OT:RIP Jessops

Pay a couple of quid in Primark or 10x the price in M&S and you will find that both are made in the same sweatshops.

Reply to
alan
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Take a picture of another wall.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

On Saturday 12 January 2013 01:07 chris French wrote in uk.d-i-y:

It's because the couriers are pretty much a bunch of mesolithic bastards.

In this day, it would be nearly trivial to have real time tracking with an every-improving esitmation of delivery time - all you need is the optimised delivery route, van load data, signature scanner and GPS to be integrated in the van and communicating back to base via 3G - or even 2G for the amount of data it needs to ping at any given moment.

Most of that is the the company's interests anyway to make deliveries more efficient and monitor there fleet.

None of this: "I'll ring the driver and see where he is" bollocks.

ShittyLink's tracking only works:

1) At the start of the day, you can see your load is on the van 2) At the end, about 7pm you see it was delivered - or not. Pathetic.

This would give peopl who are nominally at home a fighting chance to go out to do a bit of shopping without misisng the guy.

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Lockers - or some form of safe drop point are the next logical step. 3rd party run, can be dropped at by any firm.

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Specific delivery slots. More tricky. Ocado can do it in a 1 hour slot, but their van probably serves a dozen customers at most and the deliveries are high profit. Couriers have 100's of loads and the profit is tiny.

Reply to
Tim Watts

My recent experience suggests that Primark's quality is now better than M&S. Clothes I've had from the latter have all shrunk or gone out of shape

Reply to
stuart noble

I don't know about Primark. But partner cannot readily get to shops so has to do a lot of clothes purchasing on-line. We regularly get large M&S parcels where everything, or almost so, has to go back.

They are unable with any accuracy to describe, display sensible colour photos or swatches, size, or any of numerous other aspects the job. And, instead of getting better, they are getting worse.

When I finally have to take them back (don't like their on-line returns mechanism so I go to shop), it is the most lacklustre, could-give-a-dman-why-you-are-returning, tedious, slow process. Even when the individual is trying to be pleasant.

Reply to
polygonum

I've found that too. Never been stiffed by a Sikh.

Not noticed that particularly, but I always count it in front of the customer anyway, unless it's one I know and trust.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

I was lucky, in that I bought my first used digital Canon as a total gamble and it fitted my hand like a glove. Canon got the ergonomics just right for me. Its replacement Pentax was the same size, and had a couple of must-have features, but the ergonomics weren't the same, although I could fiddle with the function of buttons/wheels to approximate what I'd become used to, so it's ok.

If not then, later, for sure. I expect stock market panic and a buyers' market for property, especially on the West Coast.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

Our experience too. Sizing is hopeless with the 'same size' in different garments differing by an inch or more.

What's also annoying is that we can collect from the local Simply Foods but can't return them there.

Reply to
F

On Saturday 12 January 2013 09:07 stuart noble wrote in uk.d-i-y:

I have lots of "chino" style trousers from BHS - all the zip toggles are falling off one by one. Won't buy those again...

Reply to
Tim Watts

On Saturday 12 January 2013 09:57 polygonum wrote in uk.d-i-y:

My mum used to buy all her clothes from catalogues in the 70's - the "buy or return" deal. I reckon she returned about 20% or less. So, really that is bad.

I'm also becoming pissed off with M&S saying "our of stock" on their website for 20+% of sizes on kids clothes. It's making shopping for the kids very tedious - and they must be doing something wrong if they cannot manage stock on a national level.

As for their shops - nearly always a waste of time - again most of the sizes I want are never in stock and even basic items of school uniform can be hit or miss.

Reply to
Tim Watts

Like USPS International have done. Recent parcels from the States have pickup, sorting, en-route, arrival, sorting, despatch info, giving me a fair idea when to expect it. Knowing it's in the country and is in the hands of the PO is a fair indicator of when it's due to arrive at my door. Cockups excepted, of course.

DHL have improved a lot - but doesn't stop the dopey f***er driving the van locally from phoning me and when he doesn't get an answer, just leaving the parcel at the village store miles away - sometimes that's ok, but other times it's a pita as an unanswered phone doesn't mean I'm not in, as the signal varies. It's just a lazy shortcut for him.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

+1
Reply to
DrTeeth

A pal of mine once told a difficult patient to "go away". The next week his neighbour presented at the practice and as part of the chat, my pal asked why he had chosen his practice. He said that his neighbour was a real wanker and if he had been told to "go away" that was the sort of practice he wanted.

Some customers have reputations with their friends, families etc.

Reply to
DrTeeth

I had to have a bloody argument with a salesman, store manager and area manager when I bought my last TV because I did not want one of those useless and rip-off warranties that they made their money on.

Reply to
DrTeeth

ties are driving useful businesses out with extortionate rates and driving = shoppers away with predatory wardens and punitive parking fines.

That was (and remains) the plan.

Drive business out of the highstreet. Let business property prices collapse, get a few compulsory purchase orders= when a sign falls onto public pavement. Convert into apartments at discount rates with developers from Medicine (es= pecially Physio), Law & Accountancy & Council sitting in the wings.

=A367,000 profit to first pay business rates in a typical footfall dump rel= iant on bank, doctors & pharmacy - and multitude of solicitors, charity sho= ps, fast food. The downsizing of the highstreet was partly engineered, part= ly inevitable.

No accountant will recommend highstreet business, not even pharmacy or booz= e anymore. Become a courier, drive the weak out because you only need to su= rvive to benefit from their business when they fail. Talking of weak, Royal= Mail is merely a business without a parachute through bonkers decisions.

Reply to
js.b1

In message , DrTeeth writes

Why? Salesman Would you like an extended warranty on this TV? Customer (Me) No thank you. End of.

Reply to
bert

+1 Also found that price in jessops was actually quite competitive - and with some of the very cheap on-line stores you can't be sure what you are getting - repackaged returns for example.
Reply to
bert

Isn't the case that all business rates go into a central pool so LAs don't really care about them, whilst they do get Council Tax from homes?

Reply to
Tony Bryer

Salesman Would you like an extended warranty on this TV?

Me: Oh, if it's likely to break down in the first three years I don't want it.

Salesman: No, it won't: it's a quality product

Me: Well I don't need the warranty do I?

Reply to
Tony Bryer

Currently, yes. Believe it is proposed to change it

Reply to
bert

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