Can't even give them my money (Comet.co.uk)

Member Name: adamdavid

Product:	Comet.co.uk
Date:	17/07/01 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low prices (so they claim), Clean stores

Disadvantages: Not actually cheaper than anywhere else, Nothing in stock

Perusing the top few opinion titles about Comet, it would seem that people do not have a high opinion of Comet. Unfortunately (for Comet) I am not going to change that.

The reason I am writing this opinion is that I have a story to tell;

"Once upon a time a young, handsome prince decided it was time to get a new stereo. His old stereo was six years old and made a grating noise every time a new CD was put in and the tape player was eating tapes like they were going out of fashion. The prince decided what sort of thing he was after and how much he wanted to spend and he went shopping.

He went to a variety of stores and no one had what he wanted. He went in to Comet for the second time that day and decided to ask about a stereo. (He had to ask because he had been in twice and no-one had spoken to him despite the fact that he had been staring at the same stereo for ten minutes.)

He listened to a stereo that was more expensive than he wanted (he had set a budget of £300 and the one he was looking at was £350). He decided that since he was a prince, he would have the stereo he was looking at. It was bigger than he wanted, more expensive than he wanted and had a twin tape when he only really needed a single tape but it looked and sounded great. He was told by the storekeeps assistant that the one on display was the only one left and there was no box and probably no instructions - but that the price would be reduced to compensate. Off trotted the assistant and came back saying that he could knock £15 off - or he could offer extended warranty for half price. He explained that it was the last one because it was being phased out and had been replaced by that unit over there (he pointed at a stereo from the same manufacturer for £500!) The handsome prince, who was also quite rich, decided to have the one for £350 knocked down to £335 and off went the storekeeps assistant to see if he could find the instructions. While he was gone, th
e prince decided to play with and listen to the £500 system. When the storekeeps assistant came back he had some instructions but the prince had decided to buy the more expensive system. The storekeeps assistant took the prince to get his nice, new stereo and lo, they didn't have any! The prince was told that they would have some on Friday and the prince went away empty handed. The prince went home and his wizard friend told him that it was not meant to be and that he should make do with his old stereo - after all, a swift thump (or seven) to the side of it cured the grinding sound.

The prince was astounded by the days events and agreed with his wizard friend. Fate obviously did not want him to spend his wealth and he decided to wait."


It astounded me that my simple and straightforward requirements were almost impossible to meet. How an electrical "superstore" can have neither of the stereo systems I decided on except for the display models is beyond me. I only really wanted to spend £250, but would have spent £500. Instead, I spent nothing - I couldn't give them my money because they had nothing to sell me.

The fact that not a single member of staff offered any greeting or acknowledgement until I went looking is beside the point. Most of the time, I don't want to be bothered by staff until I'm ready, but a simple "Do you need any help?" never does any harm at all.

It had taken me a long time to decide to replace my stereo and I had no idea it would be so difficult to spend my money. Like the prince in my story, I think it is fate telling me to hang on to my hard earned pennies for a while.

The amazing thing is that the store is massive, well layed out, clean and tidy and yet apparently has no stock. Oh, and offering to knock £15 off a product that is £350, being phased out, has no box and has been on display for god knows how long borders on insulting.

Shop ass
istants look at me and the way I dress and assume I have no money or am not serious - a dangerous and stupid mistake to make. Never judge a book by it's cover.

UPDATE.
Unbelievably, I went back to Comet to try, once again to buy a stereo. I wanted a micro system and they had the one that I wanted. I asked one of the assistants if they had one in stock and he went away to find out. He came back and said...

...wait for it...

..."Sorry, we've got one on order. It might have come in this morning. I'll just check with the warehouse."

Five minutes later he comes back.

"They don't know what's been delivered yet. Can you pop back this afternoon?"
"Of course I can pop back this afternoon. I don't mind wasting more of my day off in your store on the off chance that you may actually have what I want. I don't mind wasting petrol driving home, only to come back again this afternoon. Of course I don't mind coming back this afternoon. I love this store because it saves me so much money by not actually having anything that I want." (Didn't really say that, actually I smiled and said "Sure, ok.")

Did I "pop back in the afternoon"? Of course not. I went to a proper store (Music Matters, Hobs Moat, Solihull). One that actually sells things and has them in stock. Not only did they have what I wanted they had two of them and were quite happy to sell me one, and I was able to upgrade the speakers to the ones from the next model up. They were friendly. And helpful. And I'll go back there when I want something else hi-fi related. As for Comet, they may be big, but they are not at all helpful, knowledgeable or worth bothering with. If you want to buy anything stereo related, find a decent Hi-fi shop nearby and go there first.

Comet may be cheap, but they don't actually stock what they sell.

Summary: