Miller Brothers - How to lose sales & customers

[joldinash]

Hi there. I'm a newbie to these forums but i've got to get this one of my chest first.......

Having been thinking about setting up a dedicated tv/lounge in my house for a good few months, i decided a 42" plasma would look great on the wall.

I only had a budget of £1000 so i was restricted to what i could get, however after looking at some of the threads on these(very helpful)forums i decided to go for the Hyundai 4250 from Miller Brothers - £899.

So, clued up on all the jargon and info i needed and with money to burn i headed for the Straiton Retail Park branch near Edinburgh. I looked around for about ten minutes on my own as they also had the 4202 model as well, although from looking at the two it was clear the latter was the older model, but for some bizzarre reason was £999.

Suddenly a "sales assistant" appeared.. and what followed was like something from a monty python sketch......

SA - "can i help you sir?"

ME - "yes, can you tell me the difference between those two hyundai models please?"

SA - "just older and newer models pal"

ME - "so why is the older model more expensive than the new one?"

SA - "that's just the way pricing on plasma tvs is going just now" ????

ME - "ok, so is there any technical difference between the two"

SA - "it's probably a different manufacturer who make the tube" (think we're beginning to work out who the TUBE is here)

ME - "oh right, well i like the look of this newer model"

SA - "aye, thats a great telly pal, it's not hd ready mind"

ME - "yes i know that, but i'm on a limited budget and this is in my price range"

SA - "well as i say pal it's a good piece of kit and i've got 3 in stock if you want to take it home today"

ME - "any chance you could connect (his head is shaking already) it up to a dvd player to see what it looks like?"

SA - "no, i'm not going to do that"

ME - "why not?"

SA - "i'm just not"

ME - "but i'd like to buy this tv today but obviously i'd like to see it with some sort of decent picture playing through it"

SA - "look i told you i'm not going to do it..... so if you want to buy it...it's in stock"

ME - "look mate it's clear that most of the tv's in this shop are showing a shared feed from a freeview signal or similar source.."

SA - "yes that's right"

ME - "well if you plugged a dvd player in it would probably convince me to buy it right now"

SA - "well i'm not going to do it"

ME - "but why not"

SA - "look pal, i've not got time to be runnin up and down a shop hooking up dvd players" !!!!

ME - "it's not like you're rushed off your feet with cutomers" ( 5 people in shop - 4 staff )

SA - "well i'm not going to to it" ( walks away )

ME - "well you've just lost yourself a sale mate"

SA - "fine"

Needless to say, i ended up going elsewhere for my telly and vowing never to set foot in a Miller Brothers store again.

Anybody else had dealings with morons like this in Miller Brothers stores or is this a rare case (somehow i don't think it will be)

cheers

phew!...thanks for letting me sound off...i'm getting angry just typing it!!!

 

[Sharpy14]

I always find their shops are pretty empty, which speaks volumes. You should copy your post to their cusormer services email address, costs nothing, may get the sales guys arse kicked.

 

[symphara]

Consider yourself lucky.... 1000£ on a Hyundai is a waste of money (unless we're talking about a new car). Didn't you ever hear "too poor to afford cheap things"?

 

[lurcher]

I"ve never seen more than half a dozen people in the Stockport store and when we drove past it yesterday the missus thought it had closed down.
Always commented to her that I didn"t know how they survived, now I know.

 

[MERC4]

Purchased a TV from Empire Direct a couple of years ago. It was delivered by Miller Bros with a Miller invoice. Don't know if they are linked

 

[poggs]

Purchased a TV from Empire Direct a couple of years ago. It was delivered by Miller Bros with a Miller invoice. Don't know if they are linked

sure it wasn't www.qed-uk.com that you bought it from? They are the same company. Empire direct are not.

 

[MERC4]

No, it was Empire. Never heard of QED

 

[CheekyKid]

Hi there. I'm a newbie to these forums but i've got to get this one of my chest first.......

Having been thinking about setting up a dedicated tv/lounge in my house for a good few months, i decided a 42" plasma would look great on the wall.

I only had a budget of £1000 so i was restricted to what i could get, however after looking at some of the threads on these(very helpful)forums i decided to go for the Hyundai 4250 from Miller Brothers - £899.

So, clued up on all the jargon and info i needed and with money to burn i headed for the Straiton Retail Park branch near Edinburgh. I looked around for about ten minutes on my own as they also had the 4202 model as well, although from looking at the two it was clear the latter was the older model, but for some bizzarre reason was £999.

Suddenly a "sales assistant" appeared.. and what followed was like something from a monty python sketch......

SA - "can i help you sir?"

ME - "yes, can you tell me the difference between those two hyundai models please?"

SA - "just older and newer models pal"

ME - "so why is the older model more expensive than the new one?"

SA - "that's just the way pricing on plasma tvs is going just now" ????

ME - "ok, so is there any technical difference between the two"

SA - "it's probably a different manufacturer who make the tube" (think we're beginning to work out who the TUBE is here)

ME - "oh right, well i like the look of this newer model"

SA - "aye, thats a great telly pal, it's not hd ready mind"

ME - "yes i know that, but i'm on a limited budget and this is in my price range"

SA - "well as i say pal it's a good piece of kit and i've got 3 in stock if you want to take it home today"

ME - "any chance you could connect (his head is shaking already) it up to a dvd player to see what it looks like?"

SA - "no, i'm not going to do that"

ME - "why not?"

SA - "i'm just not"

ME - "but i'd like to buy this tv today but obviously i'd like to see it with some sort of decent picture playing through it"

SA - "look i told you i'm not going to do it..... so if you want to buy it...it's in stock"

ME - "look mate it's clear that most of the tv's in this shop are showing a shared feed from a freeview signal or similar source.."

SA - "yes that's right"

ME - "well if you plugged a dvd player in it would probably convince me to buy it right now"

SA - "well i'm not going to do it"

ME - "but why not"

SA - "look pal, i've not got time to be runnin up and down a shop hooking up dvd players" !!!!

ME - "it's not like you're rushed off your feet with cutomers" ( 5 people in shop - 4 staff )

SA - "well i'm not going to to it" ( walks away )

ME - "well you've just lost yourself a sale mate"

SA - "fine"

Needless to say, i ended up going elsewhere for my telly and vowing never to set foot in a Miller Brothers store again.

Anybody else had dealings with morons like this in Miller Brothers stores or is this a rare case (somehow i don't think it will be)

cheers

phew!...thanks for letting me sound off...i'm getting angry just typing it!!!

With stories like this i sometimes wonder

WHERE is the manager in that shop to kick his bum and teach him manners?????
Probably sleeping in a near by bed

 

[DRAMBO]

I"ve never seen more than half a dozen people in the Stockport store and when we drove past it yesterday the missus thought it had closed down.
Always commented to her that I didn"t know how they survived, now I know.

Likewise. Miller Brothers prices are much higher than Dixons' and Comet's. For example I was in the Crown Point Shopping Centre in LEEDS today, I noticed the 42 inch Panasonic Viera PV500 TV with Cabinet Stand was priced at £2899, but a few doors away Currys had the same Viera TV package for £1998.

 

[amardilo]

Sorry to hear about your news dude.

I work for Miller Brothers in one store, and I know what you mean about empty stores our stores look crap compared to Currys and Comet (like going back into the early 1990's) we need to spend money to make money.

As for the Hyundai plasma's they are really bad, and I think the guy who servered you is rather stupid. I am not defending the guy as a sale is a sale and plugging a DVD player in is such a simple task but.......

1 - We have a large amount of Hyundai plasma's in our returns department. It gets you down when you sell something and it gets returned. All you wanted to do was help someone and now they think you have wronged them in some way, it's not a nice feeling upseting someone when its not really your fault.

2 - The commission on that is like £3

3 - Trading standards called about a set of Hyundai 42" plasma's (cant remember the exact model) but it was something to do with the fact they had traced a TV to our store - appartantly there were claims that Hyundai were getting around a tax loop hole and shipping the TV and tunner seperatly into the UK and then putting them together once in the UK. Anyway for about 2 weeks we could not sell that model TV (although seeing as he said he had 3 in stock would scrap this theory).

Dude I am sorry for the way you were treated. By the way I don't work for the store you went into. But if you email Millers and tell them the guy will most likely be told off.

Just a final point we aren't all like that, I'm a good salesman maybe I don't have the highest sales figures but I think I am somewhat helpful

 

[stevecol]

Any Salesman in ANY Store called me "Pal" or "Dude" or "Mate" he would get a swift reminder of manners, after that his Manager would get a reminder about Salesman Manners, Then i walk out the shop and find one who treated it's customers with a modicum of decency!

I keep harking on about the smaller AV Dealers on here, They may cost a few pounds more but they value their customers, treat them with respect and offer a whole lot better service.

 

[Sadfish]

Consider yourself lucky.... 1000£ on a Hyundai is a waste of money (unless we're talking about a new car). Didn't you ever hear "too poor to afford cheap things"?

Tell me WHY this plasma is a waste of money?

Its cracking VFM imo, had mine for a year and everyone who comes to my house who has a plasma says it looks great.

I am using a syncblaster mind, so add £70 to the price of the machine. but even at £950 its a cracker, you've just gotta find one that pretty solid