[Benelux] Promotions

sid3windr

I got a totally unintended free bunny at Dreamland last week... :P

stlux

Tuesday 24 April Auchan here will give 50% cashback on their client card on all Lego purchases. Everything was priced at RRP today though, and I doubt that will change by next week.
I failed to check for the fine print, but assume this will be limited to 1-5 sets max.

stlux

At MaxiToys:

• Free #40298 DJ polybag when buying for EUR25 or more Star Wars sets
• Supposedly the polybag is also available to buy for EUR 4.99

Aleydita

Anyone seen the latest CMF available in Belgium?

sid3windr

Yes, they're at Dreamland, minus the policemen. ;)

Kerre

Another Benelux outlet offering DJ polybags: Free DJ polybag #40298 with purchase of selected SW sets at Bol.com. Available separately too but for a hefty 9,99 €.

Kerre

^Fun.be has #40298 too but for a more reasonable 4,99 €. Supposedly you get the poly for free with a 25 € LEGO SW purchase as as the checkout messages indicates but I could only get this to work as a GWP when adding a #75202 Defense of Crait to my cart:



The Fun.be site was horribly slow earlier so I couldn't be bothered to check all sets. Wasn't working for a Death Star nor a Solo speeder. As expected, Fun's still proverbially sitting on plenty of bunnies too.

TheBigLegoski

@Kerre    
Thanks for the bol.com tip! I just ordered my first SW Solo set!
Moloch's Landspeeder #75210 for €44,95 (€10,04 cheaper than over at Lego [email protected]) plus a free DJ minifig poly!
--
Mmmmh Fun.be let's see what they have on special offer....

Aleydita

My local Maxi Toys has no indication that they're running the DJ promo, and I wasn't offered one at the till until I showed the guy the magazine. Took him a few minutes to track one down in a box under the till they never use. Very odd. 

TheBigLegoski

Over at bol.com the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon #75212 is now discounted even more!
Now available for €135,99  (which is €44 cheaper than over at Lego [email protected] and other retailers for the full RRP of €179,99) which is a discount of 24,45%
Plus, you will also get a free DJ polybag when you order it.

Moloch's Landspeeder is also gone down in price. Bummer! I bought it too early. I could have saved another €4,96 on it as it is now €39,99
Btw.
Over at Amazon.de this set is even cheaper (€35,99), but you have to be a Amazon Prime member.

Don't know if prices will go down any further or will go up again soon?!? And when the price will rise, which they will, when or even if, they will go down again in the next four to five months!?! I believe when the film Solo premieres the discounts will probably be gone. What do you all think?

TheBigLegoski

Well what do you know!?
Price for #75212 at bol.com has gone back up to €154 while the same set has gone down over at Amazon.de to €126,98 (no need for Amazon Prime membership)
That Kessel Run Millennium Falcon is all over the place!

stlux

@TheBigLegoski The price of #75212 MF being all over the place is not really different from most other Lego sets.

TRU DE already had the set for EUR 107, so if I get it (not decided yet), I'm not planning to spend more than that.

The previous MF #75105 was also pretty soon consistently available for a bit above EUR 100. (Ignore the price data after retirement)



I'm not expecting the new one to behave much different. 40% off a SW set is common.

HenkdeVries

I saw the new Kruidvat brochure and from Tuesday on they are selling several polybags for 2,99. Somehow the “before” price was 9,99, which is of course nonsense, but still 2,99 is a good price right? I’m going Tuesday I think to see what is on offer.

Kerre

^Poly's available for 2,99 € on the Kruidvat.be site below. Looks like Kruidvat procurement got their hands on a number of nice not that easy to find polybags in addition to some fairly common ones: 

LEGO Friends #30396 Cupcake Stall

LEGO Friends #30401 Pool Foam Slide

LEGO City #30346 Prison Island Helicopter*

LEGO City #30347 Fire Car

LEGO City #30351 Police Helicopter

LEGO City #30353 Tractor

LEGO City #30354 Hot Rod

*Not actually a helicopter but a rather nice sea plane. 

Kruidvat.nl has the same selection + #30477 Chameleon.

No idea if that differs from what's available in-store. My nearest Kruidvat makes the Action look posh in comparison so I can't be bothered to check.

HenkdeVries

And indeed the chameleon, which I already have. My Kruidvat (Woerden) had lots of all of them

HenkdeVries

Kruidvat is offering 25% off all Lego this week, guess they are trying to clear their stock or something. They usually do not have larger sets, but could still be interesting, if you need road plates for example. Or looking for cheap presents. ;-)

TheBigLegoski

Beware when ordering over at bol.com!!!

I placed an order with them earlier this month (Lego of course, why else mention it here), and I have had the most agonizing frustrating experience with them, and their terrible and lousy customer service.

They state you can send your order back without any addition costs should you not be satisfied for what ever reason, and they will refund you your money.

Well guess what?!

When you try and do just that (after initial cancellation was unsuccessful), the proverbial shitstorm hits the fan!

I got screwed over, and was not reimbursed accordingly for what I paid/ placed the order for. You contact customer service over the phone, and via email, again and again, and nothing get solved in a fair and expedient matter.

Thus far I always thought they were OK (most of my previous purchases were without any problems), but now I have completely had it with that company. I don't think I will be ordering anything from them soon if not ever again!

HenkdeVries

Wow @TheBigLegoski, that is frustrating to say the least. So far I have never had any issues with returning items there. Maybe a couple of bad sales reps on your case? 

snowhitie

Thanks for sharing @thebiglegoski, sorry to hear that. Like you've I've been pretty happy with them but I've never had to return anything or had to contact or any other problems.

eMJeeNL

I've actually send quite a few items back to Bol, even very low value ones, and never had a negative experience...

Sorry for you to have be treated like that!

TheBigLegoski

@HenkdeVries       @snowhitie       @eMJeeNL             

Thanks for the kind words and support. Well I finally got my money back. It was all very aggravating, exasperating, and ultimately very tiresome.

The trouble all started when I tried to cancel one item from an order that contained several items. I send that one item back, but did not get fully reimbursed for it. Which meant I was now paying more for all the other remaining items in the order I did want to keep.

Without tiring you with all the details; they messed up (several times), and were not cooperative, nor willing to admit they made a mistake. Moreover I had dealings with numerous customer service employees of whom some were not just rude but total idiots as well. They were either not willing or able to resolve the situation in a just and fair manner, so in the end I had no other option but to send everything back.

Now they had no choice but to pay me back in full.

It was all so stupid. But oooh well, lesson learned. Better to place lots of separate orders next time (if there will be one, as I now rather spend my money elsewhere after all this), then bundle it up in one larger one.

ps.

Just a tip: always use your credit-card for online purchases at bol.com, as it provides extra insurance in case you end up having a dispute over a transaction.

Aleydita

Good customer service? In Belgium? C'mon... thank your lucky stars that they let you spend your money with them in the first place.

HenkdeVries

Glad to hear the situation is resolved @TheBigLegoski! I guess you won't be doing a review that gives you the chance to win a € 100 cheque for bol.com... 

TheBigLegoski

@HenkdeVries    

LOL, you guessed correct. I wonder how often they actually award someone a €100 cheque reviewing purchased products?! I think hardly ever.

@Aleydita  

I can't say for sure what the situation is like in Belgium (probably not all that different from the Netherlands I guess, despite some cultural differences) but Bol.com's customer-service is located in Utrecht (at least for Dutch customers), and yes companies that treat you as if you ought to consider yourself lucky that you may spend your money with them are not a phenomenon that is completely unheard of, but fortunately not common practice either.

Anyway there are better deals to be found over at Amazon.de most of time!

Such as e.g.:   #31079 Creator 3in1 Sunshine Surfer Van for €19,99

(this set costs €35 at RRP in the Benelux) which is a discount of +/- 42%

wardm

https://www.dreamland.be/e/nl/dl/lego-ninjago-70657-city-haven-188219 
Ninjago City Docks for 40 euros less than at LEGO [email protected]!

wardm

(too bad I already bought it haha)

wardm

and the city hospital and new mountain people pack are also cheaper!

Brickfan50

I plan to visit a LEGO shop in Gernany, Oberhausen or Köln. Which one is the best for Afols?

stlux

Apart from the flagship stores, all Lego Stores look pretty much alike.
Oberhausen has the bonus that there's also a Lego Discovery Centre in town. So in case you go with a kid (no adults only allowed in LDC's) there's something else Lego related to explore there. 

So I'd make my decision solely on grounds of distance and how easy it is to park. I think @sid3windr has been to both, so he might be able to help.

Brickfan50

@stlux, thanks! I don't have kids so the Discovery Centre is a no-go for me. (By the way I find this very peculiar. Single men without kids are not paedophiles by definition).
I have no car so I travel by train and bus. Oberhausen is 2 hrs from my home and Cologne 2 hours 45 minutes.
Which store is bigger?

sid3windr

Oberhausen is easiest to park (and parking is free). Koln store is physically bigger, but anything you want to buy will be in the Oberhausen store too...

LDC is indeed for kids, but the LDC store is open even for adults only. However, there's often not a lot of special stuff in there. I've been in there three times now, only one time I actually bought something in the LDC store itself.

I didn't think the Koln store would be worth the extra 45min. Oberhausen Centro is right next to public transportation, too! You're in an odd location, or it's related to not having a car - Koln is less than 10min farther away than Oberhausen for me :-)

PS: the LDC adult restriction is AIUI not related to what you were thinking, at least not directly.

Brickfan50

Thanks @sid3windr. Oberhausen it will be!

snowhitie

Fun has 21% off some items (including the MF) and collishop has 21% off one item when buying 2. It's 21% off the most expensive one though, so there are a couple of good prices. I bought #75930 which was already down to 111 for 87 by buying some Fimo clay (for a tenner) as well.

Difficult to find the deals on collishop though, since the red price could mean it's 30 cents or 30 euro's cheaper than retail.

Aleydita

Has anyone else noticed that Carrefour seem to be reducing the amount of Lego they carry? My local Planet has about half what they carried last year. Nothing on sale either.

Humdrum

Aleydita said:

Has anyone else noticed that Carrefour seem to be reducing the amount of Lego they carry? My local Planet has about half what they carried last year. Nothing on sale either.

Isn’t that a cyclical/seasonal strategy? I believe they’ll stock more during the Sinterklaas and Christmas season. Makro does this as well.

snowhitie

So, brickshop, speelgoed.nl and bol.com are all selling some HP sets at 15-18% off. Bol even does delivery tomorrow, the others are pre-order. It's not a mega-deal, but I wanted them at day one so am glad to have a bit of a discount going. Got 3 coming form amazon.co.uk, even with the delivery they were still cheaper there compared to belgium retail (quidditch, Aragog, Grindlewald).

The train I've not seen anywhere much cheaper than reatil (plus VIP taken into account), think that is a bit an exclusive.

JKpowned

Hey,

I'd like to ask people here who order their lego sometimes trough Dreamland/Collishop if they ever get damaged boxes arriving in the store? I know you can just refuse to buy it once you saw it but I'm just wondering. Or don't you mind if they are a bit damaged? Thanks in advance.

snowhitie

@JKpowned most of the time the boxes are in good condition but it depends a bit on the store I've found. I do care for certain sets but it's never been that bad that I actually left one behind.

Do take off the price tag as soon as you get home though, if you do it straightway, it usually comes off, f you leave it, it might leave residu.

Welcome to the forums BTW!

wardm

^same! I find dreamland has the most interesting deals most of the time, especially around Sinterklaas! 

Aleydita

The problem with both Dreamland and Maxi Toys is that they'll give a product a 'reduced' ticket even if the reduction is just 1 cent, and they obviously don't tell you the previous price - this would be illegal in the UK but seems to be normal practice in Belgium.

snowhitie

^ It is difficult to find the good discounts s that's true,  a 'red' price might be a one cent or half price reduction.

sid3windr

Yeah, the orange labels usually make me laugh in store.

When buying Collishop I've never had a damaged box before, and the label does come off nicely. Just a shame Collishop/Dreamland is not in Brickwatch... :(

Kerre

@JKpowned Same experience here. Never had a Dreamland/Collishop delivery to my local Okay delivery in worse condition than some light shelfwear. Most are pristine an the latest delivery last week had a new, smaller and even easier to remove sticker. My theory is internal logistics knows how to properly handle fragile goods whereas the contractors delivering sets to your door often simply do not care. It's also a reason why I prefer having sets from Fun delivered to my local Fun store. Welcome and do check the Amazon threads for damaged box stories!

@Aleydita Fully agree. The red price chest-thumping is often a nothing more than a shady marketing message. Had a big argument with Dreamland customer service a few months ago about the last wave of Nexo Knights they were (and some still are) selling above RRP. They refused loading their web prices and told me to order against the webshop price, then call to get the price on my order reduced instead. So I ordered from Amazon.

OTOH, yay for the incompetence of our Belgian retailers too! Sometimes promo prices on certain sets remain active until another promo, like an x-percent off on a certain range or across all LEGO starts. 

As for bargains not picked up by online price watching tools: that's one more reason why I favorited this thread. Sometimes this even gives us Bricksetters a headstart before the resellers swoop in. So please share if you find a good deal!

Humdrum

sid3windr said:

Yeah, the orange labels usually make me laugh in store.

When buying Collishop I've never had a damaged box before, and the label does come off nicely. Just a shame Collishop/Dreamland is not in Brickwatch... :(

I recall seeing Dreamland in Brickwatch though, I could be wrong.

The problem I have with Dreamland/Colruyt from time to time is that they apply different prices across their websites and stores. So the same set could have two or even three different prices depending on where you look: collishop online, dreamland online/store or in the small selection at Colruyt stores.

On the subject of their 'red prices' I've found that most vary between 'ok' to 'really good', but they also apply the 'price hike before discount' tactic on some sets unfortunatly. It's a matter of keeping your smartphone at hand when shopping there I guess. Some promotions are sweet (especially when they dump old stock), others are average or downright fake. Like @Kerre mentioned, their Nexo Knights stock seems to fall squarly in the fake discount corner for some reason.

I've had no issues ordering stuff from their website and having it delivered in store, the huge stickers do come off easily without leaving a trace. But again, you need to keep an eye out for the price differences between the online and real store. They won't match prices if something is cheaper in store.

wardm

The city hospital is quite low atm at 67,50€, for those with “vrienden van collishop” coupon, you can get it until 62,50€. Just ordered!

snowhitie

Cheers @wardm, ordered one too.

10% extra on outlet prices in collishop, only one good dea though, #41238 Lena Luthor factory, retail 70, €  31,49.

I'm still not buying it, but maybe someone else is interested :=)

snowhitie

Just been in Dreamland. Guy told me they are doing 20% of on HP stuff on Monday because of it being the 20th anniversary of it coming out. Isn't that nice :)

Aleydita

snowhitie said:

Just been in Dreamland. Guy told me they are doing 20% of on HP stuff on Monday because of it being the 20th anniversary of it coming out. Isn't that nice :)

Don't suppose they have the big castle set? :)

sid3windr

That's still a Lego exclusive, I guess Fun will carry it next year...

stlux

Dreamland has both #75953 Hogwarts Whomping Willow and #75954 Hogwarts Great Hall about 15% discounted, bringing them both to slightly below the German RRP. 
So the extra 20% off today makes that very tempting.

Only delivery to Belgium though.