Same HMV Same problems.

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  • sej17sej17 Posts: 377
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    Stuart1000 wrote: »
    And I stand by that point.

    Have a look on iTunes. A new album is usually £8.99 or £9.99. That's the same price HMV sell new albums for.

    The whole point downloads were introduced were to try and increase sales of music. If you can buy a physical copy of an album for the same price then what's the point?

    To add to this discussion, Amazon have now removed Free Delivery from their CDs, DVDs and Games. You now need to spend over £10 to qualify for Free Delivery. Surely the delivery charge incurred will just push the price of Amazon over the price of HMV if something is less expensive on the site?

    Good grief, I had no idea about this new policy introduced today apparently. Once Sainsbury's Entertainment Online which I find very competitive stop selling physical media after 28th February there will be very little competition around. HDWOW still seem reasonable at the moment and with free delivety.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 10,561
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    I worked in an HMV over Christmas. Loved it. :D

    I don't want them to close down.
  • SparklySwedeSparklySwede Posts: 1,112
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    danom8 wrote: »
    It's not just Liverpool so. There are two stores I visited regularly in the past here in Dublin and they're both atrocious at providing any form of customer service. I was in one of the city centre stores last year looking to by a pair of Beats by Dre Headphones. They're definitely not cheap and I ideally wanted a black pair although they only had red on display. I asked a staff member if they had any black and he he cuttingly said no and continued walking by. I walked over to another girl and she gave me the same response. I then followed the first guy to the counter and asked him if the other city centre store had any in stock and his exact response was "Well you'd better go walking to find out".

    It was appalling. Then when all of the stores closed down here I thought to myself "Good, maybe they'll learn a bit of customer service in future in the midst of a recession at Christmas.

    Since then that City Centre store has reopened and surprise surprise, the staff are just as rude as ever.

    With that attitude they won't be around for long this time either.

    Exactly, that is the same type of "customer service" I have received in the Liverpool store. On several occasions I have asked "where could I find such-and-such a dvd" and they have replied "over there" and walked away, or something similar. In comparison, in Asda if you ask where you can find something, in my experience the staff member you ask will take you to it themselves. The thing is there is absolutely no excuse for poor customer service, if they don't want to work there then don't and perhaps more relevantly, if the excuse is being busy and stressed then take a look around at other stores and restaurants. The staff are often just as stressed and busy if not more so, and they don't take it out on the customers!

    I have no sympathy for the people working in these stores if they close and are put out of a job if they are so utterly rude and I find it shocking that their managers haven't put a stop to it yet! I would have sympathy for those few polite and helpful staff members, but they seem to be few and far between. Particularly in cases like yours where the customer is buying something expensive, I think that makes the rudeness all the worse. I would definitely have gone home to look online after being spoken to like that.

    I would agree that Amazon changing their postage may change the game somewhat though. Personally I'd still be happier paying extra online to avoid the rudeness of the HMV staff, but presumably I would be in the minority there.
  • TheBigBoyTheBigBoy Posts: 155
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    People always says downloads are cheaper but thats not always true, I have gone to the supermarket and bought cds for 3 pound or 5 pound, The Essential Mariah Carey was 5 pound at ASDA but 10 pound to download on iTunes you have just got to look around
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    the rudeness of the HMV staff

    It's not a company-wide policy, though. I already gave one example of helpful HMV staff in this thread. Another example, from a different store: I was away from home and had forgotten my lead to listen to my iPhone in the car. Went into HMV in Worcester and asked if they had a lead that would fit without having to take the phone out of its case. The staff member opened a packet, plugged the lead into a speaker system and tested that it played my phone correctly - all for a very cheap sale.

    On the other hand, was in HMV White City recently and there was a fight between two groups of customers. It seems one customer in the queue pushed another and it turned ugly. You don't get that shopping online.
  • TributeTribute Posts: 820
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    It's £5 on Amazon, a whole 1p more.

    Still cheaper!
  • SparklySwedeSparklySwede Posts: 1,112
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    Inkblot wrote: »
    It's not a company-wide policy, though. I already gave one example of helpful HMV staff in this thread. Another example, from a different store: I was away from home and had forgotten my lead to listen to my iPhone in the car. Went into HMV in Worcester and asked if they had a lead that would fit without having to take the phone out of its case. The staff member opened a packet, plugged the lead into a speaker system and tested that it played my phone correctly - all for a very cheap sale.

    Oh of course, like I said in a previous post, there are occasions when you're served by a staff member who is lovely and does go the extra mile to help you out and I don't want to tar them all with the same brush. Unfortunately in my experience (emphasis on 'in my experience) with HMV this is the exception rather than the norm. Apologies if anyone working for HMV reads my posts and isn't rude!
  • madiain28madiain28 Posts: 1,027
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    You can't compare a download price to an actual physical copy. The main point being you physically actually do not have anything when you purchase on download it really is totally worthless whilst many CDs depending on print and edition can often go up in value by collectors in future years. Downloads are never actually going to go up in value as you have nothing to resale. Also going in store and browsing is a completely different experience to shopping online whilst many couch potatoes want to click everything more active people actually enjoy going round shops and browsing for goods.
    As for the price differences you are always going to get certain products online and in store at varying prices with promotions and sales so unless you are going to compare the entire stock of each outlet it's pointless saying this week amazon charge this compared to hmv compared to Asda. The prices fluctuate depending on attracting sales. I've paid what I thought was a great price on Amazon only to find its a few quid cheaper when I walk into Sainsbury's the following week you might see it cheaper again on Amazon.
  • paulbaxpaulbax Posts: 2,478
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    I did shop in an HMV which is right across from my college..until I found a store called "That's Entertainment!" just down the road from it which sells used CDs and DVDs for 1.99! Maybe I'm just a cheap student, but the items always work perfectly (They can't sell them otherwise) so I don't mind it being used, especially at 1.99. I still buy new releases that I want from HMV though.
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    madiain28 wrote: »
    You can't compare a download price to an actual physical copy. The main point being you physically actually do not have anything when you purchase on download it really is totally worthless

    That's a good point. When you pay for a download you are only buying a licence to listen to the music. Just because downloads no longer have DRM it doesn't mean that you own anything that you can legally sell on. You're effectively only renting the music, even if in practice you can keep it forever.
  • walterwhitewalterwhite Posts: 56,564
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    Tribute wrote: »
    Still cheaper!

    Yes, 1p. Hardly proves the point does it?
  • SparklySwedeSparklySwede Posts: 1,112
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    paulbax wrote: »
    I did shop in an HMV which is right across from my college..until I found a store called "That's Entertainment!" just down the road from it which sells used CDs and DVDs for 1.99! Maybe I'm just a cheap student, but the items always work perfectly (They can't sell them otherwise) so I don't mind it being used, especially at 1.99. I still buy new releases that I want from HMV though.

    I was in a shop similar to this recently, I can't remember the name but "That's Entertainment" rings a bell... Anyway, I much prefer shopping in there to HMV. It's exactly as you say, at such low prices it doesn't matter if it's second hand or not. I'd rather buy a second hand dvd at a much lower price than pay at least twice as much for basically just plastic packaging. :p If it works, of course.

    EDIT- just looked it up. That's Entertainment has lots of stores in the UK, I'm surprised there aren't more as it is a fantastic idea for saving money and selling your own old dvds etc. They're also still doing free delivery if you order online which makes it more favourable than Amazon too!
  • paulbaxpaulbax Posts: 2,478
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    I was in a shop similar to this recently, I can't remember the name but "That's Entertainment" rings a bell... Anyway, I much prefer shopping in there to HMV. It's exactly as you say, at such low prices it doesn't matter if it's second hand or not. I'd rather buy a second hand dvd at a much lower price than pay at least twice as much for basically just plastic packaging. :p If it works, of course.

    EDIT- just looked it up. That's Entertainment has lots of stores in the UK, I'm surprised there aren't more as it is a fantastic idea for saving money and selling your own old dvds etc. They're also still doing free delivery if you order online which makes it more favourable than Amazon too!
    I discovered the shop when I was in Blackpool and went on a spree thinking it was the only store and I wouldn't get bargains like that again on CDs and DVDs that I wanted (That sounds quite sad when I read it back :p) but I was pleasantly surprised to find via their website that they had stores all over the UK and also an online store :D.

    A shop like that is perfect for me because I have an old music taste for my age and like discovering "new" music from the 80s and 90s, so it allows me to do that without having to pay £10 for each CD or illegally downloading those otherwise hard to find ones.
  • AdzPowerAdzPower Posts: 4,861
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    My local HMV is actually quite nice, the staff are very friendly, they don't have the biggest selection but they certainly put what they have to good use.
    I always see staff guiding people around anf offering to help customers who look a little lost.
    And I have noticed a little improvement when it comes to their prices, nothing substantial but certainly enough to make me shop their again.
  • mimicolemimicole Posts: 50,916
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    I only noticed that Amazon no longer have the option for free delivery :( I used to use Amazon a lot. Is it just me or have their prices gone up as well?
  • CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,625
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    mimicole wrote: »
    I only noticed that Amazon no longer have the option for free delivery :( I used to use Amazon a lot. Is it just me or have their prices gone up as well?

    You'll have to order 2 albums at a time so the cost is over £10. Then it's still free.
  • Sweet7Sweet7 Posts: 599
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    They need to group them together more. Like what Amazon are offering. A free download of the album when you purchase one.

    If HMV could get a deal like this, it would really help them out. For me personally, I love the security of always having my music collection in the cloud where I can redownload it as many times as I want - but I also love the physical copy. I wouldn't mind paying a couple more quid to get 2 editions.
  • sparkle22sparkle22 Posts: 1,135
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    agree about the prices hmv still charging £7.99 for their 100 hits 5 cd sets where as in asda they are £5.
    I got ellie goulding's latest album for £4.99 and cliff's latest dvd for £4.99 in the xmas sale and also erasure pop remixed £7.99.
    which was the same as amazon I actually wrote on a small piece of paper all the amazon prices then went into hmv and compared.
    so not to get ripped off hmv could be good but they are too greedy if all their new cd's were £7 each they would sell lots.
    and the sales ones £3 if they go bust again it's their own fault.
    has anyone seen how rubbish the hmv pure rewards are to get anything good you have to have 100,000 points or there abouts.
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