What is wrong with Harvey Norman?

Harvey Norman stores seem to have this lazy approach to customer service.
I went there the other day, there was practically nobody in the store, maybe 2 or 3 customers. This is what it was like:

The sales staff in the electronics section are sitting down talking about the weather or their weekend or something, grinning ear to ear, obviously not busy at all. The product I want to buy, despite being listed as in stock on the website, is not in the store. It's in the warehouse, which is a 2-minute drive, but a 15 minute walk. I have a knee injury and no car at the moment, so I say, "Do you reckon you could bring it around to the store seeing as it's a 2-minute drive?" They say, "It will take 2 days to deliver it in store." They also say, "$60 delivery to your house (which is a 5-minute drive) and could take up to a week."

So I walk to the warehouse with my sore knee, wait for 10 minutes for the warehouse staff to find the product, meanwhile there is nowhere to sit. Turns out the box has an entirely different model number to the listed product. Obviously I can’t return the product to the warehouse because I’ve already paid for it back at the store.

I'm never going to go there again. Are they doing so well that they don't mind shedding customers like this? It was midday, and there were almost no customers in the store.

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Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman

Comments

  • +38

    I'm never going to go there again.

    Let's try that next time.

    • +5

      OP could have called the store in advance, and save all this drama… but then shouldn't have gone to HN at the first place…

      Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

      • +1

        Or, free C&C to avoid the extra mucking around in store.

        • +1

          You won't even need to enter the store if they have C&C bays - just park there and they'll bring your items to your car.

    • +2

      Sounds like any other department store to me

      The days of providing "customer service" in a department shore are long gone.

      Its all about cutting costs and making a profit

  • +14

    TL;DR All HN warehouses should have a customer lounge area

    • +1

      They do have a customer lounge. It's called your local Good Guys store. While there you get to buy what you're looking for and you don't have to bother HN staff at all

  • +3

    Went to HN a few months ago, honestly for electronics, I'm pretty sure the staff there are aware that if you're buying there, you either know what you want and or you're too stupid and can be upsold on stuff.
    They'll go for the latter and leave the former and not waste their efforts.

    I found that the furniture and white goods staff are more of the hustlers because they're big ticket and can upsell or get add-ons or sell off damaged/outdated stock.
    Hard to be an expert in this area and still try get a deal there vs electronics

    • +4

      HN buyers have a real talent in finding the most tacky, ugly, uncomfortable and massively overpriced poorly constructed "furniture" in the world. Kudos to them.

  • +8

    There's a reason they're called Hardly Normal and it's not just because of their terrible customer service.

  • +5

    Sounds like you need a car OP

  • +15

    Harvey Norman target demographic: Non educated cashed up persons above the age of 50 who don't care about their money or ethics.

    • +5

      Went to one recently and it felt like stepping into 1998, both the tired-looking store and the aesthetics of anything in stock. It was a weird experience.

      • +1

        When the government pays your wages then i guess there's no reason to invest back into your store :)
        But agree, they haven't gone through a major refurb in decades.

        But i guess the alternative is JBHifi which is more in your face and cluttered, then again they're both targeting different demographics.

    • Dang it, I'm a few years short!

  • im going there soon, they have the cheapest new COD prices going :)

    • +1

      Go take a photo and get JB to price match.

      • +1

        If Im there I'll just pick it up instead of pissing around with JB

        • +9

          I'd rather support someone who wasn't purposely abusing the jobkeeper scheme though :)

      • +3

        shoutout to my two local jb's at two different major shopping centres who always find ANY reason under the sun to refuse a gaming product price match.

        • +2

          You must live locally…
          Best one was 'Sorry that price match store is too far away'… in reality about 5klms

        • I normally ask for the price match online and then pickup from store

  • +5

    Pretty poor service but I doubt the floor staff are allowed to jump in their car to pick up stock from various locations.

    • -8

      Yeah, but surely they have a truck somewhere. Why would it take 2 days when it's a 2-minute drive?

      • +8

        Generally not how it works in big stores. I'd imagine they would put a request for stock transfer and it might get shipped to some central distribution centre and then shipped back out to the store. To us it makes sense just to grab it locally but there are whole logistics chains in place for these kind of things

      • +2

        it's a 2-minute drive?

        Surely it would take two min to walk from the store out to carpark and hop into the car, let alone get to the actual warehouse, park , get out , walk over.

        Plus whos paying for the car? petrol? salary of the driver? insurance?
        Let alone the time to get it back.
        Opportunity costs of not having a staffer there on floor while they are out fetching the item?

        but surely they have a truck somewhere.

        Unless they have shaken things up in the last 12+ years they dont have a dedicated HN driver/truck out doing runs.

        I will agree that largely, dealing with HN is worse than pulling teeth - but come on - are you REALLY expecting them to fetch the item for free?

        • Don’t forget they are the ones listing the item in stock in the physical store when it’s not actually there.

          This kind of service would not be tolerated in some other countries I’ve lived in.

          • +2

            @ForkSnorter:

            This kind of service would not be tolerated in some other countries I’ve lived in.

            ok well, welcome to Australia.
            I suggest you take a breath and chill out.

            You can’t expect a retail shop to have stock right 100% of the time - between stock take errors, broken items, stolen items, misplaced goods in store it’s bound to happen.

            • +1

              @Jimothy Wongingtons: According to the sales staff, "in stock" means it could be in the store or in the warehouse. I'll be calling the store next time I buy something, but it won't be from HN.

          • +5

            @ForkSnorter: Since you're injured and sans motor vehicle, why didn't you just order it online and opt to click & collect it?

            • @[Deactivated]: My first thought; C&C.

              • @DashCam AKA Rolts: 2 days later? Because I didn’t want to deal with any nonsense. And I had time on that particular day, just wanted to get it done. I’m not very experienced with shopping from stores like this nowadays because for the past 4 years I’ve bought nearly everything from Amazon, and on the few occasions I went to jb hifi, they always had stock and did not ask me to drive/walk to a warehouse.

                • +5

                  @ForkSnorter: Yep, it's confirmed - you should definitely have a cuppa with Pam to compare notes

                  • +1

                    @[Deactivated]: Yep, use my limited time to go to store to buy a product listed in stock in the store. Pay for product, limp 15 minutes to warehouse with knee injury, stand up for 10 mins waiting for product, only to find it has a different product number on the box. What to do now? Limp back to store carrying heavy box and beg for a refund? Would you be happy with this?

                    • +2

                      @ForkSnorter: Seems like you've got all the time in the world.

                      Just to let you know that Pam is the woe-is-me drama content creator on here so you'll need to find another angle.

      • +1

        Getting serious Karen vibes…

        • +1

          More like Pam vibes ……. create your own drama

  • +2

    Why did you go there in the first place?

    • How were they thinking of getting the item home with a sore knee and no car!!?

      • Bus/Uber

        • -2

          Then get an Uber to the warehouse dude

          You can’t expect the world to do everything for you.

          • @sjj89: I think a lot of people missed the point. The fact is, people are coming into the store to buy something, then HN staff are giving them a map telling where to pick up their product from. Maybe works out for some people who went there by car, but how about the people on foot? If this is seriously their way of doing business and they want to retain customers, they should have a shuttle truck that can go to and from the warehouse and the store.

            • @ForkSnorter: It’s how most big box retailers that stock large products operate, Australia-wide.
              Warehousing such a wide array of large items in a retail-priced building/area is usually not viable, so they have off-site warehousing.
              If you can’t drive, they offer delivery.
              You said the box was heavy and cumbersome to carry, so 99.99% of people would collect with a vehicle of some kind even if it was in-store

              • @sjj89: I’m that case, when people search online for which store has the item in stock, maybe it would be better to just list the address of the warehouse instead of the physical store so people don’t waste their time coming in.

                • @ForkSnorter: But you can’t go to the warehouse to buy it…

  • +2

    and also one time i went to check some laptop for mrs this guy was trying to sell one laptop then keep pushing for MS Office and Anti Virus package as well
    he thought im stupid or what he said well you absolutely need office and anti virus bla bla bla
    hello, heard of open source office? and windows built in anti virus ?

    seriously.

  • +5

    Alternate title: What is right with Harvey Norman?

    • +1

      That would be a smaller thread to read

  • +4

    I lived with someone who worked in the tech department and he boasted about how they would go through people's computers and copy their photos and such. I remember too one time I went in and the salesman was going to rip my friend off big time on upgrades to a laptop he was buying. I think Gerry just hires scumbags.

  • +1

    F Me. In the last 20-odd years I reckon I've been into an HN store twice. Once was to pick up an click and collect on a specific item where they actually had a good price, the other to purchase a very specific bathroom tap that was otherwise hard to source.

    Can't imagine actually having to deal with anyone in the joint.

  • Head into Gerry's stores 2-3 times a year for C&C orders, never an issue with stock or staff

    He often squeezes his suppliers harder than Amazon which is great for us Professionals

  • Norman Ross was so much better…

  • +2

    Never forget who caused the GST to be applied to all overseas purchase! Second best reason I have for never going there again.
    Best reason? They were the last of the big stores that still used handwritten paperwork for purchases when all others used computers.

  • +1

    Hn service is always bad. Not only that they got big payout million$ from govt during pandemic.

  • +1

    Im just goign to address the title: "What is wrong with Harvey Norman?"

    you mean, apart from being owned and run by the worst waste of human meat in history?

    a man who scammed millions from taxpayers during COVID?

    a man who rubbed his hands with glee as his profits rose as people were dying?

    he's a terrible person and i wont ever spend a $1 in his sh**y stores

    • -2

      I can smell a defamation lawsuit…..

  • Harvey Norman was born out of spite. Not the funny kind though.
    After his split with Norman Ross, he ensured public awareness with his first TV ad campaign, aimed squarely at NR/Waltons.
    There were further "we're gonna beat ya" jingles after that one. It got too…spitey so they went All Hail The Rich Playboy for the next one.

    Think their ads are annoying? The nexus points above set the tone 40 years ago.

  • Did you shop at my local HN store?
    Reninds me of the saga to get the air conditioner I paid for.
    Not at store, despite calling to ensure it's there.
    At a seperate depot/storage.
    No one available to go to the storage.
    Eventually after waiting for an eternity, I get told someone is there.
    Wrong model has my name on it when I get to storage.
    Back to store. Wait for CSR to want to assist me.
    They don't have stock of the model ordered and paid for.
    Have to wait for next delivery.
    Cancel air con installer booking.
    They won't deliver without delivery fee, despite their incompetence.

    Yeah, you just have shopped aty local HN.

    So hoping TGG opens up as competition.

  • I’d be happy if they just changed their f&rking jingo. It would have to be 20+ years.

  • Went to Harvey Normans once for graphics cards, the lady took me over to the USB sticks, she must have noticed the look on my face and admitted she didn't know what a GPU was. Keep in mind, this was during the hype of the Crypto mining craze years ago when the AMD 380/480 were commonplace and well sort after.

  • After hating on hn for years I've been into my local one a few times lately and they have been great guess it all comes down to the staff

  • I'm glad this happened to you. DO NOT buy from Harvey Norman.

  • 2 minute drive…15 minute walk… Needs ms paint diagram.

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