Our mantel clock stopped working the other day so we went in search of one at the weekend, leaving aside that almost no one sells them anymore (which is weird when you consider how excited people get about period fireplaces, what do they actually put on their mantelpieces?) when we did find a good selection in Hinds (Meadowhall) it seemed that quite a few were marked.
We found one we liked but when I pointed out that there was a scratch on it instead of offering to check if there were any more out the back, I was offered 10% off as 'they'll probably all be the same'.
When did it become acceptable to sell goods that weren't perfect? And how does that affect you if you try to take something back. Are they going to say you can't bring it back as you've scratched it?
In the end we bought it as the scratch was pretty unnoticeable and there really wasn't anywhere else to buy. Of course there's the internet but what are the chances of that being any better?
It's not like it was massively expensive or anything, and I'm not having a go at Hinds in particular. It just seems like these days it seems 'acceptable' to sell anything unless it's actually smashed to pieces. Even then you see mirrors and other decorative items with cracks in them in places like The Range. I mean who is going to buy a cracked mirror even with 10% off?
Same goes for Amazon actually, 50% of the time your book will be damaged. Either the corner will be squashed or they'll pack it with some other item that damages it in transit. Of course if you order a box of pencils it will be packed in bubble wrap and then packed in the corner of a box with 200m of brown paper.