Euronics is a network of independent retailers of electrical goods. Formed around ten years ago, they claim to be ‘the largest independent electrical buying group in Europe’, offering the best deals on highest-quality brand names. Their members are generally family-run businesses, as opposed to the main high street names like Dixons, Currys et al.

They can offer competitive prices through bulk purchasing. Although these may be slightly higher than ‘the big boys’, that is more than balanced out by their far higher standard of after-sales service.

I live in a small town in Devon. For the last few years, we have purchased our major electrical and household items through a Euronics store, Searle & Son, based in another small-to-medium town six miles away. These included a fridge, television and video recorder, TV headphone unit (for the benefit of my mother who is hard of hearing), CD player, and last but not least the Pentium 4 without which I would not be unleashing these words upon the ciao readership. It also provides a DIY photocopying service at 5p per A4 sheet.

For several years, we used to do the usual cheap’n’cheerful thing of buying items from a chain store mainly because the price was right – or seemed right. Wrong, actually. If something went wrong with the music centre or computer, it was the devil of a job getting it fixed. Ring up, pack it up and take it in - and yes, park your car on double yellow lines just so you can carry the boxes back into the shop as quickly as possible...you get the picture. Alternatively, you might be provided with a service telephone number at a call centre the other side of the country to make an appointment for someone to come and look at it next week – er, rather less than ideal.

Should the goods be purchased through our local friendly Euronics outlet, the problem doesn’t really arise. As they are generally small shops, it can sometimes take a while for them to answer the phone (especially if someone is off sick, of course – these folks are human just like us). This is the only snag I’ve yet encountered. That apart, they are generally prompt at sending staff out to come and fix the problem, or alternatively replace the goods.

Just over a year ago we needed to replace my mother’s TV headphone set. The one they sold us proved particularly troublesome after a few weeks, and eventually gave up altogether. As that model had been discontinued, they replaced it with a different, rather more sophisticated one by the same manufacturer, costing almost twice as much. Nothing more to pay. Mind you, we did spend an afternoon trying to set it up, failing, and having to arrange for someone from the shop to tell us what we were doing wrong. It was indeed faulty, so he came and set up another replacement – and made sure it WAS working – without question.

My current computer is the third I have purchased. I bought the previous two elsewhere, and in each case had to bring them home and install them myself. For my present one, a technician from the shop delivered everything, set it up, checked the internet connection and scanner for me. The only thing he (should I say we) forgot was to check that it would print from MS Word. But a phone call and another visit early the following week put that to rights.

If they sell you something larger and it needs to be taken back for repair, they’ll lend you a replacement from stock until yours is working properly again. This was particularly helpful when my CD player had a bad attack of skipping last year. If it’s something large like a TV, they’ll do the transport both ways if you ask.

Should you want advice on buying stereos, fridges, washing machines, mobile phones, digital TV et al, this is the place to come. Maybe I shouldn’t tar everybody with the same brush, but most high street stores seem more concerned with selling goods, getting their commission and clearing the shop floor space for the next delivery, than actually answering customers’ questions and providing a service as well.

When my present music centre packs up (and I’ve had it for twelve years, apart from the CD player which was purchased separately and added on later), I know where I’ll be going for the next. Last time I was there, they had a rather picturesque little number, including a turntable (essential for vinyl dinosaurs like moi). That’ll do nicely.

If you want to find your nearest Euronics centre, go to www.euronics.co.uk and click on ‘Your nearest store’. You’ll be taken to a map of the UK, where you click on your area, and up will come a list of all outlets arranged by county and then town or city (or London and area of same). For example there are 32 in London altogether, 18 in Devon, including 2 in Exeter and 2 in Plymouth, as well as several distributed evenly throughout the other county towns.

Say goodbye to your can’t-be-bothered chain store today. And if you work for Dixons, Currys or one of the others, please accept my apologies. You’re still wonderful people, but...well, in my experience Euronics is just that little bit more wonderful.