British Retail Cretins

[OnlyMe]

Complaining about inflation causing shops problems and warning the bankrupt of england not to raise rates.

These aresholes are getting what they asked - inflation far outstripping any natural earning capacity of the country and its people and still causing for more lax inflation inducing policies.

I've had enough of paying so much for hyperinflated shop rent/rates and valuations and everything that goes with it and making a concerted effort to bypass the whole shooting match. I'll make / mend / grow or buy direct from the country of origin.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/04/retail-food-prices-inflation

Shops fear bleak summer with sharp rise in prices

........

The British Retail Consortium said in its monthly price check that food prices in April had rocketed after wheat and other foodstuffs rose sharply and transport costs escalated following the rise in oil prices.

Food prices rose by 4.7%, ratcheting up the 4% increase in March. Non-food inflation, which includes clothing and electrical goods, slowed to 1.2% from 1.5%, according to the survey, as retailers were forced to offer discounts to keep the tills ringing. The overall effect pushed up shop price inflation to 2.5% since last year.

The consortium warned the Bank of England to maintain its freeze in base rates when it meets this week or risk a further deterioration in consumer confidence and spending.

Edited May 4, 2011 by OnlyMe

[Pytyr]

Sow.

Reap.

[MC Fur Q]

I've had enough of paying so much for hyperinflated shop rent/rates and valuations and everything that goes with it and making a concerted effort to bypass the whole shooting match. I'll make / mend / grow or buy direct from the country of origin.

Me too.

Luckily I have reached that age where I have enough clothes and no desire to update them. I don't feel the need to replace anything until it breaks. Also my wife has discovered a Slow Cooker which is saving us a fortune on our food bills.

[mikthe20]

Why do so many people (BoE, retailers, etc) not see that:

Low interest rates -> weaker pound -> higher commodity/import prices -> higher price inflation -> lower retail sales?

It's so ******ing basic it's ridiculous.

Edited May 4, 2011 by mikthe20

[Bloo Loo]

Why do so many people (BoE, retailers, etc) not see that:

Low interest rates -> weaker pound -> higher commodity prices -> higher price inflation -> lower retail sales?

It's so ******ing basic it's ridiculous.

cant have any of that evil deflation, now can we...cant have thrifty people having an easy time, now can we....we have borrowers to support, and lenders to bonuserize.

[Redcellar]

The high streets are looking sad already. Loads of charity shops and temporary 'pound' stores. Big stores closing in towns, only the banks seem to be moving to new and better premises.

There will be some big names that go to the wall before this is all over and I have money on which ones.

[Dorkins]

Why do so many people (BoE, retailers, etc) not see that:

Low interest rates -> weaker pound -> higher commodity/import prices -> higher price inflation -> lower retail sales?

It's so ******ing basic it's ridiculous.

For the last 30 years we have been told so often that:

Low interest rates -> more growth

That it has practically become a self-evident truth in most people's minds. The programming is extremely strong and will likely take a monster of a black swan (e.g. hyperinflation in an OECD country) to undo.

[Georgia O'Keeffe]

The high streets are looking sad already. Loads of charity shops and temporary 'pound' stores. Big stores closing in towns, only the banks seem to be moving to new and better premises.

There will be some big names that go to the wall before this is all over and I have money on which ones.

are they still going ahead with opening that Bvlgari in St Pauls Bristol?

[porca misèria]

There will be some big names that go to the wall before this is all over and I have money on which ones.

You reckon Woolworths might go down?

[Bloo Loo]

You reckon Woolworths might go down?

of course, if Bin Laden can die 9 times, Im sure Woolies can too.

[mitchbux]

It would help if they sharpened up on how they treat their customers.

We've just bought a new TV, not because the old one is broken, but because we want the floor space that out massive CRT currently occupies. After checking dimensions against the space where we want to mount it, we decided we wanted a 37" LED.

We had one idiot repeatedly tell us 'that most people buy a 32" or a 40"'. So ****ing what, we've asked for a 37", they make them, tell us what you've got or can get in a 37"!

Another place insisted that the only thing they could sell us was a 200Hz model, despite us not owning anything that sends even 100Hz....

We've been in shops with loads of staff milling around that appear to have a policy of disappearing off the shop floor the moment anyone under 55 wants to ask a question.

Go online you say, cheaper yes, but the service isn't any better! We've used quite a few online electrical retailers and most of them have been poor...

Taking the money, and then declaring they haven't actually got stock, emails get ignored, leaving you with a monster phone bill as you cancel the order and repeatedly chase them for a refund.

Ringing you up pestering for more and more personal information 'as a security check'. I had one set of numpties telling me they couldn't confirm my order because they couldn't find me on the electoral roll, the idiots were checking against the 'edited register'. They then rang me again later to check exactly the same information they'd checked with me before. However I was out and they asked me to ring a number that didn't exist!

Then there is the copius amount of unnecessary communication, all a ruse to get you to take out their overpriced extended warranty.

I've yet to have a delivery turn up within the given time slot. You have a fight on your hands to be allowed to let you check the item over properly before you sign off on their delivery note.

To top it off, despite asking repeatedly that your details should not be reused in any way, you get repeated phone calls 12 months later pestering you about the blasted warranty!

Some of these problems are caused by paying staff peanuts, but the worst ones are caused by policy and procedure decisions taken by the overpaid numpties at the top.

[Executive Sadman]

The mind boggles.

Either they really are that ignorant, or else there is some kind of vast complex conspriracy that millions are a part of and yet is somehow still secret.

[zilly]

Why do so many people (BoE, retailers, etc) not see that:

Low interest rates -> weaker pound -> higher commodity/import prices -> higher price inflation -> lower retail sales?

It's so ******ing basic it's ridiculous.

Maybe - but your average Brit is so up to his/her eyeballs in debt, that even a small IR hike could spell big trouble, and as we know they're desperate to prop up real estate values and get people borrowing way more than they can afford again to keep the whole sorry edifice going for a while longer.

So we are where we are, which is between a rock and a hard place really isn't it?

All due to debt-fuelled consumerism and obsession with high real estate prices.

Apparently the fix is more debt-fuelled consumerism, and persistently high real estate prices.

Idiocracy indeed.

[winkie]

Me too.

Luckily I have reached that age where I have enough clothes and no desire to update them. I don't feel the need to replace anything until it breaks. Also my wife has discovered a Slow Cooker which is saving us a fortune on our food bills.