I WAS looking to buy a digital radio, so headed to Beatties department store on Victoria Street to see if I could find anything suitable.

The technology department was run by Tec 7.
Colin approached me and asked if he could help. I explained that I wanted to buy a nice looking and sounding digital radio for my office.
He first showed me a Roberts model (MP-53) at £279 and then the R4 from Vita Audio at £494.99.
He said: “It comes in white, black or walnut and is probably the finest system you can get. It’s made by a British manufacturer and has won every award going.”
Colin picked up a CD to demonstrate the system and, clutching the RotoDial remote control,

carried on telling me about the R4.
He said: “It’s got CD, a dock for your iPod or iPhone, DAB and FM radio, a USB on the front in case you’ve got any music on your USB stick. There’s an input on the front if you want to connect another device.
“On the rear, there’s another input so you can connect your TV, or a laptop – the sound is beautiful.” Colin explained that the white and black units normally retailed at £539.99, while the walnut model was usually £599.99.
I asked how long the price promotion was going to last and Colin said it would run for another week or so. I said I was very interested in the walnut one that he had demonstrated,
“It’s out of stock at the moment, but if you pre-order before the sale finishes, you’ll get it for that price,” he said.

Summary: Colin was on top form. He talked in depth about the product and his demo was very effective. His mention of a special price if I pre-ordered was a clear attempt to close the sale.

Score: 10 out of 10

JOINT WINNING INDIE

MY DAUGHTER was keen on getting a tablet computer, so I went to investigate the products on offer at the Sony Centre in the Mander Centre.

Inside, a member of staff was in the final throes of selling an £1,800 3D TV package to a customer, so I began to browse the range of tablets, which were opposite the sales counter.
There were three tablets on display: the 16GB wi-fi model (SGPT111GB) was

priced at £349.99, the 32GB
wi-fi (SGPT112GB) model at £429.99 and the 16GB 3G + wi-fi model (SGPT114GBS) was priced at £449.99.
All three were switched off, with fingerprints all over the screens, but I noted from the price tickets that all three models came with a free two-year guarantee.
The salesman was still serving his customer, when a second member of staff appeared and walked straight past me.
After five minutes, I left the store.

Summary: In these tough times, it was encouraging to see £1,800 in cash being handed over, but I was disappointed that the ‘free’ member of staff walked straight past me.

Score: 0 out of 10

I HAD specific instructions to find a black washing machine, so off I went to Tylers of Bilston in the Wulfrun Centre.

Karen greeted me and in the laundry department, I spotted two machines. The Gorenje WA72145 at £389.99 and the Hotpoint WMF740 at £399.99.
Karen then joined me and asked if she could help.
I said what I was looking for and Karen immediately began to sell me the features and benefits of both models.

Both were 7kg machines, with 1,400 speed spins, but Karen said that while the Hotpoint model had a twoyear parts warranty, the Gorenje model came with five-year parts and labour.
She said that the Gorenje was exclusive to Euronics and she went on to explain about Euronics. “The Gorenje gives you five years’ peace of mind,” she said.
Karen said the store offered free delivery. She did mention other black washing machines in the Hotpoint range, but again highlighted the Gorenje.

Summary: Karen was friendly and seemed to want to help me. Her mention of the five-year warranty and “five years’ peace of mind” were clear attempts to close the sale.

Score: 10 out of 10

JOINT WINNING INDIE

THE New Year greeted me with an exploding oven, so I headed to the Capital Appliance Centre for a replacement.

Lesley approached me and asked if I needed any help. I said I was looking for a built-in electric oven, but that it had to be plug-in. I said that I liked the look of a Hotpoint Openspace oven.
She showed me a few marks on the cabinet, which I considered were inconsequential, but she explained that this meant it was classed as graded.

Lesley explained to me that Openspace ovens offered 20 per cent more space than Hotpoint’s standard single oven, which meant the oven I was looking at had a 70-litre capacity, with the ability to cook on four levels at once.
She explained that it could be turned into a double oven by inserting an insulating divider.
Lesley demonstrated the divider and told me that the oven normally retailed at around £600.“It’s a cracking saving,” she added.

Summary: Lesley’s demo of the Openspace concept was simple, yet highly effective. She lost one point as she did not mention delivery, installation or removal of the old appliance.

Score: 9 out of 10

COMMENDED INDIE

I WANTED to buy a digital radio for my partner, so went to the Currys store on St Johns Retail Park.

When I got to the display, I was blown away by the number of DAB models – there were 19 different models from brands including iWantIt, Logik, Pure, Roberts, Sandstrom and Sony. The entry-level model was from Logik (L22DAB10) and was priced at £24.99; the most expensive was the £129.95 Pure Evoke Flow.

I could see six other customers browsing, but there were no members of staff around. The display was not very tidy, as POS from Digital Radio UK was placed behind the products, almost hidden, and the product boxes had been seemingly thrown into position. After five minutes and with no approach, I headed for the exit, passing another four customers. I noticed three members of staff were having a chat.

Summary: There were 11 customers in the store and none of us were being served. Is this part of the store group’s famed renewal and transformation strategy, I wonder?

Score: 0 out of 10

MY NEXT stop in Wolverhampton was the Jessops store in the Mander Centre, where I was keen to buy a compact system camera.

Michael greeted me and asked if I needed any help. I told him I’d been reading up on compact system cameras and that I wanted to see what was available.
He asked what I’d be using the camera for and I explained that I ran my own business , so the camera would double up for business and pleasure.
Michael explained that compact system cameras were “just like SLRs, but the size of compacts” and are available from a number of manufacturers, including Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony.
He asked if I currently had a camera and I said that I had an old compact and that I

was debating whether to get a digital SLR or one of these new compact system cameras.
Michael showed me a Nikon J1. Packaged with a 10-30 mm lens, this was £408.95. He then showed me a Sony NEX-C3, packaged with an 18-55mm lens, for £384.95.
He said: “On these, you get all the automatic features of a compact camera, but you also get all the manual features you get on an SLR as well.”
Michael handed me each model in turn, encouraging me to ‘play’ with them.
I asked for some information to take away and Michael gave me printouts on both models. He said he had included details of packages on the Jessops website, which could be ordered online for delivery to the store.

Summary: Michael was friendly and helpful. He talked me through both the Nikon and Sony models competently and his mention of packages was a clear attempt to close the sale.

Score: 10 out of 10

WINNING MULTIPLE

AS SOMEONE who likes being an ‘early adopter’, I headed to the Apollo 2000 store to find out more about 3DTV.

I was greeted by Charlotte, who asked if I needed any help. I asked if the store sold 3D TVs and she advised me that the 3D sets were at the back of the store, and she pointed in the general direction.
I was drawn to a Samsung display, which featured six 3D sets, the main one a 55in model (UE55D8000YUX), priced at £1,999.99.

The price ticket indicated that this was a saving of £299 on the previous price, while the ticket also said that the company would “beat any deal”.
Located directly under the 55in set was a Samsung 3D Blu-ray player (BDD5500), which was priced at £129.99 – a saving of £20 on the previous price.
As I looked at the set, Charlotte walked towards me, before turning back.
After five minutes , I headed for the exit and walked past Charlotte, who didn’t say a word to me.

Summary: Charlotte started well, by asking if I needed any help. Sadly, that’s as good as it got. If she had showed me where the TVs were, she could have started a conversation.

Score: 1 out of 10

WITH my mother ’s annual spring clean coming up, we headed to Comet to find her a new vacuum cleaner.

We quickly noticed how busy the store was – seven customers were browsing, while three were being helped by staff.
My wife caught sight of a Panasonic display, which featured two upright models. The first (MC-UL592WP47) was priced at £99.99; the second

(MC-UL594SP47) was priced at £149.99.
After five minutes, Robert approached me and asked us if we needed any help. I explained that we liked the two Panasonic cleaners but did not know what the key differences were. Robert admitted that he didn’t either and he said he would look them up on a nearby computer terminal.
I asked for some information to take away and he gave me a printout. Disappointed, we left.

Summary: Robert scored a point for approaching us, and a point for showing a comparison of the two models, but his lack of product knowledge proved a massive stumbling block.

Score: 2 out of 10

AFTER years of using dog-eared road maps, I headed to Currys Digital to find a satnav.

There were four other customers browsing i n the store, although two members of staff were wandering around idly.
There were 13 satnavs on display from Garmin, Mio and TomTom. I liked the look of a TomTom model (Start 25 UK & Europe), which featured a super-wide 5in screen. It was £145.99.

I began to read the product information, but as I did, I compared it with the information concerning the premium-priced model – it seemed that the features were very similar, although the cheaper one did not offer ‘live’ services.
The cheaper one , however, had a larger screen than the 4.3in display on the more expensive model.
After five minutes of browsing, and with no approach, I left the store.

Summary: Sales staff are there to help customers. I could not see any real differences between two products separated by a cool £214. A salesman could have helped me make a choice.

Score: 0 out of 10

SINCE digital switchover, my wife has missed the ability to record her favourite TV show, Holby City, so we headed to Maplin.

Two customers wer e being served at the till point by two members of staff, so we headed to the digital TV area. My wife quickly noticed that there were three suitable Freeview+ boxes from Humax. The 160GB box (PVR-9150T),

the 320GB box (PVR-9300T) and the 500GB box (HDR-FOXT2) were priced at £149.99, £179.99 and £249.99 respectively. I was keen to see the connect ions on one of the boxes, so I turned the box around, setting off the alarm in the process. Mark came to turn the alarm off, and, instead of asking if we needed any help, returned to the front of the store without saying a word.

Summary: After accidentally setting off the alarm, Mark had a great opportunity to serve us while he was switching it off. But he didn’t. And so we walked out empty-handed.

Score: 0 out of 10