Dodgy Dealings from Greedy Electrical Dealers (gradedelectricalsdirect.co.uk)

Member Name: Nar2

Product:	gradedelectricalsdirect.co.uk
Date:	15/08/09 (277 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Once upon a time there were great bargains to be had.

Disadvantages: Phone lines closed on a Saturday; not as good as they used to be; uncaring attitude to price fixes.

When I first joined EBay as a buyer in 2005 I finely picked sellers as my favourites dependent on quality, purchase prices, postage price and above all the promise of guarantees and good customer services. Of course it is hard to find the latter with private sellers sometimes and on EBay especially amidst fraudulent companies and dodgy sellers there are a few companies well worth seeking out. As such when it comes to certain small appliances for around the home I've chosen companies not just for their variety of products but also for the prices and commitment. Graded Electrical Direct (GED) is such a company on EBay that has grown so fast in time, I'm often messaged by other Dooyoo members on the best companies on EBay for online appliance shopping. However don't be too hasty to think they are the best thing since sliced bread.


The layout of the site is very well laid out even though they have two sites - one for EBay members and another site that is similar if not more compacted with information. With sub-categories of household appliances showing on the main page you can't fail to search what you are looking for and the built in search engine upon the site is reasonably fast and efficient when typing in manually what you need. Boosted by good colours and easy to use links, you can buy products direct from GED by use of PayPal.


The products that this company sell are quite vast ranging from carpet upright washers, vacuum cleaners, kettles/food processors, irons, steam cleaners, electric blankets, breadmakers and a lot more making the website feel and look as if it is "Number One Central," for the world of household appliances. Naturally it is a website where I feel I'm in my element!


Based in Bolton, Graded Electricals Direct / GED and I go back a few years. My first appliances I purchased from them was a kettle for me and then a vacuum cleaner for a friend; both products in question were at least 45% cheaper to the retail price that high street shops sold the product at. Although reconditioned actually means a "6 month guarantee," GED have extended their guarantees of late to include 1 year for better peace of mind and in a recession at the moment that is slowly improving GED have extended an extension to 1 year on most products they sell as opposed to 6 months. Both these products at the time were available to buy on the high street and initially I wasn't sure what I was expecting from one of very few Internet based shops I was about to deal with.


In terms of variety GED have it licked against most of their competitors and for an electrical shop (they welcome visitors) they seem to be well stacked up on products that you may not need but want. From products that are not sold at high street outlets (I bought a very handy milk steamer jug many years ago from them for example) you can sometimes find gadgets that were never possible to buy in the UK like the milk steamer jug.


However the tag "reconditioned" means a little more than a shortened guarantee and GED/Graded Electricals Direct sell very little else other than graded appliances. From purchasing many of their vacuum cleaners that they sell, I've found that GED in particular will only sell machines that they themselves have either repaired or reconditioned. This in effect means that you don't get everything the manufacturer includes at the time such as metal extension pipes or a missing tool that GED decides on the basis of its function won't be missed or to keep costs down will retain the smaller attachments (like a pet hair tool for example unless the model specifies that). For consumers on the wise, a reconditioned machine also means that at most a new motor may be fitted, or a new element depending on the appliance in question and that the body of the product has received slight scrapes or slight use due to its position either being used in the shop for light demo purposes or otherwise due to its reconditioned stage, hasn't been treated with kid gloves. It also means that whilst GED has a large proportion of products on offer, they are not from premium brands that can be bought elsewhere, but rather the cheaper end of the market with brands such as Dirt Devil, Vax, Morphy Richards and Home-tek.


Whilst there is nothing wrong with these brands, the high street sellers such as Tesco, Asda and Argos also sell these products not to mention Poundstretchers and sometimes despite the graded prices that GED may think are price competitive, it is well worth relaying your trust in what you have in your local high street rather than depend on the products GED happen to have at the time.


But, there have been a few surprises this year from this company, not least because they can send out, by email, a small snap sheet of info showing the latest products they sell but upon recently were selling a huge batch of Karcher pressure washers that ironically seemed to appear when shopping TV channels like QVC and Best Direct were shifting the same items. Let it be said that GED do like to keep up with the times and shifting brand names; currently they are selling Delonghi coffee makers alongside their budget Morphy Richards models.


The delivery service from GED the company is usually done by courier and they use two types of service mainly; private courier where applicable or second-class Royal mail. I don't live in Bolton so I'm unfortunate not to be able to know whether they have an in-house company delivery service and their main website doesn't state. However in Scotland I generally find that GED will send products post haste and within a maximum of 2 weeks they will deliver either by courier or Royal Mail 2nd class recorded delivery to ensure insurance and other overall costs impending are covered. I've had vacuums arrive within the week sometimes, which is very welcomed.


On the basis that GED are fully optimized however there are also two phone numbers to ensure your product has been purchased from EBay as well as anything else you need to query. However nothing is always rosy.


For a start they have a sales "hotline" telephone number aside from their company number. This so-called hot line isn't open on Saturdays however and their customer services are sometimes not very helpful. However my gripe isn't with their customer services but with their pricing.


Generally any company that sells products at reconditioned prices has to be obliged to sell products at a reduced price but the price research reveals that companies like GED in the past sold the products at nearly half of the retail price on the high street. The Trade Description Act of 1968 matches this where online and offline purchases are concerned. Previously I considered that GED as a company was fantastic with their prices but lately I've discovered they are not the most cost effective anymore and ironically in a recession where every penny counts I'm disappointed that GED have not recognised this issue. My recent query into buying a steam cleaner for example has reduced me to emailing the company concerning a recent graded price on a particular model that GED are selling, claiming that the product is around £99.99 at full retail cost. So I telephoned the actual manufacturer and doing other online research reveals the actual cost per appliance concerned is £59-99 to £70 and since it is no longer in production, the company believes that old stock could be shifted at lower prices. The retail price for the said appliance was currently sold at Rymans for the same so-called half price "graded" cost that GED were advertising at £49-99 and that is before the extra £9-99 added in for postage and packaging. Time for the Trade Description Act to be called? Not quite but it is surprising how companies like GED can get away with this. No wonder no one is buying the product; clearly GED haven't heard of Google and consumers rights!


To make this fair however GED did respond to my email asking me, how they would make money if they had to sell the product at half price? As a consumer that is simply not my problem; the amount of products that the company shift could in theory be making more money than the pricing themselves particularly in light of the fact that like pound shops, by buying in bulk you can effectively make more money even selling products individually at lower cost.


There have also been problems with various purchases in the past too. When I bought a Vax V100 canister vacuum at an Ebay auction that started at 99p, GED convienently forgot to add in the hose, which made the model at the time of its destination arrival somewhat useless. Although GED had to be contacted it took them some time before they sent out the missing hose and I thought for a company who represent graded appliances and depend on the trust of consumers, the forgetfullness was not a problem that happened occasionally; looking through their feedback and past feedback that unsurprisingly has been removed, they have also forgotten other parts in consumer's purchases.


In short I can no longer wholly place my trust in GED completely. For a company who started out well on Ebay, they are not concerned to helping out the customer and their lack of understanding to "charge whatever" they want seems to have hit the wrong nerve with this buyer, particularly in light of the fact that Vax know of them and what they are doing, regardless of the fact that GED may be a registered seller.


At the end of the day if a company like Graded Electricals Direct thinks they can pull a fast one in a recovering recession then the buyer has every right to complain and if it falls on deaf ears then it is the company's loss - after all, the sellers on the high street are shifting the same products on the high street thanks to old stock remaining in their warehouses and if you don't know your salt from your pepper, it is worthwhile researching around to get the best deal. Thanks for reading. ©Nar2 2009


www.gradedelectricalsdirect.co.uk

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Graded-Electricals- Direct__W0QQ_armrsZ1


Know your consumer rights:

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

For young people:

http://www.connexions-direct.com/cxd-i/index.cfm? go=cxdiQuizConsumerRights

Summary: Graded Electricals Direct Must Improve or Get Out.