Our Currys aren't too bad and the sales staff are pretty helpful, most don't push the warranties either which is a pleasant change. They aren't the worst for that anymore though. I bought a washing machine from AO a couple of months ago and 20 minutes after I had completed the online checkout I got a phonecall. He started off telling me that this was to confirm the delivery details (they already did that by email) and he seamlessly moved onto a extended warranty which at first I thought he meant the 5 year warranty that the washing machine came with. After telling me the benefits for around five minutes he informed me that all that could be mine for the sum of £7.99 a month for the life of the machine after two months free. I was speechless at first then told him that the machine already came with a 5 year warranty to which he said this one is better though and started spewing up the same bs again. I cut him off and said I will not be going for that so cancel whatever he had already set up which he seemed very put out about and quickly turned moody. I hung up on him in the end. They are nothing but parasites and I can see that quite a few people would fall for it. Despite the good price and hassle free delivery I won't be shopping at AO again.
With regards to AO, I couldn’t argue about prices and stock availability, but hassle free delivery? Not in my case.
The ice maker stopped working on our Whirlpool American style fridge-freezer and although under insurance warranty, their engineers couldn’t fix it, so I was granted up to £1000 to buy a replacement.
I found one on AO that fitted the none too deep space that the replacement would go into, and during negotiations to buy it, I laboured relentlessly on the fact that I had a 3 storey town house with the kitchen on the first floor at the rear, and the appliance would have to go through the house, out of the sliding doors to the garden, then up a flight of metal stairs to the kitchen balcony, then through the sliding doors to the kitchen, as the bend in the internal staircase precluded using it.
I was assured both in telephone calls and emails that the method I’d informed them of would be no trouble to the delivery guys.
Came the day of delivery and the driver pursed his lips and said, “I’ve got a trainee with me on his first day, if he scratches the appliance on those metal stairs, I’ll be liable, so all I can do is put it in your garage.”
AO weren’t interested, I’d signed that it had been delivered in good condition, so that was the end of the story for them, a copy of their email saying delivery would be fine was met with stony silence.
I prevailed upon the goodwill of two of my strong young nephews and they took the doors off, managed successfully to get it up the metal stairs and into the kitchen, put the doors back on and plumbed it in.
They then did that in reverse with the Whirlpool one and put it in my garage as a spare, both fridge and freezer working, but obviously no ice cube maker.
To show my appreciation I took them and their wives to an upmarket steak house and said “Here’s the menu, knock yourselves out, whatever wines you want as well, coffees, brandies, go through the card.”
It cost me a chunk of change, but I’ve got a perfect working fridge-freezer, and an excellent back-up in the garage.
