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Buzby
23-02-2017, 10:55 PM
Today I was looking to purchase 2 new ultrasonics on the Cookson site.

I saw the model I wanted for £468 each, so decided to purchase, but realised I wasn't logged in. Upon logging in the price then jumped to £500.

I phoned to check this pricing and was told that there is a dual pricing with account customers paying more:mad:

Was anyone else aware of this? I wonder how much I have overpaid over the years.

josef1
24-02-2017, 12:11 AM
Was the first price including Vat ?

enigma
24-02-2017, 02:34 AM
I would imagine Josef is correct, it certainly isn't a different price for me other than where VAT is included.

Dennis
24-02-2017, 04:15 AM
I have just done the exercise and the price remains the same after logging on. I can only presume that this is a premature April 1st joke. Dennis.

ps_bond
24-02-2017, 11:09 AM
Does sound a bit weird and would need someone from Cooksons to elaborate.
£468 inc VAT is £561.60...

Buzby
24-02-2017, 11:29 AM
Logged out price £468

Logged in price £500

99669967

Buzby
24-02-2017, 11:31 AM
And using the discount for being a gold member at the Guild of Jewellery Designers I ended up paying £397

Would like Cookson to explain though why as an account customer they are charging me more?

Goldsmith
24-02-2017, 11:37 AM
I checked it also, for this model;Elma Ultrasonic S30h 2.75l
Logged out price= £468 + vat
Logged in price= £500.76 + vat

That is not good service!

James

Buzby
24-02-2017, 11:43 AM
The 9.5 litre Elma ultrasonic is £988 logged out and £1057 logged in.

I am seeing this across a lot of products on my account. And Cookson are telling me that as an account customer I pay more than if I paid on Credit/Debit Card.

For those of you above who see no change, do you pay by card, or on account?

angmc
24-02-2017, 01:59 PM
When you say account customer do you mean you buy the items and then get invoiced for them and maybe have 30 days credit? Or do you just mean a login/out account? I've just looked and the price for the Elma ultrasonic was £988 whether I'm logged in or not.

Dennis
24-02-2017, 02:01 PM
Well, following my post at 4.15 this morning, I have just repeated the exercise, just short of payment, as I I did not want them charging me.

I do not have an account, but usually log on and pay by card. Below is a snip of where I got to and normally a card fee
follows. Dennis.

angmc
24-02-2017, 02:04 PM
...and £468 excl VAT for the 2.75l, logged in or out

Buzby
24-02-2017, 02:12 PM
When you say account customer do you mean you buy the items and then get invoiced for them and maybe have 30 days credit? Or do you just mean a login/out account? I've just looked and the price for the Elma ultrasonic was £988 whether I'm logged in or not.

Yes on 30 day account.

So it would appear they charge you extra for having an account. No other supplier does this.

If this is a business decision that Cookson have made, it should at the very least be transparent to give us a choice.

angmc
24-02-2017, 02:20 PM
It does seem very odd. What's the point in having account in that case. Certainly not worth the 30 day credit period when you compare the prices.

CJ57
24-02-2017, 02:27 PM
It seems contrary to any other business where you are more likely to get discount if you are an account holder

Goldsmith
24-02-2017, 02:54 PM
I think it may be a problem with their website. When I just looked at prices before I got the different pricing when logged in and not. I tried again, logged in and still got the price of £500.76+vat for that ultrasonic quoted, but this time when I added it to my basket for possible purchase, then the price reduced to £468+vat, with no explanation as to why the price changed. I also noticed that when logged in, I get cheaper quoted Kilo prices for silver sheet than when not logged in.

James

enigma
24-02-2017, 04:11 PM
How odd!

I pay by card on ordering so no credit account.
Im still getting the same prices whether logged in or not.
definitely need an answer from Cooksons on this one.

Buzby
24-02-2017, 04:34 PM
Yesterday when I phoned though, after giving my account number they did quote me £500.76 so they were going to charge me the higher price.

Instead I paid by card, used my GOJD discount and paid £397 +vat

Anna Wales
24-02-2017, 05:42 PM
How odd!

I pay by card on ordering so no credit account.
Im still getting the same prices whether logged in or not.
definitely need an answer from Cooksons on this one.

Same here.I assumed that there was a joe public price and a trade price for business buyers.

Tabby66
24-02-2017, 08:33 PM
I enquired about this some time ago......there are levels of pricing, from 1-4 if I remember correctly, (1 being joe public price to 4 being ACJ discount price, I think GOJD as well now), then there is also a credit account, for which you get charged a premium for the 'credit'.....often referred to as a 'trade account', which was not at all what I was expecting :(

CJ57
24-02-2017, 08:55 PM
I enquired about this some time ago......there are levels of pricing, from 1-4 if I remember correctly, (1 being joe public price to 4 being ACJ discount price, I think GOJD as well now), then there is also a credit account, for which you get charged a premium for the 'credit'.....often referred to as a 'trade account', which was not at all what I was expecting :(

That's completely mad, if you have a trade account with a company then you get discounts not charges :/

Tabby66
24-02-2017, 09:12 PM
Isn't it!! I think they 'justify' it on the 'credit' aspect :(

Aurarius
25-02-2017, 12:52 PM
Point 1.4 of the credit account application form may have something to do with it:
"Unless otherwise stated, the price quoted is an illustrative estimate only, and the price charged will be our price current at the time of delivery".

I do not have a credit account.
Logged out I see £468 ex VAT.
Logged in I see £468 ex VAT when the initial search shows the item as an icon in a list of others ranked by keyword.
If I click on the item to go to the individual item page I see (thanks to GOJD membership) £397.80 ex VAT.

Aurarius
25-02-2017, 01:03 PM
And Cookson are telling me that as an account customer I pay more than if I paid on Credit/Debit Card.


Could you elaborate on that? Are you saying you've spoken to someone at Cookson and this is what they told you? If so, did you ask how the surcharge is calculated, and, just as importantly, how it's justified? I would have. I'd have thought paying a surcharge only happened if you didn't settle your account or at least make the minimum payment on it by a certain date.

enigma
25-02-2017, 01:14 PM
Dumb question here but how do I get my GOJD members discount? , Ive been a member for ages but didn't realise I could get discount at cooksons #-o

CJ57
25-02-2017, 01:16 PM
Could you elaborate on that? Are you saying you've spoken to someone at Cookson and this is what they told you? If so, did you ask how the surcharge is calculated, and, just as importantly, how it's justified? I would have. I'd have thought paying a surcharge only happened if you didn't settle your account or at least make the minimum payment on it by a certain date.

Tabby said much the same thing Mark when she enquired a while back

Aurarius
25-02-2017, 01:39 PM
Tabby said much the same thing Mark when she enquired a while back

Sorry, Caroline; I've only just seen that. I'm not yet used to viewing pages on an i-Pad and I think I often miss things.

It looks as if Cookson operate as credit providers where this is requested and the buyer pays heavily for the privilege.

Sarah, to get your GOJD discount with Cookson you have to give them your membership details and ask them to update your account on their system. They will tell you it takes about a week for the necessary changes to be made; you'll know it has been when you start seeing the relevant items automatically discounted at the relevant rates. If you don't see the GOJD discount on an item once it's in your basket, it probably means their system hasn't yet registered your account for the discount and you need to contact them again!

Tabby66
25-02-2017, 02:00 PM
Drop an email to Alan or Jayne, she contacts Cooksons for you and get's it added to your account. I think she just needs your Cooksons account number Sarah :)

enigma
25-02-2017, 06:55 PM
Brilliant thank you both !

CJ57
25-02-2017, 07:50 PM
Once it's done there should be GOJD beside your name on your acccount details too

CJ57
25-02-2017, 07:53 PM
Sorry, Caroline; I've only just seen that. I'm not yet used to viewing pages on an i-Pad and I think I often miss things.

It looks as if Cookson operate as credit providers where this is requested and the buyer pays heavily for the privilege.

Sarah, to get your GOJD discount with Cookson you have to give them your membership details and ask them to update your account on their system. They will tell you it takes about a week for the necessary changes to be made; you'll know it has been when you start seeing the relevant items automatically discounted at the relevant rates. If you don't see the GOJD discount on an item once it's in your basket, it probably means their system hasn't yet registered your account for the discount and you need to contact them again!

I often miss posts as well Mark. We know from experience that Cookson have a few foibles and aren't good at providing you with the small print details. It does seem strange though

pearlescence
25-02-2017, 10:07 PM
I know that this is cookson's forum website but I have to say that they seem really not to want customers sometimes.

CJ57
25-02-2017, 11:39 PM
I know that this is cookson's forum website but I have to say that they seem really not to want customers sometimes.
I'm always surprised that they choose not to get involved in these discussion. You would think that good feedback should be important to them and if the feedback isn't you would have thought they might like to do something about it

Dennis
26-02-2017, 01:14 AM
To be fair Caroline, unlike you and me, the staff are away over the week end. they will probably respond later.

You will notice that I have not joined in the occasional bouts of Cookson bashing, because I have found they do their best.

People do mess up from time to time - that's why we have confessionals. But when Cookson do, they make the effort to put it right. Dennis.

CJ57
26-02-2017, 01:43 AM
This isn't the first time that they haven't addressed concerns. I've also noticed a fair amount of disgruntled customers on some of the higher end jewellery forums on FB recently, the feeling being their standards have dropped and from what I read but didn't participate in, customers were looking for other companies to take their business to. Maybe there are problems and you've just been lucky.

pearlescence
26-02-2017, 10:00 AM
I have had nothing but negative experience from Cooksons staff Dennis. Every so often I think...why not give them a try again? and every time they are dismissive and even downright rude. Never helpful. I've always ended a phone call wondering how they are still in business when they treat customers so disdainfully. They advertise a lot so are happy to get new customers, but as this thread demonstrates, they do nothing to nurture long time returners.

Dennis
26-02-2017, 11:34 AM
That's a sad state of affairs then. I must admit I mostly visit in person, so my experience will be different. Dennis.

CJ57
26-02-2017, 01:18 PM
That's a sad state of affairs then. I must admit I mostly visit in person, so my experience will be different. Dennis.

I think it always makes a huge difference to have personal interaction and look someone in the eye.
When you've placed orders for a new product from the new catalogue to be told it isn't actually in stock and it'll arrive in a few weeks and it doesn't and then the call handler says do you just want me to cancel the order, it does make you feel that your order isn't good enough.
A 10% discount with a time limit is sometimes given for a complaint but that only works if you order frequently or for large amounts and it doesn't deal with the problems. They are a one stop shop for many who don't have access to the real thing so we don't have a lot of choice

pearlescence
26-02-2017, 03:02 PM
Other one stop sources are available.

Rob Taylor
01-03-2017, 01:04 PM
Hi,
Thanks for all your posts, sorry for the delay in posting a response.
To try and clarify, we do sell at different rates depending upon whether you buy on cash terms or credit and many customers swap between either method depending on circumstances at the time of purchase. The difference in price can vary depending upon product type.
To context this we have always operated this pricing structure (literally for 20 years to my knowledge) so it certainly isn't a new development. We do appreciate this may be a different approach compared to other companies but our customers are able to select how they wish to purchase from us i.e. cash or credit on an order by order basis.
rgds
Rob

Anna Wales
01-03-2017, 02:30 PM
Hi,
Thanks for all your posts, sorry for the delay in posting a response.
To try and clarify, we do sell at different rates depending upon whether you buy on cash terms or credit and many customers swap between either method depending on circumstances at the time of purchase. The difference in price can vary depending upon product type.
To context this we have always operated this pricing structure (literally for 20 years to my knowledge) so it certainly isn't a new development. We do appreciate this may be a different approach compared to other companies but our customers are able to select how they wish to purchase from us i.e. cash or credit on an order by order basis.
rgds
Rob

Thank you for the reply. PM sent