Middle aged with one grown up and one teenage daughter I live above a day nursery and work very hard...
Middle aged with one grown up and one teenage daughter I live above a day nursery and work very hard to improve childcare and education for under fives.
Member since:07.10.2001
Reviews:15
Members who trust:1
I've had a terrible fortnight. I have had two broken down cookers, two broken down dishwashers, one broken down freezer and one broken down washing machine. I have had to replace one cooker and two dishwashers. Now, before you begin to think that I am some kind of domestic appliance fetishist (is there such a thing?) or that I have shares in Hoover, let me explain. I run four day nurseries. So that means that I need four dishwashers, four fridge freezers, four washing machines, four tumble driers, four cookers, four microwaves and.....need I go on? And all that is before I have anything to use at home. So when we get a run
of things going wrong the scope for things to go wrong is gigantic. As you see. Anyway....
I replaced one cooker from a local store. And for the Welsh nursery I bought a 'b'grade dishwasher from the nearby appliance factory. (I am the last of the big spenders, you know) But when the second dishwasher went it was in a nursery nowhere near the Welsh factory and I had to go shopping. So I let my fingers do the walking on the keyboard and I found www.comet.co.uk.
Now, I am impressed by this site. It sells 'b' grade machines at good prices. It works. (Always an advantage and not something you can take for granted with every website, I find.) But the thing that really impressed me was that it has special online prices on certain goods. And on the afternoon of Friday last (This is Thursday) it was selling a perfect D63W Indesit dishwasher for £183. That means they were offering a 25.8% discount over their store price of £239.65. There was a £6 charge for connecting the machine when you bought online, as opposed to £17.95 if you ordered this through the store and they asked you to check a box if you wanted them to take the old one away for free. Which I did and so they did, if you see what I mean
When I went through the ordering process, which was simple, a drop down menu asked me to choose when I'd like it delivered. This was Friday afternoon and the site offered me a Monday delivery. You have to pick a second choice as well so I picked Tuesday. There is a facility for giving special instructions and they have a rather chummy little example to help you suggesting you might want to tell the man to knock loudly if your bell doesn't work. I thought Monday was very optimistic but very soon after ordering a very nice young man rang me up and politely explained that their deliveries were full and apologising profusely he offered me a Thursday delivery. I was very happy with this as none of the other sites I had visited could manage delivery in anything like four working days. I was also very glad to explain more fully to him that if a dishwasher arrived during nursery lunch that could be a problem and he promised to do his best to make sure that didn't happen. And in the event it didn't. Hurrah!
It is now Thursday. Ths dishwasher came early this morning. Two chaps cheerfully removed the old one and plumbed this one in removing all the packaging in the process. They didn't object when they saw that the only way to get the old one out or this one in was to lift it bodily over a sink unit. The morning snack, lunch and tea dishes have all been duly washed. Val the cook is singing in the kitchen again (damn).
So, this website.
It is easy to use. The menus take you easily to the section that you want and the subdivisions make sense. Dishwashers are divided into full size and compact/slimline for example. The forms for ordering make perfect sense and even I didn't manage to buy the wrong thing or send it off to the wrong address. The price of the dishwasher I bought is excellent and the service on delivery and installation absolutely outstanding, although if I were to be really picky I would ask why they were still offering Monday deliveries when they couldn't do them. But I don't mind because I got to have a chatty phone call with a very nice young man (I've just realised I sound like a Harry Enfield character, sorry!)
As with all online shopping you need to check models and prices but I will always go to this site to check what they have on offer now because this deal was by far the best I saw anywhere.
There we have it. A simple site, very good prices, a nice young man and two very obliging delivery persons, also of the male persuasion. What more could one want?
PS If anyone knows anything about domestic appliance fetishes...just keep it to yourself, ok?
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comments about this review »
SparkyDeighton 05.12.2001 20:27
Well written and informative op Sue. I am considering purchasing a DVD (unless I win the one in the works Xmas raffle) and even though I usually want something there and then I also love a bargain so I suppose I can wait a day or two for a saving. Mark
BNibbles 18.11.2001 18:56
Yes, when I first started reading this, I thought you were the new owner of Fawlty (Faulty?) Towers, but now I see the problem. Comet are the only place I know that give you your extended warranty money back if the appliance doesn't need repairing in the 5 years - very reasonable. All you have to do is keep thep aperwork - easier said than done! Chris
TallTone 16.11.2001 15:37
An excellent piece of writing BUT only just enough information about the website to get a VH IMHO. I will be looking out for more from your virtual pen though! TT.