A club I want no part in! (The Officers Club)

Member Name: thebigshowgt

Product:	The Officers Club
Date:	27/06/04 (994 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: not very expensive

Disadvantages: poor clothing quality, poor refund policy, poor staff training

I have decided to write this review as my local store has now shut its doors and closed for good. I suppose this was a single business decision by the company rather than a nationwide one. The fact that no-one shopped in there may have made it easier for the big bosses to decide to close.

~ The Shop

The Officers Club is a men’s clothing shop. They also trade under the names of ‘Blakes Menswear’ and ‘Petroleum Casualwear’. As far as I am aware, it’s the same stuff in a shop with a different name above the door. According to the website, the company has over 180 stores (maybe 179 now?) and are nationwide, originating from the North East area.

~ The Stock

Officers only sell men’s clothes and accessories only. So expect tops, trousers, jeans, jackets, shorts, shoes and the rest. Accessory wise, sunglasses, hats, caps and underwear are available. I have purchased few items from them although that was enough to decide that this shop wasn’t for me.

About a year ago I bought a shirt which was reasonably priced (£9) but after buying it you could see that it was poorly made. The stitching was far from perfect and the cut was terrible. With places like Primark selling stuff like this cheaper, and in my opinion, better made, they need to watch their backs.

Also a pair of socks were needed. I grabbed a pair for £2 and the quality was very poor. They were ‘character’ socks (non-branded) but where the design was the cotton used was tighter than the rest of the sock resulting in ‘red-line foot’. Nice.

~ Offensive Clothing

Now with clothing from the likes of French Connection pushing the boundaries further as to what is acceptable it is solely to an individual’s opinion as to wh
at is deemed offensive. The Officers Club did try had to push this though, with some somewhat obscene logo’d t-shirts and a brand called ‘Phat B*****d’. The more graphic words were censored by asterisks but not very suitable to take the kids in to look at. “Mummy, what does that mean?”

~ The Con

The Officers Club advertise the fact that stock is heavily reduced. The figure they generally use is 70% Off. For example, their shirts they sell for £10 or so will have the ‘retail/was’ price above it stating £40/50 that just seems unbelievable. It is. This is the biggest con going and I’m sure most of the general public realise this rubbish. I’m not a retail law professional but I think how it works is as follows:

To advertise your stock as reduced it has to be on sale at the higher price for a certain amount of time (28 days?) in the last 6 months. How I think they get around this is by having a couple of ‘full-price’ stores that do sell the stock at these silly prices. Although I may be wrong, anyone?

~ The Layout

I had (yay, past tense) to walk past this shop every day to work. About 50% of the time they had random posters covering the windows designed to grab your attention advertising their ‘Sale’. The rest of the time they had window manikins wearing the higher priced stock.

Inside my particular store it had a abandoned feel to it. The interior seemed incomplete and damaged and the displays tatty. But tatty in the sense that they had no intention of doing anything about it. Then about a year latter they close.

~ The Staff

Unprofessional. Unhelpful. In-polite. They always seem very annoyed. I’m guessing the wages weren’t great and the w
ork boring. They did not seem to know what they were doing and wouldn’t go out of the way for you at all.

~ Refund Policy

28 Days to return for exchange or credit note (with receipt). No full refund it offered. But that’s good compared to about a year or so ago when you could not return any item, unless faulty. The change was such a big event for them they had huge banners advertising the fact the policy had changed and you could get an exchange (not your money back though, fool!) Woopie – Do!

~ Overall

I hated this shop. The pricing con was silly but it probably fooled a few. The stock was bad quality (more market than high street). The prices are cheap but not brilliant when compared to Matalan, Primark, Tesco and the rest. The staff were no better.

Not sad to see them leave my High Street.

~ Website and Store Locator

www.theofficersclub.co.uk (don’t be fooled by the professional Flash site!)




Thanks for Reading

©tbsgt

Summary: