Re: Loyalty cards

["Keith Doxey" <keith.doxey@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Paul,

Glad you agree ;-))

I have the same problem with Maplin
We waited years to get a Maplin shop in Norwich (20 miles away) as there
wasnt one within 100 miles. When it finally arrived I was sadly
disappointed. The previous one I had seen was in Manchester and it was
really good. The things I want to see in the shop are Cases and the like. I
can look at the picture in the catalogue and look at the dimensions but
until I actually see the box or case I cant visualise a project in it. As
some of these are 30 pounds or more it is too expensive to get one on the
off chance. The Norwich shop hardly has any on the shelves. It looks more
like a branch of Tandy with all the off the shelf consumer goods instead of
the electronic components which form the backbone of their business. If
they
do stock a component that I want they usually dont have the quantity. By
that I dont mean 100's either. I went to buy 4 right angled Mono Jack plugs
as used on electric guitars. They had 2. I bought those and 2 stereo ones
which I wired as mono. That cleared them out. I wouldnt count that as an
obscure item or a large quantity.

If I moan about an item not being stocked the standard reply from spotty
teenager behind counter is "We can order it and you wont pay postage
and
packing". P&P isnt an issue....I hardly ever pay it as most of my
orders are
over 40 quid anyway. What I need it the part NOW !!!  The fact that I am
stood in front of him means it is a Saturday and I have already commited
myself to a 40 mile round trip costing abut 4 quid in diesel plus a 2 quid
car park ticket. If the shop then orders the item the order doesnt get
processed until at least Monday and if I am lucky it will arrive by
Tuesday.
If it was something that I had PLANNED on needing for the Saturday I would
simply have phoned the sales desk sometime on Friday and it would have
arrived by 10am Saturday.

Your comments about your wife's 3 or 4 cards is what really niggles me.
Two stores that use loyalty cards Sainsbury's and (Sainsbury's)Homebase
Vouchers from Sainsburys can be spent at Homebase but can you use your
Sainsbury's card at Homebase.....NO  :-((

At least in the days of Green Shield Stamps (yes I can just about remember
them) all rewards you got from anywhere were accumalated towards a single
target. Likewise with the points on your credit card.

Keith Doxey
http://www.btinternet.com/~krazy.keith
Krazy Keith's World of DIY HomeAutomation


> -----Original Message-----
> From: paul gordon [mailto:paul_gordon@xxxxxxx]
> Here Here!!
>
> Keith, I couldn't agree with you more mate!! - I'm no fan of the
> B&Q's and
> the Homebase's of this world, precisely because of the way the stock
> availablility is so hit-and-miss. Many's the time when in the
> middle of some
> DIY job or other, I've suddenly realised that I don't have a few
things I
> need, so off I go, merrily trotting down to the superstore, with
> a list of
> three or four things that I want, and how often do you think I can get
> everything on my list??? HARDlY EVER!! - Then you get some
"superstores"
> that are more "super" than others - what's available from
one store isn't
> necessarily available from another... and on.... and on....
>
>
> Seriously though, (for one minute), I do only have this one loyalty
card
> (honest!) - my wife has three or four others!,


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