Page 1 of Sevenoaks? ignorant staff

lo ppl.. anyone else found sevenoaks to be a little,, unhelpfull?.. i phoned em up yesterday cause i wanteda better connection from my DVD to my telly.. so bloke answers,, i say,, hello. sry to bother u but im after a good connection for DVD to telly? advice plz? he say.. eh? why dont u ask the place u bought the DVD from? ,, nice customer service,,, not,, richer sounds got my 40 quid for the ixos instead now ppl.,,.. any other probs like this?

(Edited the rude word in the title - Clayts)

This item was edited on Sunday, 15th July 2001, 19:19

They didn`t answer any of my emails!!.
So i went down to there store one saturday, there were two staff members sat behind a counter messing around ( one had his feet up on the counter!!!) ), I walked around the room and left without anyone saying a word!.

Very disappointing :(

This item was edited on Sunday, 15th July 2001, 19:19

chivalry, which store was this?

rumble, which store was this? I have allready asked on the "using componant rather than scart" thread if you could E-mail or phone me so I could find out what is going on. Please could you do this.

Hope to hear from you both soon.

Andrew.

(maybe a letter to the owner of each store to let them know would help)

andrew,am i right in saying that some 7oaks branches are franchise businesses?
i personally have never had a problem in the cardiff branch,but i think that people fail to realise that 7oaks simlpy do not cater for the `bargain hunters` that richer sounds do. walk into any richer sounds store and you`ll see kit stacked from floor to ceiling with low prices barking at you from all angles!
7oaks is a more restrained affair,im in retail myself so i know how to treat customers as well as how i expect to be treated.the product on show isnt the shoddy jvc/philips/aiwa/sony/matsui rubbish that you see at dixons,instead this is serious product we`re talking about.like ive said before its certainly not the place to get your woofers and tweeters mixed up!
but ill sympathise on the `staff messing around` comment.if you are going to offer good product that is high in value and can be complex to some,then at least be proffesional about things-first impressions are everything in this cutthroat market,and losing customers is not the right road to be going down!
to me this sounds like a staff training and standards issue,establishing a `one team` philosophy would be a good start(richers do this very well).
but ill still be visiting 7oaks for my hifi needs,just sort out your other branches!

all the best

westy :-)

Are they franchise Andrew?.

Obviously what westy says is quite right 7oaks are obviously a much more upmarket store and indeed different to richer sounds, but in todays market place i think 7oaks are wrong to assume they automatically have different customer types, these stores should be after every type of customer, "bargain hunters" or not.

I admit I myself was looking for a bargain and a low price solution (i eventually opted for a (sony kv36fs70, toshiba210e & 5 mission speakers) and yes maybe sevenoaks were not interested in this amount of money, but i am only 24yrs old now so in 10 years time i would be probably looking for something more expensive but would now be reluctant to ever go back there. Alienting the younger customer
base is a mistake imo.

I suppose another reason i did not get served could have been i was wearing jeans, but it was a saturday!!, i guess it would have been wiser to call in mid week wearing a suit.
[ i would like to add here that the jeans were paulsmith though!! :) ]

I`ll drop you a note via email Andrew and you can pass it on.

I`d be interested to know how richersounds turnover
compares to 7aoks anyone any idea roughly?

This item was edited on Monday, 16th July 2001, 18:30

the thing thats important to remember here people is not to be put off by these sort of comments.if you want to see the best that home entertainment has to offer then you cant go wrong with either of the stores above. though the staff mentality and level of service are something that needs work,go into any branch and the range of product is tops!
if however you want to go down the minimalist route-`buying blind` as i refer to it,then visit dixons and all the other stores like it.put simply the service you get in 7oaks or richers simply wipes the floor with what the high street leccy stores offer.`excuse me could i listen to this please?`,sorry its not plugged in-`can you plug it in?`-hang on ill just see my boss.WHAT THE F###!!!
Or,could you tell me more about this tv-(disappears for a minute),here have a look at the instruction manual,whereby he/she will start flicking thru the various tv channels and playing with the widescreen settings,whilst reading out everything thats on the product description card above the tv.
then as soon as you say `no` to the super extended lifetime guarantee(i.e. mega commision),the salesman suddenly loses interest and treats you like a tramp.my line was,"if it doesnt work or breaks down ill bring it back mate",and before he had a chance to say about the 28 day period,"listen,i work in retail,i know my rights as a customer,you`re quick enough to take my money,and you WILL give it back".
frankly,how these places make money i dont know(yes i did have a bad experience-no names mentioned),and we complain about staff having a lark?
i know ive gone off on a tangent here,but next time you may feel put off by 7oaks,bear the above in mind,7oaks service(when you know what you want-it helps),is brilliant,and for whats on offer,prices are lower than list anyway-great stuff.

ive had too much coffee i think!

all the best,westy :-)

rumble, yes we are franchises so it is my home on the line if we are doing somthing wrong. Obviousley Sevenoaks can not be all things to all people as Richer Sound can`t be either. But I am well awear that a 20 year old student in 10 years time may have a well paid job and be more our type of coustomer. I was 17 on a YTS had long hair and ripped jeans when I got my first system so I know how it feels. Hopfully this mean I do not judge any one.( one of my best coustomers is young, longhair, ripped jeans the works but he keeps on comming back so we must be doing somthing ok.)

With regards to me not being interested in that sort of money if you saw the costs of runnig a high street store you would agree I am interested in any money, but as long as you are buying the correct product for you.

One problem we do incounter is that because we are marketed in the way we are sometimes some people feel intimerdated and won`t come and chat to us. Please do we don`t bite (well not all the time)

If you could drop me that E-mail it would be helpfull.

Please don`t give up on Sevenoaks. The next time you go in grab somones attention in the same way you would at Richers, you may be supprised.

All the best,

Andrew.

ps These are my own personal comments about my own store also I appolagise for my spelling, it has never been my strong point.

Surely if a person is new to a technology (such as myself with Audio equipment), the staff of ANY shop should be more than happy to help (if they can, that is)?!? Especially if there is a distinct possibility that a purchase will be made.

We all have to start somewhere, so to speak, and I`m quite positive that this knowledge is not heredity, and that the staff of sevenoaks, or wherever, were not born with it! They too had to start learning about it at some time, and, I don`t think that they should be snoby about it, merely fobbing off a customer who does not seem worthy of such `elite` products just because they don`t know their `tweeters from their woofers`, as it was put before. I personally think it`s pathetic behaviour that should be left in the primary school playground (tee hee hee, he doesn`t know what `anamorphic` means...he`s not allowed in our gang...).

Like I said before, I personally don`t much about audio equipment, but I would be quite happy to spend a substantial amount of money on a good quality system (if I could afford it, but that`s not my point!) regardless of my lack of knowledge - but I`d want to learn about it also, and that kind of pettiness would certainly not get my custom.

Anyway, I`ll step off my soap box now....

This item was edited on Tuesday, 17th July 2001, 12:52

Hodge24. I am in agreement with you and hopfully non of the "our gang" mentality happens at my store but if there is a gang here you are all welcom to join, as long long as you remember that I am the leader.

Up untill 18 months ago I was cleaning carpets for a living and had a basic knolage of Hi-Fi and DVD. 18 months on I know alot more but do still not believe my self to be a tech head who is superior to someone who doesn`t know what `anamorphic` means. But I am also happy to give any advice that I can on products I know. Be it in store or on this site.

It is when someone comes in for a demo, finds the product they want, buy it on line, and then come back for our advice when they can`t get it set up right. This is when the problems start and they are likely to get a reply that advises them "that they should really talk to the people from who they perchased the product. Or if they wanted someone to come along there would be a charge." Of course if the products were from ourselfs this service would be free.

Anyway, I`ll step off my Loewe 32`` Aconda box now....

All the best,

Andrew.

I have both phoned and been to the 7oaks store in 7oaks and found the staff helpful, even if it was to point me in the right direction for Richer Sounds, however if you want to look at budget hatchbacks or a cheap run around do you go to a Lexus or Jag dealer, I think not.
The store that shares its name with a runny Indian food dish cannot be even described as a AV of Hi-fi dealer. To re-iterate Westys point I went there to hear the Yammy AX10 I think It was, "could I have a look at the Yam Ax10 pl," "yes there it is!" "Could I hear it Pl" "what actually listen to it arrrrrrr problem there you see its not set up" " will you set it up pl I want to hear it before I buy it" " thats not possible" "why" "dunno" you lazy bunch of uninformed sh**es, would you buy a house without looking round, would you buy a car without trying it out, would you buy a bed without lying on it first....... no you bloody wouldn`t, so why on earth do they try to sell you this sort of product by showing you the `kin box.
So when you think you`ve had bad service try popping into Ruby effin Murrays to compare, the store is crap beyond belief !
Mr Bruce your store is fantastic, plug plug! (sorry I can`t afford much in it) I work down the road in 7oaks at the railway station and if you have any nice long bits of speaker cable lurkin around I could come up and relieve you of it,......lick lick crawl crawl!

..Ice..