# Customer service and pricing - Power City, D.I.D. or Harvey Norman



## Up Rovers (27 Apr 2019)

Need to get a few large electrical items and just wondering who are the best company to purchase from, from a customer service and pricing point of view?  I'm thinking in terms of either Power City, D.I.D. or Harvey Norman.  I see there is a very dated thread here  but it doesn't include views on Harvey Norman and views may have changed a lot since 2007.

I know that some of them only match prices rather than setting a cheaper rate themselves.  It appears to be a case of get a quote on paper and trail around the 3 stores and haggle, which I'm not good at.

Power City used to take items back if there was a change of mind but charged something like a 20% charge for the inconvenience of the return.  They told me recently that this has changed now and they can't take items back because it was a nightmare dealing with returns to the suppliers.  D.I.D. appear to have a friendlier approach to returns as do Harvey Norman.


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## JohnJay (27 Apr 2019)

Ive always found Powercity the best to haggle with. They also keep note of your previous purchases and seem to give you a discount based on your loyalty. Ive not bought anything from them in 1+ years though, so maybe they have changed.


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## newtothis (28 Apr 2019)

It may be complete prejudice on my part, but on the couple of occasions I’ve been in them I’ve found Harvey Norman a complete nightmare to deal with. Almost impossible to get a straightforward transaction with them; all they seem to want to do is steer you towards what they want to sell rather than what you’re interested in; upsell you stuff you don’t need and most of all trying to get your contact details so they can no doubt follow up with more of the same. The only reason I went back to them after the first experience was because they’d advertised something I wanted at the lowest price I could find. Suffice to say it proved impossible to purchase and I left vowing never to go back.

I certainly wouldn’t decide based on this, but I’d be curious to know if it matches other people’s experience.

For the record, I’ve mostly used DID and have been happy with both pricing and service.


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## Chrissy28 (28 Apr 2019)

I recently returned an electrical item to Harvey Norman which wasn't working properly a couple of weeks after I bought it.  They didn't have the same item in stock to replace it and tried to insist that they could only give me a credit note instead.  Given that the item was faulty I felt this was very poor customer service.  They did give me a full refund but only after I pushed for it, it put me off shopping in the store.  I've never had any problem returning items to DID or Argos.  Also i believe staff in DID don't work on comission which I prefer to shopping in a store where staff do work on commission.


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## Chrissy28 (28 Apr 2019)

Have also found Harvey Norman pushy - e.g. trying to push buying insurance for a kettle!


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## Gordon Gekko (28 Apr 2019)

As an alternative, try Expert Electrical in Dundrum (the old shopping centre). Great service and they price-match.

I have no connection with the company.


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## RedOnion (28 Apr 2019)

I've bought a significant amount from Harvey Norman in the past, and found them brilliant to negotiate prices with. However, if you've an issue with an item, particularly large appliances, they pass you to the manufacturers customer service team to deal with it. I had an issue with a freezer, and had to go through the process of getting the service engineer to call out. It had to be replaced, and there were no issues with that, but I didn't like that I wasn't dealing with HN.
The sales staff get huge commission from insurance products so push it, but it's easy to say no.

More recently, I've been using an Expert Electrical store, and have found the customer service brilliant, easy to negotiate prices with, and no pushy sales tactics.


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## mccoypat94 (28 Apr 2019)

I'd concur with that. Expert electrical are the strongest electrical retail group at present in Ireland. What's more they are all family run so chances are the salesperson is also the person who can give the discount sort or even do your delivery and any aftersales service you may need .. you don't nessasarily have to go into the large towns, all their members have access to the large brands at best prices..
Some of the sheds don't want to know if you have any issue.. give you a number to call instead..


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## mathepac (28 Apr 2019)

I found D.I.D electrical in Kilkenny to be exceptionally good and easy to deal with. I bought all the major appliances from them when I moved in here 10 years ago and a couple of tellies and stuff since. Highly recommended for range, price, and pre and post-sales service. I have no connection with them other than as a satisfied repeat customer.


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## Palerider (28 Apr 2019)

Curry PC World have been my first stop for years now, they always beat competitor prices when I do research on larger items, my last purchase was a drone which they did not have in stock but had at another store, no problem getting it up to my closest store.


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## Leo (29 Apr 2019)

Chrissy28 said:


> They didn't have the same item in stock to replace it and tried to insist that they could only give me a credit note instead. Given that the item was faulty I felt this was very poor customer service.



Your rights in such cases are quite clear, you are entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund. The shop gets to choose which, but a refund must be a refund, so well done on not falling for the credit note.


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## Peanuts20 (29 Apr 2019)

I don't go near any of the 3 of them. Currys customer service at my local one is utterly appaling. I go to the local Expert one (no connection to them) simply because they know their stuff and you are talking to a local person. We had an issue with replacing a dishwasher in a kitchen, twice they delivered and twice, despite all the measuring up by us and them, neither would fit because they were a milimeter out. 3rd time it worked and they took the first 2 away at no charge.


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## circle (10 May 2019)

Gordon Gekko said:


> As an alternative, try Expert Electrical in Dundrum (the old shopping centre). Great service and they price-match.
> 
> I have no connection with the company.



Agreed - I rang Dominic Smith / expert electrical Dundrum to see if they could match a price and they gave very sound advice, knew the actual pros and cons of particular brands, models and features (and which to ignore as gimmicks), matched the price and had a very good and friendly fitting service (Appliance didn't quite fit but was 'persuaded' in).

Frequently in the other big box stores, I've been disappointed expecting any more knowledge than the price info and order time from the store staff.

No connection. Power city seem to be best of the rest.


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## Purple (13 May 2019)

I don't like Hardly Normal. Staff not great and I always feel that they look at you are prey rather than a customer.


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