TIMPSONS shoe repairs, Ripped Me Off !

[#1]

But I got my  money back...

My car keyfob showed a message on the dash screen saying the battery needed to be changed... as we were going to ASDA and there is a portakabin outside for TIMPSONS shoe repairs... I went in there, and asked him to put a new battery in...it took less than 5 seconds for him to achieve the herculean task,... and then I paid by debit card.... I thought he said £4.95.....

It wasn`t until I got home, that I began to wonder, .... and checked on line to find out how easy it was, and what battery was needed. that I discovered it is possible to buy TWO Batteries for £4.50 IN ASDA... ( CR 2032)..   then I checked my receipt.... £14.95 ! !

given that TIMPSONS do have to make a profit... considered £4.95 was "o.k." for the price of the battery plus fitting....

that means there was AT LEAST a TEN POUNDS OVERCHARGE, or RIP-OFF...

Using 5 seconds as the actual "working time" to replace the battery...  

that works out at a HUMUNGUS £36,000  (THIRTY SIX THOUSAND POUNDS) per hour, LABOUR CHARGE ! ! !

[#2]

Always pays to check your receipt especially when you pay by card as most of us do these days, so well done @shutter

Mind you, I don't always check but the Mrs is paranoia about doing so and she keep all her receipts for ages. First job when getting back into the car after a 'big shop' is to go through that till receipt... whilst I munch on a couple of mini pork pies.

Years of working behind the counter of her dads cafe obviously paid off.   

[#3]

I did "kinda" check the receipt as I was punching in my PIN.... must have registered as £4.95, as that was "what I was expecting, roughly..... ".

Like you I have two hearing aids... and did not hear him properly announce the price... ! ..

He was not exactly "customer friendly" when I asked him to remove the  battery, and told him I had been ripped off,  his response was, "that`s our standard charge"...

Come to think of it... I don`t recall seeing any  Price List of Standard Charges displayed in the portakabin... 

But eventually, he agreed to do a refund,... probably because he did not want any "fracas" in his work place...! ! 

[#4]

Yikes   £4.50 for two batteries in Asda ! 

I always buy top quality GP Lithium cells, and you could buy two CR2032 on eBay INCLUDING delivery from £1.89

[#5]

Trouble I suppose @Nibiru is with ebay if those (Chinese?) batteries are duff you cannot without a bit of bother get your money back, but with going back to the store as shutter did you can confront the seller direct and get the satisfaction of holding the robbing wotsit to account.

@shutter - hopefully you are not paying for your hearing aid batteries. I get mine for nothing from our local hospital or they will send them to me post free.    

[#6]

@Nibiru 

I have even seen these batteries in a pound shop.

[#7]

Last watch battery was £6.50 from local jewelers a few weeks ago. Thinking, could the store rep be trying a fiddle somehow? I think the owner would be very disappointed, because of the company's employment policy

Maybe ask another branch about the cost, and if something amiss, tip off co HQ?

[#8]

@Luzern   I buy similar card to this,

from poundland type shops....

Ok... so you don`t need them all,... but at a pound a  go you do get about 5 or 10 watch batteries, and they last about a year  so no problem if they run out,...you have stock in hand ! ! ..

[#9]

You can also by a sat nav for a pound from there,  but they'd be about as much use as a Tory government or a second vote for leaving the EU. 

[#10]

I got a 'battery for life' from Timpson for my watch.  The first one didn't last very long, the two or three subsequent ones lasted much longer.  It would seem that they rely on customers losing their guarantee card, and then provide better quality batteries for those who claim their free replacements.

[#11]

@shutter  Nice idea, but I don't have a tool

for opening watches.

[#12]

@Luzern   Show off... !   ... you must have expensive watch(es) with screw on back plate.... My watch only needs a sharp blade, like a small penknife , to prise off the back plate. ! 

[#13]

Nah! But I do draw the line at Lolex watches from Chinese street hawkers. I may have longines for something better than the Pulsar now on my wrist, but like to keep my cash.

[#14]

Have had a few half decent watches in the past none of which seemed to last that long and when the last one packed up (worked fine as long as I did not wear it) I thought (insert expletive here) and bought an el cheapo free postage one off ebay Timex for a fiver, and it's been ticking away fine now for nearly two year on the original battery. 

Five quid or five thousand, they both tell the time.  

Reminds me of one my dads old jokes about his watch, said it was self winding, dust proof, waterproof, antimagnetic... but then it caught fire!

[#15]

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@Minivanman wrote:

...  bought an el cheapo free postage one off ebay Timex for a fiver, and it's been ticking away fine now for nearly two year on the original battery. 

Five quid or five thousand, they both tell the time.  

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Well that's what I thought they were supposed to do, but you have to keep looking at them.