# Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €269!



## Jesper (9 Nov 2009)

Hi - want to run something by people here.

My parents bought a Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Carrickmines yesterday of €369 (marked down from €449). They happened to be in Homebase Nutgrove yesterday afternoon and popped into HN there to look at electric fire heaters as Carrickmines didn't carry any. Imagine their surprise when they saw the DC20 Animal on sale for €269! Exact same product.

This was queried and one of the sales guys said that HN operate as franchises and each store is free to set their own prices (I would imagine there is an upper and lower level they have to stay within?). I always assumed that the price you saw in 1 HN store would be exactly the same in all others.

My parents are bringing the DC20 back to Carrickmines today to either get the difference refunded or cancel the sale outright. Are HN obliged to do this? Does anyone else have a similar experience of HN's pricing policies?

Thanks


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## thedaras (9 Nov 2009)

*Re: Harvey Norman*

Id ask for a refund .If H N dont give them a refund ask for a credit note,then they can go get the cheaper one and use the credit for something else.


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## Plek Trum (9 Nov 2009)

*Re: Harvey Norman*

I would imagine they are are under no obligation to do either to be honest. It was dispayed at a price, they agreed and paid at that price.  The product isn't faulty is any way.  Any issue of a credit note would be soley a good will move I would have thought rather than a legal one.  I may be wrong though!


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## ajapale (9 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*

Dont HN encourage that "haggling" crack? Perhaps you were expected to "haggle" it down by €100?

Personally I hate it but if you dont like it your are free to go somewhere else that doent engage in those old world time wasting rituals.


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## Complainer (9 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*

Are they really franchises? I've never heard that mentioned before? It is a bit of a red herring anyway - they can still charge what they like, where they like.

Mind you, threats of a Joe Duffy or similar exposure might encourage them to do a cash refund.


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## Jesper (10 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*

just to follow-up...........HN Carrickmines offered to refund the difference after confirming the lower price with Nutgrove so fair play to them.

This has been a real eye-opener in that you can't assume prices are the same in each HN store.

Complainer: the guy we spoke to in Nutgrove said they operate as franchises and he's free to set his own prices - sounds like a funny way to do business

On a related issue, we queried what the best price would be on one of the electric heaters we were looking at - the sales guy said he could knock €20 off it (from €399) and that was the best he could do as they can't go lower than what the computer allows them. I thought this unusual as they go on about the ability to haggle as one of their selling points


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## mrso'brien (12 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*

You are entitled by law to a no-quibble refund if you have the receipt. Don't let them fob you off with a credit note. If you can prove something your purchased came from a certain shop (eg. even if you'd no receipt and if for example you bought something in Dunnes Stores and you'd no receipt but it had all the Dunnes tags on it) you can get a full refund. that's the law! A lot of shops don't abide by it though!!


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## Leo (12 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*



mrso'brien said:


> You are entitled by law to a no-quibble refund if you have the receipt.


 
That only applies if the product is faulty, which it isn't in this case. The shop has no legal obligation in this matter.
Leo


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## z107 (12 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*



> On a related issue, we queried what the best price would be on one of the electric heaters we were looking at - the sales guy said he could knock €20 off it (from €399) and that was the best he could do as they can't go lower than what the computer allows them. I thought this unusual as they go on about the ability to haggle as one of their selling points


This is them haggling.
If you showed them cash, with a further €10 off, they could probably do an 'override'.


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## mosstown (12 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*

and i know this is of no comfort but it can currently be bought in Comet for £170 sterling in the UK.


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## jhegarty (12 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*



mrso'brien said:


> You are entitled by law to a no-quibble refund if you have the receipt. Don't let them fob you off with a credit note. If you can prove something your purchased came from a certain shop (eg. even if you'd no receipt and if for example you bought something in Dunnes Stores and you'd no receipt but it had all the Dunnes tags on it) you can get a full refund. that's the law! A lot of shops don't abide by it though!!




Wrong , all completely wrong.

You have no right to a refund , you have no right to a credit note.

You have no rights with or without a refund.


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## pauly (12 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*

Retailers can repair or replace goods if they are faulty and the choice of handling is up to the retailer and will most certainly require a receipt. There is also time constrains which are usually on the receipt.
If it is however, a change of mind, then the retailer is under no obligation to change it. Most do as a gesture of good will or if it is printed on the back of of a receipt as one of the terms of sale.

I find it very interesting that people are so unaware of the laws relating to this type of query.


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## sse (12 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*



mrso'brien said:


> You are entitled by law to a no-quibble refund if you have the receipt. Don't let them fob you off with a credit note. If you can prove something your purchased came from a certain shop (eg. even if you'd no receipt and if for example you bought something in Dunnes Stores and you'd no receipt but it had all the Dunnes tags on it) you can get a full refund. that's the law! A lot of shops don't abide by it though!!



Errr, no..completely wrong. Must be fun being behind you in a customer services queue.

The seller has the choice of repair, replace or refund in the event of a failure within the guarantee period. In the OP's situation they didn't shop around for the best price, end of story, caveat emptor.

Don't confuse store policy - e.g. the John Lewis "never knowingly undersold" promise - with consumer law.

OP - to put this in context would you expect the same product to be sold at the same price in, for example, a branch of a store in central Dublin vs. Cork/Limerick/Waterford?? Prices are very fluid.

SSE


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## Jesper (26 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*

sorry sse, just seeing your reply now.

Yes, if I shop in HN I would expect the same product to be sold for the same price in all its stores unless the Manager had a 'Manager's Special Offer' or some such deal on at the time.


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## sse (26 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*



Jesper said:


> sorry sse, just seeing your reply now.
> 
> Yes, if I shop in HN I would expect the same product to be sold for the same price in all its stores unless the Manager had a 'Manager's Special Offer' or some such deal on at the time.



This doesn't happen in the real world, prices are set according to local conditions - particularly competition. It's always worth remembering that a price in a shop has no relationship to the cost of the materials, transportation, overheads etc. It's simply a reflection of the scarcity power of the item in that particular situation, effectively businesses charge what they think they can get away with.

A good example is M&S simply food stores vs. large stores, or stores in nice areas vs. run-down. The same items will vary wildly in price between the two. It's a major triumph of logistics to get the right items to the right stores, as often the price is printed on the packaging.

Anyway, you got refunded the difference I think, so all is well.

PS there's a great book called the "Undercover Economist" which goes over all the pricing tricks in detail.

SSE


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## Valkstar (27 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*

The Harvey Norman stores do set their own store prices.  I priced an oven in HN Blanchardstown and was told that it was €900 on special offer, and that was the lowest price available.  I then drove to HN Nutgrove where the ordinary basic price was €900 and I haggled them down to €650!!!!  Got the hob down from €300 to €150, and the extractor from €310 to €160, and also delivery thrown in for free.  It took about half an hour but was well worth it.

I also checked the prices in HN Belfast and they worked out more expensive than Nutgrove, so it pays to shop around the branches.


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## Speedwell (27 Nov 2009)

*Re: Dyson DC20 Animal in HN Crrickmines for €369. Later saw it in HN Nutgrove for €26*



Valkstar said:


> The Harvey Norman stores do set their own store prices. I priced an oven in HN Blanchardstown and was told that it was €900 on special offer, and that was the lowest price available. I then drove to HN Nutgrove where the ordinary basic price was €900 and I haggled them down to €650!!!! Got the hob down from €300 to €150, and the extractor from €310 to €160, and also delivery thrown in for free. It took about half an hour but was well worth it.
> 
> I also checked the prices in HN Belfast and they worked out more expensive than Nutgrove, so it pays to shop around the branches.


 
Well done you! Wish I could haggle like that


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