Comet Group Plc

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Comet logo

Founded in 1933 by George Hollingberry in Hull as Comet Battery Stores Limited, Comet is now a wholly owned subsidiary of KESA Electricals Plc specialising in Electrical retailing. In 2003 Comet demerged from Kingfisher Plc to form a new group under the KESA umbrella. Comet has recently undergone a £20 million rebranding campaign (since September 2005) to differentiate itself from other players in the market.

The retailer has around 250 stores in the UK, often 'warehouse' style stores in retail parks. Like many large electrical retailers, Comet offers a Price Promise scheme that would suggest they will match or beat the price of an item sold elsewhere more cheaply. This price matching includes many UK retailers. Additionally they offer to match prices against local stores within a 10 mile radius, within fourteen days, however, instore they do not match prices against other online/internet mail-order companies.

1 Slogan
2 TV adverts
3 Controversy
4 Financial Results
5 Footnote
6 External links
- 6.1 Competitors

[edit] Slogan

Comet's slogan is "We live electricals", the "live" part of the slogan being a wordplay between live and live, referring to a live current of electricity. Its mascot is a small man wearing a helmet with a comet on it and riding a scooter.

[edit] TV adverts

The adverts feature a world where electricals exist, and the delivery man.

[edit] Controversy

Comet has come under fire for poor customer service issues^[1] and badly trained sales staff.^[2]. Complaints about Comet's refusal to refund faulty products have lead to investigation by UK Trading Standards^[3].

However, where customers have bought on Debit cards Comet may be unlikely to offer any refund, but instead insist on a product exchange instead, even if it could be argued they are at fault.

Consumers are generally well advised to ensure they only pay for goods on Credit Card, so that in the event of a dispute, the Credit Card company can take up the matter on the behalf of the consumer. In fact, many times the following does occur.