Shopping Made Even Easier!!!!!!!!!! (argos.co.uk)

Member Name: andy0304

Product:	argos.co.uk
Date:	27/09/04 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Click and Collect, Great Value Delivery Service, Easy To Use

Disadvantages: Cant Think of Any

I have always made sure that I have an up to date Argos catalogue as they sell pretty much everything in one place and it is always reasonably priced. However since the internet has taken off I have also become a fan of shopping the lazy way and decided to check out their website, Argos.co.uk.

The first time I wanted to use this site was actually to look for a new tumble dryer, but the problem was it had to be a condensing tumble dryer due to the fact that we live in a flat and do not have anywhere to put the ventilation other than hang it out the window. However to do this we would have to pull it out to use every time and could not really be bothered with this, its bad enough having to do housework, let alone make it more difficult.

After logging onto the website it appeared that there was more than one way to search for what you want. The first way is to actually enter the specific catalogue product number if you have already looked for your item in the catalogue first. The second way is to search through the departments and to find what you want that way. The third way is to take a look at what they call ‘Feature Zones.’ The fourth way is to enter a description of the product you want and seach that way.

Feature Zones contain only a few selected headings, but one of which is home inspirations where you can look up ideas room by room where they will then show you what they class as inspirational products for particular rooms such as your bathroom. An example would be that if it was bathrooms you were looking for then under the bathroom heading you have various designs of bathroom such as Chic, Urban etc. Then under each of these rooms you will find the relevant products for that style room. Some of the product ideas actually work quite well and are very impressive and some are sometimes not the sort of designs you might expect to find in Argos.

However, because I knew what sort of products I was looking for I started to look for my dryer via the department listings. So off I went into Household Appliances and into the washers and dryers section of this department and then into the subheading of tumble dryers. From this point you can the search by product brand, but I did not know which brand I wanted so looked at them all by not selecting a brand. The good thing was by going through the department heading this had already narrowed my search to just over 30 items this then is an easy number to look through.

After finding the one which we decided on which was a Zanussi TC7102 Condenser Dryer, the price of it was just under £240 which for a particularly well known branded condenser dryer I though was very reasonable as I had already checked other retailers. From this point we then had to look at how we could get the product itself.

There was no way we could pick it up in the car, but it actually turned out you can’t pick these items up from store they are delivery only which they quote is usually within 10 days. The good thing was this was a free delivery service, they do offer a quicker delivery service for some appliances but you do have to pay the price for these services such as £24.50 for express delivery and connection within 5 days for washing machines. This of course can be very useful for things such as washing machines if you don’t like the idea of plumbing jobs.

Within a couple of days of placing the order I received a call from the Argos delivery centre who wanted to arrange delivery. We agreed on a date and the product arrived on time. The whole time the call centre staff and delivery drivers were always polite and very helpful. Definitely worth using again!

Since then I have used the Argos web site plenty of times, usually for smaller items though so I make use of what they call Click and Collect. What this service does is allow you to check which of your local Argos store have the item you want in stock, reserve it and then go and collect it with the reservation number. Particularly useful if they are low on stock as the products will be kept for you till the end of the next working day. A service I now use very often.

Overall the Argos site is one of the best online shopping sites I have come across. The design is bright and colourful and very easy to use. If you get stuck you can contact their customer services at the click of a button. Some of the other features it has include:

 Email Updates to receive regular news letters from Argos
 Online exclusive offers
 Wedding gift services
 Financial Services
 Argos Business Solutions

If you don’t want to continue with the order online you can of course call them and order over the phone. The financial services that they offer such as insurance, the Argos card etc can also be applied for online so you do not even have to go into store to apply.

They do offer various delivery services for all of their items from the site. However some items are restricted to certain delivery services but this normally applies to the lager items such as Appliances and Furniture. One of the services they do offer is a next day delivery service for some items or most items within 2 days but a Saturday delivery can also be requested. The standard delivery service is free for all orders over £150 or £3.95 for orders under that value. Next day or Saturday delivery costs just an extra £2.95, which to get a delivery that quick is very reasonably priced. They will even deliver to your neighbour or workplace wherever you like in the UK just request this when placing the order; all you need to do it look closely at the product when you place the order as it will tell you any specific delivery services that apply to that product.

Basically, if you intend to shop at Argos or are looking to shop online then do yourselves a favour and make life easy and check out Argos.co.uk. I know I will continue to use them.

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