2 weekends ago we went to the HMV in Canary Wharf after going to see the new - hugely disappointing - extension they made to Canary Wharf. HMV had a 3-for-20 special on CDs and for once they had something worth buying.
My SO chose her 3 CD's and went to the till to pay where we were informed that one of the CD's were not part of the promotion even though it a) were in the specials rack b) had the sticker on it showing it is.
I asked to speak to the manager and was informed by whoever was behind the counter that he is the manager and there is nothing we can do but buy the CD full price. This would have been OK if we could get the CD for full price and still have it be 3-for-20 which means we would only have paid £1 more, but since that was not the case we would have need to take a 4th CD - from the 3-for-20 rack - and paid full price for the additional meaning a difference of £7 to £10.
So we just left, we handed SO's 3 CD's back and I handed the 2 I wanted to buy back and left. When I got home I did some research and it seems that shops are not obliged to honor any advertised price since they can make honest mistakes and so the law protects them.
The law does not control the amount a trader charges for goods, but you are entitled to expect the price of goods to be accurately displayed in a shop, catalogue, or advert. If goods are incorrectly priced, you cannot force the trader to supply them to you, but you should report the matter to your local Trading Standards Department for investigation.
I emailed HMV via the on-line feedback form which in turn sent me back a auto reply containing my full text. It turns out their feedback form simply cuts off whatever you type after a certain length so they could only see part of what I had written.
After a week I got the following reply from them.
Dear Mr Pienaar,Thank you for your recent email. Unfortunately it reached me in the incomplete form reproduced below, but I will endeavour to address the points you raise as best I can.
I am sorry to hear that you came across a non-campaign item with a sale sticker in a campaign area in the store. Unfortunately, items can be shifted around the store or end up with the wrong stickers. In this situation, we would expect the store to withdraw the item from sale, as has happened in your case.
We follow this procedure in order to protect against items being shifted around or restickered in order to lower the price. While we regret the need to do this in certain situations, it is within our rights to do so.
Please accept my apologies for the fact that this rare and unfortunate situation arose during your visit to the store. I am sorry for the disappointment caused, I hope you are not discouraged from shopping with HMV in the future.
Kind regards,
<name removed>
Customer Service
HMV UK
So not only do refuse to do the right thing they are also almost directly accusing me of attempting to defraud them by changing the stickers - who else would change the sticker then put it back on the rack?
Needless to say I will not be supporting HMV in the future, we have since purchased 7 CD's, 2 DVD's and 1 XBox Game. Usually all of these would have been from HMV but since there are quite enough competition on the High Street from others like Tower Records and Virgin I will be doing my best to avoid them.
ordered a cd from hmv.co.uk on 7th July 2005, a month later they said they were still waiting on their suppliers in the US.
Cancelled the order in early August, it is now the 26th of August and they are still waiting to cancel the order properly.
Can't find any link to send an email of complaint to them, so I now find myself here having a good old rant about it - fancy that.
Don't ever order from them on the net. I want my money back.
my boyfriend recently bought me a boxset from HMV costing �49.99, unfortunatly it had already been bought me and so he took the boxset back to our local HMV store for a refund. The assistants refused to give him a refund, and would only offer a credit voucher, even though he paid full price for the goods, the box was still sealed and was not informed he would not be able to gain a refund on this item. after speaking to the manager we were told this was simply custimer policy.
you'd be surprised the lengths some people will go to get stuff cheap - changing the stickers, etc etc. hmv has to cover itself.
I was in HMV for a while and a security guard followed me around. Obviously thinking I was suspicious. The fact is that:
a) I Had vouchers to use and was browsing and makign a decision about what to buy.
b) I was also waiting for my cousin to meet me there and I found out he'd be like 1hr late or so, I stayed in the store because my phone was low in credit, and it would cost me money to contact him.
I then went into the Virgin Megastores next door and I was apporached by a member of staff saying that HMV had phoned though about me and was asked to leave, I said that I hadn't done anything and explained that I was borwsing and also waiting for someone and all the staff member said was "sorry but I'm still going to have to ask you to leave.
I was and still am completely embarassed.
Do you think i should complain?
I found the staff in the HMV store in Westwood Cross, Broadstairs very unfriendly and have decided not to buy anything from HMV shops. Plenty of other choices with nicer staff.
I ordered a dvd boxset of the HMV website, which i was informed would arrive in-time for christmas. After the new year had passed, i looked for a way to contact them. I found that i couldn't e-mail them about this and i had to phone them. I used my mobile phone as i was in work and was charged a fortune. I was very annoyed that i couldn't contact them by email. Therefore having to be charged to chase up an item that they lost, if they even post it at all.
HMV is a complete rip off. There are very few stores these days which don't offer refunds, particularly on gifts. I was shocked when I tried to return something and was refused a refund, having specifically asked when I bought it whether I could return it and having been told yes, with no mention of not being allowed a refund. I will not be shopping there again, and neither will any member of my family. What stupidity on the part of a store which is already facing problems given the increase in internet sales and cheaper competitors. They have lost a lot more than the cost of refunding me.
Talk about HMV being stupid. Apparently their online business and stores are separate businesses. If you see an offer online, the stores do not honour it, you can only get it online. That's OK most of the time, but if you have gift vouchers then you can only shop in store.
There is no way to use your gift vouchers online. Also you cannot convert your gift vouchers to e-vouchers (which can be used online).
Most shops now offer you the opportunity to reserve itesm online (online prices) and collect in store (using gift vouchers or whatever).
A business that's in trouble is really making it hard for itself.
After I've used the gist vouchers I have there is no way I'll be shopping there.
Just visited HMV to return a faulty item. Terrible service. Manager had an attitude problem. The item I was returning had a minor scratch which was there from new. The member of staff accussed me of causing the damage and suggested that I 'take the product home and give it a wipe over'! He also said that I had to return the item in 'perfect condition' to be eligible for an exchange. Not true! If that was the case no-one could ever return a defective item by definition. I have written to head office. I believe that I have a good case under the Sale of Goods 1979.
Hi,
I actually work for hmv part time whilst funding my way through university. Whilst reading the comments left, I was completely shocked. I know that in our store we constantly put the customer first and the manager places an emphasis on this. For example at peak time eg. lunch hours and stuff we will have no tasks and purely be available to help customers.
I genuinely believe that HMV is a great retailer.
And as for the complaints of the returns policy, it is clearly sign posted in all stores and says on the till receipt that an exchange is allowed within 21 days with a receipt. So all that nonsense of being told this is ridiculous. Maybe if you were to read then you would know.
And as for faulty items, in our store we exchange them straight away.
HMV is the best!!
If i remember my business law classes rightly a price on the shelf or item is referred to as an invitation to treat. you can take it to the counter and attempt to get it at that price. the store isn't legally obligated to sell you the item at that price. if its a mistake they are however obligated to rectify it immediatly if someone else buys the exact same item at the price you were refused then the company or store are breaking the law. as for returns i think the whole point of the credit note is to circumvent the returns legislations and still retain your business. seems pointless to me cos if i'm forced into buying something else from a store which i think has screwed me i'm not likely to return after having made the purchase. as for the security guard thing thats rough, you should complain similar thing happened to me but i was actually searched in the middle of the precinct leaving me humiliated. no apology was made until i wrote to the area manager. needless to say the guard involved was sacked as it hadn't been the first time.
I'm in Ontario, Canada and have encountered this "Big Brother" like attitude from the HMV here. I've been a regular customer in the store for years, to the point that the security guards know me by name. I walked into the store one day and had the new manager (in the job only about 2 weeks at the time), jump down my throat 2 feet inside the door, does everything she can to accuse me of stealing from them without actually saying the word, basically tells me she doesn't like me because she sees me in the store all the time, and she doesn't see me buy anything (which is untrue, regardless of whether she sees it or not). She has basically taken offense to the fact that I work in a second hand goods store, and she seems to think that I'm taking things from her store to sell them in mine. (She also seems to think that if I was doing anything like that, that I'd be stupid enough to come in my work uniform and do it). Anyway, she tells me I'm not welcome in the store anymore, and then has the nerve to ask me whether I can check my security cameras for footage of someone else that she thinks is stealing from her, I can only assume because HMV is too cheap to put a decent security system in their store (BTW, I'm familiar with the other person, and lets just say that he probably is stealing from her...) Anyway, I took my complaint to the national head of security, and this prick basically covered her and his own ass by telling me essentially that they can do whatever the hell they please, don't need to prove anything, and dared me to sue them. This is after he advised me that my type of business is "the bane of legitimate businesses everywhere" HMV in my experience is a crappy company with terrible customer service skills and a severe attitude, and I'll be encouraging everyone I know to shop elsewhere. Personally, I will never again shop in any HMV store anywhere in the world and I hope the scumbags go bankrupt.