Is anyone else miffed with web sites that have all the kit you're interested in but don't give the price? Why can't we be told online there and then rather than have to make telephone calls and emails?
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P.O.A ...just tell us the price!!
- Thread starter Crossie
- Start date
At the risk of stating the obvious, POA is designed to encourage you to get in touch, so the selling process can begin.
Well yes, but I think the psychology intends to make you think 'prices so low we can't print them', whereas in fact you're most likely to be quizzed about prices you've seen so far, and then an attempt will be made to match them.
But I agree - I tend to swerve places saying 'POA' and go for those with definite prices.
But I agree - I tend to swerve places saying 'POA' and go for those with definite prices.
I never call anywhere where POA is stated.
i assume I cant't afford it.
And even if they are lower in price I'd rather give my $$$ to someone who tells me what the price is, without me having to call them.
i assume I cant't afford it.
And even if they are lower in price I'd rather give my $$$ to someone who tells me what the price is, without me having to call them.
al7478:Cheers!
It would back-fire with me, or at least I'd have to be very interested to pursue, because I'd assume it was a snobby "if you have to ask, you cant afford it" thing.
Same here, because that's EXACTLY what it means in classic car trade adverts! If what AE says really is what Hi-Fi dealers are then it's a serious misjudgment, I don't know anyone who'd look at POA and think "ooh, that must be cheap!".
I mean, if you really are selling something cheap you'd say so, wouldn't you? Standard sales practice, surely?
It would back-fire with me, or at least I'd have to be very interested to pursue, because I'd assume it was a snobby "if you have to ask, you cant afford it" thing.
Same here, because that's EXACTLY what it means in classic car trade adverts! If what AE says really is what Hi-Fi dealers are then it's a serious misjudgment, I don't know anyone who'd look at POA and think "ooh, that must be cheap!".
I mean, if you really are selling something cheap you'd say so, wouldn't you? Standard sales practice, surely?
I am glad it is not just me. I disregard all adverts that say "POA", I find the practise intensly annoying.
Sliced Bread
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2010
- 510
- 94
- 18,970
the_lhc:...if you really are selling something cheap you'd say so, wouldn't you? Standard sales practice, surely?
Yep!
I do wonder if POA adverts are an effective marketing strategy. I can't speak for anyone else but I have never responded to a POA advert. I always assume that the price is not competitive, if it was they would simply print them.
Yep!
I do wonder if POA adverts are an effective marketing strategy. I can't speak for anyone else but I have never responded to a POA advert. I always assume that the price is not competitive, if it was they would simply print them.
Hi Crossie, I see that you have the Cyrus CD6SE, Spendor A5 and Atlas Equator in your setup - components that I'm interested in. Just wondering if you can share your experience with the sound of your setup. Thanks!
I assume the price is too high or they can't be bothered to keep it up to date. Either way, they don't hear from me.
Well I struggle with the point of the Richer Sounds web site also. It has items with a price, but, all I've looked at state you can't order online, you can only buy in store and oh, the price in store might be different ! So what on earth is the point?
RS have recently lost a purchase by me as they won't deliver - I really don't want to spend an hour each way in the car to pay 80p per fifteen minutes to park in Brighton and all that petrol when other places offer free delivery.
RS have recently lost a purchase by me as they won't deliver - I really don't want to spend an hour each way in the car to pay 80p per fifteen minutes to park in Brighton and all that petrol when other places offer free delivery.
roger06:
Well I struggle with the point of the Richer Sounds web site also. It has items with a price, but, all I've looked at state you can't order online, you can only buy in store and oh, the price in store might be different ! So what on earth is the point?
RS have recently lost a purchase by me as they won't deliver - I really don't want to spend an hour each way in the car to pay 80p per fifteen minutes to park in Brighton and all that petrol when other places offer free delivery.
I think the RicherSounds website thing is actually similar to Andrew E's theory on POA. Richer sounds advertise ridiculously cheap kit online which is only available in store. You get to the store and funnily enough theyre often "sold out". BUT theyve got you in store, and can now cross sell you the latest fantastic equivalent to your first choice, made by, guess who? Cambridge Audio ofcourse! Not a fan of Richer Sounds...
Well I struggle with the point of the Richer Sounds web site also. It has items with a price, but, all I've looked at state you can't order online, you can only buy in store and oh, the price in store might be different ! So what on earth is the point?
RS have recently lost a purchase by me as they won't deliver - I really don't want to spend an hour each way in the car to pay 80p per fifteen minutes to park in Brighton and all that petrol when other places offer free delivery.
I think the RicherSounds website thing is actually similar to Andrew E's theory on POA. Richer sounds advertise ridiculously cheap kit online which is only available in store. You get to the store and funnily enough theyre often "sold out". BUT theyve got you in store, and can now cross sell you the latest fantastic equivalent to your first choice, made by, guess who? Cambridge Audio ofcourse! Not a fan of Richer Sounds...
The thing that gets me is that even Amazon do this. Not on .co.uk but when i was looking at .com for camera lenses in august some were marked "so low we can't display" or similar and you had to actually add it to your basket before you could see the price. Was also about 50:50 as to if they really were the lowest.
POA is a particular bugbear of mine. If I want to buy something, I want to know how much it is. If I know what I want exactly, then cost and delivery is really all that's going to vary. The internet lets us compare costs very easily, so I won't go to the bother of phoning round people who won't advertise thier price online, especially where they have an online ordering facility of other products. If I want advice or help, then I'm happy to phone or visit the shop and pay for it, but if I just want to buy a widget you've missed your chance to tell me when I see widgets at POA rather than a price. If I'm in the mood for a chat I might call, but if I want to buy something on the internet, I'll probably go to someone who is actually letting me buy it there and then.
As for magazine ads, I can understand they go to the press and prices/exchange rates change, etc...but why have a whole page of part codes and the odd picture of a receiver or TV, next to which every single line says "POA"??? Save on ink...don't mention prices at all! Use the space wisely to tell us about your facilities, your company, your ethos, not a parts list with no prices. Either you have a transactional mail order/internet business or you don't. Your website should have live pricing info whether we can buy online or not (as some manufacturers won't let you sell online). Or if you aren't in that sort of market and want to deal with your customers in person and give them value in the form of your services, then don't place the sort of adverts which imply a transactional business but then fails to deliver the most critical information, price.
roger06: RS have recently lost a purchase by me as they won't deliver - I really don't want to spend an hour each way in the car to pay 80p per fifteen minutes to park in Brighton and all that petrol when other places offer free delivery.
I agree with your point about the hour in the car each way. You value your time and have to weigh up whether it is worth the trip for you, or if you can get it more conveniently another way, whilst perhaps costing you a little more money. I'm not a big fan of Richer Sounds, but one thing to note is that they will actually pay for your parking!! Their Glasgow store advertises this and a quick visit to the info page of their Brighton store also states they will refund your parking! Fair play, they probably realise some of their stores aren't in the most car friendly places, so they are trying to make it that little bit easier for you to justify a visit.
As for magazine ads, I can understand they go to the press and prices/exchange rates change, etc...but why have a whole page of part codes and the odd picture of a receiver or TV, next to which every single line says "POA"??? Save on ink...don't mention prices at all! Use the space wisely to tell us about your facilities, your company, your ethos, not a parts list with no prices. Either you have a transactional mail order/internet business or you don't. Your website should have live pricing info whether we can buy online or not (as some manufacturers won't let you sell online). Or if you aren't in that sort of market and want to deal with your customers in person and give them value in the form of your services, then don't place the sort of adverts which imply a transactional business but then fails to deliver the most critical information, price.
roger06: RS have recently lost a purchase by me as they won't deliver - I really don't want to spend an hour each way in the car to pay 80p per fifteen minutes to park in Brighton and all that petrol when other places offer free delivery.
I agree with your point about the hour in the car each way. You value your time and have to weigh up whether it is worth the trip for you, or if you can get it more conveniently another way, whilst perhaps costing you a little more money. I'm not a big fan of Richer Sounds, but one thing to note is that they will actually pay for your parking!! Their Glasgow store advertises this and a quick visit to the info page of their Brighton store also states they will refund your parking! Fair play, they probably realise some of their stores aren't in the most car friendly places, so they are trying to make it that little bit easier for you to justify a visit.
Acciesboy:
I'm not a big fan of Richer Sounds, but one thing to note is that they will actually pay for your parking!! Their Glasgow store advertises this and a quick visit to the info page of their Brighton store also states they will refund your parking! Fair play, they probably realise some of their stores aren't in the most car friendly places, so they are trying to make it that little bit easier for you to justify a visit.
The Birmingham store will pay your parking as well. The store is right in the city centre and car parking is 90p per 20 mins but just tell them how long you have parked for and a refund is offered.
I'm not a big fan of Richer Sounds, but one thing to note is that they will actually pay for your parking!! Their Glasgow store advertises this and a quick visit to the info page of their Brighton store also states they will refund your parking! Fair play, they probably realise some of their stores aren't in the most car friendly places, so they are trying to make it that little bit easier for you to justify a visit.
The Birmingham store will pay your parking as well. The store is right in the city centre and car parking is 90p per 20 mins but just tell them how long you have parked for and a refund is offered.
Richer Sounds
Well-known member
- Dec 2, 2008
- 10
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Hi,
I wanted to take this opportunity to respond to your comments about our website.
The reason why certain models aren't available to order via our website is because we like to give priority to in-store customers visiting one of our 49 stores. However this is only applies to specific models which are finite in supply.
In response to JamesOK's comments, I can assure you that we do not intentionally advertise stock that does not exist, especially as doing so would be extremely poor customer service and not to mention illegal!
From time-to-time certain lines can sell out however these are models are always available to order from our main warehouse. The only exception to this is end of line / clearance models, although we always make this clear if this is the case. If a certain model is sold out then of course we'd rather offer our customers an alternative model rather than simply sending them away disappointed and empty-handed!
I also feel it is important to mention that we serve many thousands of customers each week, the majority of whom are more than satisfied with our availability, customer service and prices!
Meanwhile, I hope this clarifies our position although please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further help.
Many thanks,
John Clayton
Operations Director
Richer Sounds
I wanted to take this opportunity to respond to your comments about our website.
The reason why certain models aren't available to order via our website is because we like to give priority to in-store customers visiting one of our 49 stores. However this is only applies to specific models which are finite in supply.
In response to JamesOK's comments, I can assure you that we do not intentionally advertise stock that does not exist, especially as doing so would be extremely poor customer service and not to mention illegal!
From time-to-time certain lines can sell out however these are models are always available to order from our main warehouse. The only exception to this is end of line / clearance models, although we always make this clear if this is the case. If a certain model is sold out then of course we'd rather offer our customers an alternative model rather than simply sending them away disappointed and empty-handed!
I also feel it is important to mention that we serve many thousands of customers each week, the majority of whom are more than satisfied with our availability, customer service and prices!
Meanwhile, I hope this clarifies our position although please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further help.
Many thanks,
John Clayton
Operations Director
Richer Sounds
Hi John
That's good of you to post a response. I don't think anyone is questioning the value of your brand. Most people here know you've been around a long time by doing the RIGHT thing and you've certainly helped many people get into hi fi with your price structure (as a poor student I'd drive up to your Fulham branch as it was the only place I could buy decent kit at an affordable price).
My point I guess is that for such an innovative company I don't think you actually exploit the web as well as you could / should. (Neither do many of your competitors btw such as a large franchise based in Kent).
I reckon RS almost has the opportunity to be the Amazon of the low / mid range AV / Hi fi market but I don't think you capitalise on this. To be honest, I'd have actually quite liked to have bought from you and it's not your fault you don't have a store closer to Chichester. (well yes it is but I'm being kind!)
But I couldn't buy the Yamaha RX V 1065 from your site and it was also more expensive than several other places (£549 compared to £509).
As someone who works full time and has a small child to look after, actually getting to either Brighton or Southampton is actually quite tricky.
If you sold online you'd not alienate the customers who walk through your doors - you'd simply have more customers!
Cheers
Roger
That's good of you to post a response. I don't think anyone is questioning the value of your brand. Most people here know you've been around a long time by doing the RIGHT thing and you've certainly helped many people get into hi fi with your price structure (as a poor student I'd drive up to your Fulham branch as it was the only place I could buy decent kit at an affordable price).
My point I guess is that for such an innovative company I don't think you actually exploit the web as well as you could / should. (Neither do many of your competitors btw such as a large franchise based in Kent).
I reckon RS almost has the opportunity to be the Amazon of the low / mid range AV / Hi fi market but I don't think you capitalise on this. To be honest, I'd have actually quite liked to have bought from you and it's not your fault you don't have a store closer to Chichester. (well yes it is but I'm being kind!)
As someone who works full time and has a small child to look after, actually getting to either Brighton or Southampton is actually quite tricky.
If you sold online you'd not alienate the customers who walk through your doors - you'd simply have more customers!
Cheers
Roger
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