HMV Death

[COMMANDO FORCES]

If they reorganise cleverly and sort out their business rates and such things they could survive but not with all 238 shops. It needs someone to wipe out the debt that has accumulated due to the factors mentioned earlier and come up with a business plan.
20% is a decent chunk of the market in anyones book!

[JamesC]

They're not accepting gift cards. Seems pretty sly to me that they continue to sell gift cards over the Xmas period while the management know that the chances of them being recouped are less than even.
That's big business I guess - buyer beware!

[Steve Green]

Bit late, but think there should be legislation that insures gift cards are valid for a couple of months.

Either that or ban the pointless things.

Itunes vouchers seem especially redundant - they produce a bit of plastic, which people travel to buy, to give to people to buy something virtual/electronically?

[Colin YNWA]

Hopefully, for those that have them, they'll reverse that like Jessops did. It might just be while the administrators are getting their feet under the table.

Its kinda hard to imagine high streets without record shops, but it certainly looks to be heading that way. I wonder though, if they go under, which is still a long way off, will this open a window of opportunity for some small independent shops to raise from the ashes. Or is that me being hopelessly naive?

[COMMANDO FORCES]

They mentioned on the radio that there are 280 independent record shops in the country at the moment, so all is not lost.

[Link Prime]

They're not accepting gift cards. Seems pretty sly to me that they continue to sell gift cards over the Xmas period while the management know that the chances of them being recouped are less than even.

Thieving c*nts.
Guess I should've spent that voucher on *anything* when I had the chance last week.

I will never shop here again, even if they pull out of this.

[IndigoPrime]

The problem with gift cards is almost no-one realises the inherent danger in buying them. They're like making a loan. I very rarely get gift cards these days, but with the exception of iTunes ones (Apple, despite the press continually giving it a kicking and its share prices taking a battering, looks pretty safe), my advice is always to spend them immediately.

On HMV in general, it's screwed. I'll be amazed if the entire chain doesn't vanish. In reality, it needs a time machine and to go back to around 2002 and invest heavily in digital, rather than the CEO at the time dismissing downloads as a fad. HMV had the brand. It could have been a serious Amazon competitor, and backed that with high-street presence (order and collect thereby becoming a second arrow).

As for CF's point, I've heard higher numbers, with up to 38 per cent of physical music sales in the UK still being through HMV. That business simply will not go elsewhere, because there's nowhere for it to go. That's really the sliver of hope for HMV—that the labels will further invest so as to not lose put. But good money after bad remains the issue. Perhaps they'll just cut their losses.

[James Stacey]

They're not accepting gift cards. Seems pretty sly to me that they continue to sell gift cards over the Xmas period while the management know that the chances of them being recouped are less than even.

Thieving c*nts.
Guess I should've spent that voucher on *anything* when I had the chance last week.

I will never shop here again, even if they pull out of this.

They are not accepting gift cards currently as they aren't allowed to. It's not some Machiavellian ploy to keep your money, the Administrator now controls the company and until they can take stock of what they have. They may then if they can start honouring gift cards. If they had stopped selling gift cards before Christmas what sort of message does that send when they are trying their best to avoid administration. I dont think the staff and owners are happy about it and laughing to the bank as they have money for a gift card someone brought.

[Link Prime]

They are not accepting gift cards currently as they aren't allowed to. It's not some Machiavellian ploy to keep your money, the Administrator now controls the company and until they can take stock of what they have. They may then if they can start honouring gift cards. If they had stopped selling gift cards before Christmas what sort of message does that send when they are trying their best to avoid administration. I dont think the staff and owners are happy about it and laughing to the bank as they have money for a gift card someone brought.

I'm under no impression that the staff or even local management are to blame for this fiasco, but HMV (the company) has basically received hundreds of thousands of Pound / Euro for "free".
Whats really annoying me is the fact they're actually open for business right now, yet won't accept pre-paid vouchers that the majority of people would have only received mere weeks ago.
If they were actually closed down it'd be a far easier pill to swallow.

[James Stacey]

Well don't throw it in the bin in disgust, the administrators are planning on running it for the foreseeable as a going concern so they should start accepting them again at some point, providing it doesn't go completely. A friend who works in Jessops said someone came into his shop with £1500 on a gift card 2 hours after they went into administration. Now that guy is boned

[Hawkmumbler]

A friend who works in Jessops said someone came into his shop with £1500 on a gift card 2 hours after they went into administration. Now that guy is boned

Call me cynical, but as someone who's an avid collector of all things film and has spent a fair few pennies in the shop with the dog, I find that hard to believe.

[JamesC]

They're not accepting gift cards. Seems pretty sly to me that they continue to sell gift cards over the Xmas period while the management know that the chances of them being recouped are less than even.

Thieving c*nts.
Guess I should've spent that voucher on *anything* when I had the chance last week.

I will never shop here again, even if they pull out of this.

If they had stopped selling gift cards before Christmas what sort of message does that send when they are trying their best to avoid administration.

An honest one.

They'd have been better off, before the Xmas rush, to say 'We're in trouble, people, use us or lose us'.

[zombemybabynow]

Itunes vouchers seem especially redundant - they produce a bit of plastic, which people travel to buy, to give to people to buy something virtual/electronically?

When i lost the cc i use for my itunes ac. - i could use cash to get a voucher...to get downloads - quite handy

[James Stacey]

A friend who works in Jessops said someone came into his shop with £1500 on a gift card 2 hours after they went into administration. Now that guy is boned

Call me cynical, but as someone who's an avid collector of all things film and has spent a fair few pennies in the shop with the dog, I find that hard to believe.

Why? Jessops sell very expensive equipment. I used to work in Techno, who got brought out by Jessops and people with thousands of pounds on giftcards was not unheard of. Some people used them as a savings scheme. This was over a decade ago admittedly.

[Hawkmumbler]

A friend who works in Jessops said someone came into his shop with £1500 on a gift card 2 hours after they went into administration. Now that guy is boned

Call me cynical, but as someone who's an avid collector of all things film and has spent a fair few pennies in the shop with the dog, I find that hard to believe.

Why? Jessops sell very expensive equipment. I used to work in Techno, who got brought out by Jessops and people with thousands of pounds on giftcards was not unheard of. Some people used them as a savings scheme. This was over a decade ago admittedly.

Bugger, thought you where talking HMV then. Curse mid weekly illness! Carry on chaps.