AIBU to think sports direct must be making a fortune out of never having change in their tills?

[sausagesandwich34]

Dd needed a new swimming costume for school so we nipped into sports direct, found one for £5.99 and gave £6 in cash

Cashier said, sorry I've no pennies in my till, I think 'meh it's only a penny' so didn't bother

Walking away though, I realise this is not the first time it's happened

They must be raking it in from all those 1&2ps they keep

[redplasticspoon]

I think you are over thinking this a bit OP! I have bought the odd item from them and never had a problem, you were probably just unlucky.

[quoteunquote]

Someone else mentioned this recently, I wonder how much they make?

[BIWI]

Hmm. I suspect you may be right. I've bought stuff from them before and taken it back, and they would only refund via a gift card. So hence had to spend the money with them.

[VodkaKnockers]

They are using to buy up all the failing high street stores.

JJB and now Republic.

[HarrietSchulenberg]

Some petrol stations have small dishes with pennies in so that you can pick one up to pay for your fuel if the pump overshoots. Perhaps they're somehow linked (maybe by karma only)?
Shops are under no obligation to refund at all if goods are not faulty and most only do so for reasons of customer service. If the clothes just didn't fit (and you didn't try them on), or if you just don't like them they are actually being generous in allowing to return them at all so a gift card isn't too be sneezed at.

[catloony]

"
Hmm. I suspect you may be right. I've bought stuff from them before and taken it back, and they would only refund via a gift card. So hence had to spend the money with them."

The penny change incident as per the OP situation is slightly different to yours though as if you take stuff back as you say which is not faulty, I assume, there is no right to a refund if you have just changed your mind. Sports Direct are well known for only doing SOGA, most other shops allow returns but that is there own store policy.

What I am trying to say is most stores go above the statutory laws on allowing refunds when you change your mind, they go for customer satifaction.

Sports Direct are renown for not giving much customer satifaction, they sell stuff for cheap and thats all they care about - selling. Never buy from Sports Direct if you have never made a permanant decision on your purchase, try stuff on first so you know it fits

. The things they sell are fine but they will not take them back if you buy something, try it on at home and then try to take it back when it does not fit or you do not like it. They have no legal right to do so.

Lots of other shops have returns policies that go above the statutory rights that means you forget that they dont have to so when you go to one that doesnt take returns for changes of minds it annoys people.

[catloony]

Was replying to BIWI there, the quote did not quite go right

[EllenParsons]

I always pay by card so obviously never noticed this change thing but they must make a fortune on those huge carrier bags. They always try to force you to take them even if you don't want them. The other day I was just buying a new tennis racket and some socks which I could easilybcarry in my own bag. I didn't need the huge bag and I already have a few of them at home so don't want more clogging the place up. The guy was arguing with me to take it, going it's only 69p as if I was being really tight! I was thinking wtf, I just don't want your sodding bag!

[RedHotRudieParts]

Yeah but they're cheap, and they sell amazing gel innersoles that make doc martens wearable from day 1 !

[IneedAsockamnesty]

I got some tops in there for the kids at Christmas a few didnt fit they changed them with no problems and refunded one that they no longer had in stock.

Never had a problem with them unless you count the staff magically disappearing as soon as you need them

[AdoraBell]

If I had that in a small local shop I'd let it go, but in a major retailer I'd smile sweetly and say I can wait for them/their supervisor to get my change. And yes, it is only 1 or 2 pence, but I'd be suspicious of a large company/evil corporation.

[MooseBeTimeForCoffee]

They've stopped minting the penny (one cent coin) over here in Canada as it costs more than a cent to make. Shops are now rounding up or down.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

Most people pay by card don't they?

I don't know if it is just an urban myth, but usually things are priced at xx.99 so that the till has to be opened and sale registered. There is also the psychology of registering it at a lower price ie 6.99 feels closer to £6 than to £7?

[Yamyoid]

It is an evil corporation that treats its workers really badly so the penny thing is probably intentional.

[lollilou]

I like the penny in a dish at the Garage thing that sounds nice although I've never seen it around here.

[Ashoething]

Yes this is a thing they do in sports direct-I buy all my dcs trainers/sports wear there as it is cheap and the only one near us. They never have pennies and always try and force you to buy their bags.

[Dinkysmummy]

I used to work at sports direct so this made me laugh!

We only got change drops once/twice a week and some times we would have lots of pennies, other times none.
We have to take the extra out of the till at the end of the day because H/O would get on the case for tills that were up or down and any 'keep the penny' would go into any till that as short by £1 or less. (which didn't happen very often)

As for the returns policy... I understand it annoys people but not almost as much as the staff who get it in the neck from customers (not saying anyone on this thread but other customers) seeing as the staff don't dictate policy.

The bags for life. I can tell you why the till staff push them....

If we didn't sell bags in over 10% of our transactions then the manager would cut our hours. S you could go from having 20 hours work one week, then having a bad day selling bags for life and then the following week have 10 hours. What is worse the person at the front desk normally pushes the till staff to sell more on the radio "bfl below 10 try harder!" ect. It is the same with those bloody heavy catalogues. We had to sell over a certain percentage.

Sportsdirect might be a pain to shop in but trust me they were overall a crap company to work for!

[Beaverfeaver]

I can't imagine they are making any more than if they were to just round up all the prices so they don't have to give 1p change

[DeafLeopard]

Dinkysmummy, what a shitty company they are.

The reusable bag thing pisses me off no end so I only shop there if I can't find what I want elsewhere

[IloveJudgeJudy]

I had this one time about a year ago. I asked them to give me 2p then, instead of me giving them 1p. They magically managed to find a 1p coin. . Strange that.

I have heard from the workers in there that it's not a nice company to work for. I'm not surprised. The owner (can't recall his name atm) doesn't seem to be very nice from anything I've read about him which isn't much as he keeps a very low profile. I think he's just about making money and nothing else.

[BlessedDespair]

I've never been asked if I want a bag for life from there, they just shove the stuff in a bag and tell me the total cost. Have I been unknowingly paying for a bag I usually throw away?

All 'keep the change' change in our garage can be used to make up the penny difference if the customer is short by 1-2p (this is kept under the till and can be used at the staffs discretion) any left over at the end of the shift goes in the charity box.

[insancerre]

we have a 99p shop which never seems to have any change either

[BIWI]

Oh, I realise, by the way, that refunding only by gift card is totally legal - just an example of poor customer service.

And I was really pressured into buying a bag the last time I was there, for a paltry amount of goods. When I refused, the shop assistant said to me, with desperation in her voice, "but I have a target to meet".

[Dinkysmummy]

Ok that is bad! I would never ask a customer to buy one because I have targets to reach!
To be honest I was never really too pushy. If someone brought socks for example I wouldn't even ask if they wanted a bfl (as long as the manager/area manager was nowhere in earshot!).
I would hope no one was stupid enough to charge someone for a bfl without them realising... That is awful!

If I was below target sometimes I would ask a customer if they were paying cash if they wanted a free one as we were just about to close. So I would scan it, give them the change for the original purchases and then top the till up at the end. (in my defence I had a small child to consider and needed my 16 hours

Mike Ashley owns sports direct, he is only interested in money, and if anyone with common sense could knock some into him, having better customer service policies and happier more motivated staff could increase sales and therefore increase profits! It is the difference between carrot and stick! It took long enough for them to train their staff on Nike products. (they still don't know much about anything else! I taught myself everything so I could help customers)

Basically when shopping at sports direct please be aware the staff are being hit with sticks and not given carrots (and that includes the managers) so please be nice, don't buy anything unless you are sure or could palm a gift card off as a gift to someone you know, and if you ever want to be served... Go to the till point and ask for someone to be sent over (you get help so much quicker that way!)

Good luck shopping there... If you read this and work there... I feel for you!

[StuntGirl]

Yep, shops across the country are making a secret fortune by not giving the odd customer a few coppers.