Freeview shortage hits Devon
Following the Digital Switchover in Devon, electrical retail stores are struggling to keep up with demand for Freeview boxes and other Freeview equipment. It would appear that many customers have left it until the last minute to buy a freeview set top box after the analogue signal was switched off causing a spate of panic buying by many householders who discovered that their old equipment no longer worked.
Tesco staff in the Exeter stores Electrical department, reported their busiest sales day in years, with sales of digiboxes and freeview enabled televisions going through the roof. Local paper, the Echo investigated stocks of digital boxes in Argos, Homebase, Currys and PC World in Exeter and found that the cheaper Freeview equipment, retailing at around £15 to£20, was completely sold out. Further commenting that only Richer Sounds and Heavitree Radio in the city had any Freeview stock available, however both stores said they only sold the more expensive boxes, with prices starting at around £39.95.
One woman from Sidbury made a 50-mile round trip to three different Tesco stores in the Exeter and Exmouth area on Saturday night, only to find that all the low-cost digiboxes were sold out. She said: “I went to Exeter, Exmouth and Honiton, to Tesco and Homebase, but they were all sold out. I wanted to watch Britain’s Got Talent and the sound had stopped working on our old digibox, but in the end I just had to watch it with no sound, which was rubbish.”
A Tesco representative said that the local stores were getting in around 200 freeview set top boxes a day in order to keep up with the growing demand adding “The Exeter store is now fully stocked. A lot of people just left it to the last minute. The lady who looks after the TVs said she has been working there for 14 years and she has never sold so many digiboxes and TVs in one day.”
The analogue TV transmitter, which served around 200,000 homes in Exeter and the surrounding area, was switched off last week, less than a week later Argos, which has two branches in Exeter, Tiverton, Honiton and Newton Abbot, was running low on stocks.
Staff at the store said “Since the start of the digital switchover in the Westcountry earlier this year, Argos has seen a marked increase in the volume of sales of set-top boxes. We are aware of the stock issues with some of our best priced set-top boxes and are directing additional stock to local stores.”
A spokesman for DSG International, parent company of Currys and PC World, said: “There has been a huge interest for set-top boxes at our Exeter branches, the lower priced boxes in particular have been in great demand. Because of this both stores have currently sold out of these, however, both stores are expecting more stock soon and can still offer customers a selection of other set-top boxes which are have available.”
Digital UK have responded saying “What we normally find is that a minority of people, usually around one per cent, leave it to the last minute to purchase their new Freeview equipment. Our retail support team has been working closely with retailers across both Devon and Cornwall in advance of the switchover. Retailers obviously have their own stocking policies and delivery arrangements, which we would not interfere with. But we know people often want cheap freeview boxes to convert second or third TV sets around the home after the digital switchover.”
The Freeview Store is able to supply Freeviews Boxes, High gain Digital aerials, Twin Tuner Freeview recorders and other Freeview equipment.
Visit the store for more information.
