I was recently in Mitre 10 purchasing a garden sprayer. I selected what I wanted and did a quick online search only to find that Mitre 10 Online Click & Collect had the product ~10-15% cheaper. In fact, all of the products were cheaper via online click & collect.
I took the product to the counter and asked if they price match their online price. The response was NO!!!
I was so annoyed at their own policy that I left the products and purchased elsewhere.
Has this happened to anyone else? Is it just me or does this seem counter intuitive to good customer service?
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Welcome to the Community @GardenExtraodinaire
While it defines logic many businesses with a web presence operate them as distinct businesses apart from bricks and mortar shops, even when a click and collect is offered. Some businesses have company store and individual franchises, each delivering a different experience as well as differing pricing decisions, customer service, and even returns policies!
In the case you cited it is incomprehensible to me as a business decision they elected to knock you back, losing the sale and possibly the customer. Mitre10 refers to āparticipating storesā on their web site, suggesting some stores do not adhere to anything on the web site. Note the section on click and collect in their ToU. It appears the Mitre10 you visited may not be a āparticipating storeā. Did you try to order click and collect for that store to check (after the fact, obviously)?
While I could not find a price match statement on the mitre10 web site for Australia the policy in NZ is what one would expect in this decade.
Our Price Guarantee applies to products that our competitors (including online businesses) have available for same day delivery to you or collection by you. GST and any delivery charges will be taken into account so we are comparing the total price of our competitorsā product.
It is unclear if all the NZ stores are company owned or include some individual franchises, but it seems a much better look than their presence in Australia.
Hi @GardenExtraodinaire, welcome to the community.
@PhilT is correct that most, if not all Mitre 10s work under the franchise model (many stores in northern Tasmania are franchise stores under the name of Becks Mitre 10), where each store sets their own pricing. Our own local Mitre 10 is like this and the online prices vary to those in store. The pricing online would be set by the Mitre 10 head office ( Mitre 10 Australia Pty Ltd) independently of the stores.
It is highly likely that since Mitre 10 allows online purchasing of some products they retail, participating and individual franchise stores would have agreement that they will accept the online prices when the products are bought online (note: I say some products as we find that the Mitre 10 online offerings are only has a fraction of products available in in store). It is worth noting that not all Mitre 10 stores are participating stores for click and collect.
A possible way to get online pricing if it is cheaper is to click and collect it when in store if that particular store has the product in stock/on shelves. The order should be pushed to the particular store almost immediately to ensure that the stock is gathered from the shelf and reserved for click and collectā¦and then collection is confirmed through the customer. It may be possible to have them process the click and collect while in store.
When next at our local Mitre 10, if I remember I will I will ask how online click and collect works (if the above will work) and how store pricing works. I anticipate pricing will be that outlined above and hopefully the click and collect workaround is possible.
Our Mitre10 is independently owned. Prices do vary for some stock. For Mitre 10 specials including the monthly catalogue Iāve not noticed any difference in the advertised price. There is usually stock of a limited range from the specials in store. Iāve ordered in store special priced items which were not in stock. Never had an issue with the advertised special price or waiting for delivery. Always reliable, considering that the stocked lines reflect the most commonly purchased items for our region.
From the Mitre10 site and looking to the one in our area note the highlight.
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Yes, this happened to me this week. I did an online search to compare prices for a generic item - Glyphosate 360 - at Mitre10 and Bunnings. Mitre10 was significantly cheaper, $94 vs $142, so off I went to my nearest store. I found the item, with the shelf marker showing $127 and some cents. I checked with a staff member, who confirmed that the price in store was $127 plus, and yes, $94 if bought online. So I left the store, ordered a couple for click and collect, and returned a few hours later having saved myself the best part of 70 bucks! I checked the other items Iād bought on my first visit. While not all items in store appear online, those that do were ALL CHEAPER ONLINE.
I get that the stores may be independently operated, but this poor customer services damages both the local storeās operation, and the overall Mitre10 brand.
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There are retailers where all stores are owned by the company, where online and store prices differ. A good example is Coles and Woolworths. Woolworths used to have a price match policy for online and in store - this has been withdrawn. I understand Coles never had such a policy.
As a result, there can be different pricing for online to in store for some products and specials (some specials may only be available online as an example). The supermarkets have further differences in relation to pricing for some products, an example some fruit and vegetable is sold as $/piece online where as it is $/kg in store.
I suppose the key takeaway is donāt assume any online price will be the same in store. And exploit loopholes like that you have found works when online prices are significantly cheaper.
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