Cheated
Oneofseven
Posts: 338
I feel cheated! In days of yore (like 4 or 5 years ago), Tuesday was a special day. If I bought anything on Tuesday from my local Garden Club I got 10% discount for being over 60, and the discount was immediate, taken off that day's purchase. Nice! But nowadays the Garden Club has a different scheme, and although it sounds the same, even better in that it's discount every day, and double on Tuesday, I am convinced that the customer loses out. Nowadays my discount is put on my Club card, and totalled up every few months. Then I receive notice of the amount, with a USE BY date! But if I forget to use it, I lose it . . . . . and the Garden Club takes back my discount. So today I have the mutters, because I forgot to use a discount of £3.50 before 31st January. How many other customers forget to use by the due date? The Garden Club must be very happy. It's not fair! (Oops! Shades of my childhood there!)
And there's another scheme which upsets me. A couple of years ago I used to happily pay p&p on seedling plugs delivered to my door. Very nice seedlings, too. Suddenly, big news splash - free p&p on all seedlings! But if you checked the new prices on seedlings, all up by £1 per pack. And that £1 increase adds up to much more than the p&p would have been! Mutter, mutter, mutter!
Anyone else feel hard done by?
Posts
In our local town, even the charity shops are shutting down.
Have to say I love charity shops, probably spend more in those than other shops, it makes spending money slightly better by the fact I am recycling!
much prefer it to a street full of overpriced tat claiming to be ecological - but using new materials
c
In the town quite near to me, Launceston, there were, at my last count, ten charity shops. Its such a tiny little place to have so many, its such a shame that the local shopkeepers have had to give up because the rates are so high. The charity shops dont pay rates, t least that is what I heard.
The other thing a lot of people do is to go to a local shop to see what something looks like 'in the flesh', how it handles and to get advice on special features etc - and then go home and buy it for less on the internet. Electrical and other household items are particular targets for this.
I have been guilty of this in the past but, after a spate of local shop closures, I now try really hard not to do it unless there is such a huge difference in price that I think a shop is taking the p**s.
It really is true that, if we don't buy from our local shops (with their specialist knowledge and, often, excellent customer service), then we will lose them.
Having said that though - the best ones near me have a strong internet presence too and one of them said he makes far more from internet sales - but he likes having his small 'outdoor' shop with a loyal and regular clientele - good for him!
It would seem, from these comments, that charity shops and discount shops prevail in many towns across the country. No exception where I live either. Just this week our local paper reported that we were getting another '£1 shop' on our high street. It's no wonder town centres are suffering, there's nothing there to attract custom.
You are quite right, Oneofseven, new deals aren't usually a better deal for the customer. You really do need to have your wits about you to get the best prices.
Another thing (while we're having a little lament). Has anyone else noticed how many products these days are smaller than we used to get? Tins of tuna that no longer quite stretch to lunch sandwiches for 2 because they contain less fish, chocolate bars which are the same size but thinner so they weigh less. Lots of products like this...
It's certainly a way to avoid increasing the price of an item (& in the case of a chocolate bar it's probably no bad thing if I'm getting a little less each time ) - but it is very annoying when I go to make a tried and tested recipe and find that where it was once one tin or packet - now it is 2 or (more usually) 1.5 - so then I have half a tin left over which I need to use or throw away.