Am I Getting A 'Raw Deal' From Chapters?
Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 6:17AM Don't get me wrong, I'm an avid Chapters/Indigo/Coles fan and the proof of this can be verified by the following three main reasons:
- I go to their stores to shop for books about personal finance and other subjects.
- I have shares in Indigo Book & Music Inc.
- I have a Chapters iRewards card and have renewed it for a few years now, year after year.
With that being mentioned however, I have to say I was frustrated today when I received a postcard in the mail 'exclusively' for iRewards members offering a 25% discount for all regular priced in-store items (including gift and home decor items) on the weekend of November 14th and 15th, 2009.
The only catch and what my real point of contention is that the offer is not valid online. To many, this may be an insignificant factor, but to me it translates to not being able to avail of the offer because I live in a less populated, rural area where there are no outlets.
I've had my eyes on a couple of PF books in the past week or so, and now that discount is not a possibility. Admittedly, when I go on vacation and visit some of the stores, I do find a number of deals. I also get coupons for book purchases when I renew my iRewards card, which also provides savings.
But that's not the point. There are 247 stores in Canada, and most of them are located in urban areas for obvious reasons and I am find with that; however, there still remains a sizeable chunk of consumers that do not have the ability to physically get to these stores on a 'dime's notice' (I just received the postcard in the mail yesterday) and take advantage of the offer.
Do you think I'm getting a 'raw deal' from Indigo Books & Music Inc. and that they should extend the online offer to people having postal codes where there are no stores within a reasonable distance? Or, do you think the promotion is fine as it stands? Personally, things like this leave a bad taste in my mouth, and it may impact my decision on whether I will renew my iRewards card.
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Reader Comments (4)
The promotion is fine as it is. If you want the urban convenience, move to the city.
Their promotion is obviously designed to gets wallets in to stores to get a jump on the holiday season. This is probably so that people shopping for presents in the future will think 'oh, I saw that <great book for a present> at indigo a while back'.
Actually, I find the rural setting more convenient in a lot of ways :)
[Just maybe not with access to Chapters/Indigo/Coles
I think you're right in that the holidays are just around the corner and they are trying to have extra incentives for getting the wallets moving a little quicker in their direction.
I inquired by contacting them and they aren't budging - there will be no additional offers for those who cannot avail of the deal in the store.
That's funny, because I always felt that people with access to their stores were getting a raw deal for having to pay considerably higher prices than on Chapters' (Indigo's) website.
You know what? You're probably right in a sense that Chapters does offer major discounts on purchases online.
It's not too often that you go online and don't see many books marked down. For example, when you go to the Deal Zone part of the site, some books are marked down as high as 70%
In my experience in shopping in-store, I also like how they have designated large discount sections, as well as a 'last copies' area for huge discounts. I think both in store and online have their pros and cons.
Cheers, and thanks for the comment!