Moving Targets

[UncleEbenezer]

My washing machine just died. It was an ultra-cheapo Candy when I bought it back in March 2005[1], so I can't complain too loudly about its service.

Buying a new one was a different story, as it seems all the websites have become more painful and more coy about essential information - like availability! Argos, Currys and AO all sent my blood pressure skyrocketing as I tried to navigate, and (for example) discarded a would-be purchase when it told me two bloomin' weeks.

Remembering my current machine was a tight squeeze to install when I moved here, I measured its width. A couple of mm short of the "standard" 60. So I went for an Indesit that ticks all my regular boxes and is specced at 59.5cm width: less potential for logistic disaster than buying an unseen 60cm box. Surely nothing out of the ordinary for a white goods supplier?

Delivery back in 2005 was wonderful: Argos turned up promptly and efficiently first thing the morning after I placed my order[2]. This time it first suggested next day delivery was available, but that then morphed through various iterations into "we'll call you within two days to arrange delivery within a week".

I've been an Argos fan ever since that dream service over several orders in 2005. That's changing

[1] When I moved from a furnished to an unfurnished flat, so had a lot of stuff to buy.
[2] A similar order with Comet vanished into chaos, so after three or four days I cancelled it all and placed an equivalent order with Argos. That too turned up promptly the morning after, which was just as well as I'd been living without fridge/freezer in the new flat.

[bungeejumper]

Commiserations. I can only imagine that what we're seeing is that retailers are destocking on these big bulky items, and that the supply side is being turned over to bulk operators who get the order from [big name retailer] and then deliver it direct to the customer. That was certainly what happened last year when we bought a Bosch washing machine from John Lewis and it arrived in an unmarked white Luton van from god knows where.

Don't get me wrong, the paperwork was still fine, and so was the guarantee, and the goods were perfect. But I first began to suspect that something had changed when I asked John Lewis to take away my old machine (for £10, IIRC), and they said they'd have to double-check it with somewhere in Germany.

Came the day, and the van arrived with the new washing machine, but there was no authorisation for the delivery drivers to take away my old machine, even though I'd paid for it. Fortunately they were a very pleasant duo who agreed to take it away in exchange for a cup of tea.

BJ

[quelquod]

Our dishwasher (Bosch, bought last month) came in 2 days from Northern Ireland. Cheapest by some margin we could find on-line and given that warranty/servicing/repair would be down to the manufacturer anyway, no disadvantage. What’s the point of going to a highly priced shop where you can’t try the item and they don’t stock it anyway?

[UncleEbenezer]

Satisfactory followup. Shiny new washing machine delivered on Sunday Jan 13th, and by the middle of the following week I'd cleared the backlog (helped by some good drying weather with sunshine and low humidity). Also paid to have the delivery men take away the old one. And yes, being a couple of mm narrower makes all the difference to the available space.

But that was only after more messing about, including cancelling the original order and placing another.