back to article Dixons Retail: A mirror held up to Europe

Dixons Retail's top and bottom lines slipped in fiscal 2012 ended 28 April, according to preliminary results. Group pre-tax profits fell to £70.8m, down from £85.3m in the previous financial year and sales dipped three per cent to £8.05bn, compared to £8.3bn in fiscal 2011. The total loss before tax narrowed to £118.8m from £ …

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  1. DanDanDan

    I can't wait for them to go under completely

    When you go into a Currys/PCWorld and ask if they sell SATA Cables, the response should be either:

    a) Yes, what sort of device are you looking for, we have a variety of models for different transfer speeds

    b) No, but you might try one of our larger shops, which is located... blah blah

    It shouldn't be:

    "Uh whuh'z tha for?"

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge

      Re: I can't wait for them to go under completely

      Well, your first mistake was going into there at all for a component. If I recall correctly, I have seen SATA cables on their shelves, but not at prices I would ever be willing to pay.

      GJC

      1. SkippyBing

        Re: I can't wait for them to go under completely

        Oddly I always feel sorry for the competent member of staff I once encountered in a branch of Currys. I mean can you imagine the hell of being the only person there who knows anything about what they sell, never mind talking to your 'colleagues'...

    2. PeterGriffin

      Re: I can't wait for them to go under completely

      @DanDanDan

      Oh yes. Hundreds of High Streets will benefit from another empty shop / £ Shop whilst the economy desperately needs *000's more unemployed... Muppet.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    And here's the usual Dixons comment

    Would you like to buy the extended warr...

    Oh, never mind!

  3. Badbob
    Thumb Up

    Dixons have their place.

    While most of us that use the Reg are savvy enough to use different specialist channels to get our hardware fix, Joe Public still needs a shop where they can go in, touch, feel and play with the tech. So the usual snobby comments such as that above are simply not needed.

    I'll admit to having bought a few bits and bobs from PCWorld when I have an urgent need for a part. I've even bought a PC from them, when they were the cheapest supplier of the one I wanted.

    Dixons are a moderately successful British company, employing British people and paying British taxes. It's in the interests of us all that they see out the downturn.

    1. The Alphabet

      Re: Dixons have their place.

      "It's in the interests of us all that they see out the downturn."

      It's also in their best interests to better focus on on the market that they are in (which, lets be honest, is complex!) to provide detail and clarity.

      I doubt they can constantly compete on price, which is fine, but they can easily compete on service as they have actual faces in shops to take advantage of.

    2. KnucklesTheDog

      Re: Dixons have their place.

      There is a place for them, but they are running the company into the ground with poor service - do a google search for "currys reviews" - their inability to deal with customers seems a universal problem.

  4. The Godfather
    Meh

    Bags of space...

    I will not join the clubbing set willing to hammer the nail into the coffin but Dixons has quite a bit of work to do. I never thought they would do well against existing major players in Europe such as Carrefur or Media Markt but the overall experience of shopping at a Dixons store is so often a big disappointment. I did buy a laptop once from PC World but as for components, forget it. Went into one yesterday thinking they may have a power supply unit for a wireless router. Acted a little lost in a largely store where assistants out-numbered clients and was completely ignored. Went up to two who had seen me but continued their own conversation and asked - the response? "no, we don't have any of those in stock, but we can order one for you". I politely declined and found what I wanted in Maplin Electronics. There, the guy looked at the broken power supply, went to a shelf in the store, found a power supply unit, opened the box, found the right connector and tested it on the router I had taken along. Hey presto, sale and one very happy client.

    1. paulf
      Thumb Up

      Re: Bags of space...

      I've had similar service at Maplin (and PCW) as you. When I needed a new Processor fan I took in the old one and said I needed a replacement for that. The guy got one off the shelf, checked it was correct - instant sale and a fair price! I may have saved a few quid online but it was easier to make sure I was getting the right one from the outset.

      They're not always the best value - they have a 10x mark up on button cells for some reason compared to amazon - but the caketins of DVDs I bought there at the weekend were on offer so not only the same price as amazon but they weren't used as footballs by staff at the local HDNL/YoDel depot either.

      I gave up on Dixorrys World long ago; when I asked a relatively straight forward question about a George Foreman grill, the sales droid just read features off the price ticket card...

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