Comet cometh of age (Comet)

Member Name: paulhanton

Product:	Comet
Date:	09/04/08 (109 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, friendly, helpful

Disadvantages: Only one delivery driver

I had not visited Comet for some years, mainly as I thought they were a bit 2nd rate, this seemed to be confirmed by reviews I have read elsewhere. However, when our washer broke we decided to give Comet a try.

There is a local store which has ample parking and is situated on a small industrial estate, so that was helpful for a start. We visited on Good Friday, and were pleasantly surprised at both the easy layout of the shop, and the number of staff working.

The products we wanted to look at just happened to be the first display in the shop, and all the washing machines were displayed with their energy ratings, cost and whether or not they were currently in stock.

After going to the counter and asking for some assistance, within seconds a really helpful guy appeared and spent some time not only explaining the models, but checking the quickest that we could have one delivered, which was a priority for us. He explained all the costs involved and what we got for it, ie. the 'plumbing in' and eco disposal. He really was a happy, helpful guy, not only that, he only tried the once to sell us the 5 year store warranty (read 'Which magazine', never buy the store warranty). He then went with us to the counter and 'handed' us over to an equally helpful sales assistant who did all the rest, including pointing out the phone number that we should use should the delivery (next day) not arrive on time.

Whilst my partner was dealing with the payment I took the opportunity of having a good look around the store. I was surprised by two very positive things and one not so positive thing:

Positive number 1. Everything was very neat and 'business' like, all the labels that should be on products giving essential information were there, all key features were displayed and where things were placed in relation to each other made sense. So, TV's were next to DVD players, Computers were next to printers, digital cameras were next to camera cases and accessories, whilst this makes perfect sense there are many stores that don't (PC World for one).

Positive number 2. The prices. I was generally impressed with prices which seemed comparable to the internet on many products, true, the range is smaller but I would be surprised if one could not get the vast majority of ones household electricals in the one store as cheap as shopping around a bit and much more conveniently.

Not so positive. There were no discernable overhead signs, so whilst the products once found did relate to each other as already mentioned, one had to have a good look round first to find some things, not helped by quite dim lighting.

Comet have a website: http://www.comet.co.uk. This is worth a look, and whilst it is quite busy, the special offers that come and go do seem very, very good.

I don't know about any other Comet stores, but I take my hat off to the Barnsley Branch, happy, helpful staff that told the truth (they did deliver next day) and seemed to know their stuff.

The Comet van, duly turned up on time and the guy was quick, efficient and knowledgable, my only gripe is that he was on his own, so if I had not offered to help carry the washing machine indoors (which did not help my back) he would have had a really difficult job doing it alone. He stayed to make sure that when we switched on, all was working and took time to explain what bits we had to keep (in case of return) and who we contacted if any problems.

So, the store content 7/10 (could have a wider range)
Prices 9/10, seemed very competitive
Staff 9/10, helpful and polite
Delivery 8/10
Overall contentment 8/10

I would use Comet again, especially as they had some lovely, big TV's, well done.

Summary: Good service from Comet