Boycott Compustore

by kino Sun Jan 18, 2004 05:01

i dunno anything about this story, but if the appeal to your moral consience doesn't work, or you have ever been foolish enough to pay compustore prices for anything at all they sell in there, then please shop around next time and save yourself a few bob. you could help get rid of those damn ugly compustores too.

ta.

k.

by Steve Sun Jan 18, 2004 16:18

A boycott is only going to make things worse. If enough people were involved, the company's income would drop, meaning that even more staff would be let go because it wouldn't be profitable to pay them every week.

by aine Sun Jan 18, 2004 19:02

does that mean that we should purchase top oil and eat in mcdonalds??

by David Sun Jan 18, 2004 19:21

will force the businesses to change their unethical trading practises. If sales drop enough that they would have to lay off staff then they would get enough of a fright to bow to consumer pressure

by Benny Benassi Sun Jan 18, 2004 20:43

Not sure about boycott, a far more useful activity would be to talk to the staff of Compustore and unionise them so they can actually fight managment

by Albo Tue Jan 20, 2004 15:19

I don't think that would work in this case. This isn't the same as forcing people to work in dangerous condition 18 hours a day.

Companies lay off workers because they don't need them and they are costing money. If you boycott said companies, they won't suddenly need them again and stop laying them off.

Best thing to do is set up your own computer shop.

by sanesocialist Tue Jan 20, 2004 21:50

So you set up your own shop and then you can exploit workers. That is a crazy solution. Not everyone can by small capitalists. If you take your argument to its natural conclusion we would all be retreating back into farms where we produce our own food and clothing. If we all did this 1. the wealth in society would dramatically decline 2. Eventually we woould in a few decades come back to the stage in capitalism we are at now.

The only logical solution would be for the industries to be taken into the ownership of society and the economy be democratically planned.

by sorcha Wed Jan 21, 2004 01:17

sanesocialist is completely right

by ger Wed Jan 21, 2004 02:53

"logical solution would be for the industries to be taken into the ownership of society and the economy be democratically planned" is completely lacking in detail. Maybe explain yourself.

by Albo Wed Jan 21, 2004 14:32

"So you set up your own shop and then you can exploit workers"

Or you can set up your own shop and treat workers fairly.

My point wasn't for all of us to set up little computer shops, but in fact for one person (or one group of people) to set up a shop which could compete with PC World in Limerick (now with Compustore gone, there will be no competition at all)

However, if it's not a chain store, like Compustore (or indeed PC World) it won't feel like it can just close down if its profits aren't that good.

by sanesocialist Wed Jan 21, 2004 17:53

One could set up a shop and treat your workers very well. You could give them very good conditions and pay. But under capitalism you would sadly not last very long. You would soon find yourself under the pressure to maintain your profit levels by cutting back on pay and conditions of your workers. You really would have no choice.

If you only have one shop you will not be able to compete with the big boys ie PC world (part of Dixons which is a massive international firm) and Compustore. They have huge benefits from economies of scale. You will eventually either go bust or be bought up by them.

The only real way forward is to bring the big industries and shops etc under the ownership of society as a whole. That way the benefits gained through economies of scale is maintained. The workers conditions could also be defended through that industry being under the democratic control of the workers in that industry and as a whole. Under these conditions the decisions about what to do with the profits are made by the working class, we could increase pay, lower the working week, increase holidays, more breaks...

by grouchy marx Wed Jan 21, 2004 22:46

Shure ye'd probably piss it all away down the pub if ye were in control .....

by sanesocialist Thu Jan 22, 2004 23:50

No of course the workers wouldn't all just get pissed down the pub and squander the wealth in society. For the first time the wealth produced by workers will be able to go to the benefit of society as a whole not to the profits of a small tiny elite. Why would workers misuse the wealth? Any abuse would just lead to their own suffering. If the planning of an economy is democratic it would not happen.

by lee - a:plus Thu Apr 15, 2004 16:02 leewelch at 02 dot ie na na

there are far better prices on line. if there is no rent for a shop then prices of products drop? i dont know. there is no right answer or is there?

by martin adams Mon May 31, 2004 02:06 ministry_ie at hotmail dot com

ive been in compustore many times in waterford and wexfors,some of their prices are way over the top and sum are very good but i have heard bad stories about after sale service for pc's purchased there.what they did to their staff is terrible they have a sign in their window in waterford sayin closed for stocktaking

by Gillo Wed Jun 09, 2004 11:30

The two stores in question were shut down because they were makign no money. So even if they were owned by the people, workers or society as a whole, they still would of had to be shut down.

As for boycotting Compustore. As a former employee I am all for it. I'm not going to publicly slate them but from the way I have see them treat staff I definetly wouldn't shop with them. In fairness to the staff, it's just a few big people at the top who are ruining the company ; at a branch level the managers are actually very sound it's just that their hands are "tied".

by Thomas - My own Mon Oct 25, 2004 19:15 086/8407722

I am not supprised the had a enoug

time ripping people off

great to see them go but i do feel sorry

for the staff

by john Mon Oct 25, 2004 21:47 jvmurray at eircom dot net 014932696

have the compustore shops in dublin closed down?? they were not open for last three days.

by Rob mc Carthy - X Compustore staff Tue Oct 26, 2004 12:23

Yes All the Compustores in the whole of Ireland has closed on friday 22-10-04.
letting go all staff. Even me who was one of their first Staff back when they opened their first store. So the BOYCOTT worked every one got their wish

by jb Tue Oct 26, 2004 22:47 albertin at indigo dot ie 4931995

Does Compustore owe money to suppliers/ staff / landlordsetc

by Rob mc Carthy Tue Oct 26, 2004 23:34

Yes they do owe money lots of it. In the high 7 figures. I dont think anyone will see or get what they are owed, rember its a LTD company. So the owners huge bank accounts are safe. Their big houses and Yachts are safe its nice for some. And the best thing is none of the stock in any of the stores belong to the company its all Consignment Stock. They thought of every thing before they closed.

by curious. Wed Oct 27, 2004 01:22

and if so, have you been offered the facility to make a collective demand on either the liquidators or government by a helpful trade union?
or is that a really silly question?

by Rob Mc Carthy Wed Oct 27, 2004 02:21

Yes we are, trade union? yes silly question their is no union. and how long will we have to wait to get some thing from the liquidators. as I said in my last post all the stock is Consignment Stock and the buildings they owned they sold about 3 months ago that was on longmile road. they moved everyone to a rented building in tallaght. that means nothing for the liquidators. as I said they thought of every thing, some of the staff that that had friday off due to working the weekend did not even know till they came into work saturday to find all doors locked and no one opening up. 3 branches in Dublin,Galway.dont forget the Franchises ,Dundalk, kilkenny, Letterkenny, Tralee, Cork Oliver plunket st. will the have to lay people go due to losing the compustore name.myself and my wife and father worked their what a waste of 11 years, yes thats how long I was with them. So compustore drags another family down. and another thing all sales staff was told by the owners(Sean Finnerty and Kevin Buckley) to push over priced extended warrantys on all customers days before they closed, now what about all the customers who got extened warrantys. they are out of pocket too, As I said they thought of every thing before closing up. to increase their back accounts.

by persistently curious. Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:59

Were the workers (temporary / permanent / outsourced) paying social security? have these social security payments been made to the state?
If not -Can you gather more than thirty ex-workers together in one place, with a lawyer and make a case for tax evasion on the part of your former employers, or the refund of those contributions?
Are your claims for social welfare being sympathetically seen to?
(I've been down this road, but not in Ireland, and after a two and half year struggle, I and my fellow workers finally got paid by the state for the work we had done, and the owners of the bankrupt company who had been laughing years ago, are now "not laughing" and in jail. Point being, that even if you weren't unionised, that doesn't change your rights or entitlements, Unions are just collective bargaining apparata. If you get together now, amidst increased media interest in your former bosses, you might be able to start the ball rolling.)

You have all my sympathy, I won't forget the feeling of sheer rage when I turned up to work to find the premises locked, and only opened to let the HP people take out their unpaid for equipment. That's when you must be as persistent as possible, your rights as workers, and as creditors are not altered just because you're not in a union. And the unions really ought be helping you on this even if you're not members. It might help to join forces with other creditors, (anyone who's service has been interrupted, or warrenty etc.,).

anyway Good Luck. you're not alone.

by Aaron Wed Oct 27, 2004 12:36

Hi Robbie,
Long time no hear, it's a long time since I've worked in compustore now but I'm glad now that I left when I did.
I just wanted to say that I'm disgusted by the way you've all been treated there.
I never thought I'd see compustore go down the tubes.
My sympathy is with you and Bernie and your dad. I'm shocked to say the least, speechless even, I never thought that they would be that ruthless!

by industry_observer Wed Oct 27, 2004 18:48

To robert and all of the dedicated staff of compustore, I wish you all the best through this difficult time.

I hate to say it but this has been coming for years.

The owners of this shambles couldn't run a good party in a brewery. They have bullied their staff, franchisees and suppliers for years. They are arrogant and spineless. They screwed everybody and it doesn't surprise me that eventually the punters on the street realised this too and started spending there hard earned cash elsewhere.

I hate to see innocent people lose their jobs but hopefully most of them will get jobs in the industry with companies that will appreciate them, and pay them accordingly.

Good luck to all.

by hear hear - anarcho-sindicalism "another way of being a union". Wed Oct 27, 2004 19:07

How many workers?
Do the brothers who own the company live in Ireland?
How many stores?
How many (if any) were franchises?
Were the workers "trained / qualified" for the sector and what percentage of them stand a chance of being offered employment in this specialised retail sector?
Has the Irish market shrunk?
How many other companies are there in the sector?
How long before the workers receive welfare payments?
How many retail units are unoccupied and unrented?
What effect will this have on the shopping centres / streets where they are?
How much was Compustore "worth" last year, the year before, "now"?
Who represented Compustore in its deals with suppliers, BT, Earsat, Electronic suppliers?
What contracts were given to the workers?
Were there tax and other contributions paid?

Who is representing the workers politically?
Who is representing the other creditors and suppliers politically?
Who is going to represent the workers politically?
Who is representing the other creditors and suppliers politically?
What statement has been made by the appropriate Government department on the closure or in the lead-up to the closure or since the "obvious problems" began?
Why have no statements been made if workers and suppliers are left "in the lurch" (no reference to my only lately declared US presidential candidate) and no-one appears to be "surprised"?

What are the statements made by the directors of this high profiled LTD company been in relation to their own solvency, business practise, workers relation, intent to put right the situation?

by L&H (personal capacity) - UCD Wed Oct 27, 2004 19:22

someday it might happen to every Mc job.

by pc Wed Oct 27, 2004 19:33

why is this thread reappearing now?

by Rob mc Carthy Thu Oct 28, 2004 00:03

Hi Aaron, Yes Long time no hear. How are things with you.
why is this thread reappearing now? Do you not read the papers or watch the news, did you not here that compustore closed its doors without even telling its workers, they all turned up to find the doors locked.
compustore tallaght Gone
compustore sandyford Gone
compustore stephens green Gone
compustore galway Gone

Dont know what will happen to the Franchises
Dundalk
Kilkenny,
Letterkenny,
Tralee,
Cork Oliver plunket st.

by Customer Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:24

I bought a computer from Compustore on Thursday on the interest free payment scheme. I collected it on Friday and found the shop closed the next day. I have no idea where that leaves me now and I'm wondering if I can return the computer as I will have no one to service it if anything goes wrong with it. Any ideas?

by Aaron Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:45

Hi again Robbie,
I'm grand, no a bother on me. I never heard a thing on the news, was working late all weekend and only found out from one of the lads I work with on tuesday night. He sent me the link to the thread when he came accross it.
I read about it also on RTE since and I'm disgusted. I can't believe that Sean and Kevin would leave everyone in the lurch like that, people truning up to work to discover they had no job. It's callous.
What gets me the most is that loyal employee's like yourselves having been with the company for 11 years have been let down with a bang and shown no loyalty in return.

How did you all react to this when it happened, were you all told in person by Sean and Kevin or did they send someone else to tell you?

by Rob mc Carthy Thu Oct 28, 2004 15:47

hi Aaron

Well Aaron no one told us, what happened is when the staff waited for the place to open at 930 and by 1030 it did not open they started to ring around, one of them rang me I heard wispers on friday that they will not be reopening I asked kevin and sean is the wispers that were going around was true NO NO NO they ensured me. so I went home after work thinking every thing was fine. till i got a call from one of the staff saturday morning, then I knew for sure that the wispers were true, every one that was in of friday had an idea some thing was going to happen. the way I see it is sean and kevin should have told me friday when I asked as we worked together for years. well how could we react, tried to ring sean and kevin also Graham none of them are returning calls, F*** them all thats what I say now. Its now time to move on and put the past well behind me and think of the future.

by Rob mc Carthy Thu Oct 28, 2004 16:01

I know this is not much help, but for the first year the Warranty will be covered by the manufacturer. Just phone them if you have a problem.

Hp : 1890 923 902
Packardbell : 1850 201 263
Compaq : same as above
Fajitsu : 1850 777 377
Toshibia : 01 8551111
Epson printers : 01 6799016
HP printers: 1890 923 902

by Customer Thu Oct 28, 2004 16:22

Thanks for that. I have all the sympathy in the world for what happened to you. We dealt with this lovely guy in Sandyford whilst buying the computer and he was asking my boyfriend all about the traffic as he was going away for the long weekend and to think that he was so helpful knowing that his job was unsafe. Any company owes you more than what you got. Best of luck.

by Aaron Thu Oct 28, 2004 17:07

That's unforgivable and extremely underhanded. F*** them is right! 11 Years working for them and they couldn't even give you notice that this was on the cards, they must have been planning this for months all the while pretending that all was ok.
The very least Sean and Kevin could have done was to let you know and give you a chance to look for something else.
They are cowards all of them.
Are you going to stick with IT? Would you try going to work for compustores old competition or are you going to do something completely different?

by mark j - ex compustore manager Thu Oct 28, 2004 21:44

Rob I know you're bitter and you have every right to be......................
But I dont think saying sh1t like the directors asked the staff to push extended warranty's days before they closed. Also they could not tell us that they planned to close all the shops at least they waited until we all had been paid.

At the end of the day its over and I am glad as the last year has been pretty sh1t.

I have no hard feelings against the directors they will suffer alot more than you think money wise.

Kevin and Sean tried everything in their power to pull it around.The reason they got consignment stock in was to try and solve the cash flow problem and also because we could not get stock on credit.

for 7 years and 6 days i was with a great company.... and to be honest i will miss Comustore but I am looking forward to a new challenge.

mark J

by cynic - but still anarco-sindicalist. Thu Oct 28, 2004 22:34

"looking forward to future challenges" - that will look very good on your CV.
but the reality is you just got shafted, along with loads of other workers, and thing is, as a manager you were theoretically entrusted with more information relating to the solvency and business practise of the company in general, or at least your store in pàrticular. And I presume your contract was more reliable and secure than the others.
Meanwhile, countless people get that shafted and worse in Ireland, in the EU and in the world every day.
So don't feel reticent about expressing your anger.
In fact recognise it, don't put it into denial. That "great company" ripped you off, ripped off the customers "who are alway's first" and _your staff_.
So we're all well-balanced people here in cyber indymedia land, we don't need "self-censorship" if you think they're C-words, then say it.
You'll get around the bad language using a string beginning with either F#* or C#*

& if it's been in all the newspapers, then it deserves some-one to collate all the online links or at least date the relevant articles and then we'll have something to publish.
Coz P is right, we're still in comments to a boycott call made quite a few months ago stage.

by Rob mc Carthhy Fri Oct 29, 2004 03:25

Look back at October extended warrantys sales in Sandyford up 65% Stephens green up 52 % Tallaght up 78% Galway 69% if that is not a push I dont know what is, and dont give me that Mark , your not F***ed about what happened I know you better then that.
Rember I was also management I had contact with every store with a technical department. I could see what was happening,
Yes we got our wages that week thats about all. now what, Will that pay the bills for ever no, They F***ed us. Not just me Mark every one of the staff, and most of all the customer. what about the ones that got extra 2 years warrantys who is going to cover them. by the way Mark I am just keeping the customer up to date some one has to, and help then where I can. I dont see you posting any thing to help, just Thanks to a company how F***ed you. why should I thank them. Think of all the customers out their that paided between €70 - €200 for extended warrantys only compustore will cover not the manufacturer. I will keep answering replys and posting manufacturer phone numbers. Rember Mark I always liked helping the customer not F***ing them like some. I was not over all the Technical departments for nothing.

by big_ben Fri Oct 29, 2004 21:32

How on earth could a company with a turnover in excess of €30m have a cash flow problem when most or all of its sales are on a cash basis ?

In the retail business it is inexcusable to have a cash flow problem unless of course you have piles of crap stock that you've paid for but can't sell. But then, they didn't have much stock as it was all on loan from suppliers. Jokers !!

This outfit was run into the ground by its owners. They can blame it on whoever or whatever they want but the reality is it failed because of their mis-management. They were out of their depth...cowboys.

by XRX Sat Oct 30, 2004 20:34

I used to also be an ex compustore member thank F*** I left & Got something Decent in all fairness Compustore Did only have crap gear anyway lost of old stock empty store D***head Head Managment who treated staff like crap anyway I am sorry to see some decent workers be let go so near christmas but I said it when I was in the longmile Brance I can see the Place shut down if a few Mounths & I was right Shower of ***** if you ask me I do know that Peats are looking for experenced staff members so rob if you know of any who need a job Im sure they woulkd get it in Peats agane sorry to hear about what happend but it was the Head Managments faults have of em Pi**ed out of ther head at times & unable to manage a store

by Mary Moore Thu Nov 11, 2004 15:05

Yeah I did work experience there once. The techy guy over me cracked a joke to a customer, he was f-ing & blindiig & all, he was quite funny so I let a laugh outloud.

What did he do but with the customer in full earshot down the phone say

"How dare you laugh when I'm on the phone, please shut up".

What could I do, I was a nobody on work experience there so I meekly aplogised although I felt totally humiliated. I couldn't believe anyone would dare speak to me or anyone in that fashion, HOW DARE HE.

I decided I'd never laugh at one of stupid jokes again. Anyway later on he cracked a joke or two & I refused to laugh so he said "It's a joke" so I went "ha ha ha" real sarcastically. Think the computer nerd knew I didn't think real much of him & hos over inflated ego after that.

Hope it comes back to haunt him, degrading people like that!

by loki Thu Nov 11, 2004 22:53

yeah I worked there & the tec guys were the dryist people I ever met bet there sick now on the old Labor god theres more to life then computers If they spoke to me like that I would tell em where to stand I was in the company for a wile & the tec people were the most robotical people I ever met ah well RIP compustore may all how run the company enjoy there f*ck Up

by Mary Moore Fri Nov 12, 2004 11:06

Yeah

This guy ate, drank & dreamed computers, didn't like me cause I didn't. He was really proud of the fact too, I felt like telling him 'get a life for heavens sake'. Got a big thrill if he could sort out someones computer prob Jeez, what a life!

Humiliating & degrading people like that always comes back to you. Guess who works in a great stead job in a computer company now, yeah me, while his company's gone bang. I wouldn't shed any tears if he was out of work for donks to be honest & got a bit of his own medicine. He deserves it!

by JAT Sun Nov 14, 2004 16:34

Although I never worked for the Compustore Ltd., I spent nine of the happiest years of my working life working for three of the directors in one of their other companies (The late Jim, Dermot & Sean).

I can say with absolute certainty that none of them would ever deliberately try to shaft an employee. In fact the opposite; they have developed loyal deserving employees’ careers as best they can. Without thinking, I can count eight different successful computer companies (total employees in excess of 200 people), who owe their start in life and their training to these three great men.

No body has mentioned that in recent months, they invested money (1.4 million) to try to keep the company in business, if they like most of you are implying, were selfish men, they would have shut the company earlier and saved there hard earned money.

by Good PR Sun Nov 14, 2004 17:37

Its great that Indymedia provide a free advertising service for companies. More businesses should use this service.
But remember to be subtle, disguise your advertising as an industrial dispute or something. Otherwise they might start getting suspicious.

by Manager Sun Nov 14, 2004 17:55

Thanks for the mention lads. The cheque is in the post.
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=67457

http://www.errigalhotel.com/home.html

by EMB Mon Nov 15, 2004 14:39

So they didnt really have the future "clicked"

by Rob Mc Carthy Tue Nov 23, 2004 00:36

Mary Moore who are you and what store was it you did your work experience in because I dont rember no one of that name ever working in any technical department in the last 11 years, and who did you work with gives some names.

by Mary Moore Tue Nov 23, 2004 15:22

Ah that would be telling you wouldn't it.

Think I've given away enough information as it is.

by John-ex compustore staff. Wed Dec 12, 2007 18:18

Hi to all the staff that lost their jobs.

My heart goes out to you all. I worked at the Longmile Rd branch when the new warehouse had opened up, alongside Derrick, and Graham. Those were the days. I enjoyed them, and and loved working with everyone there. Im just amazed how things have gone. Anyway, the best of luck to you all, take care.

by Mark O'Connor Thu Jun 24, 2010 01:34 markoconnor83 at msn dot com

Heard after I moved to the States that it really did close... don't know how I found this forum but does anyone know what happened to anyone in the Sandyford branch?