As a child I remember having vivid memories of over-hyped adverts for MFI.
Before every Bank Holiday there were TV adverts saying that prices at MFI were slashed only for the duration of the Bank Holiday weekend. The MFI salesman literally screamed the offers on the adverts and you felt like turning the TV off.
In the 1970s we read the News of the World regularly. Often MFI would take out full-page adverts literally begging the public to visit the nearest store.
Even at that age I felt that the advertising was tacky. I remember vowing to myself that when I became older I would avoid MFI at all costs.
But fate does a habit of intervening. After graduating from university I found digs to live in near my first job in Chatham, Kent. My room had everything except any shelf space. In a panic I asked my landlord where I could buy shelves and he suggested MFI.
It was time to swallow my pride and visit the MFI store. It was located in a business park adjoining companies such as B & Q. There was plenty of parking space available. The store had plenty of floor space to roam around in. Certainly the adverts gave a misleading image of the store.
The store was well lit and nicely laid out. There were sections for the bathroom, kitchen, living room etc. The store was clean and there was a certain ambience to the place.
I expected the shelves to be ready assembled. But when I found what I was looking for, the shelving unit came in a flat pack and had to be assembled manually by me.
At school I was close to hopeless at woodwork. I made a chessboard at the age of 12 but that was about it. The thought of assembling the unit petrified me.
When I had opened the box the pieces of wood already had holes drilled in and hundreds of screws were provided to hold the unit together. All I had to do was follow the instruction sheet and build the unit. After a few minutes I gave up.
Over a weekend my landlord built the unit for me. I was so grateful I bought him a pack of lager and a bottle of wine.
I have read horror stories involving MFI units. Often screws were missing or the built unit fell apart after a few days. I really wonder how the average person copes with putting together an MFI unit.
About 6 months after I bought the unit I moved into a flat. Disassembling the unit was another chore. Anyway a friend managed to remove 2/3 of the unit, attached it to his car roof rack and drove it to my new flat. I am sure that parts of the unit are still cluttering the roads of Chatham.
I still have that unit today mainly as a reminder of hard times. The unit is wobbling a little and may soon topple over.
I must add that my last visit to an MFI store was in 1984. I have since avoided the store like the plague. I would guess that improvements have been made in the past 17 years. Perhaps the instructions on assembling the units are user-friendlier nowadays. Perhaps you can assemble the units in a shorter period. May be the moon is made out of blue cheese.
Over the past 3 or 4 years there has been an upsurge in interest in DIY. This is mainly due to TV programmes such as Changing Rooms etc. My wife is an avid fan of these programmes. Sometimes she coerces me into watching these programmes. Having no interest at all in DIY, I spend this time fruitfully watching Anna Ryder-Richardson in action. Call me shallow if you wish.
In 1990 I was called for a job interview with MFI at its office in Colindale, North London. I had to negotiate a steep incline from the tube station to the office. I remember thinking that even if I landed the job I would not be fit enough to travel to work.
The interview was a unique experience. At first I was told to sit in an empty room. A few minutes later a member of staff came in to interview me. He seemed more nervous than I was. He asked the usual interview questions and left after 20 minutes.
After a delay of a few minutes another member of staff came in to interview me. She asked basically the same questions as the previous interviewer. After her another interviewer repeated the same process. Now I knew how Bill Murray felt in ‘Groundhog Day’.
Finally a team leader interviewed me for the 4th time that day. As I left the office 4 female Indian dancers began laughing at me without reason. MFI must have that effect on people. I did not get the job.
Last year a Sunday newspaper tipped MFI as a share to buy. You should avoid most newspaper share tips anyway as the share tip is already built into the price. Needless to say that after the share tip MFI shares did not rise.
I really admire those people who can assemble MFI units without any hassle or fuss. Unfortunately I am not one of them and never will be.
More details
City / Branch address
Chatham, Kent
Frequency of visit
Never
Layout & presentation
Good
In store customer service
Good
After-sales service
Satisfactory
Waiting / queues
Medium
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