Products which are a nightmare to buy

[YorkshireMartin]

This thread is turning out far better than I had hoped. Although, I am dismayed that some individuals are not taking it at all seriously.. (hammer) #-o :ho2

 

[Droogs]

Neuisance phone calls at tea time.the phone is listed under the other halfs name Macilwham (MAC-IL-WHAM) I answer the phone and get some numpty that calls me Mr,Mac????im to witch I reply when you can pronounce the name you can call me back.

Peter.

if the call was about your electricity complaints, it was me :lol:

 

[JakeS]

Insurance of all types - The comparison sites seemed to have made it easier for many insurance types, until you realise that you pay a fair old premium, pardon the pun, above the policy price for the privilege of using them. The coverage of varies so wildly that it can't usually be compared, requires wading through 100's of pages just to find out what you're actually covered for, which in some cases is very little, if anything.

I've consistently found that I get a better deal off the comparison sites than I do either getting a quote from the website of the same insurer or calling up and asking for a quote - the problem is that the comparison site quote sometimes conveniently misses out some things to make the quote cheaper ("Oh, you wanted a zero voluntary excess? Sorry, we have you down here for £500"). My experience is that I get the best deal by getting a quote on Confused (using CompareTheMarket only encourages them to make more meerkat advertising) and then calling up the insurer in question, getting a quote, and then asking why it's higher than the one you got through Confused. Half the time they'll match it, but for your specified policy details.

Which largely just leads me to think that insurance sales overcharge by a huge amount on a regular basis.

The problem with shopping for insurers for me hasn't so much been finding a good price as finding an insurer who aren't a pack of lying, cheating cretins (I know, I know). We insured my partner's car with "Quote Me Happy" a couple of years ago, and when she got into an accident it transpired that when you called up to make a claim, their 24-hour claims line was only 24-hour for checking the status of your claim and you had to call during office hours (at the time quite difficult for both of us) to make a new claim. And when you called up to check the status of your claim, their 24-hour claims line was only 24-hour for making new claims, and if you wanted to check the status of the claim you had to call up during office hours...

(I've had much less trouble buying motorcycle insurance - but then, I've also never had to claim on it, so maybe I just haven't noticed yet.)


Estate agents seconded - in one case when we last moved we had an agent almost refusing to pass an offer on to the seller because they were so sure it wasn't going to be accepted; I had to threaten to drive around and make the offer in person before they capitulated. In selling my own house I had it on the market for the required three months with the first agent with only a couple of viewings, then put it on the market with a second, got a viewing the first day from a family who went on to buy it and remarked when they got there "Oh, you have a [...] sign out the front as well? We asked them for houses exactly like this in this area - it perfectly matches our criteria - and they didn't show us this one... have you only just signed up with them?" Then the first agent threatened to sue me because I'd sold my house through a second agent after the exclusivity period had elapsed and our contract stipulated that I could do exactly that, because they were adamant that I had to give them several months' notice that weren't mentioned in the contract at all.





Curiously the thing we've had the most trouble buying recently is an oven. All the showrooms in the vicinity basically had the same four models on display (that fit our cavity), absolutely none of the staff - not even in the usually-excellent John Lewis - could tell us anything useful about any of them, one guy in Homebase gushed for far longer than was comfortable about a brand that a quick search on the Internet revealed has an average lifetime of five months before falling apart or catching fire (CDA? Something like that), and none of the various online retailers would actually tell you how tall or wide the interior space of the oven is, as if that's a trifling detail that nobody should care about! Consumer reviews in this area seem to be completely and utterly useless, with about 50% of people seemingly buying an oven for decoration ("Two stars because the catalogue made it look like the glass is dark but the glass isn't dark and I can see inside the oven from the outside. Oh, I guess it works OK."), and the other 50% completely clueless as to what an oven is and how it works (seriously, we saw one review for the one we have which claimed that it wasn't even a fan oven (despite the obvious fan grill in the back, the fact that it's marketed as a fan oven and the fact that you can hear and see the fan start up when you turn it on. I'd think hers was broken but she didn't mention it, you know, not cooking things).
In the end we had to take out a trial subscription to Which to read their oven reviews, and we were still left buying an oven half on the basis that we could return it if it turned up and the interior space wasn't large enough. After reading the Which reviews my partner still keeps leaving our kitchen thermometer in the oven to check how accurate the temperature settings are, despite the fact that we have no idea how accurate the kitchen thermometer is.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

White goods I just go to AO and have done with it.

 

[graduate_owner]

We were looking at reviews for a tumble dryer and the first thing is a read through the one-star reviews (well you do, don't you?) and one reviewer gave the model one star because it didn't quite match the washing machine of the same make they had bought the previous year. So obviously we steered well clear of that model!!!!
We ended up getting a good deal from AO.

And I have to say I totally agree about motor insurance companies - "have you already had any quotes, sir?". By the the way one company was offering a £50 cash back so both myself and my wife took out a policy with them within a few weeks of each other. I had the discount, wife didn't. Reason? She went through a comparison website, I happened to contact them directly. They didn't advertise that fact so prominently.

K

 

[Sheffield Tony]

All this talk of financial services, estate agents, insurers. Can I just give, if I dare, a quick mention to plumbing services. Most ought to leave you with a free bucket to bail out when the inevitable happens.

 

[graduate_owner]

Yet another comment - how can you tell that the product is genuine and not one of these far East copies?

K

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Reading reviews is wise of course, but it much depends what the item is. I read reviews for a chainsaw and it was perfectly obvious that many people who gave one or two stars had no idea what to do with the thing. Comments along the lines of - it didn't last a day before I had to stop and sharpen it (I've never used one for an hour without touching it up) - it went blunt and all I did was cut down a big privet hedge (God knows what he'd hit) - and possibly the best of all a comment on a petrol one - I didn't like all the faffing around, the first thing I had to do was go out and buy oil and petrol.
Most of the four and five star ratings were from people who already owned chainsaws (often petrol) and knew how to use them. All of this reads unfortunately for the product if people balance the ones against the fives.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

White goods I just go to AO and have done with it.

Have to admit, I do the same.

Our 2 month old Bosch oven is malfunctioning as I type, bloody cooling fan wont turn off, like, ever. So hopefully AO will help out.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

All this talk of financial services, estate agents, insurers. Can I just give, if I dare, a quick mention to plumbing services. Most ought to leave you with a free bucket to bail out when the inevitable happens.

I'd agree if I could ever have gotten a plumber to actually attend an appointment. In the end I gave up and now I do it all myself. It takes me a million years, especially figuring out which parts to buy, but so far I've done a new kitchen sink and tap with all new updated pipework and a small bathroom including pipework and radiator installation. I also fixed the electrical side of the boiler for £65 instead of the £300-380 VAT I was quoted. I'm basically an silly person at DIY so if I can do it, anyone can.

Gas stuff is a bit more of a problem. I'm sort of considering qualifying as a gas fitter so I can DIY more things.

 

[Woodmonkey]

Sky hooks, post holes and skirting ladders.

Flints Theatrical Chandlers actually list Sky Hooks in their delightful catalogue - this is the description:

Sky Hooks
I can’t see what use these would be
in the theatre but the next time the young apprentice
gets asked to order some sky hooks from Flints their
line manager will get a shock when the invoice arrives.

Rob.

PS They also list long weights, but only available from their trade counter on Saturday mornings.

These are sky hooks, they are used when rock climbing.

Ps The world would be a better place with no estate agents in it

 

[DiscoStu]

Can I add to Carpets to the list. Oh how I hate trying to work out what is good quality and will feel nice and no go flat in a few weeks.

I tend to buy a lot from John Lewis as I think they are great and know their stuff. Not so easy for buying tools and wood.




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[YorkshireMartin]

Can I add to Carpets to the list. Oh how I hate trying to work out what is good quality and will feel nice and no go flat in a few weeks.

I tend to buy a lot from John Lewis as I think they are great and know their stuff. Not so easy for buying tools and wood.




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Absobloodylutely. In fact, all flooring. It's another awful product to buy and without getting into the minutiae, impossible to compare. I'm pretty sure an Axminster or Wilton carpet is nothing like the quality it was in say, the 1960's, but the price will still be way up there no doubt.

I have to mention here that the best wood flooring I've ever seen I saw recently at a place in keighley called british hardwoods. They make their own and I saw racks of finished hardwood parquet ready for shipping to customers. It was really sorted. Not cheap, but when we move into our forever home, they will be getting a call. They are an exception to the rule though.

Anyone ever dared to visit Floors2Go? haha

 

[NazNomad]

Any product is a nightmare to buy when you live 15 miles from the nearest town.

That said, ASDA do deliver if you spend over 40 quid.

 

[Bm101]

Talking of Long weights etc, once had the bosses son turn up on a job years ago, I was laying yet another driveway.
'Dad said you needed some gear picked up from the warehouse.' He was a PITA kid, sort who lived off the back of his Dad with none of the charm, knowledge or grace.
Gave him a list of assorted sundries, dust, sand, wacker plate etc. Oh and 6 Acos
(Acos are the little metal covered drain systems you put in to channel surface water).

He turned up an hour later with 6 acros.
Yeh cos we're gonna need acros doing a driveway ya numpty. :|

=D>

 

[Jonzjob]

La Poste won't let you post a hole yet, but they are looking into it :?

I'm taking it seriously! I spent a hole day trying to get a tin of magnetic flux just before Christmas :shock:

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

Absobloodylutely. In fact, all flooring. It's another awful product to buy and without getting into the minutiae, impossible to compare.

We went to the local carpet shop and the local wood flooring place and both were great. Very straightforward.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I had samples from directwoodflooring.co.uk - they all top class.

 

[JakeS]

White goods I just go to AO and have done with it.

They don't tell you the dimensions of the interior of an oven either! Just "this oven is XX litres". Which is great if you're ever planning on filling your oven with water (which, let's face it, people do ALL THE TIME), and absolutely useless if you want to know whether your existing cookware will fit or whether it's tall enough to cook the Christmas goose or whatever.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Point taken - but I've always bought large cookers.