| Product: |
Freemans |
| Date: |
06/08/08 (127 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Try stuff at home, free delivery, free returns
Disadvantages: Prices a little higher than the High Street
I love my Freemans catalogue! I've been a customer for many years and have always been happy with the service and the quality of the goods. Freemans is primarily a mail order company, but you can order online direct from their website, even if you've never seen a copy of the catalogue. Personally I prefer to have a paper copy of the catalogue to browse through, while I'm having a cup of tea. I find I can't really enjoy looking at pictures of clothing on a computer screen - it's just not the same! That said, there are some good features on the website, for example you can zoom in on photographs (which obviously you can't do on the paper catalogue), and this can give a much clearer image of fabric types, and any more intricate details like embroidery or sequins. Also, there is a stock check facility on the website, so if you add items to your basket you can then check immediately if they are in stock or if there will be any delay - and in that case they usually give an indication of how many weeks delay there will be.
The clothes offered by Freemans tend to be quite modern and trendy. I'm a middle aged Mum but I still find quite a few nice fashionable items of clothing, though I suspect it's really aimed at a younger market!
They don't just sell clothes, however. They also sell lots of household goods, bedding, furniture, electrical appliances, gifts, toys, computers, computer games... pretty much everything you can think of. It's like a big department store which you can browse through in the comfort of your own home. As I said, I prefer to use the catalogue, but you can browse online, too.
You can place your order online or over the telephone - personally I prefer online because, although the call centre staff are usually very friendly and helpful, they nearly always try to sell me something else when I ring up! They always have some special offer of the day - which I suspect is just something that head office have decreed they need to get rid of.
They deliver your goods right to your door - you get to try them on at home (I'm talking about clothes here, but this applies to most items), decide over a few days whether you like them or not, and then if not, you simply package them up and return them. They do free delivery and free returns. You can arrange a return by telephoning the courier direct (they usually put a sticker on the parcel with their phone number when they deliver it to you), or you can telephone the catalogue call centre to arrange a return. Or you can book a return online, specifying a preferred time, and this is then passed on to the courier - it's a bit limited, you don't even have enough space to write something like 'please avoid the school run', but the couriers usually get to know you pretty quickly and are very accommodating.
If you decide to keep the items you get to spread your payments over a number of weeks, interest free. They will send you a statement roughly every four weeks, and you can then pay in the bank or online, or even over the phone. It's really very easy.
You also get commission on your payments, which means you accrue a few pence for each payment you make and can then offset this against a future invoice, or have it paid direct to you.
They send out sale leaflets quite frequently but to be really up to date you need to check the website for the latest sale items. Freemans is actually the same company and same catalogue as Grattans - I have both as I didn't realise this when I first requested them. The upside is that every now and again there will be sale items in one that don't appear in the other!
Another plus is that once you're on the system you get email newsletters. Normally I find this kind of thing irritating, but I have to admit I appreciate these - they will send one out in the run up to things like Mothers' Day or Fathers' Day, and suggest gift ideas. They're actually really helpful! I remember a couple of years ago I was really struggling to think of something to get for my Mum, and one of their suggestions was a diamond (well, not real diamonds, obviously!) brooch in the shape of a flower. My Mum loves it! She still wears it and tells me people always comment on how nice and sparkly it is.
Summary: Great fashion and great convenience
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