Australian General LEGO Update

[whoisbiggles]

No really astute - just this happened last year, and the year before. People with longer memories than I could confirm they have been doing it for longer.

Wastes staff members time issuing refunds, arguing over whether to give refund or not, etc.

[ED-209]

7 minutes ago, jomandybri said:

In my mind it makes sense. They sell as many sets (including- they hope- all the limited stock ones) during their own toy sale, knowing Target wasn't doing one at the same time. Then when Target's does comes around, boom! They've made some healthy initial sales then cash in on their competitor's failures. Sounds like cold hard business to me!

It's apples and oranges, they are not competing against each other on the sets investors buy.

Big W has a monopoly on GBFH and Sandcrawler while Target has one on the Hoth set and the TIE. There is no competition between the two stores here.

As far as 'cold hard business goes', ironically, it is both Big W and Target that are losing money. They are poorly run pure and simple. When people return their GBFH only to buy it back at 20% less it must be really great for business! 

 

[jomandybri]

1 minute ago, ED-209 said:

It's apples and oranges, they are not competing against each other on the sets investors buy.

Big W has a monopoly on GBFH and Sandcrawler while Target has one on the Hoth set and the TIE. There is no competition between the two stores here.

As far as 'cold hard business goes', ironically, it is both Big W and Target that are losing money. They are poorly run pure and simple. When people return their GBFH only to buy it back at 20% less it must be really great for business! 

 

I know from our perspective it doesn't seem like it, but they aren't gearing those kind of sales towards people like us. At the end of the day Lego is primarily targeted at an audience which is interested in purchasing for play. That means opening sets. I concede that quite a few gifts may have been purchased by parents/partners, but I imagine only a small percentage of those mum and dad buyers will be on forums checking to see if they can get the 20%. Sometimes it's not a specific set people are after. I for one would have likely set a budget within a line of Lego sets (ie Star Wars). If it meant the SC, then so be it. If it was the Assault on Hoth, then I'd have that! (Except that it's horrible so I really wouldn't :P). I also agree that it's not great in the sense that they have been on the whole losing quite a bit of $$.

[Furious_george]

What's the thoughts on the UCS Tie making an early exit? Targets got them at $275 which isn't FANTASTIC but it's not too bad.

I know Hoths there too but......just can't.

[ED-209]

3 minutes ago, Furious_george said:

What's the thoughts on the UCS Tie making an early exit? Targets got them at $275 which isn't FANTASTIC but it's not too bad.

I know Hoths there too but......just can't.

I wouldn't say it'll make an early exit.

It's usually first released, first retired.

There are a few ahead of it.

[Furious_george]

26 minutes ago, ED-209 said:

I wouldn't say it'll make an early exit.

It's usually first released, first retired.

There are a few ahead of it.

Usually....

[ED-209]

54 minutes ago, Furious_george said:

Usually....

I can't think of any exceptions.Could you tell me which ones have there been?

Edited July 21, 2016 by ED-209

[Skunk]

7 hours ago, ED-209 said:

I can't think of any exceptions.Could you tell me which ones have there been?

10188 comes to mind. Every man and his dog retired before that bad boy. Pity I came out of the dark ages less than a month afterwards. 

Had two different experiences at BigW one easy, one not so. Still ended up with the 20% off though. 

[brendongl]

So i was one store out of 4 would not do it...
******* armadale hey. i swear.

The manger had just left 10 minutes earlier, and the woman i was dealing with (Kelly) kept saying random **** like "We don't even accept change of mind returns" which they most definitely do. I argued about there everyday low prices policy then she kept saying that means for competitors and only for "today" which makes no sense, but at the end of the day i know that she had no power to do anything if the manager said no over the phone. She called The manager and gave Kelly the OK to go ahead with the refund only if she talked to another manager and got a logical reason for it. She called one of the other stores which gave me the difference on 5 SC and then said that there manager was "gobsmacked" that one of there staff allowed the credit (even though the staff member called and asked the manager) and that the staff member was going to get in trouble. Mind you i was being polite the whole time, trying to reason, I swear if i was a different kind of customer i would have had my way easily. Its just one of those times where being a nice guy doesn't pay off. I did a voice recording of the latter part on my phone.


All over the facebook page though the FB rep says that "they will only allow the refund in price difference if the item is currently in-stock". Which is a complete 360 to what the other reply states, so I didn't want to show her the facebook replies from there HR rep.

What do ya'll reckon? Should i push this further and get in contact with a area manager / HR Rep, post on there FB?
I think at the end of the day, they have worded there lowest price guarantee terribly and we ARE in the right, but at the same time, It have been over a month and they haven't advertised the SC at the 20% off....

It's $238.8 that i'd be giving up if i just let it slide, but Its quite frustrating getting the credit from 3 other stores (One of which had to credit back $398, but then when questioned by Kelly, said that they should not have done that, probably just covering there ass).

And if i was go go ahead and push for this money back, what do you think would be the best avenue?

Edited July 21, 2016 by brendongl

[Furious_george]

Mate your missing out on $238 of money you didn't even know you had. Let it slide, you did pretty well all up.

[brendongl]

FFS....i left too quick out of livingston, They only credit me my 2GBH and not my 2SC....i really cbf going all the way there again. This is gonna screw up my spreadsheet so much lol.

Both ways, Now my investment is looking a lot more health and safe. Lets just hope nothing unforeseeable happens in 2-3 years time.

Any suggestions on what to spend my $667 on? Was going to flip a PS4 on feebay but i have 3-4 months until I leave so hopefully something else will pop up before then.

[Furious_george]

Could go Jurassic sets IR and RR. These are way back ordered and from what I've seen over the years this SEEMS to indicate imminent demise. Also these two sets already sell way above retail on eBay. Just my opinion tho.

 

[brendongl]

4 minutes ago, Furious_george said:

Could go Jurassic sets IR and RR. These are way back ordered and from what I've seen over the years this SEEMS to indicate imminent demise. Also these two sets already sell way above retail on eBay. Just my opinion tho.

 

IR and RR?

Anyone have any luck getting The Simpsons Kwik-EMart from Big w? I'm guessing they are all OOS at that price.

Edited July 21, 2016 by brendongl

[whoisbiggles]

IR and RR?

Anyone have any luck getting The Simpsons Kwik-EMart from Big w? I'm guessing they are all OOS at that price.

Never saw any in Brisbane, these always feel like bait advertising. Only found would of these clearance items, from the first speed champions line.

[Skunk]

I wouldn't give up just yet @brendongl. I'm pretty sure you don't have to take the sets back to the store you purchased them from. Generally with BigW returns that's not the case. If it was $20-$30 let it slide but is rather see $238 in your pocket than theirs. 

Btw IR - Indominous Rex Breakout and RR - Raptor Rampage. I'm bullish on IR personally :-)

Edited July 21, 2016 by Skunk

[jomandybri]

Heads up- Dr Who is on shopforme.com.au for $59.99. There's a limit of one, but I found a glitch with the cart and managed to get 2 in it. Hoping they don't cancel my order! Also a few other okay sale prices, though no other real standouts.

[Furious_george]

That's pretty good but the old doc will be around for a long while yet I'd say.

[whoisbiggles]

 

 

2 hours ago, jomandybri said:

Heads up- Dr Who is on shopforme.com.au for $59.99. There's a limit of one, but I found a glitch with the cart and managed to get 2 in it. Hoping they don't cancel my order! Also a few other okay sale prices, though no other real standouts.

you should be right - the max is now 3

[Alucard1982]

On 19 July 2016 at 8:39 AM, ED-209 said:

...and the IST has disappeared from the site. Be careful what you post, as many lurkers stalk this thread (or should it be "stalkers lurk..")

However, can anyone tell me what the deal with VAT is on these types of transactions?

I agree and it is partly why I am hesitant to put any worthwhile information on here. Perhaps the thread should be made members only.

[Alucard1982]

15 hours ago, whoisbiggles said:

Never saw any in Brisbane, these always feel like bait advertising. Only found would of these clearance items, from the first speed champions line.

It can't be classed as bait advertisement as the product was on clearance prior to the 20% off sale. Big W is only guilty of being lazy with their website maintenance.

[Alucard1982]

18 hours ago, brendongl said:

So i was one store out of 4 would not do it...
******* armadale hey. i swear.

The manger had just left 10 minutes earlier, and the woman i was dealing with (Kelly) kept saying random **** like "We don't even accept change of mind returns" which they most definitely do. I argued about there everyday low prices policy then she kept saying that means for competitors and only for "today" which makes no sense, but at the end of the day i know that she had no power to do anything if the manager said no over the phone. She called The manager and gave Kelly the OK to go ahead with the refund only if she talked to another manager and got a logical reason for it. She called one of the other stores which gave me the difference on 5 SC and then said that there manager was "gobsmacked" that one of there staff allowed the credit (even though the staff member called and asked the manager) and that the staff member was going to get in trouble. Mind you i was being polite the whole time, trying to reason, I swear if i was a different kind of customer i would have had my way easily. Its just one of those times where being a nice guy doesn't pay off. I did a voice recording of the latter part on my phone.


All over the facebook page though the FB rep says that "they will only allow the refund in price difference if the item is currently in-stock". Which is a complete 360 to what the other reply states, so I didn't want to show her the facebook replies from there HR rep.

What do ya'll reckon? Should i push this further and get in contact with a area manager / HR Rep, post on there FB?
I think at the end of the day, they have worded there lowest price guarantee terribly and we ARE in the right, but at the same time, It have been over a month and they haven't advertised the SC at the 20% off....

It's $238.8 that i'd be giving up if i just let it slide, but Its quite frustrating getting the credit from 3 other stores (One of which had to credit back $398, but then when questioned by Kelly, said that they should not have done that, probably just covering there ass).

And if i was go go ahead and push for this money back, what do you think would be the best avenue?

Yes, its frustrating that things didn't go in your favour this time. I have never had a problem with having a price adjusted, possibly due to my devilish charm or my really, really good lookingness, however if I was turned down, I would politely say thank you and either suck it up or try another day. Pushing the point and being rude is a way to get noticed and possibly banned from Big W (yes, they can do that).

If you want my advice, if you buy outright in a Toy Sale (especially Big W) your doing it wrong. I tend to lay-by my sets and wait over the term to see if the price drops (either artificially - X% off or a better sale) & act accordingly. - J

[Furious_george]

1 hour ago, Alucard1982 said:

I agree and it is partly why I am hesitant to put any worthwhile information on here. Perhaps the thread should be made members only.

Interesting. Not prepared to share worthwhile information?   What's the point of this site then?

Ill keep the sharing thing in mind next time.

 

[Alucard1982]

1 hour ago, Furious_george said:

Interesting. Not prepared to share worthwhile information?   What's the point of this site then?

Ill keep the sharing thing in mind next time.

 

Sorry to hurt your feelings George

I've been a long advocate of making this thread private for the reasons of lurkers and non-contributors that do not value add to the conversation. I'm more than happy to share tidbits with those who have done extensive research (like yourself) opposed to those who come on here for instant riches. I'm always happy to offer my opinion through PM if anyone wants.

[Alucard1982]

5 hours ago, Furious_george said:

That's pretty good but the old doc will be around for a long while yet I'd say.

I agree, I think that the DR will be a long hold due to the constant 20% through DJ/Myer etc and them being snuffed off the shelf as soon as a sale appears.

I can't really see any theme that is worth investing in heavily at the moment (for long term hold), GBHQ would be good for a quick flip at Xmas. JW looks to have flooded the US market, so hopefully the same doesn't happen here. 

[Furious_george]

I would disagree. There are easily obtainable in numbers sets right now that are retiring this year almost certainly .They will double  in price pretty quick. They don't weigh a tonne so easily posted too.