despite my problems having a washing machine delivered in one piece from
Siemens (see earlier post), I ordered from BE Direct www.be-direct.co.uk
They have been very helpful in sorting out my problems with siemens, and
their prices are very good.

Kerry

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 10:58:26 +0000, Adrian Simpson
wrote:

Now at the stage where about the only thing left to do with the kitchen
is to get a new fridge freezer. Looking for a 50/50 built in jobby.

I've been having a rummage around on the web and have come across a
bewildering number of suppliers, whose prices seem fairly consistent
(and about 75% of the electrical sheds). So I was wondering if anyone
had any suggestions for online supplies to use or avoid. I prefer to
use "real" shops, but with savings in the region of £100-200 (depending
on model) in the offing, it looks as though this online shopping might
have something going for it.


TIA

Adrian

For domestic appliances, shops offer no value at all apart from being
able to go and look at some models before you buy.

In most cases, manufacturers are doing direct to customer delivery to
reduce cost since the more hands and warehouses something passes
through, the more the cost and the more likely it is to get damaged.

In effect, whether you buy from a shop or an on-line place, an order
gets entered on the manufacturer and you receive the product usually
directly from the manufacturer more and more.

As far as service is concerned, either manufacturers have their own
operation or they sub it out to local one man operations.

So, the only issue is protecting yourself in the event of an issue
with the purchase. your contract is with the shop or the online
seller, not the manufacturer. You can protect yourself quite
effectively by buying with a credit card - this way the card company
becomes liable with the seller so that even if the seller goes broke
you have protection With recent legislation on distance selling, you
have even more rights such as the ability to return goods for any
reason in a short time.

In terms of where to buy, I would just use Google. There are
numerous sites that will give you the best price - but don't rely on
one, then also they have reviews from individuals about how that
trader performs.

You may find places like John Lewis running the same higher prices on
line as in their stores, but then sweetening with a 5 year warranty or
something like that. If that's useful to you, then it may be a
factor in your decision.




.andy

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