£80 ffs

[ironplanet uk900]

Timpson pod quoted £80 to change the battery in a Tag watch today.

They came to me, I charged £7.50 with 12 month guarantee. 

 

That's almost 11 times the cost of us... F**kin scandalous.

[Gray]

They normally tell you Timpsons prices after you quote yours. Doesn't  give you a chance to up it a bit. Annoying!  

 

[x minit uk]

And people think the sun shines out of James simpsons arse.

[grahamparker]

32 minutes ago, x minit uk said:

And people think the sun shines out of James simpsons arse.

Is he Homers brother ?.

[Flash]

1 hour ago, x minit uk said:

And people think the sun shines out of James simpsons arse.

WHAT!!!!!  You mean it does't  .........

[Count Muppet]

Supposed to be £85 if it’s the lifetime guarantee 

[exp121260]

They have been known for ridiculous high prices for  long time now !  

But.... 

They are still in business, paying wages & making a profit ! 

So, he is doing something right that many other high street shops & independents in the same trade don't ! 

Taking advantage of people's laziness by being everywhere ,  stupidise people with a Big Brand name, dodgy offers and guarantees.... 

In short, knowing people's attitude and practicing his business tactics in a capitalist economy which focuses on naive customer base . 

 

[Auto Key Wizard]

It is to do with perceived value and lack of common sense

There will always be consumers that are unconscious while spending.

Many are naive and have no ability to think for themselves

The ones that ask for battery replacement for a Rolex. (It was a gift from a friend who had just returned from a foreign vacation).

It becomes hard to have them understand that a genuine Rolex doesn't require battery replacement like many other brands

They will feel shocked and insulted when it is pointed out, that the watch is in fact a twenty dollar fake, and their friend hasn't really been that generous.

Let's be fair here... How many have received a £5000 +  gift from a friend returning from vacation?

.

 

[Count Muppet]

A lot of it is about the image.

timpson get away with it because their shops often (not always) look cleaner, well fitted out and look more organised and professional than a lot of independents.

they also charge more, which either makes the customer more confident in them or angry at the price.
 

Many people don’t want to drop off their expensive items if they think they’ve not been charged enough because they think it won’t be done right.

[ironplanet uk900]

17 hours ago, Gray said:

They normally tell you Timpsons prices after you quote yours. Doesn't  give you a chance to up it a bit. Annoying!  

 

I dont up it...

Happy with my price list.... how many people will  this customer  tell

[k4mrc]

45 minutes ago, Count Muppet said:

A lot of it is about the image.

timpson get away with it because their shops often (not always) look cleaner, well fitted out and look more organised and professional than a lot of independents.

they also charge more, which either makes the customer more confident in them or angry at the price.
 

Many people don’t want to drop off their expensive items if they think they’ve not been charged enough because they think it won’t be done right.

lots of staff big overheads, so they have to charge - also the high street locations cost a lot more in rates let alone rent, this has to be recouped - at a cost - but I do like the culture they lead and a lot of independents follow.

imagine the wage bill 5500 staff per hour? Although there will be redundancies right now as the high street is really crumbling

[Count Muppet]

You wouldn’t believe how much they are cutting back.

it looks like they’re trying to encourage people to leave.

so far since the lockdown they’ve...

closed the company pension and basically halved the payout on retirement for anyone that joined the scheme over 5 years ago. They still have the basic pension that they have to offer by law, but it’s a waste of time

reduced the pence per mile payment for anyone travelling from 32p to 29p

removed bonus earned during holiday, which I think is actually a legal obligation that they’re supposed to pay it

stopped the birthday extra day off

blocked annual pay rises

”encouraged” people to work 6 days a week but the extra day is paid less than a normal day

sneaked in an increase on many ship opening times but not paying any extra

made redundancies, I don’t know how many but sounds like a large amount at head office 

cut the bonus that mobile managers earn

reduced the number of skill points for more experienced and skilled staff which is linked to bonus, so people that can actually do the job will be paid the same as those that can’t

removed other benefits linked to good performance like free lunches, meals out and cash rewards

stopped any bonus deals for people who don’t work directly in the shops which many rely on due to the low basic

 

im sure there’s probably other cuts that I’ve forgot or don’t know about. 
they don’t brag about those on twitter though, just keep pushing the same rubbish from before lockdown.

 

i wonder whether there is a way to find out what grants any company got from the government during lockdown.

was the £10k payment many of you got a loan or a payment? And would Timpson have got this per shop too?

[hakeemz]

£20 for tag battery change £40 with waterproof test

[Auto Key Wizard]

1 hour ago, Count Muppet said:

was the £10k payment many of you got a loan or a payment?

The £10.000 was a Business Rates grant paid to small businesses that qualified and not a loan

[hakeemz]

3 hours ago, Count Muppet said:

was the £10k payment many of you got a loan or a payment? And would Timpson have got this per shop too?

in scotland each ratepayer (regardless of entity being company or a person) qualified for one grant of 10k or 25k depending on rateable value of property, if you are responsible for more than one property you still qualify for only one grant.

[Count Muppet]

That’s good to know. I’d hate to think they were using the virus as an excuse to start ripping off their staff

[petercoulson]

@Count Muppet in England - 

i wonder whether there is a way to find out what grants any company got from the government during lockdown.

was the £10k payment many of you got a loan or a payment? And would Timpson have got this per shop too?

For businesses in the retail, hospitality or leisure sectors: providing £25,000 grants per property, for each property with a rateable value over £15,000 and below £51,000; and £10,000 per property, for each property with a rateable value of £15,000 or less.

The payment was per property, knowing Timpsons that would be £25000 for most shops so a fair bit but tax will be paid on this amount if a profit is shown for the year. And don't forget there is also a rates holiday. I notice James said on Twitter they received around £20million for the gov although this is furlough add on the rates and that is some amount (2000 shops x £25k....). Interestingly that was a big big decision for them to open now as they will not get any furlough for June for employees back at work unlike in July when you can get payments for part of the month if you're workforce are returning part time

[Count Muppet]

So you think it’s likely that Timpson received not only £20m in furlough payments but a potential £50m in business rates grant?

plus the fact that they have the rates holiday which would allow for the business to pick up again before any payment is due

if this is true then they are likely to have made a profit from it and are using to excuse of the virus to punish the gullible workforce.

[petercoulson]

I think its highly likely, the limit for rates grant is £51000 so it may well be some of their shops are in that bracket but not too many. Even if it's half that it's a fair amount but how much have they lost and will do so x 2000 odd shops? £5 million per week?

[Count Muppet]

I wonder whether it’s money they’ve lost or if it’s profits they didn’t earn

bit unfair to punish people in future for money they’re  bound to make back 

[exp121260]

Mortice key for Rishi's office door ??

[Count Muppet]

Yes. There was a video showing it worked too and appeared to be one of those old Chubb locks you can open with a coathanger. Not the best security considering the documents he could have in there 

[x minit uk]

@Count Muppet thanks for the info, I did wonder if the bonus was still paid on a skill points system.

[Count Muppet]

32 minutes ago, x minit uk said:

@Count Muppet thanks for the info, I did wonder if the bonus was still paid on a skill points system.

It is still at the moment. But it’s gone a bit strange. I’m not sure how much you know of it but they have dropped the level 3s from anyone’s claims.

level 3 is like the “advanced” skill. Basically the stuff you lot can do but nobody at Timpson has training for. Things like replacing zips and cutting keys to locks.

this means that everyone can only claim up to level 2 which is enough to run a shop to a decent standard but had to send more advanced stuff away.

so now anyone who can do the job will be paid the same bonus as the ones that can’t do so much.

 

if you ever wonder about anything Timpson related you can just ask me.

 I don’t think there’s any secrets, but I’ll just let you know if I’m not comfortable answering a question and I’m sure you’ll respect that anyway.

[Lee]

On 6/17/2020 at 8:20 AM, Auto Key Wizard said:

I becomes hard to have them understand that a genuine Rolex doesn't require battery replacement like many other brands

Unless its an OysterQuartz of course.