watford.co.uk > Reviews (17)

First started buying from Watford about four years ago. Just a few bits and pieces to begin with such as blank CDs etc. The prices are usually a substantial saving on anything comparable at PC World, and delivery is normally within one or two days. They use a well known delivery company and the products are well packaged and protected.

It's not always convenient to order products on-line if you've got a job and you're not in to accept delivery so I'll often make last minute purchases at PC World and then torture myself later looking up the corresponding price on the Watford web-site. My recommendation here, and something (I'm trying to do myself, is to start planning purchases better. Everything I've bought at the shops I knew about in advance but left it too late. By anticipating requirements a bit better the two day wait for a product doesn't matter.

Products I've purchased have included sound cards, a CD burner, an Aries desktop PC, blank CDs, a hard drive etc etc. The PC was less than £300 as it came unformatted with no software and I had problems getting it to work. Watford picked the machine up along with my Windows CD and set it up for me even though this wasn't included in the price.

One purchase I made involved two deliveries which inevitably arrived before I got home. When I collected the items from the parcel depot they mislaid one package and as a result I was unaware Watford had sent the product. You can imagine the ensuing confusion as I tried to explain to Watford they'd missed items from my delivery and they assured me the products had indeed been despatched. This could have dragged on a bit but they tracked the order and sorted everything out within 24 hours by retrieving the items and sending out a parrallel delivery.

By the way delivery charges are quite reasonable:
Less than £50 = £1.95
More than £50 but less than £100 = £2.95
More than £100 but less than £500 = £3.95
More than £500 = £4.95

Price example:
I bought a Packard Bellcordless keyboard and mouse for £50 from PC World a month ago and spent two days trying to get it to work. Packard Bell don't offer support for this item and neither can PC World. So I took it back to PC World and exchanged it for the Logitech model I really wanted in the first place (but had been put off by the £99 price tag). It works like a dream and it has changed my life - I may do a review soon!

The same item on Watford is £76.90 and carriage is £2.95 taking it up to £79.85. A two day wait for delivery, but no traffic jams. The Packard Bell is the unknown here, but I believe I would have got sensible advice from Watford if I'd gone for this option and it had gone wrong. I'd have been more likely to buy the Logitech anyway as at £80 I wouldn't be close hitting the magic £100 decision threshold.

There is a standard easy to useshopping cart interface on the site, after you select your product and review information in a pop-up window you simply click 'buy now'. All your delivery arrangements are automatically completed by virtue of your log-in and even your card details if you've registered one previously.

Your payment information is transferred to a Thawte secure server and they take most plastic.

The only faults with items purchased have turned out to be due to my inability to read instructions before using things. Although call waiting times might be a bit frustrating, I've normally found their technical support to be effective and helpful. I'm convinced the discounted prices are down to a saving on overheads by selling over the net, and not achieved by skimping on customer support.

Definitely worth a go.