Tried to buy a tumble dryer recently in Comet. I picked one and told the salesman. He explained that they had none in stock...they would have to order one from the suppliers then charge me £20 for delivery.
Decided to get one from my mail order catalogue; again I was told that it would come direct from the suppliers and it would take up to ten days.
In sheer exasperation I ordered one at Argos. Once I'd queued to pay I was told it would come direct from the suppliers and there would be a ten day wait.
It's now over ten days and still no dryer...
I seem to remember when you ordered something from a store they delivered soon after...what's with all this 'direct from suppliers'?

All it means is that none of the retailers have to keep stocks.

They just order as and when they are needed, and that frees up money that would other wise be tied up with stock, and the have no worries about unsold stock.

So why don't I just drive to where the stock is kept, pick what I want and have them deliver? put another way, what is the point of the showroom??

One word...money :thumbsup:

Try doing a search and buy online.I looked around for a new TV,saw one in Curries.Went home and searched for same make and model,came up with Curries but £50 cheaper and free delivery!No problem.

Originally posted by mullet
Tried to buy a tumble dryer recently in Comet. I picked one and told the salesman. He explained that they had none in stock...they would have to order one from the suppliers then charge me £20 for delivery.
Decided to get one from my mail order catalogue; again I was told that it would come direct from the suppliers and it would take up to ten days.
In sheer exasperation I ordered one at Argos. Once I'd queued to pay I was told it would come direct from the suppliers and there would be a ten day wait.
It's now over ten days and still no dryer...
I seem to remember when you ordered something from a store they delivered soon after...what's with all this 'direct from suppliers'?

Hello mullet, we had the same problem getting a fridge.We ordered one from Argos,waited the ten days and when it finally arrived it was damaged, so we were told we would have to wait another ten days.In the end we cancelled the order,got our money back and went to Factory Shack at parkgate shopping centre, they delivered one the next day for £10. They have loads of different appliances (actually in stock) and give excellent service.
good luck
deecee

Hello mullet again, I forgot to add that Factory Shack were £20 cheaper for the same item
deecee

My mate runs a domestic appliance store and if it's on the shelf, it's in stock. If it's not it's usually delivered free of charge within a week. He's also cheaper than the big stores.
I wouldn't buy anything from the likes of Curries, Comet, PC World etc.. on principle.

Originally posted by Lurch
My mate runs a domestic appliance store and if it's on the shelf, it's in stock. If it's not it's usually delivered free of charge within a week. He's also cheaper than the big stores.
I wouldn't buy anything from the likes of Curries, Comet, PC World etc.. on principle.

What if his store turned into 2 stores, 3 stores, etc, etc, until it became a large chain of stores similar to Curries? Would you stop buying there on principle?

He won't, he's just sold a chunk of the business off as it was getting too big and less personal. He has had plenty of opportunities over the last 2-3 years to open another couple of stores.

The part of the business that he sold was the repairs side, which went to the engineer that he had working for him, who happens to be another mate.

Most companies have got out of the way of having large warehouses with unsold stock in them, this is for money reasons mostly. A warehouse costs money to run and the land it stands on costs money.
I used to run a warehouse and the management were forever coming round with their tape measures as the actual stock area was costing them because it wasn't being used as a production area. As a result the warehouse got smaller and smaller, the production area got bigger and bigger and the customers had to wait longer and longer for their ordered item.

Originally posted by Lurch
He won't, he's just sold a chunk of the business off as it was getting too big and less personal. He has had plenty of opportunities over the last 2-3 years to open another couple of stores.

The part of the business that he sold was the repairs side, which went to the engineer that he had working for him, who happens to be another mate.

Hyperthetically speaking though, in the situation I posted above, what would you do?

Originally posted by t020
Hyperthetically speaking though, in the situation I posted above, what would you do?
Depends. If he expanded to a reasonable size and could still offer me a good service as he does now then I'd probably still buy from him.
If he expanded and started to lose day to day control of the business I'd go somewhere else.
It's not really the size of the business that I am against, it's the fact that if you go to one of the big stores you pay more but get some pillock serving you who knows less about the products in the store than you. If you go into my mates shop you get served by someone who knows what they're talking about.

Originally posted by Lurch
Depends. If he expanded to a reasonable size and could still offer me a good service as he does now then I'd probably still buy from him.
If he expanded and started to lose day to day control of the business I'd go somewhere else.
It's not really the size of the business that I am against, it's the fact that if you go to one of the big stores you pay more but get some pillock serving you who knows less about the products in the store than you. If you go into my mates shop you get served by someone who knows what they're talking about.

Yes I understand that. Sometimes though, when they have offers on, the bigger stores can be the cheapest. It's just a case of avoiding being hounded by the over eager, under knowledgeable employees.

I still wouldn't go in if they were cheaper, I'd rather pay a bit extra to someone offering a good service. Believe it or not, I do have the aforementioned principles!

Originally posted by Lurch
I still wouldn't go in if they were cheaper, I'd rather pay a bit extra to someone offering a good service. Believe it or not, I do have the aforementioned principles!

Even if you knew EXACTLY what you wanted and didn't need any customer service?

Yep, principles you see! I wouldn't give them a penny of my hard earned cash, they don't deserve it.

Originally posted by Lurch
Yep, principles you see! I wouldn't give them a penny of my hard earned cash, they don't deserve it.

:lol: Ok, well I must not have the same principles then. :hihi:

Obviously not! ;)

Some retailers are on the ISTEL system for white goods. It enables them to offer the full range of products without stocking them all. (Some aren't and just get selected lines direct from the manufacturer.

To avoid paying the delivery cost - buy from John Lewis. They absorb delivery costs, have a 3 day lead on goods stocked at their own warehouse and have the rest available on the usual ISTEL system. Second year guarantee is free, and further warranty is offered at a narrow margin (so is not a money spinner/rip off).

Depending on the size/warehouse arrangements of the JL store you shop in, you may find some selected stock available for collection same day.

(I used to work for the P'boro' branch)

i thought john lewis were always generally more expensive than other shops though?

it's always been the case for what i've bought in the past, can't say the customer service is any better..... small independent shops are usually best in my experience if ur after real customer service