Hardly normal

jules47 · The Happy Helper

Hardly normal

herbie · Guru

Harvey Norman used to be a one man band owned business when he started the business up, but soon found out he would make more money by franchising..funny on TV tonight there was a thingo on the richest bosses in OZ and of course he made it with xxx amount of $$. I think you had to have more than $15.5 mil to make the list.....With that amount of wealth he has the nerve to carry on about average joe blow shopping from the net ..so he can make his pay packet go around.Sound like gread breads gread to me .

-- Edited by herbie on Wednesday 3rd of April 2013 11:22:37 PM

bill12 · Guru

I have just bought myself an upgraded laptop to replace my 5 year old toshiba. I got it for $405 from Harvey Norman, and was told it was in stock and would be couriered on Monday. The townsville store rang tuesday saying they didn,t have one in stock, after I was told they had one.One was in AYR, and would be here next week. I could have got a cheaper one on the web in less time, but thought it would be quicker to get from Townsville, 20 miles away.I find this pretty bad customer service , and won,t be using them again. And Harvey himself is against buying on the web-My experience proves otherwise. pretty sad , really. Bill

JenandGaz · Member

Just wait until something goes wrong with your computer, mine was 2 weeks old and paid close to $2000 for a top of the line lap top when it broke down, took it back for repair and was told it would take 1 week to fix...... 8 weeks later and a massive melt down by yours truly finally got it back. They refused to offer a refund or replace the computer. I will never buy from them again. Never...

DandS · Senior Member

Bill, your just another in a long line of people that are experiencing bad service from H, and are deserting them.
I made the decision to never shop at HN again.
I also signed up with product review.com.au, and are one of many that have expressed disappointment with the stores.
Regards
Daryl

GaryKelly · Guru

When I buy computer stuff, I usually go to Tricky Dicky. Got my TV from there as well. Always good service and knowledgeable staff. As to my old Toshiba lap top, Bill, it's about the same vintage as yours. So as a backup I bought a cheap Acer notebook from Dicky for $330 (on spesh). The Acer works well but I rarely use it. Still pumping and grinding on the old Toshiba. In fact, it's on all day every day and has been for years.

bill12 · Guru

The sheila I talked to said the guy on saturday wasn,t the usual bloke and as I couldn,t remember his name , she couldn,t chastise him. The reason I wanted a better laptop is the hdmi plug, and the inbuilt webcam and microphone.All in all, not a very pleasing expeience. I am glad other people have the same experiences as me.One bitten, twice shy. Bill

Kaid · Guru

All areas of Hardly Normal are franchised sad to say

dazren · Guru

jules47 wrote --- Someone told me that the electrical section of HN is actually franchised in each store. so not actually HN at all - don't know if this is so or not!

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Yes Jules, I believe that to be correct, in fact every section of Harvey Norman is a Franchise, ! Electical, Furniture, bedding, etc,etc,etc, Harvey Norman is just the 'flagship' company that controls all the 'Franchisees' so i have been told, by Family and friends who work there, I buy from them and have had good deals, and no problems, But maybe its a case of who you know ???

Grams · Guru

I have an Apple MacBook, which I bought through their online Apple Store. I had my laptop within days of ordering it, I have never had a problem with it, plus I have never had any issues with their customer services...I love Apple. In fact I would only ever have Apple.

Olley46 · Guru

Grams wrote:

I have an Apple MacBook, which I bought through their online Apple Store. I had my laptop within days of ordering it, I have never had a problem with it, plus I have never had any issues with their customer services...I love Apple. In fact I would only ever have Apple.

I have bought 2 apple I pads,have had trouble with one first repair no charge second repair I had to pay for, this iPad was 2 months old there warranty sucks,there 12 month warranty only covers hardware not there software,there software is owned by iTunes ,who owns iTunes APPLE,the last two times the iPad has froze my wife fixed x computer operator,the iPad is not 12 months old yet apple warranty not good.

Lance C

BohemianGypsy · Guru

Hi Bill,

Same thing happened to us with our Nespresso machine and it took eight weeks for them to tell me after numerous phone calls that they could not get one at all even from Nespresso so I demanded my money back, went online again and found one in the orange colour I wanted and it was delivered within 3 days. Harvey Norman suck big time in my opinion.

Michelle

BohemianGypsy · Guru

I too bought an Apple from the online Apple store Grams and it was here within days. I don't use it much at home as I specifically bought it for travelling, but I love all three of my Apple products. Could not be happier with them.

Michelle

GaryKelly · Guru

Yeah? That's what Adam said and look what happened.

Gerty Dancer · Guru

Our Hardly Normal experiences have all been good... in 3 different cities. After-sales problems fixed with courtesy and promptness, once even after it was out of warranty.
As far as we know the flooring section and computer section are all separate.

Just to balance the debate.

EllenajoeL · Senior Member

http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees

is a good place to start regarding what expectations you can have and what you can actually do regarding an unsatisfactory purchase experience. There is plenty more info available; try using Google search with suitable keywords.

Anyway, I believe this information is applicable regardless of how big or small the vendor/selling agency is and how the item was purchased, although maybe (for now) its best considered regarding new items/services and registered vendors, like @bill12.

Beyond that; as always.....Caveat emptor

-- Edited by EllenajoeL on Thursday 4th of April 2013 09:06:57 PM

johnno02 · Veteran Member

jules47 wrote:
Someone told me that the electrical section of HN is actually franchised in each store. so not actually HN at all - don't know if this is so or not!

-- Edited by jules47 on Wednesday 3rd of April 2013 07:59:32 PM

I think that is pretty well right,I also believe,so are Computers,and Cameras,

I think HN itself mainly caters mainly to the Furniture side of things,based on Experience JM is the Same

Cheers

John

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

herbie wrote:
Harvey Norman used to be a one man band owned business when he started the business up, but soon found out he would make more money by franchising..funny on TV tonight there was a thingo on the richest bosses in OZ and of course he made it with xxx amount of $$. I think you had to have more than $15.5 mil to make the list.....With that amount of wealth he has the nerve to carry on about average joe blow shopping from the net ..so he can make his pay packet go around.Sound like gread breads gread to me .

-- Edited by herbie on Wednesday 3rd of April 2013 11:22:37 PM

that's strange herbie, how come I did not make that list ? biggrin

I use HN all the time, whenever I want to check out an item I will buy online biggrin