Info and forum posts by 'beatles100'

RE: HELP! Web site address Bargain of the day - Woolies, Argos, Co-op, etc.

Was it Offer Of The Day at http://www.offeroftheday.co.uk/index.asp?

RE: DVD+RW - Phillps 10 spindle pack - £8.99 BOGOF

Hi robpiggott,
Just click on G Man`s Quote:
Argos link - order code is 6765435 if you prefer.

RE: JVC DRM10 DVD recorder

Received mine last week missing only the batteries for the remote - the instruction leaflet had been well thumbed though.

I suggest you raise an eNote with eBuyer. Unlike one of their "used" items, which can be missing just about anything and seems to have no guarantee at all, this was a "graded" item with the full guarantee and should have come with all accessories.

Picture quality is easily as good as my 2 Panasonics and some of the facilities are more advanced. As the OP I`m still convinced that this was a bargain, though obviously not all of the boxes were repacked as well as they should have been! I`ve still got the eBuyer web page in my favourites just in case they get any more stock.

RE: JVC DRM10 DVD recorder

Thanks for pointing this out - it`s probably not a bad idea for prospective buyers to know what might go wrong.

I read all of those and more besides before I first recommended the machine in this forum, but if you read further you`ll see that the problems described were all rectified by JVC last year. As it states in the advert, these are all "factory refurbished" by JVC, so I`d be surprised if the machines had not been already modified. In fact, I ordered on the fairly reasonable assumption that this was the case. I`d also be very surprised if eBuyer had not done their homework before buying a job lot of several hundred - they certainly won`t want them returned for repair.

If, at the end of a couple of months, the problems appear, it`ll cost about a fiver to send it back and have it repaired under warranty. If anybody is unduly worried - I`m certainly not - drop eBuyer a line and ask them. It`s still one helluva machine for just over £80. If I`m able to test mine before they all disappear and it`s as good as the reviews say, I`ll be buying another.

RE: JVC DRM10 DVD recorder

Bumped this because eBuyer have dropped the price again. It`s now £74.99 - down from £150 about 2 months ago.

Including carriage, the total for mine came to just over £83. About 140 in stock as I write this.

RE: Bush Digital TV for 49p

Roger,

You and I obviously have a communication problem because I`m struggling to find where I directly suggested suing Argos. I was merely pointing out that we could go on discussing forever but only a valid court case would establish boundaries - much as I enjoy these exchanges, I`m in the middle of replastering the house so I`m only joining in during my "breaks" (which are becoming longer than anticipated!). I thought anyway that my very next sentence - "To me, their Terms and Conditions don`t seem unreasonable if I look at them from their point-of-view - they have to try to protect themselves." - showed that I felt their T&C were ok.

And I`ve laid out fairly clearly the type of situation where I think suing is unacceptable - effectively where it fails the "reasonable person" test, as this one does in spades. That does not mean that companies should not be challenged if they really have (or seem to have) overstepped the mark - indeed, like you, I`ve done so (challenged without needing to sue) on a number of occasions and won. But I don`t find the idea of suing when right is on your side abhorrent because that would mean, by inference, that big companies are never wrong, and that is clearly ridiculous. I did read your posts and I know that you are against suing so we`re in agreement on this point.

I can`t see that I`ve really criticized Argos that much either. Like you, I think they often give very good VFM and I`ve had no problems with them at all. But they do need to take on board suggestions on how to improve what they do and how they do it.

And thanks for the story, which provided me (and others no doubt) with some useful information.

RE: Bush Digital TV for 49p

Rossington,

Actually programming since 1986, but not online as in internet, online as in real time systems (SAP etc.) - internet and intranet systems only in the last couple of years - sorry for any confusion.

I`m not disagreeing that the errors are (relatively) easily avoidable, but until someone takes them to court and enough good precedents are set to define the e-tailers` obligations to customers we can talk about this until the cows come home. To me, their Terms and Conditions don`t seem unreasonable if I look at them from their point-of-view - they have to try to protect themselves. And the original Sale of Goods Act was written long before the internet came along.

And for proper offers, you can usually `phone instead though I doubt if many rang up to order their 49p TVs. Again eBuyer is a notable exception and you can`t `phone. But many retailers still don`t have their act even as together as Argos, with several online shops selling different goods compared to the goods sold in their shops. As an example there was the Staples Samsung Pleomax DVD offer in this forum a few weeks ago. The website didn`t sell them, so I had a return trip of 40 miles to the nearest store to get mine - still worth it though as I saved £90 (less petrol cost).

RE: Bush Digital TV for 49p

Duncan,

I do understand your point. I was an analyst/programmer working on online systems for over 16 years. And having used the Argos site for a time now, I know that the local store stock check seems to work fine. But I believe - unless anyone knows to the contrary - that their central stock control program confirmed that the stock existed (or would be delivered on time) and the banking module/macro took the money from the account, exactly as it was designed to do. The reason there`s a "problem" is that their Terms and Conditions allow them to cancel any order irrespective of stock levels if the item has been priced incorrectly.

My view is that money should not be taken until the goods are actually despatched, which is what a number of sites already do. My email to Argos suggested - without telling them how - other refinements which would eliminate most of the complaints here. If you can offer them a quick solution, get in touch with them and get them to pay you for your expertise.

What we don`t want to do - although it`s obviously unlikely - is to make online selling so unattractive to the e-tailers that they stop offering it. My part of the world has no decent shops and I`ve been buying online for years.

RE: Bush Digital TV for 49p

You misunderstood - or I didn`t make clear - that the ultimate cost of too many of these "offers" being honoured is not redundancy. It`s bankruptcy, with ALL jobs lost. As I said, fanciful (at present). But try to remember that there is a bigger picture.

RE: Bush Digital TV for 49p

Searcher,

I agree with you 100%.

RE: Bush Digital TV for 49p

What is it with you people? Moaning, bleating, whining, complaining, hoping, praying that you`ll get something for nothing because you`re "entitled" to it.

Pathetic doesn`t even come close quite honestly, although I `m not sure how many of you understand the concept of "honest". Actually, scrub that - I am sure.

For those who didn`t believe that I rang the Argos Customer Services on Sunday you need to understand that I don`t joke (unless it`s at the expense of people like you). I followed that up with an email suggesting changes to their Terms and Conditions and the way they checked the way prices are input onto their website. The company employs thousands of people and I`d hate to be the one to say "Sorry guys, you`ve all lost your jobs because we decided to honour the 49p TV orders". Fanciful maybe, but only because they`re profitable at the moment. You`ve got to ask yourself how you`d react if you made one mistake and thousands of people took advantage. Except people like you don`t think like that.

And stop the complaints about big companies and being ripped off by them. We`re ripped off every day by plumbers, garages, builders, accountants, farmers, teachers, lawyers, IT consultants and just about every other profession or business in the country. So it`s not just the big institutions, it`s the small companies and one-man bands as well. Not everyone does it, but more than enough do. If you don`t like it, change this government - it`s got its collective nose so firmly in the trough that truth and justice are alien concepts.

By the way, Roger, referring to your puerile efforts at insulting me, I may indeed be a "knob" if that means I don`t agree with the way you or the others think. On that basis, I`m such a long way from your views that I probably qualify as a big "knob" - suits me - `cos I`m certainly not one of the sheep I see flocking around here, and I certainly don`t talk the b*ll*cks that you do.

For those of you hoping that you`ll get the goods because your money has been taken, the Argos/Homebase Terms and Conditions both state:-
"We take payment from your card at the time we receive your order, once we have checked your card details and stock availability. Goods are subject to availability. In the event that we are unable to supply the goods, we will inform you of this as soon as possible. A full refund will be given where you have already paid for the goods.

"b) While we try and ensure that all prices on our website are accurate, errors may occur. If we discover an error in the price of goods you have ordered we will inform you as soon as possible and give you the option of reconfirming your order at the correct price or cancelling it. If we are unable to contact you we will treat the order as cancelled. If you cancel and you have already paid for the goods, you will receive a full refund."

I`ll wait for the torrents of abuse from the usual suspects, but bear in mind that you`re not going to change my views, just like I`m not going to change yours. And sticks and stones etc.......

Finally, I sincerely hope that Argos does the decent thing and doesn`t offer any of you anything. You don`t deserve it.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 30th August 2005, 13:44

RE: Bush Digital TV for 49p

Hi everyone,

I can see that everyone who ordered 1 (or 100) of these is still concerned about whether or not Argos or Homebase will honour the "deal".

Well worry no more because I have POSITIVE news! :)

I spoke to the Argos Customer Services people at 8:05 this morning - the Homebase Customer Services line doesn`t open until 10 a.m. - and told them about our interesting chats.

They know about what happened yesterday and about the Homebase situation. I explained that I wasn`t ringing for myself but on behalf of quite a number of concerned and loyal customers who had taken up this special offer.

The lady I spoke to was absolutely POSITIVE that the Argos and Homebase Terms and Conditions were watertight. She was also completely POSITIVE that nobody was going to get the goods they had ordered!

I hope you`ll all agree that this is a POSITIVE result.

If you think that you`re exempt from this decision - e.g. because you`re a poor student - then ring now on 0870 600 8784. You`ll find them very helpful.

:D

RE: JVC DRM10 DVD recorder

Absolutely no problem. Scart to scart is easiest or scart to three phono (audio left, audio right and video).
I`ve done loads of archiving of both VHS and Beta using Panasonics and Liteons with similar connections to the JVC.
:)

JVC DRM10 DVD recorder

If you`re looking for a decent quality DVD recorder, this is worth considering.

eBuyer were selling this for about £150 until about a month ago. Then down to £125 and now £99 (inc. VAT). It was originally £300 and although it`s a "graded" product the last 2 "graded" products I`ve bought (not from eBuyer), a Panasonic E55 and Sony 400 disc CD, have been perfect and with a full guarantee.

The web address is
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=90673

and you can find reviews on the machine here
Let me know if the links don`t work - this is my first offering to this useful forum.

:)

This item was edited on Tuesday, 16th August 2005, 12:53

RE: New ipod 20gb colour

c`mon everyone,
you`re not being at all fair to jimmy.j
he`s had the good grace to apologize
and it`s just unfortunate that there was a typo in the final part of his sentence - I agree with you though, jimmy.j, some of the other forums aren`t quite as pretty as this one!
:)

RE: 50 DVD-R spindle packs...£9.01 from Staples!!! - Now BOGOF!

Already tried that this (Friday) afternoon, I`m afraid, as it`s a 40-mile round trip for me to the nearest store. Registered with www.staples.co.uk online after I couldn`t find the discs using either the code or by searching the site. The acknowledgement email from Staples gave me a number for the "online shop service team" (0800 6 92 92 92) which I rang. I said that I had heard that Samsung discs were available and asked if I could buy some. The helpful lady there checked the catalogue and said that the only DVD-Rs/DVD+Rs listed were by Verbatim - as I`d found using the search. She went on to say that the online Staples store does not sell exactly the same range that can be found in the shops.

Seems to clinch it as far as online is concerned - although I`d be happy to be proved wrong.