When Harvey Norman staged a 50 per cent off games sale last month, it attracted lots of buyers keen for a bargain. However, not everyone is happy with the outcome: some shoppers are reporting extended delays in receiving their games, along with poor and conflicting information from customer service.
Harvey Norman — a brand mostly associated with overpriced technical goods and Gerry Harvey ranting about import culture and mostly being old and out of touch. That was yesterday. For the next two days only, Harvey Norman should be associated with super cheap video games. I know, no-one was more surprised than me.
We’ve all been there — you’re buying a television/console, you’ve agreed to buy your brand new plasma/LCD/PS3/360 and within seconds the Old Gill-esque salesman is trying the old ‘spend $200 on a ridiculously overpriced HDMI cable’ trick. Looks like Harvey Norman has taken that trick to all new levels, cleverly attempting to compare Monster HDMI cables with regular composite cables in store.
Well, the prehistoric retail dinosaur that is Gerry Harvey has finally entered the 21st Century. And while some people will probably avoid using his new direct import service out of principle, it’s worth comparing prices to other services to see just how much money Gerry can “save” you. Let’s take a look.
Gerry Harvey has just announced that Harvey Norman is starting up a new website which will sell import European copies of video games at vastly reduced prices. The site is officially opening at 6pm this evening and will continue forthwith. According to Gerry himself, “if you can’t beat them, join them.”
This is insane. Gerry Harvey, he of the fire and brimstone statements against importing goods and services from overseas, has just announced a brand new online service that — get this — allows Australian gamers to import games from overseas at reduced prices, minus the GST.
Harvey Norman has a deal until this Sunday where you can get a Wii console plus one game (Vacation Island: Beach Party) for $198. Seems decent value.
The new, slimmer Xbox 360 console goes on sale in Australia on Thursday. Looks like Harvey Norman has the best deal on it.
Three of the year’s biggest games – all sequels – are going for just $74 each at Harvey Norman this week. Can you guess which ones?
