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I've been doing up a house for months now and I am sick of getting issues with stuff ordered online. Worktops were a complete palaver, as was the kitchen and parts of the bathroom. Stuff I got from Amazon was ok but now got problems with a cooker hood I ordered from Ao.com - faulty from the box but they are trying to send an engineer out (really? For a £200 cooker hood?) rather than just send me a new one on exchange.
I try to buy local as much as I can but some stuff you just can't buy from local shops and sometimes the savings are so great you have to go online. Not sure it's always worth it though.
The most annoying thing is local shops where you go in and they basically order it online there and then from you so there's little point in going into the shop anyway.
Grrrr. Not a great rant but I'm generally calm and collected anyway and don't swear, not even in asterisks!!
I agree about buying new goods online and the amount of damages/faults etc.
My job entails fitting kitchen and bathroom stuff into houses that either we have supplied, or customers have bought themselves. Sometimes I spend more time fixing or re-engineering the damn thing to fit than it's worth. Not all cheap as chips eBay crap either, the shop I subcontract for sell high end gear and even that doesn't fit/work sometimes.
It's normal for kitchen appliances to have a service engineer sent out rather than replacement however as they can usually fix in situ.
Bought some 7 speed parts to repair a friends bike and a new set of 29+ rims for me on Chainreaction, order went through and i have an order number... check on their website after a week to find that actually order didn't go through as 2 of the 3 parts are out of stock, no notice from them, nothing to say order actually hadn't gone through at all
I suspect kitchen appliance suppliers like to send out an engineer, as he will check if the installation is correct, and if he finds a problem, the customer will get a bill for the call-out and no warranty.
This is definitely our experience with SMEG (in a new-build house).
Personally think the savings are worth it.
Taps and bathroom fittings especially - prices made local diy shops look ridiculous. I always used business sellers on eBay and got good service when things were wrong - like a shower part that was broken, they replaced without hassle.
I'm certainly never buying a computer, in bits, on-line again - even though it saved me £200 initially it's not been worth the hassle (more in terms of faults than items not turning up).
To cap it all I bought a replacement motherboard as didn't want to wait the 2-3 weeks for a warranty replacement, was from Amazon with Prime to be delivered Saturday. I heard a car door outside, by the time I got up and looked out the window a guy was driving off and he'd just left it outside my door, didn't even ring the bell and even more odd it's not packaged at all (apart from the retail box, which wasn't even sealed, literally just a retail box with a delivery label stuck on it). Thankfully everything was inside and it's working...
The cooker hood I've got isn't even out the box yet!
I have had some folk just disappear with my money, but usually it's been "too good to be true" deals, so lesson learned.
Savings are worth it I think.
Tell you who was good - Bristan taps, amazing service from them.
Finally got in touch with Ao and they are sending out a new one on Thursday. Not very happy, hope this one is ok.
I went to a local kitchen appliances place/Neff dealer and asked what deal they could do if I committed to buy all 3 appliances from them. Their price beat appliances direct, ao etc. Sometimes you've just got to ask
Still had to order in advance but picked up in person
Currys were insistent that they needed the serial number of a glass cooker hood that had shattered upon delivery before replacing it - stuck to my guns that I wasn't about to fish about in a box full of shattered glass and eventually they gave in. Otherwise pretty good experiences on the whole
now got problems with a cooker hood I ordered from Ao.com - faulty from the box [b]but they are trying to send an engineer out (really? For a £200 cooker hood?) rather than just send me a new one on exchange[/b]
Finally got in touch with Ao and they are sending out a new one on Thursday. Not very happy, hope this one is ok.
?
Online is easy isn't it, no need to speak to people no need to deal with them,no awkward haggle.
Locally there will be a salesman or distributor for nearly everything you want just need to ask.
[i]glass cooker hood that had shattered upon delivery[/i]
Reminds me, I ordered a glass TV stand online and as the delivery bloke put it down for me to sign for it all the glass came tumbling out the bottom of the box 😆
Money was refunded, no question. A bit annoying, cos it was the style I wanted, not really ordered for the price. Ended up getting a wood shelved one.
Online is easy isn't it, no need to speak to people no need to deal with them,no awkward haggle
Yup, I suspect sarcasm, but this is a big plus for me.