I went into my local Currys today to look at 4K TVs, but half of them weren't showing any picture and the other half were showing an SD picture fed through analogue component cables. So, I went to the other Currys a bit further away, and they were feeding all their 4K TVs a lovely 4K demo through HDMI. So far so good, but I got talking to the sales guy and he insisted that I needed to buy one of their £80 HMDI cables even though I'll only be using an HD source because the TV performs upscaling to 4K internally and therefore needs the picture to come at a higher data rate over the HDMI cable. I told him I was happy with the cables I've got, but he wouldn't take no for an answer and I ended up leaving. Is this something they're trained to say, or do they just get commission on expensive HDMI cables?

A friend bought a TV from them a few days ago. He's fairly good at negotiating prices and got 11% off the set and got a '£40' 1 metre cable for ten. They make a lot of money if they sell them at full price.

I buy my cables from Amazon.

Tell him to shove that 80 quid cable where the sun don't shine.

Complete load of ball cocks. Any High Speed HDMI cable will do for 4k as long as it is decently made and complies to the specs.

And that £80 cable probably costs Currys £8 so £72 in pure profit

That cable can be found miles cheaper online.

It isn't even for 4K, he insisted I'd need the £80 cable for HD too because the TV upscales HD to 4K internally. I couldn't have made it any more clear to him that I wasn't interested in buying the cable, but he wouldn't back down so I ended up walking out.

What complete BS!!!

The data rate is the rate at which it is sent from whatever source.
In your case a HD source. The TV can't "Suck" more data out of the source, it gets what it given. The data rate will be that of HD as that is what you are sending. That's all the TV needs and then it will upscale that inside the TV. The HDMI cable has nothing to do with that.

It's about time Currys were investigated by Trading Standards as getting money under force pretences is fraud. Plan and simple as that.

Interesting point. I've just been to another Currys to look at the same TV. At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me as the 43 inch and 49 inch models both had the label for the 43 inch model, but luckily there was also a manufacturers energy efficiency sticker which had the correct model number on it. Anyway, I asked the guy if they had any in stock. They didn't, but he still insisted on telling me that if I was going to connect anything to it then I would need to buy their £80 HDMI cable because it's a 4K TV. Sounds like all their staff are trained to say this.

I did tell the guy that, but he wasn't having any of it. The fact that the same thing has happened with staff at two different stores suggests that they're trained to say this.

I shouldn't be surprised though, this is the same store that delivered my tumble dryer with a big split down the back with a plank of wood sticking out of it, although to her credit the girl at the help desk went ballistic when she found out.

As it sounds like you have seen the tv you want I would try John Lewis or Richer Sounds as they include extended warranties in the price you pay.

Both. I'm afraid it's partly the culture of the business and partly then a consequence of the type of people that that culture attracts and retains.

Whenever a business bases its bonus structure on 'added-value' sales and 'promoted lines' it rewards those with shall we say a morally-flexible approach. Those who are prepared to tuck-up the customer with products that give the sales person the biggest pay packet are those who rise to the top of the organisation and so the culture perpetuates. The sales people who try to find out and service the customer's genuine needs get penalised. We've seen the same thing time and again with bank bonuses, PPI mis-selling, bad mortgage advice... the list goes on and on.

It's just a profit making scheme - an HDMI cable from the Pound shop will be perfectly fine - the reason they push stupidly priced cables is to make obscene profits, nothing else.

On a £5 cable they make £1-£2, on a £20 cable they will make £12-£15, and on an £80 cable they will make £60-£70 - it's just a scam.

This has been discussed many times on these forums. CH5 Gadget Show has also lambasted Currys for this.
What surprises me is that the sales person was willing to lose a sale of an expensive TV over it. I would be demanding to see the manager.

Shouldn't be a surprise, they've done similar things for years!
I used to work at Tempo and they had a % based system whereby the sales guys had to sell 12% of product value in extended warranties. If they went under this they got hauled over the coals. At some point the sales people just decide they want the % rate and not the grief so they essentially pushed people away. I left asap as it was just against everything I believed was right and fair.

People forget that though...they just see the sales person getting a commission, when it's more than that, they will have a sales target on just about everything, don't hit the target get a grilling, possibly lose your job.,,all passed down from head Office, for the manager (who will also have targets to meet) to pass onto the sales people.

Why surprised?, they make next to nothing on the TV, and a huge profit on the lead.

I live in a county that doesn't have Richer Sounds or a JL, but it does have a local electrical chain. I'm glad that they exist

They have very competitive prices, reasonable customer service, local repair facilities, they don't try to sell you an expensive cable or warranty (and they'll tell you if a TV has a free extended warranty from the manufacturer). Most importantly, they actually try to keep things in stock, whether it's their highest end 65 inch 4K TV or a £150 cheapie, so you can be in and out in 10 minutes (they'll also deliver it same-day for free if you like).

They also don't mind if you want to sit down and play with the TV, mess around in the menu, plug in your own sources etc - and they'll give you tea or coffee if you ask

I would never go to PC World or Currys.

John Lewis and Richer Sounds aren't really convenient to get to from here, and they're in the process of knocking down and rebuilding John Lewis anyway so don't even know how much of it is open. Finally found the TV somewhere closer to home at almost the same price so bought it there instead. Needless to say, it works fine with my £3 HDMI cable

Against my better judgement, I had to buy my 4KTV from Currys because everywhere else was out on stock.

We got to the thorny issues of HDMI cables and I told the assistant I had what I needed. She insisted the old ones I had wouldn't work. When I explained they were all high-speed and perfectly up to the task, she then hit back that only gold plated ones worked with 4K TVs. When I politely rejected that claim, she snapped back with "Well don't come back blaming me when the picture's rubbish. If you put crap in, you get crap out"

I was so tempted to leave the store and tell her to stick it where the sun doesn't shine there and then. I would have done if I could have got the TV anywhere else. It's bare faced lies. I can't figure how they continue to get away with it.

Mother-in-Law fella got caught out last Christmas with this racket, not only the HDMI but also an optical cable for the soundbar even though he's been told not to fall for it.

Optical is redundant as I gave him my cheap HDMI lead for the ARC from TV to soundbar.

£80 seems a little on the dear side for an HDMI cable.
You can get HDMI cables for nearly half that price of you look online.
There are also cheaper branded HDMI cables so good some not so good.
I only have two full HD Samsung smart TVs that both have a Youview box and blu ray player connected to them and I have not yet spend over £10 on HDMI cables.

Darren

Deleted as same post seems to have shown up twice.

Darren

My sales assistant went through the same steps in the same order, but carried it on further than yours. The steps were;
1) you need these £80 cables because they're high-speed (I explained that I was only using an HD source but he insisted that I would still need high speed cables because the TV upscales to 4K internally)
2) you need these £80 cables because they're gold plated (I explained that the cables I already have are gold plated, they weren't expensive)
3) you need these £80 cables because they have an amplifier and signal conditioning chip inside them (it sounds like this is where yours gave up, but mine had a diagram on the wall showing an exploded view of an HDMI connector with a chip inside it, possibly useful for long cable runs but completely unnecessary for short cables)
4) It's science!!! (when I couldn't get him to stop with the vague pseudo-science drivel I gave up and just left)

As someone who's worked as a scientist and engineer in the electronics industry my whole career, it really annoys me when people like that hoodwink unsuspecting members of the public with misrepresentation that might sound vaguely right at the time (until they get home and think about it at least), it's an abuse of their ill-deserved position of trust.

The margin on TVs are probably 10% if they're very lucky...Slap an HDMI cable on it, it can double it...

There's little profit on the actual main item any more...

You don't need £80 HDMI cable. Price is a rip off. Most good HDMI cables will be fine. Anyone buying an HDMI cable for as much as £80 is silly and wasting there money.
You can get a very good HDMI cable for between £7 and £15. The ones the sale in the likes of Poundland are ok but tend to not lest more than a year or two before they seem to stop working.

Darren

Really? I've never had a Poundland HDMI cable fail even after 5 or 6 years.