Thread: Makita Truck - Specials or nay?

Some years ago I got an sds demolition hammer/drill and it was $150-00 less than normal cost

Ok...so...I'd called Makita prior to this "event" and queried whether the truck and specials applied to just their LIon range, and was assured that it would cover everything they had.

The truck itself only had the cordless stuff (a battery powered lawn mower!!!?!?!??) but in the store there were "texta tickets" everywhere implying that all the Makita gear was on some sort of uber-special. (I was not looking for, nor had researched battery powered gear but am educated and fluent in display marketing and the tricks used to imply specials and/or savings.)

Perhaps I lucked out, but the corded ROS I did buy didn't seem to be on special at all. Their regular price was comparatively exorbitant, and to receive a 5% discount I HAD to sign up to the stores' email newsletter (which implies that Makita themselves had bugger all to do with it), and the discount apparently only applied to purchases THAT DAY...(yet to be confirmed).

This particular ROS is $209 via an online retailer that also has a bricks'n'mortar store in NSW (interstate for me), but if I had ordered it from them instead of purchasing it locally on the day (and having to give my personal details for marketing purposes and purely to receive a discount on a "special promotional, epic savings" day) I would not have saved less than the postage value...approx $13.

That's a crazy sentence...did it make sense that I "saved" sweet bugger all and the special day discount was practically non-existent?

The local store was also providing a t-shirt or cap with every purchase...I don't wear hats and the shirts wouldn't fit me (plus I don't wear promotional/labelled stuff at all) but they wouldn't give me even $5 off for not taking one of their extra promotional items.

I'm pretty POed about the whole thing but at least I got my new ROS for a pathetically comparable price...most certainly not anything special at all.




Edit: I do not like to whinge or bag out a company that I have (almost exclusively) a lot of tools from (corded and battery powered), but essentially I was hugely disappointed in the whole promotional affair and it has left a bitter taste in my mouth, particularly about buying locally (which I am a huge supporter of).