Harvey Norman earlier in the year in store. I complained via online chat and was told I'd get a phone call within a few hours to sort it out. Needless to say when I didn't had a call by the next day I went elsewhere to buy my washing machine.

Last weekend my printer died so I decided to buy a new one. There were a few deals this week incl the HP Officejet Pro which is $99 at Warehouse Stationary. I visited one of their stores this afternoon to buy one to be told they'd sold out but would have more stock in on Monday and I could use click and collect or buy it online to save coming back. It's annoying when there is no stock, but the customer service was good.

I then went next door to Noel Leeming and asked them to price match. Noel Leeming sell these printers for $299 (I'm unsure what the normal price is at Warehouse Stationary) and after hearing the guy say several times it was an amazing deal and then tell me it was way below cost he looked at the Warehouse Stationery site to verify and once again told me what a great deal it was and how it was well below their cost.

I then (potentially) made the mistake of saying it's great you've got them in stock because they won't have them back in until Monday and I want the new printer today. He immediately responded by saying they can't price match with products that are out of stock and that he couldn't sell it to me. Words were then said between is with me pretty much telling them how their policy was a sham.

Before I say anything else it's entirely fare that a price match policy has such a condition in it - during the boxing day sales it's common for retailers to run out stock in limited numbers and expecting a store to price match something when a competitor has run out of when the competitor has something $1000 off and the distributor would only supply them 5 per store is totally reasonable.

The problem is that Noel Leeming's policy doesn't say that.

5. Price Promise applies only to regular, in-stock product offered for sale from a New Zealand retail home appliance dealer. Excludes trade quotes, stock liquidations and commercial quantities and parallel imported products. All New Zealand retailer website product offers will be considered where the product is the same.

I could have purchased that printer online and paid $99. The product is not out of stock anywhere except the local store who will have more back in on Monday.

Upon getting home I also discovered something more interesting - last weekend while looking for printers I'd left some tabs open on this desktop PC which doesn't get a lot of use and only realised as I was closing them that Noel Leeming last weekend had the very same printer on special for $104 with 30% off.

I wonder why Noel Leeming are now selling something for $299 when their price last week before their special was only $149?

I know there is a Noel Leeming employee on here but I'd just wondering if there is anybody higher up the food chain that's interested in dealing with the incredibly poor customer service from the staff and their interpretation of the policy, along with also explaining why there is such discrepancies in their pricing.

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#1848914 19-Aug-2017 18:32

This is why we need amazon to come along and sort out the disaster of NZ retail. I look forward to seeing the for lease signs up when crap like this is the norm, not exception for pricing.

Richard rich.ms

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#1848915 19-Aug-2017 18:36

The thing in this example also to remember is that Noel Leeming and Warehouse Stationary are owned by the same company (The Warehouse Group).

I've had reasonable luck with getting them to price match, JB Hifi sent out one of their special e-mails for a Canon DSLR camera that was marked down about $300. JB in Queensgate didn't have any in stock so went across the road to Noel Leeming who did have them. They didn't want to match it as it would be well below cost price for them but they did it after I said I'd buy a bag, memory card and tripod off them.

richms

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#1848916 19-Aug-2017 18:39

Has anyone taken them to advertising standards for advertising a price match and then not doing it?

Richard rich.ms

dafman

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#1848917 19-Aug-2017 18:49

They have always price matched for me.

mattwnz

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#1848918 19-Aug-2017 18:53

What I find odd is that I believe WS are owned by the same parent company. So it really makes no difference which store you buy it from, as they are competing against themselves. The other thing is that WS price match policy is tiny compared to NLs, and I believe they also give you a % off as well. I have had problems in the past getting NLs to honour their price match policy, over not having actual stock instore (my local store has very poor stock levels for new products, and almost always have to order things in).

eaglesd

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#1848920 19-Aug-2017 18:57

I have also bought plenty of stuff from Noel Leeming and they have always price matched. The last thing I bought was a Kindle and they price matched the best price available in NZ at the time (from Pricespy) which was Mighty Ape. The cool thing was they didn't even ask me to show proof, took my word for it.

So yeah a totally different experience from my point of view. I have always used the Sylvia Park store so not sure if they just have better staff there.

sbiddle

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#1848922 19-Aug-2017 18:57

richms:

This is why we need amazon to come along and sort out the disaster of NZ retail. I look forward to seeing the for lease signs up when crap like this is the norm, not exception for pricing.

Exactly.. Especially the fact it seems they've put the everyday price of the printer up from $149 to $299 as well. What's the bet they have it on special soon down from $299 to $99 saying it's a $200 saving?

cruxis

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#1848923 19-Aug-2017 18:58

Had the same thing happen with a phone, they would not price match out of stock item. So had to show that another warehouse stationary across town had it in stock at that price. Then they price matched.

antonknee

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#1848924 19-Aug-2017 19:04

Interesting. I used to work for TWG, and I used to work for the Noel Leeming brand. This is not how that policy is meant to be applied. TO be fair, the policy did used to state it must be in stock at competitor store and the NL store, but that was changed a while back.

Additionally, this is being misapplied because this is available at other branches and online as both WS and NL have multiple locations.

The short answer (in my opinion) is that NL staff are commissioned, and to sell that to you below the floor cost would have cost the salesperson money.

In any case, I don't think you had a great experience all round. This should have been price matched. If you want me to pass on your details to the contacts I still have at TWG then please PM me.

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scuwp

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#1848928 19-Aug-2017 19:24

Never has a problem, but then again anything they have price matched has been in store and available elsewhere. I think that was your fatal mistake.

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blakamin

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#1848930 19-Aug-2017 19:29

That price hike should be looked at by consumer NZ and whoever the govt dept is that does the CGA.

sbiddle

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#1848932 19-Aug-2017 19:31

antonknee:

Interesting. I used to work for TWG, and I used to work for the Noel Leeming brand. This is not how that policy is meant to be applied. TO be fair, the policy did used to state it must be in stock at competitor store and the NL store, but that was changed a while back.

Additionally, this is being misapplied because this is available at other branches and online as both WS and NL have multiple locations.

The short answer (in my opinion) is that NL staff are commissioned, and to sell that to you below the floor cost would have cost the salesperson money.

In any case, I don't think you had a great experience all round. This should have been price matched. If you want me to pass on your details to the contacts I still have at TWG then please PM me.

Cheers. I'll send you a PM with my details.

As I mentioned above if I was going in expecting a $1000 discount on an end of line discount elsewhere or a limited offer where another retailer had no stock I could perfectly agree with the price match policy being declined.

In both my occasions where they've declined my price match they've been legitimate products in stock at competitors. There is nothing in their terms and conditions that would exclude my claim, and IMHO it's a misleading policy that certainly has to fall foul of the fair trading act. If I've had two declined how many other people are there out there who have had legitimate claims declined by staff - surely I can't be the only one.

At the end of the day there is nothing I want from NL other than to point out to them their seriously broken policy and staff training. Not having a printer and having to drive to another store tomorrow are an inconvenience to me, but at the end of the day NL are the loser because I'll simply never buy anything from them ever again (which will very likely include the purchase of a new OLED at some point in the near future). I'm not interesting in dealing with a company who have a policy that seemingly can have conditions made up by poorly trained store staff, and in my earlier case once similar staff issues surrounding the policy and then support staff who promise to follow up and don't.

sbiddle

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#1848933 19-Aug-2017 19:36

scuwp:

Never has a problem, but then again anything they have price matched has been in store and available elsewhere. I think that was your fatal mistake.

Yes and no. The product is available in store at other Warehouse Stationery stores (which I confirmed). I however did not want to drive to another one at 4:30 when I was right next to a Noel Leeming store. The product was simply unavailable at the Warehouse Stationery store next to their store, and will be back in stock again on Monday.

The product is also available online and in stock for purchase at that price. By all means that does not make the product unavailable according to their terms and conditions as they also state they will consider online offers from NZ retailers.

This is very different to me trying to claim for a product that's unavailable at another retailer who will not have any more stock available. Under such circumstances I would not expect NL to price match.

sxz

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#1848936 19-Aug-2017 19:42

sbiddle:

The problem is that Noel Leeming's policy doesn't say that.

5. Price Promise applies only to regular, in-stock product offered for sale from a New Zealand retail home appliance dealer. Excludes trade quotes, stock liquidations and commercial quantities and parallel imported products. All New Zealand retailer website product offers will be considered where the product is the same.

Um - they do say exactly that?

NL have always been good to me. They price matched a TV over Christmas and saved me about $400. No questions asked. Then when I got home and realised that NL had advertised it as having a feature it didn't have (dual tuners), they upgraded me to the next model, again, no questions asked.

sbiddle

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#1848939 19-Aug-2017 19:45

sxz:

sbiddle:

The problem is that Noel Leeming's policy doesn't say that.

5. Price Promise applies only to regular, in-stock product offered for sale from a New Zealand retail home appliance dealer. Excludes trade quotes, stock liquidations and commercial quantities and parallel imported products. All New Zealand retailer website product offers will be considered where the product is the same.

Um - they do say exactly that?

NL have always been good to me. They price matched a TV over Christmas and saved me about $400. No questions asked. Then when I got home and realised that NL had advertised it as having a feature it didn't have (dual tuners), they upgraded me to the next model, again, no questions asked.

The product is available in store at multiple other Warehouse stationery stores nearby which they could have confirmed by ringing (I did before I went into NL but simply didn't want to waste time driving to another WS store when I was right next to a NL). By all means this makes the product in stock.

The product is also available online for purchase with stock which does not make it out of stock. They also say they'll consider website offers, so once again that covers the WS website.

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