Monster Cable has a long history of making outrageous claims about superiority to justify its high price tag. But the latest effort appears to be even more outrageous than ever before, with a Harvey Norman store allegedly comparing a Monster cable to a composite cable, without informing the customer.
According to trog from AusGamers, the Harvey Norman store in Indooroopilly in Queensland featured a Monster Cable stand comparing Monster Cable to “The cable in the box”. As Trog explains, the difference was staggering:
The first thing I saw was the two screens and the Monster cable sign, so I immediately was interested to see the “Monster difference”.
The second thing I saw was that the difference between the two images was simply staggering. The one on the left — with the Monster cable — was crystal clear and looked fantastic. The one on the right was blurry and terrible. You can’t tell the difference in the photo (from my mobile phone) but it was immediately obvious, even from a distance.
However, the bad one on the right was way, way, way too bad to be anything other than non-digital. Anyone that has ever compared a monitor plugged in via DVI to one plugged in via VGA would know exactly what I mean — the difference is amazing — and completely unsurprising.
I could not believe that they would do a display like this with such a cheap “trick”, but looking behind the screens, sure enough I saw a composite cable plugged in.
While it’s clear that the sign doesn’t claim to compare Monster HDMI cables to HDMI cables from another brand, the vast majority of shoppers would assume the display was comparing apples with apples, not apples with oranges. Given that you would get a similar difference in picture quality comparing a $5 HDMI cable with a $200 Monster composite cable, trying to trick the consumer into believing it is the Monster cable that makes the difference is a dodgy practice.
Remember kids: Friends don’t let friends waste buckets of money on Monster cables…
[QGL forums -- Thanks Tim!]
lolwut
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:10 AMmonster cable knows this, hence they go with dr.dre to produce a high-end headphones which dupe soooo many people in sydney
i always giggle a little when i saw someone with beats on their ears, it just shows them how their consumerism triumph over their own ears
lol
Husky
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:52 AMI think you slightly miss the point. I have tried Beats headphones and they are amazing, even someone who isn’t an audiophile (I never listen to music unless I’m driving or running) can tell a big difference, whereas HDMI is a digital signal, it ethier gets there or it doesn’t, a $5 cable is identical to a $1000 cable. Beats are not the same as $5 headphones.
Max
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:12 AM“Beats are not the same as $5 headphones.”
Sure, but they *are* the same as headphones half their price.
Jayk
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 8:38 PMThere are differences with HDMI cables, yes, digital is digital, but its how it gets from point a to point b that makes the difference, cut open a $40 HDMI and you’ll find in most cases, it’s tin, not copper, there’s very little insulation protecting you from emi, and they’re very rarely re-enforced to the cable just falls apart if it gets bumped.
I’ll point out also, the HDMI standard has changed at least once per year since its release, and most modern tvs will reject or downscale the image if run through an inferior class cable to which it was designed to use. I gladly pay the difference, because my tv has never looked better.
Fungusbutt
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 1:47 AMAbsolute crap!! They are the same as those quarter of their price. :)
Nicholas
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:20 AMI am an audiophile,
They sound like 120 dollar headphones.
mango
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:37 AMI am an audiophile and many pairs of high quality earphones/headphones, including beats earphones and to me for $200 they sound like $30 Koss earphones.
Vebi
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 6:06 PMEtymotic Hf5 earphones are 120 dollars and easily outperform the Beats (of course, unless you like listening to rock, in which case clarity with soundstaging probably isn’t as important). I have, however, listened to both symphonies and musicals with both, and the Etymotics definitely came out on top.
William
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 12:25 PMBeats headphones aren’t bad, they’re just not worth the price you’re paying for them. The reason they sound great to most people is because most people are only used to iPod earphones, where only a cheap $30 pair would be a considerable difference. I own a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50s ($150) and AD900s ($320) so I know what I’m talking about. In truth, the $500 Beats Studios do not sound better than a pair of M50s which cost less than a third of the price, but since Beats are so famous and readily available, compared to a lesser known brand that is only available at headphones stores, Beats unfortunately has a ‘reputation’ of being the best (also due to celebrity advertising) and thus can charge such ridiculous prices.
Ozoneocean
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 1:17 PMApple?
Vebi
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 6:11 PMThey come with iPods, so he’s justified in saying iPod. The iPod ones aren’t the worst I’ve heard, though. I’ve heard some really, really terrible ones before.
The bottom line, though, is that if you listen to something for long enough, you’ll never be able to go back to a worse product. Which sadly means that I’ll have to shell out another 130 dollars when my current ones break (3 years old). Thankfully they’re not 300 dollar monitors though.
giort08
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 7:35 PMmy olds paid $60 for my beats headphones (^_^) also they are much louder (and cumbersome) then my $16 earphones :D – but there is no way in hell i’d pay the $150+ price tag for them XD
Jerry
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 8:03 PMI know what you mean. Thats why I picked up my GF ones from the US. $90US incl postage during the Black Friday sales
np
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 9:12 AMActually you inadvertently bring up a valid point. So far all those I have come across stating that beats headphones are sub-standard are normally carrying/sporting the counterfeit versions (which probably outnumber the real thing 5:1) which sound average at best. Problem is that the counterfeits look exceptionally good. Very, very hard to tell the knock-offs from the real thing.
Chris
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:15 AMMonster Cables are one of the biggest scam in the consumer AV industry and it’s disgusting the Harvey Norman are resorting to cheap tricks to make their huge markup..
I guess that’s how they’ve got to make their money – can’t make the on TVs and big ticket items, so sell stupidly expensive accessories!
Scott
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:17 AMThis is only “new” (and thus “news”) when compared to, say, Colour TV. They have been doing this for at least as long as HDMI has existed, probably longer!
mpm
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:18 AM“See what your missing”??? Has all language and grammar gone to hell?
Jacky Sit
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:25 AMThat’s exactly what I saw when I looked at it!! Who proofreads these?!?!
Suq Madiq
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:47 AMIt’s Queensland, they’re not known for the public schooling…
QLDmay suck but not that much
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 3:06 PMHey, I’m a product of Queensland’s public schools and (though I never thought I’d find myself defending it) even I noticed this before anything else. I’m saying it’s Harvey Norman and they’re hiring a proof-reader that doesn’t hold english as their first language.
Vebi
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 6:15 PMThe sad truth is, a learner of English would have a better grasp of language, purely because he would have had to learn it. This is a mistake typical of one who was never taught properly when young.
Blame it on the inadequately educated person, not on their origin. That’s just xenophobic (not racist, completely different concept).
b3n
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:22 AMI bought a $5 special from China, and there is no difference in picture quality.
The only difference would be audio… but, as I only have the audio playing through the TV itself, I wouldn’t notice the difference anyway.
You only need to buy a cheap HDMI Cable…
Sam D
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:29 AMAudio shouldn’t be any difference via HDMI, it’s a digital signal.
NatC
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:23 AMI once walked into Harvey Norman to view their 3d tv display and have a giggle at the astronomical prices in general.
I was approached by their “3d technology expert” and after a lengthy sales pitch where he felt the need to show off the extent of his knowledge I asked him if he knew anything about the future production of autostereoscopic 3d tv, (3d tv with out glasses) which I had a friend in Dubai witness first hand at the time.
The proud sales person quickly became disgruntled claiming there was no such thing and the thought of such technology was impossible and ludacris.
Long story short,.. I laugh at any consumer thinking they are going to go into Harvey Norman to get any kind of helpful knowledgable staff or well priced bargain. And If I could care more, I might honestly wonder how a company such as this still has a client base.
Vebi
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:02 AMLudacris: some rapper
Ludicrous: ridiculous
Jay
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 11:01 AMHi sentance was correct as written, he found the proposition of glasses-free 3d TV as unbelieveable as the concept that ludacris is considered a real rapper.
Josh
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 12:08 PMsentance
choosk
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 12:20 PMsentence
Ozoneocean
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 1:19 PMWankers
Commander Shepard
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 2:09 PM+1
Vebi
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 6:16 PMI lol’d.
James
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 3:34 PMSo NatC, enlighten with your extensive knowledge on the advancements of Autostereoscopic TV, that your “friend” in “Dubai” has witnessed.
You strike me as the kind of person that walks into one of these stores with the sole purpose of looking to antagonise and you are blind to anything but criticism.
I am sure this person didn’t react anywhere near the way you describe and quite possibly simply stated that there are no Autostereoscopic TV’s available on a consumer level yet, which at this point in time is the complete truth.
Sure Harvey Norman and other Retailers have some very poor quality staff on hand, but there are also some that offer brilliant service. Customers like you walk in to a store thinking you know better will never be pleased with great service even if it was provided.
Cam
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:33 AMWhen someone asks me about the quality of any digital cable, I ask them whether they pay $100 for a network cable for their computer. It’s the same thing, apart from some minor differences in finish quality (plug and cable type), 1 digital cable is not going to transport bits any better than another digital cable.
Tasirith
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:41 AMGood article on HDMI cables here – http://www.cnet.com.au/why-all-hdmi-cables-are-the-same-part-2-339326185.htm
Cam
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:21 AMThanks Tasirith, its an interesting read and I’ll book mark it for the next time I inevitably get asked about this again.
I bought a home theatre from HN once (hey, it was on special!) and the salesguy attempted the upsell on me for a HDMI cable (I asked for the cheapest one they had and he was trying to get me to spend more than twice as much on a brand name one). When i said that all HDMI cables are the same he looked at me as though I’d called his mum a nasty name.
The flip side of all this (overpriced cables and accessories) is whether the consumer is the cause of the problem. If we werent expecting crazy cheap prices on the thing we are actually buying (tv, computer, printer), would stores still feel the need to make their money back on cables and accessories which have 300/400/500% markup?
Greg
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 7:46 PMWith the exception of long cable runs, eg. > 10 or 15 meters, where a heavier gauge cable does actually make a difference to the signal arriving vs. not arriving.
And cables of greater than that length do tend to be rather expensive.
Chodelay
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 12:02 AM“Is that the best price you can do on this?”
Yes, I don’t spend half of my day ticketing the store to make it all up in the end. Go f*** off home without anything new.
Strat
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:34 AM“See what your missing?”
Quality English, speaks volumes for the product these numpties are trying to push.
Michael
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:59 AMBut to answer the question on what you’re missing, that would be money better spent on either a bluray player, or bluray movies.
I seen a guy once go up to someone in JB looking at HDMI cables and tell him they are cheaper at a computer shop. or online on ebay. They customer still bought a $50 cable
Esophagus
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:07 AMThat’s because browngoods sellers often toe their own cost price. We’re expected to sell attachments on trigger items or we’re not doing our job, apparently.
Ollie
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:47 AMCommenting on a comment about grammar, and using the word “seen”… hmmms.
Tism
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:43 AMI’ve been in retail consumer electronics for about 7 years. I can tell you that the pic above is simply borderline misleading. Yes you do get crappy composite cables in the box with most AV gear and yes thats what a monster cable will do to your picture.
The problem here is simply avoiding mention of other HDMI cables, pointing consumers to the monster range immediately. This is where the money is, Harvey himself says their selling TV’s lower than the price they buy them which is absolutely true. Most of my mates work for Harvey’s and this is the reality, the markup on monster is how they get by. The minimum markup on a monster cable is 50%. Flagship stores get them even cheaper at times coz they buy in the masses and cut crazy deals. The most obsurd figure i’ve seen is a $249 monster HDMI 2 meter cable with a cost price of $25 once. So good infact that i snapped 3 up myself for that price.
Accessories like this is the bread and butter of shops like Harvey’s and JB noadays.
richard
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:45 AMWhilst not disputing the con going on here, I bought a pair of beats in-ear buds and they are some of the best in ear headphones i ahve heard. Beat similar priced earphones from Shure and Sennheiser
I dodnt buy them for the fashion, i bought for the sound
Denis
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:53 AMThat’s OK “rag ears”
MDolley
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:56 AMThere are only two possible explanations for something like this…
1) Gerry decided that he too would like a gold segway
2) The Monster CEO decided that he wanted a SECOND gold segway
Inquisitorsz
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:04 AMStraight to consumer affairs?
Alan
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:04 AMJust got back from China and the number one pirated product at the moment would have to be Dr Dre Beats….
Cameron
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 3:11 PMI’m in China at the moment, and the quality of the pirated Beats isn’t too far off the actual thing…
Fungusbutt
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 2:13 AMso ….they are both shite?
noko
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:05 AMCan this be reported to the ACCC? That is clearly false advertising. Actually I might report them myself to spite Gerry.
BCK
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 12:07 PMIt may be subtly misleading, but it’s certainly not false advertising.
Read the cards in front of the panels.
Johnd
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:16 AMIt is deceptive, but probably technically accurate. Most players, etc, don’t come with HDMI cables included to lower the cost. They only have composite or perhaps s-video, so the “cable in the box” will not be HDMI.
TSH
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:28 AMExactly. This is not deceptive or misleading: the cable that came in the box for that particular TV probably was not HDMI. Putting aside the mystery of why this is the case when a consumer can get HDMI for a couple bux online, the fact is that the display is an accurate depiction of the difference in quality you get from using one cable vs another.
Harveys *could* set up the same display with “$5 yum-cha HDMI” instead of Monster and it’d look identical, but where’s the profit in that?
FlexibleBollocksTweekage
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 2:44 AMAs already explained elsewhere (and I thought this was obvious) it IS deceptive. HN proposes the Monster brand of HDMi cable will acheive the improvement. It suggests the Monster brand of cable is superior to one in the box but many sheeple don’t know one cable is analogue and the other is digital. HN conveniently leaves this information out to create the perception that it is in fact the Monster product that created the improvement.
We need to mobilise with the truth. Spray paint “Monster is a sham” outside of Hardly Normal stores!
advice dog
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:20 AMmy mother was tricked into a monster cable from harvey norman years ago.
Trav
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:22 AMA few years ago when buying a tv i got offered 30% off a HDMI cable in lieu of the discount i was pushing for. The cheapest cable at the time was $99. OK so the guy was an idiot offering $30 off inplace of the $200 discount but i couldn’t resist telling him cables are cables and only and idiot would pay more than about $10 for one. He proceeded to tell me you can’t find them at that price and if you did if would not compare and how he knew what he was talking about. So I left and bought it online with free delivery and installation!!! Nice one Gerry.
Gismon
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 1:41 PMWhat you don’t realise is that he probably got slapped around the head by his manager after that. Working in consumer electronics, I can tell you that if you discount tv’s and don’t get attachments, you would be better off not having made the sale at all. The one who does $2000 in sales and has a good attachment rate is fine. The one who does $5000 and has a poor attachment rate is getting yelled at before they go home
Nicholas
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:25 AMShould swap them around.
StevoTheDevo
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:52 AMbrilliant!
cleverclogs
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:34 AMThis makes me cry. I cringe and become thoroughly depressed every time I ‘have’ to go into HN :(
Big Windows
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:34 AMWould probably pass if tested on whether the display was technically correct (Unfortunately it would appear to be as the monster cable is being compared to the ‘Cable in the box’). I think it might fail on the ‘reasonable person’ test. Would a person reasonably (or a reasonable person) expect the same cable types to be compared, not different cable types… Yes… I do think that this would fail in this circumstance…
Miguel
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:37 AMSaw this at Harvey Norman Malaga in Perth some time back so it’s a common trick and yes, they were also using composite on the other tv
Cameron
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:41 AM“Cable in the box”, Most of the AV equipment I’ve bought over the years didn’t come with any cables. I wonder what box they’re talking about here???
BCK
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 12:08 PMEvery consumer DVD/blurry player I sell comes with a composite lead. And a small number with their own hdmi.
Cameron
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 1:30 PMIn those situations this would be 100% correct and not at all misleading then. The fact is if you’re using a composite cable for your Blu-Ray player, upgrading to a Monster brand HDMI cable WILL give you much better picture and audio.
Dan
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 2:21 PMFrom memory, I think the misleading and deceptive conduct would be subject to a reasonable person test. I think a reasonable person would imagine that the Monster cable was being compared to another HDMI cable, whatever is or isn’t “in the box”. Otherwise, the comparison is meaningless. The semantics are irrelevant when the intention is clearly to mislead, and when a reasonable person could be easily misled.
x
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:50 AMIs the pope Catholic?
Phillo
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 11:07 AMThe reality of this situation is this:
If you have read this article and know that its a scam, then HN ARE NOT pitching at you. They are selling to mums and dads who have no idea what they are buying and will ultimately put the whole purchase through on “interest free” accounts.
Whats $100 for a cable when you are paying it off over 4 years? :)
Gerry makes ALL his money on accessories and finance.