Marketplace
We all know Dick Smith has been having a massive rolling clearance sale since the new private equity owners bought the business from Woolworths.
It appears the clearance items are coming to an end, and it is notable that the "Clearance" heading/section has recently been removed from the web site.
They are still doing some good deals, most notably recently the cheap powerboards.
I have also been lucky enough to get a few of the good clearance deals they've run, including the only <$400 64gb IPAD 3G/Wifi from Carlingford, NSW.
Their much maligned stock system was completely replaced a few weeks ago. The old system was blamed for mix-ups like the $11.95 Panasonic Phone triple packs - but I'm not sure the actual system was the problem - the best system is useless if data entry is crap.
ANyway they've also shut their state-based warehouses and centralised everything into one massive warehouse.
And they've moved their call centre (from Sydney to Melbourne?).
The average wait on the online sales call centre appears to be about 30 mins now - I've had reason to call about 6 times in the last 3 weeks, and each time I've waited at least 25 mins to speak to someone…
I've also noticed that all my old orders that were placed before the new stock system was implemented have disappeared from the web site. This is an issue because not all the old orders had been fulfilled, and I did want the old orders to remain online so I could easily check the warranty status of my purchases….
I wonder how much of the call answering delays are due to call volumes about the loss of old order details, and how much is due to cost cutting??
I've also emailed [email protected] three times since 17 May 2013 without a single response.
I'd have to say I preferred their service when they were owned by Woolies….
there is still a reduced to clear section