| Product: |
Comet.co.uk |
| Date: |
19/02/01 (305 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Nation-wide presence
Disadvantages: Dire staff product knowledge + corporate customer service standards
Right, before I get into any sort of detail here, I must make one thing clear. With the possible exception of the odd one or two innocent sales persons, no-one in the entire Comet organisation gives two figs what you buy when you enter one of their stores. You could be after a widescreen TV or a hairdryer; management don't care. As long as you buy a) an extended warranty or b) some accessories, they're happy!
I speak, i'm sorry to say, from long and unhappy experience. I say long, but it was actually only 9 months... Felt like years though! I joined Comet as a salesperson in august of 1999 and was immediately given some training. A good thing, you may think, but no! I was trained on selling warranties. I was trained on selling credit agreements. I was NOT trained on the items people came into the shop to buy. This unfortunately is not an isolated incident; its actually how Comet prefer to employ their sales staff. Feel free to test the theory: find a sales person near the washing mashines, drag them to the multimedia section and ask indepth questions about the merits of one PC's graphics card compared to another. Unless the salesperson has bothered to learn this stuff in their own time; they probably wont have a clue and will mislead you whether they mean to or not.
From a customer service point of view this is very bad. Apparently, Comet's mission statement is to become the most trusted retailer in the world. How this can be when you can trust what you're told by the staff you expect to help you is beyond me! My advice would be too learn as much as you can about what you want to buy BEFORE setting foot in any electrical store (Dixons and Currys are much like Comet, only way more professional...). Also decide if you need any extra cover before you buy as well. Details of these can be found on the retails websites, i don't doubt, but they are rarely good value. Televisions, for example have NO moving par
ts. They will go wrong in one of two ways: faulty from the factory (which will manifest itself asap); or a natural failure which will take years... You may also want to sort out how you want to pay, too. Comet will definately try and tempt you with long interest free credit agreements, if only you'll take this little warranty, sir...
Finally, pick your shopping time carefully. Comet say they don't discount any longer, ever since their 'Comet Price' rubbish rolled out in october 1999, but they can price match. Chances are, a manager will take more of a risk with this (he/she has to explain any discount AT ALL to the regional manager) if the days figures are bad. Therefore go on a weekday, just before or just after lunch, when it is very quiet. If you are exceedingly devious, get some family members to enter and leave the store several times in the half hour or so before you enter. This will bring the store's 'conversion' down and drive the sales managers to distraction (the doorways have sensors that count people coming in and compare this to things being sold, the target being one sale per 2 and a half people. This is why managers occasionally ask customers to buy small items seperately on quiet days). If the manager thinks he/she will have to put a bad report through to the regional manager, they may be more open to suggestion... ;^)
Keep your wits about you when going to these places; or better still (like me!) work for a company that holds accounts with the major manufacturers and that allows you to buy gear at trade prices....
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