1023 pages of pure temptation (Grattan)

Member Name: sandrabarber

Product:	Grattan
Date:	07/11/03 (503 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: wide range, pay by installments, shop at home

Disadvantages: expensive, slow delivery

Grattan catalogue has been going for years and years. A friend of mine used to have it, but I considered the clothes too frumpy and plumped for Freemans instead. However, Grattan and Freemans joined forces some time back and I noticed that the Grattan clothes went distinctly funkier. Tempted by the free welcome gift, I signed up pronto.

Grattan is a high-quality glossy catalogue of a whopping 1023 pages. Because of its thickness, it?s very useful to balance a hot plate on if you?re eating off your knee in front of the telly, and it?s also good to lean on if you?re writing.


RANGE

Back to the real purpose of the catalogues, and here?s what they sell:

Women?s, men?s and children?s clothes
Sportswear
Shoes
Household goods
Household appliances
Toiletries
Fitness apparatus
Personal care and grooming items
Toys
Electrical goods
PCs
Cameras
Furniture and furnishings
Mobile phones
Jewellery
Garden Equipment
Insurance, breakdown cover and personal loans

Phew! In other words, you?ve got the whole of the high street in the one book which you can flick through at your leisure.


QUALITY

When it comes to clothes, quality is variable. Generally the more expensive the items, the better the goods. Having said that, I?ve had cheap things like t-shirts and pyjamas that have lasted for years. They also have a range of funky ?designer? labels, including Betty Jackson, and clothes from high street stores like Oasis and Warehouse. And for the more mature or conservative dresser, there are plenty of different clothes ranges too.

The downside with clothes is that they are often the ones you saw in the stores last summer/winter, and sizes can vary quite dramatically. There is a size guide at the back of the catalogue but it?s pretty meaningless as you will find that one item fits in a size 12 and in another you need a 16.

In electr
ical, household, toys and garden equipment, they sell the same brands you get in the big stores. Occasionally they have obscure cheap alternatives, but they tend to stick with the mainstream manufacturers.


ORDERING

You can order by phone, form or website.

If you?re an agent, you can sell Grattan items to others as well as buying yourself, and you pay monthly installments over 20, 40, 50, 52 or even 156 weeks (APR 29.9% charged on the 52 to 156 weeks terms). Agents get 10% cash back on everything that they and their customers buy.

If you have a personal account you also get the cash back.

Having an account is very useful as it works on an ?add to? basis, which I?ll try and explain: if you bought something for £200 and had paid off £100 of it, buying something else for say £50 would then bring your payments down as your account would sort of start all over again and you?d be paying installments based on £150 not £200. (I do hope that makes sense).

If you?re not an agent you can buy by paying upfront.

If you order by phone you can sometimes find yourself in a queue of a few minutes, so you have to pick your time. I find early mornings and late evenings the best.

Customer service staff are friendly and helpful at all times, and can tell you right there and then whether or not your item is in stock, and if not when it will be.


DELIVERY

I don?t find Grattan too hot on delivery and often wait 5-7 days for the courier to bring my goods. However, you can have next day delivery for a fee of £2.99.


RETURNS

All goods come on 14 days approval. If you don?t like them, simply ring your courier or Grattan and they will come and collect from your door free of charge.


PRICES

There?s always a downside, and alas the price is it with catalogues. Clothes are usually competitive but household appliances, electricals, tools etc. are o
ften more expensive than in the stores. However, you do get your 10% cash back if you?re an agent, and of course being able to pay for things over up to 50 weeks interest free is a big bonus. So you pays your money and you takes your choice.


WEBSITE

The Grattan website is good but limited. It doesn?t show all of the items in the catalogue, particularly the household and electrical things. It is good for clothes, though, and it?s fast, easy to search and easy to order from once you?ve registered. And they are very swift at replying to emails in a very helpful way, which always impresses me.


EXTRAS

On the whole, Grattan is good at keeping its customers through a variety of incentives. They have almost always got a free gift going, they are always running ?buy now, start paying in x months? time? schemes, and if you haven?t ordered for a while they?ll send you letters offering discounts of 10-20% on your next order.


OVERALL

Grattan isn?t perfect, but it is very good. The range of goods is phenomenal, they are all presented and described well, and it is very easy to order and return items. Cash back is great if you?re an agent and it?s really convenient being able to shop in the comfort of your own home and having plenty of weeks to spread the cost of your purchases.

On the downside are the inflated prices, the fact that you have to pay extra if you want your goods in less than 5-7 days, and the very unpredictable clothes sizes.

If you?ve never had a catalogue than Grattan is a good one to go for and really does have something for everyone.

Just don?t get carried away with all the fantastic stuff at your disposal and try not to give in to the temptation to take on more debt than you can easily afford.

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