The 30% Discount Lie

When is 30% only 20% or even 15%? When Sonos say it is.

Just been to Richer Sounds (UK hifi chain) as they were advertising the 30% trade-in discount for the legacy products. I have 3 legacy items (ZP100 and 2 Connect amps). I formed the rational that Sonos were not going to change tack so I would take the opportunity to restructure my system (13 zones made up of 16 Sonos products) and replace the 3 legacy items with a Move, a Port and an SL,spending around close to £700. So checked the website and rang them to check prices and stock. All good, 30% of their listed prices. However by the time I got to the store today things have changed, when keying in the sale the discount was not as expected it was only off the rrp. I asked the guy to check with head office, which he kindly did. It seems that Sonos are only willing to “support” them with 30% off the rrp. 

The point is that Richer Sounds, John Lewis and Amazon are all selling the Move for £359 and the SL for £159 therefore the real discount is only 20%.

Now here’s another little nugget. My wife works for a UK bank. They have an affinity deal by which employees get 15% off Sonos products (direct from Sonos). 

So in real terms there is no 30% discount for loyal customers, the real discount level for trading legacy Sonos products is 15%.

I am pi**ed off because I now feel that Sonos are taking the pi** out of me by offering a discount in the full knowledge that it is utterly fictitious. Let’s not forget rrp can be anything a company decides it to be and not real world competitive pricing. That’s where real discounts are applied.

As this is posted in the “What To Get” from Sonos forum we can safely conclude….  absolutely nothing other than a slap in the face.