Cheaper Than Off The Back Of A Lorry
 Jun 27th, 2001
Advantages:
Very good prices . All the main manufacturers .
Disadvantages:
Problems with deliveries and after sales service??
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Layout & Design
Range of services/products
Prices
Purchase tracking function
more
  the_mad_cabbie
About me:
WYSIWYG....Judging by the length of time it took me to reach "gold dot" status, I should g...
Member since:06.12.2000
Reviews:678
Members who trust:867
Review rated by 53 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
This review received a counterstatement by a party concerned
Read Comment
~ ~ I’m currently on the lookout for a new widescreen TV to get the full benefit of all the movies I now have to watch and re-watch ever since I began to write reviews about them here at Ciao. ~ ~ As lots of you are aware, I am an ex-pat Scotsman living here in Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin is a wonderful city, and Ireland a marvellous country to live in, but the plain and simple truth is that it is also a FAR more expensive country than the UK when it comes to purchasing practically anything you care to name, electrical goods being no exception.
The exchange rate of the Irish Punt to the Pound Sterling is not too good at the moment, (about 75p) but even allowing for this, it is still a whole lot cheaper for me to buy most things over the Internet than in my local stores.
~ ~ So when I spotted an advert in the Sunday Times “Doors” supplement for an online electrical
goods retailer in the UK called Empire Direct, who seemed to be offering everything at incredibly discounted prices, it was a case of straight onto the old (or in my case new, heh,heh!!) computer, and log on right away. ~ ~ The first thing that really caught my eye at the site was the very cheesy looking cartoon character girl, wearing a uniform that made her look like an air hostess from a bad 1950’s airline commercial. (What kind of marketing people do these companies employ??)
But if you can manage to ignore the “hostess” lady, there is absolutely no doubt that there are some truly incredible bargains and savings to be had here, when compared to major high street retailers like Currys or Dixons.
~ ~ Always the “canny Scot”, both by birth and nature, the first section I noticed was headed up “Clearance Sale”, and straight off I found something of interest.
A Hitachi 28 inch widescreen TV, with all the appropriate bells and whistles, reduced in price from £500 to £360. (It was actually £499.99 to £359.99, but even us Scots fellas don’t quibble too much about the odd penny these days!)
Also in this section were two bargain DVD players; a Samsung (£230 down to £140) and a Pioneer (£200 down to £150)
If you were in the market for a new VCR, then they had a Sharp 4-head Nicam Stereo Video for only £95. (down from £130)
The items in this clearance section are not brand new, but “ex-display” stock, but they are still delivered fully boxed and carrying the manufacturer’s full guarantee. (Can’t be bad!!) ~ ~ In the “Home Appliances” section they had a full and very comprehensive selection of items like washing machines, cookers, fridges, freezers, and vacuum cleaners from all the leading manufacturers, all again well below the prices you would be paying in the high street stores.
~ ~ The “In Car Media” section has all that you car buffs out there could possibly desire in terms of music-makers for your set of wheels.
Whether it is a radio cassette, CD player or changer, speakers, or whatever, you will find it here, and once again at prices to please the heart and pocket. ~ ~ Other sections that will be of interest to people include Photography, Communications and Computing.
~ ~ There is the usual “shopping basket” feature that you find on most sites these days, and payment is made in the usual manner by using your credit card.
It’s a secure site, using “Thawte” 128-bit Strong Encryption, (whatever that means) so you don’t have to worry about your credit card details being purloined and mis-used by some smelly on-line computer geek. (wonder if that’s a self-description, nah, I shower every day!!)
There’s also a promise to refund you 120% of the difference if you can manage to find the same item anywhere else in the UK at a cheaper price within seven days of your purchase. (sounds fair) ~ ~ They say will deliver direct to your home or office address anywhere within the UK within a few days. As I haven’t actually bought anything from them yet, I don’t know if they deliver to Ireland or not, but I can always get it delivered to a friend’s address in the North (the British part) if needs be.
One little word of warning here. I’ve read a couple of other reviews on this company both here and at dooyoo, (I ALWAYS do this before I’d dream of using any service these days) and one or two have talked about problems with delivery and their aftercare service.
So you might well be advised to check that they actually have the item you want in stock before going ahead and ordering, or you could end up waiting ages for delivery.
Also check out the price they will charge you for delivery, as some writers have commented that this can sometimes be a bit OTT.
They don’t have an order tracking system in place yet, but a banner on the site proclaims that they are “working” on this feature, and that it will be made available in late June, 2001.
~ ~ I’ll probably use them after I return from holidays in late August, but just at the moment all my spare cash is being saved for this purpose. So I’ll update this opinion as and when I actually make a purchase.
All considered, this seems like a very useful site to add to your favourites section on your computer, and to keep in mind for the next time you are looking to purchase new electrical goods.
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by (6%):
21.11.2002 01:48
I rate them highly. Bought a widescreen TV from them recently and got a great deal. Just ordered a digital camcorder from them. We'll have to see how long delivery takes..... It was VERY efficient last time! Andrew
19.07.2001 09:12
This op made me chuckle you barmy scotsman :) Informative and well written.. Great op!! Mel xx
01.07.2001 19:52
Depends on the lorry Timmy....Heh, heh......Ken