can any one advise me where I can purchase kitchen appliances, washer, freezer etc.
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I have been told Mrgoodeal.com is good for whitegoods.
Amazon.fr is very popular in France.
I'm not anti-internet buying , I use sites all the time for things I can't find in my area and sometimes when there is a huge difference in price. I have a local retailer who sells 'white' goods plus TVs etc and when i'm after something I look at the internet sites for prices and go to this guy's shop and tell him I can buy a certain product online for this price but I would prefer to use his local store and can he make his price 'more interesting' for me to buy with him. It usually works so I end up helping him plus i'm happy to give him the business.
It must be the middle of the night where you are Roland, are you nocturnal !
Yep, Peter, buying local is always the best way to go.
I guess the use of the internet would be a 'fallback' if you can't find what you're looking for elsewhere. Not sure whether Amazon does a good business in France, or if there is a local equivalent. Any idea? Here is San Francisco we use something called Craigslist...we go there FIRST because buying used is often better than buying used, and is more eco-friendly, more frugal, and more friendly!
Why not try supporting the local commerces Roland. Ok, it may cost a few more euros but at least you are helping to keep local shops open which is good for everyone, isn't it ?
Most of us moan when the local shops close down in the High St well maybe we should be doing more to support our local services ?
Just a thought...
I would suggest online as your best bet...price and quality comparisons, plus rapid transactions. It's the rage.
I buy (after checking prices) from Cdiscount.com ususally.
if you need to call on that warranty Liz, I hope their a/s service will be as good also. . A few on here over the years have not been happy with discount.
Iagree with that Chris. reputation is all, in any business!
same as places like curries in Uk, that’s where there biggest profits come from. having been in the industry in UK, it’s mostly things like wet goods or ovens that are more likely to let you down. yrs ago we had a customer who had an Aeg fridge that kept breaking one v hot summer. Levels of insulation are different enough to make a difference, the heat ambient tolerance varies according to which European regions they are being made for. same with cars, air con in all French cars sold here I think but optional extra often if bought new in UK.
re AO, we had to change our own marketing & sales policy to compete with with online sales. the number of times people would use our showroom to come in and look at appliances, have the differences in various models explained to us, then come back later and saw its cheaper online, and we’d say, well we are here if you have a problem, to offer a personal after sales service, and it was usually on customer service that customers bought from us, because we sold and installed our kitchens & appliances properly. dishwashers usually posed the most problems, because customers would buy the cheapest D/w powder ( in those days) they could find and then complain machine didn’t clean properly! nothing wrong with machine, but customers insist on powder that contained as much chalk almost as detergent,what did they expect. whatever industry you are in it’s the knowledge that counts, same with oil and cars, or washing machines. of course everything moved on since our days in the industry. You get what you pay for! following properly, manufactures advice and guidance is worth the paper it’s written on. Theres also a difference between buying a fan or fan assisted oven.
Nice one Mike!yes they Want your business as much as anyone else, if you don’t ask you don’t get and
Expert are part of a buying group, just like they have in Uk, they are all smaller locally run businesses trading under same banner.
In defence of Darty, I bought an LG washing machine in August, they delivered it when they said they would, they installed it and took the old one away too. Brilliant service and the machine is my new favourite gadget..... I have bought from them before, 7 years ago, and they still had me in their database, I even felt almost special!
On the online orders and deliveries I would disagree. We have had more things early rather than late, most of the carriers call before they deliver and generally once the things is despatched tracking seems fairly precise. One other significant incentive is that whilst goods are often a bit more expensive, ordering here in France often comes with free delivery whether goods are despatched in France, Germany or wherever else the actual dealers are whereas ordering from the UK usually means delivery charges are costly and the times one can wait far longer. Even paying for one day delivery here often works out cheaper. Anyway, as Chris says and I said earlier, local and fast service is important, which if you buy into France from a UK site you do not get and have no statutory right to.
Yep, quite agree and not to mention helping out the local economy ?
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I bought a new washing up machine for a gite from our local franchise of Pulsat. It went wrong within a month and, as we had people in, I asked if they could come out and see what the problem was. They arrived the same day, brought another washer to replace the one that did not work and sorted out the problem on the original.
Price is one thing but local service and fast service at that, is another.
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I kitted out our house in Brittany, mainly during 2012. The various suppliers I used were:
- Cooker and hob: sourced in the UK via Appliances Online, now ao.com
- Washing machine: online via Rue du Commerce (rueducommerce.fr)
- Tumble dryer, vacuum cleaner: But (from the store)
- Fridge-freezer, coffee machine, back-up vacuum cleaner: Conforama (from the store)
- A couple of smaller bits from Amazon.fr
- We also used a local supplier for a backup tumble dryer, as we needed it installed while we were not there
To sum up our experiences:
- Online in France is nowhere near as efficient as in the UK - delivery is very unpredictable, and generally slow
- There are deals to be had everywhere if you shop around: for example we found a good offer on the Conforama online for the Fridge-freezer, which was not matched in the store, but when we tackled the department manager, he matched if for us
- Generally we found the UK cheaper, but this is often a function of recent exchange-rate movement. It is not usually a practical option for the larger items, of course
I would expect that all the other mainstream suppliers listed below would be fine - mostly they are selling the same products, though often they will have very slight variations in model numbers so that in theory direct price comparison is difficult. Don't be fooled!
Manufacturer warranties are generally 1 or 2 years, sometimes more, but note that EU legislation puts even more onus on the retailer, and you can sometimes get up to 5 years warranty by pushing hard enough. Personally I never take out Extended Warranty (or whatever else they may call it) - not worth the money (and is usually a major earner for the retailers, which is why they will push it hard).
When we purchased our last house just up the road, we went into Expert and said we wanted to purchase a number of large items and wanted to discuss discounts, the assistant said there would be no option for discounts and so we asked to speak to the manager. 20 minutes later we walked out of the shop having purchased an American Fridge freezer, a large chest freezer, a dishwasher and a Falcon range cooker and got a total discount of 2600 Euros off their listed prices. Everything was delivered on the day we asked for it (2 months after the purchase), fitted and then checked to ensure it all worked. Well worth haggling if you are buying a number of big items.
Rgds, Mike L
BUT always seem pretty good to me and they install and take away too. I doubt that long term extra warranties are very useful. I recently hs something off Cdiscount but had to return as it didn't function(Philips soundbar) and whilst prices are attractive returns are not as easy. I recently bought a Koenig microwave off Amazon fr the timer of which didn't work but I was a victim of buying too cheaply (for a second home). Will have to use an egg timer next to the unit as too much hassle to return.
Hi Simon
I bought all ours from Ubaldi.com. They are all brand new but some our end of lines (still guaranteed) so prices are good. Service and delivery was exceptional. Good luck
I try to buy locally to help the local commerces etc so I try Expert (now Axhome in my town) first then look around if they can't help. I've used cdiscount a few times and they have been great. Boulanger have been ok as have Darty.