How many more clangers are Argos going to drop? (Argos)

Member Name: MandyMinx

Product:	Argos
Date:	12/07/03 (642 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Convienient , cheap

Disadvantages: shoddy goods

Just the other evening I was lying in the bath, thinking about my day and all the things that I had intended to do and not actually got done, when I decided to buy a breadmaker. How this idea came to me I am not sure but right there and then I decided that I must have one.
It was 9.00 at night so there was no chance of toddling off to the shop to get one, and I was rather soggy after my soak in the bath so I did what I usually do when I have one of my mad ideas. I grabbed the Argos book.

When you think about it, thats the convienience of Argos is it not?
When I decide out of the blue to buy something new I go straight to the Argos book, if only to get an idea of the variety on offer and the variations in prices. This is really important for me because I have very little time to go from shop to shop comparing prices, but we live on a tight budget and I can't afford to go out and buy the first product I see regardless of the price.
I find that Argos usually has quite a wide price range and that there are usually a lot of different brands to choose from. My Argos book is a really handy tool not only for when I want to buy something, but I very often leave one around as Christmas approaches and then I eavesdrop when the children sit looking at it together. It's a great way to surprise the kids with those little stocking fillers that they didn't think they were going to get. They have a handy web site as well incase the kids have cut up the latest catalogue. On here you can find your nearest store and also buy or reserve items.
Argos sell a wide range of household goods of all descriptions, along with toys, games, electrical equipment, leisure goods and jewellrey. They have introduced Argos Additions to cover many of the items not in the catalogue, clothing and footware for example. I have never used Argos additions to be honest. I don't see the point of ordering from there and going back the next day for delivery when I have th

e internet at my fingertips should I need it.


My local Argos is situated in Bulwell, Nottingham.
The Bulwell store is quite new. It has a spacious car park and is situated close to the town centre.
The store is both bright and spacious. There are various products on display in the store but from experience I have rarely found an item I have been interesting in buying on display and have had to rely on the catalogues for choosing whatever I have come to buy.
There are pro's and cons to buying from the catalogues in my opinion.
On the plus side, you can see all the different makes and models available without having to spend ages wandering around the shop trying to find each example. There is a little blue machine that allows you to tap in a catalogue number and find out if your item is in stock. This saves a lot of time, there is nothing worse than standing for ages in a queue and then finding out that what you want is out of stock.
On the downside, you only get a two dimentional view of the product you want to buy. You have to rely on the picture and the description in the book to help you decide if this is the product for you. I have had problems with this in the past. It's ok when you want to buy a game ,for example, because you know what you are getting. The problem arises when you want to buy something a little more technical, a camera for example. You've narrowed the choice down to two but which one do you think would be best for you? You are looking for something compact and pictures can be deceptive.
Argos have an option that allows you to view both cameras. All you have to do is ask for a 'view' when you get to the tills. The assistant will then arrange for the products to be brought down for you to look at. Whether you buy one or the other, or neither is then your choice. I have found this really handy in the past, especially when I am not sure if a piece of hardware is suitable for my compute
r and
want to check before buying.

If you decide to buy then you would give the cashier the catalogue number of the item you have requested and pay for your item. You are then given a reciept that tells you which counter to pick up your order from.
My local Index store use a similar proceedure, but on a couple of occasions I have witnessed pure chaos at the collection points in their stores, lots of irate customers pushing and shoving like sheep at a cattle market and I have to say it really put me off shopping there. My nice shiney new Argos has obviously realised that this is a problem and has taken steps to sort out the collection point problems that have occured in the past. In this store there is a viewing monitor that announces when your item is ready for collection. There is a handy, comfortable seating area that makes the whole experience so much more pleasant.
Does it work?
Well, I have been in the store on various days of the week and I have to say that I haven't seen any queues or witnessed any of the pushing and shoving that I have seen in the past.I would say that on average I have never had to wait more than 5-6 minutes in this new store for my purchase to be brought to the collection point. How it will hold up to the pre-christmas rush though is still to be seen.

Buying something without seeing it puts the customer in quite a precarious situation if you think about it.
Would we go into a butchers shop and purchase a pound of sausages, without looking at them first? I know I wouldn't, they might be 'off' or too fatty. Would we go into a shoe shop and buy a pair of shoes without first trying them on? No, not really, so how do Argos get away with selling us a product that we haven't actually had chance to look at?

The answer is simple. They offer a really effective 16 day money back guarantee.

I am going to get picky here and say that in my experience it is a really good job
they do be
cause I have had to use this on far too many occasions. So many of the items I have bought have been broken, or had pieces missing.
Why? In my opinion this has to be due to the fact that the staff in the warehouse drop a lot of the stock. How many of you have seen those huge queues at the customer services counter after christmas. I think a lot of the stock brought back has been handled badly in the warehouse and put onto the shelves regardless.
I have always found the staff at the customer service counter to be both polite and helpful. I have found the same of the staff on the tills. The staff at the collection counter very often look flustered and can often come across as almost rude in their haste. I would say that Argos need to think about hiring a few more staff in this area, to lighten the load and improve customer service.
I do have to say that I have never had a problem returning items to the store, even on one occasion when I bought something that I thought I liked and then got home to realise that I didn't really need it. I have also found them really helpful when a product has broken after the 16 day guarantee period. I would however urge you to keep your receipts.

There is a seperate jewellry section in Argos housing the Elizabeth Duke collection. I have to say that up until recently I had never used this section, but I lost my wedding ring and Mark decided I had to have a new one. Bless him.
There is a large selection to choose from at Argos, all shown in the catalogue. What I didn't like was the fact that they only stock a very small range of sizes and having plump little fingers I couldn't find one ring to fit me and ended up having to have one ordered. The ring took 4 days to get to the store which I suppose was quite fast, but I would have liked to try one on there and then.

There are a lot of extras on offer at Argos and they are expanding regularly. They now offer a wedding service, fr
ee delivery on
purchases that total over £100, various service plans and of course store cards and spread payments.
They take a wide range of credit and debit cards as well as high street vouchers and their own gift vouchers and you can collect necter points at Argos now too.
They are open 7 days a week, which is handy.


So I use Argos as much now as I did 5 years ago? No, not really.
I think in a few years time Argos might find they are really struggling. The type of convienience they offered back then was unique. Now that the internet is becoming more reliable and the services on offer more varied they now have real competition.
Ok, so you can go into the store and walk out with whatever you want, almost immediately, but the internet is catching up and you can now order something and have it delivered the next day. Postage is getting easier and to be honest the hastle of having to return an item is a problem for both Argos and the internet. I find myself still going to the Argos book for ideas and price comparissons, but I am finding more and more alternatives on the internet and don't neccesserily run to Argos for one of their options.
In my house in the past we have laughed about the shop and the amount of things that we have had to return, but when it comes to returning something bought as a gift for one of the children it is not a joke and the queues at the service counter first thing after christmas speak for themselves. In my opinion it is time Argos stopped relying on convienience and started to focus more on reliability before internet shopping pulls the rug out form underneath them.

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