Regardless of where it’s made, it’s crap compared to the quality of even 5-6 years ago 
1 Like
I hadn’t shopped at Dover in many years because their plus sized options were non-existent. Thankfully now they’ve added a few more items and I bought a pair of riding tights from them a few weeks ago. Because of where I live I don’t have any brick and mortar options (other than like Tractor Supply) so I rely on good online service. I’ve been loyal to SmartPak for many years but it’s nice to have another option as well
4 Likes
I think you do not understand the problem, actually.
Not that they offer a discount with the catalog, but that in the same catalog the same item was listed for different prices on different pages. And then in other catalogs there were yet more prices for the same item.
I do not shop at Lands End so I have no idea how their discounts work.
1 Like
I get a weekly flyer in the mail from my local grocery chain, featuring their specials for the following week. Most weeks it also some coupons for additional discounts off the sale items. (Item usually $3 is on sale for $2 but with that coupon, it’s $1.) The idea is to get you to look closely at the flyer, the more you see, the more you buy. If you go to the store that week, the flyers are in a rack y the door, but without those coupons. They are encouraging you to get the flyer either by buying the local Sunday paper or enrolling in the “Local Values” mail subscription.
Yeah, I don’t so much mind that there is a coupon. What’s annoying about the way Dover (used to?) do it is that one catalog would have MULTIPLE coupons/codes for the same item. So you literally had to SCOUR the catalog to find every time an item appeared and then compare the prices. It was disorganized. When you’d be in the store, the employees would have to page through the catalog to figure out the best code while people stood in line waiting. What is the point in different codes, in the same selling time frame, sent to the same customers, for the same item? It was like a scavenger hunt anytime you wanted to order something.
2 Likes
I was between if you were talking about Paul Taylors or Teskeys for the walmart of western stores…haha. Teskeys actually totally redid the english section of their store and have a lady on staff full time that only works in that area. It’s a pretty big chunk now and carries a fairly decent selection of most of what you could need. Maybe not the super fancy brands, but better and more thorough than PT for sure.
Am I the only one that loves the constantly circulating deals, flash sales, and discounts on Dover? I don’t bother with the catalog, but the online site is fun.
3 Likes
If you did not (or do not, how knows) flip thru ever page of every paper catalog then you are not likely getting the best price online. Again, that is how it used to be.
Like it was said above, you can call and ask to get the best price…which is just a weird way of doing business.
1 Like
As a former Dover employee (10 years ago), I used to hate the website and shipping service. But I have to give them credit–the website and shipping have improved immensely. I ordered a pair of paddock boots on Tuesday of this week and they were at my doorstep (with free shipping!) fewer than 24 hours later!
2 Likes
My local store (CT) has been “open” by curbside picking up or in store shopping by appointment for this whole time, with just the lovely manager working all by herself. I picked up a couple necessities by curbside pickup and she seemed desperate for human contact. I’m glad they were able to open up their doors for more regular business yesterday. I think Dover will be okay!
I do understand. I worked at Dover (part time, thru various other jobs) for 10+ years. I have heard every complaint there is about Dover :lol:
I generally worked just enough hours to get the discount, but that didn’t spare me from the disgruntled customers… :winkgrin:
They don’t remove the “OG Listing” any time there is a sale added to the roster, so yes, if you did digging you would always find the OG listing even if there was a sale price too. I think some people don’t understand the enormous task that would be overhauling old listings any time there is a sale - it is much easier, from a time/labor standpoint, to simply create a new page with the item as sale price. So yes, you could flip through the catalog and see Suffolk Dressage Bridle for $99, and then Suffolk Dressage bridle for $45 - one would be the seasonal price, and the other would be the year round/fixed price, because the sale item is usually a limited time deal only…
I know what you are referring to when you say you would see identical items with different prices - and many of them are either liquidated stock or closeout deals; where specific colors or specific sizes of the same items would be on closeout or sale.
For instance, the base price would have item number X1-56835. Say it’s a generic hard brush sold by Toklat (vendor).
The closeout item number would be Z1-56835A, and it would be for the blue hard brushes that Toklat is discontinuing.
Then there’d be the sale one, which would have a different item code, say, X9-56835, which would be a seasonal sale (IE Stocking Stuffers…); maybe they’re an unusual color or pattern that won’t be permanent stock.
Sometimes, there would be seemingly identical items for sale with different prices, but the item codes were always different. In these cases, sometimes it was a matter of trying to get rid of an old vendor’s stock because there was now a new supplier, so they’d try to sell all the old ones before getting much new stock in.
I get it – but I think Dover’s strength is that their customer service is wonderful, and you can always get the best prices if you call (or chat) and ask.
6 Likes
I love Dover. We have one locally. Everyone who works there is super nice and knowledgeable. And they have such a generous return policy, I don’t worry when buying a helmet or boots.
2 Likes
What has greatly annoyed me about Dover is that they charge $20.00 or more, to ship to APO addresses. Regardless of what or how much you order. Why? I have no idea.
Sure, there are some restrictions, just as there is with shipping USPS within the US. There is a customs form, but this is also quick and can be electronic. Now, some companies use FedEx or UPS to ship instead of USPS, but the package just gets forwarded to USPS and just takes a bit longer. But Dover is one of the only companies (Adams hiked up their shipping prices over the last few years that it’s not worth ordering from them either, for the most part) I’ve run into that just automatically charges a minimum of $20 for APO shipping and I cannot understand it. It’s only worth ordering from them when they do the “spend $200 get a $100 gift card” promotion.
I mean, they’re free to do as they please, but it just irks me and when I inquired, they couldn’t explain why. SmartPak, Schneider’s, and many others don’t do this, or even ship free to APO/AE at times. So Dover doesn’t need the business of those serving overseas or wherever I suppose and the “extra work/hassle” comes at a price. Sometimes there are specific American products that’d be nice to have or to take advantage of the sales, but it’s just hard to order from them when you see that $20+ added to your order.
And that’s the end of my Dover rant :lol:
Is that the Manchester shop? I’m friends with the manager, she’s terrific and works very hard for her customers. They have had managers only in shops and they have been working to fill online orders for items that the warehouse has run out of. My barnmate works at the local store and they are starting to do appointments.
I worked retail for a long time (including management) and yeah, I get where Dover is coming from and I still hate their damn code BS. The solution is to give each item a different style number and input the price in the computer associated with the style number. Rather than use a generic style number with different prefixes to adjust the price. It’s not rocket science. That’s how most retailers do it.
Example:
I have 3 identical tee shirts selling for $20 each except one is black (SKU 12345-1), one is white (SKU 12345-2), and one is pink (SKU 12345-3).
This month tee shirts are $5 off with coupon. I just key the coupon to work with all 3 SKUs. Easy. When the month is over, the coupon is invalid and no longer scans.
This month only the black ones are on sale with coupon? I key the coupon just to SKU 12345-1. When the month is over, the coupon is invalid and no longer scans.
Pink color is being discontinued? It’s marked down to $9.99? In the computer I mark down SKU 12345-3 to $9.99 (and I move those somewhere else in the store to clarify that they’re a different price) and I tag a $9.99 markdown sticker on the price tag for the pink ones. If I am buying a pink shirt. It can only ever can up as $9.99 that day. It will never scan up for a prior price.
It’s not that complicated. That’s how basically all major retailers handle it, with some variation.
Dover’s system was to have a nearly unending list of SKUs associated with the same item. It’s mind boggling to me that they did it this. I don’t know if they still do it this way.
Example.
This $25 halter comes in white, black, and pink. All of them are SKU 12345 (1, 2, 3).
On page 1 of the catalog (with coupon) if you use prefix 1X before SKU 12345 (1, 2, 3) they will ring up as $20.
On page 10 of the catalog (with coupon) if you use prefix 2U before SKU 12345 (1, 2, 3) they will ring up as $19.99
When pink gets discontinued, if you use prefix 3Z before SKU 1234-35 it will ring up as $9.99. But on that same day if you rang up the SAME halter as 1X-12345-3 it would ring up as $20. Or if you used prefix 2U it would ring up as $19.99.
The problem is having multiple prices for a single SKU available at any given time. Never removing the old prices. Rather than giving the SKU a number and coupons come off of that price. And when you mark down an item, marking the SKU down rather than assigning yet another prefix. The way Dover does (did?) it was contrary to how most every other retailer did it. Plus, they were willing to have multiple prices for an item at the same time-- which just frustrates customers. Most retailers go out of their way to avoid that. Dover was really into it, I guess they thought people scouring the catalogs was an advantage.
3 Likes
Yes! You nailed it @vxf111 . Exactly the problem.
If the pink halter is discontinued and marked down because of it, the customer should not be able to buy it for full price just because they happened to look at the wrong catalog page. Or better yet, when they go to the website and search for pink halters it should show up as discontinued and marked down, not full price because you did not happen to search for the SKU with the special mark down price.
1 Like
We’re saying the same thing.
Honestly, there’s a lot of things I won’t defend about Dover but this isn’t one of them. For those that feel so strongly that “Dover is the only one that does this!!” – this is SOP for just about every major retailing chain from grocery stores to clothing stores. It is not the retailer’s responsibility to give you the discounted price if you don’t have the coupon/code. It’s the buyer’s responsibility to be a savvy buyer and look for discounts.
Just about every grocery store I know has a coupon book right at the front of the store – but if you don’t have the coupon code with you, you don’t get the sale price and it’s not automatically discounted when the cashier swipes your item. It’s the exact same thing Dover does and I have never seen anyone complain about grocery stores the way they do about Dover.
1 Like
We are not saying the same thing.
Not even close to the same thing.
An example (totally made up specifics in this example)
If I am in the market for a new shirt and I go to Smartpak or LL Bean (two places I can say for sure this is how it works), as I skim thru the various options I will see that the green plaid shirt is clearance or sale priced, but the blue plaid is not. Same for certain sizes. No special coding required, it is all there plain as day on the page. I searched for long sleeve shirt, I opened the tab of the design I liked and poof, I can decide if I like the blue plaid enough to pay more for it.
Not with Dover. I search on Dover (or did, maybe it has changed, I have not tried recently) for long sleeve shirt and they come up, all at the one random (highest) price. Maybe on page six of the paper catalog it advertises the green plaid on sale, not a coupon, a discounted price because it is on clearance or sale. But that does not come up on the website unless I know that specific code.
Even if I stand on my head and squint I can not make them out to be the same thing.
I am happy if the way they were doing it before is not how they are doing it now.
1 Like
This entire post gave me anxiety flashbacks from the call center. Do not miss that life!
