littlewoods.com a great way to shop!! (Littlewoods)

Member Name: eagleeyechief

Product:	Littlewoods
Date:	09/10/09 (114 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Shop on-line, spread the payments, buy now pay later

Disadvantages: Can be more expensive

I've been a customer of Littlewoods off an on since I first started working. The reason for first starting with them was the fact I could get my goods straight away and spread the cost, and I was after a tv and a stereo. But of course like most youngsters with credit, my eyes were bigger than my pocket and I ended up with a big bill and probably affecting my credit rating. Took me a while to sort this and wise up financially.

A few years ago after I had moved in with my girlfriend to our first place. I realised that by using my account wisely I could budget and get the things we needed to make our home more comfortable. The good thing was the ability to manage everything on-line with www.littlewoods.com.

I still get a catalogue delivered but I have a tendency to chuck it in a cupboard and I browse on-line instead. There are advantages and disadvantages to using littlewoods.com

Advantages:
1. Shop 24/7 on-line - constantly updating with new items. The system is simple to navigate, you can zoom in on photographs, some items have alternate images, you can read or write reviews on items. In my experience they have always been quick to respond to emails when I've had a query.
2. Great offers come up for discounts with codes coming through the post or by e-mail
3.'Buy Now Pay Later' (current offer is spend £100 and pay September 2010). This is the best tool for me budgeting and keeping a good credit rating. I put items on 'Buy Now Pay Later' and start paying immediately by dividing my outstanding balance by number of months before items are added to the account. This means everything is paid for, I've had use of it for a number of months and I've paid no interest. The end result is I'm seen as a great customer and is reflected in my available shopping amount being increased into the thousands of pounds.
4. Upto 52 weeks interest free on goods over £60
5. Excellent management of accounts with ability to track orders, order history, payments.
6. Free standard delivery when goods ordered before 11pm, £3.95 to choose a specific weekday, £6.95 for a Saturday. You can choose a day 8 days in advance and also get items delivered to an alternate address. Deliveries Monday-Friday is normally 7am-6pm, Saturday 7am-5pm
7. New rewards scheme - every account payment earns up to 10% rewards to use as payment towards goods on next order. Silver earns 5%, Gold 7.5%, Platinum 10%

Disadvantages:
1. Can be more expensive than high street or on-line, but you need to weigh up options of how you can manage payment.
2. Longer terms means more interest to pay
3. Goods can sell out fast, so you need to keep checking
4. With large number of items not everything is delivered direct from littlewoods and sometimes there has been issues with other suppliers causing delays or item being cancelled.

In my opinion the advantages clearly beat the disadvantages and as long you manage your account realistically and responsibility then littlewoods.com is a good way to shop.

I've cleared my latest balance and plan on buying family and friends some great Christmas presents and have it all paid off before September 2010. This is really helpful in the current recession/credit crunch.

Have a great Christmas!!!

Summary: Great way to budget and shop wisely