365electrical.com > Reviews (59)

As with a fridge (see my 24-7electricals review) we also needed a washin machine - quick.

It's not possible to search for items by delivery times on shopping engines or even suppliers' sites! How strange, surely I can't be the only person who wants things as soon as possible and for whom this is more important than the exact brand, colour or shape of the door handle?

I used PriceRunner shopping engine to find the best value supplier of the washing machine I chose. I also needed one willing to deliver to an address different from the billing address. I picked a Leicester company called 365electrical (www.365electrical.com).

365electrical seem to offer pretty much full range of kitchen appliances from big dueal fuel vens to microwaves, bread makers and even taps and sinks. Apart from that they also sell TVs and DVDs.

The range is impressive: for example they offered 244 front-loading and another 14 top-loading washing machines; as a comparison Argos had 80 in total and Comet 78.

As far as prices go 365electrical, unfortunately, not necessarily offer the best value. I did a few checks regarding fridges and washing machines using PriceRunner and it seems that they are more likely to be competitive on cheaper models (my washer was a Bosch one in the under £300 bracket) while charge higher prices than several other online retailers for higher-end items.

The site is reasonably easy to use and offers standard menus for browsing as well as a search facility and a product selector by appliance type, price and a manufacturer. The home page has also featured products on special offer.

Search results can be ordered by manufacturer or price. The thing I particularly liked about the site is the fact that it immediately tells you if the product is in stock, how many are available and what the delivery timeline would be if it's not in stock.

They deliver to UK mainland only and the delivery is free over £100. The on-line checkout seems simple and easy. I didn't use it as delivery times were very important for me. I wanted to know exactly when the product will be with me and thus I bought my appliance over the phone. The number is a 'normal' phone number (Leicester) and open only during conventional working hours (close at 5:25 weekdays and 3:55 on Saturday) so national charges would apply unless you have a special deal, but waiting times were short and people on the phone work on commission so they are quite keen to be useful. In fact, the website encourages buyers to phone for 'live buying advice'. There is no extra charge for telephone orders either.

The person I spoke to was able to confirm that they delivered twice a week in my postcode area and as my machine was in stock and I bought it on Friday it was delivered on Monday - they seem to need a day to process the order which is rather good (cf. 24-7 which took 10 days to process and 13 to deliver despite advertising 48 hour delivery timelines).

**Verdict**

Definitely recommended! Possibly because of the contrast with my appalling experience with 24-7electricals I was seriously impressed with the fact that everything went OK with the whole experience.

The prices for lower-end items are definitely competitive, the website tells you if items are in stock (and how many), they don't charge extra for telephone orders and they work on Saturdays too. Delivery for items in stock seems to be arranged within about 24 hours (I had an item delivered on Monday after ordering it on Friday but it would depend on delivery dates to your particular postcode).