To wonder where people go to look at appliances now before buying if they don’t like Curry’s

[L00byL00]

Trying to buy a big fridge freezer but there is nothing in Curry’s that we like. Just realised in our area there appears to be nowhere else where you can view stock before buying. I’ve no intention of spending a lot of money on something I haven’t looked at. So where do people shop or does everybody order appliances without looking at them these days?😳

Look for your local independent. Some of them carry a lot of stock and will usually be much more helpful in sourcing what you want.

Wouldn’t send me in a flat spin. You do you. I’d never spend £££££ on a sofa,bed or American fridge freezer that I’d use daily and had never seen thought.

Ok that’s good to know. Might be slightly more interested too.

I agree, a fridge and freezer need to be seen. I was shocked at how small & useless the freezer space is an American style FF - either they are just two drawers under the fridge or they are narrow open shelves that a pizza won’t fit into and things slide out of too easily. Ended up with a separate larder fridge & larder freezer.

Dishwasher you can get away without seeing if you are essentially buying the same brand again- they layouts of a Bosch DW is pretty standard.

Wahjng machines are def much of a muchness - main thing are whether it has the capacity & functions you want & you don’t need to see the machine for that.

@L00byL00 Can you get to an out of town retail park that has a megastore or a large John Lewis? That’s what we did.

Also. Your local independent is often cheaper when you factor in delivery etc. Make use you shop around.

People really don’t buy cars or houses they haven’t seen. Anybody that does needs their head examined .

It’s hard to comprehend because it’s shit and puts me off buying.

I know what you mean but with white goods I think online reviews and ratings are actually more helpful than seeing in a shop. I generally just buy Samsung if I can because they are always great and I’ve never had an issue, plus warranties are decent.

Sofas, armchairs and beds are the thing I refuse to buy without seeing in a store. So much depends on the actual feel of them to use!

The quality of fittings is very variable, though. We bought a new fridge a few years ago and any inkling of buying a Miele one went out of the window when I saw some in the flesh.

We had to replace the washer a few months later and the samsung ones that we looked at we falling apart in our hands.

Exactly this!!! Had considered a Haier or Hisense. No bloody way when you see the quality. They were literally falling to bits. Many of the new French style freezer drawers are ridiculous capacity wise with the top drawer split in two and basically useless. Who freezes vast quantities or items 20cm high?

Ok so like most people I’m not a millionaire.

There is a demand to see items before you buy. I’m clearly not alone.

There is john Lewis and Fenwick's, for a start.

And believe it or not, even if someone is looking for a £500 fridge freezer, they might want to be sure that they have spent that £500 wisely. It's a huge amount of money to many people.

TBH all the annoying things about ours I wouldn't have been able to see in the shop.

Fridge - drawers snapped after a few years. Seal is dodgy in the freezer if you slam it too hard it opens slightly.

Washing machine - weighs the clothes to determine length of cycle. Fine except there's no way to override this, so if you try to rewash a load that's already wet, it thinks it's about 4x as many clothes as it is. I have to faff around taking everything out then pausing once it's calculated to put everything back in.

Dishwasher - I was tempted by the ones that have the new extra extra extra dry thing but no way to test this in the shop. Didn't opt for it as more expensive but get annoyed every time plastic things come out dribbling water everywhere. I suppose I could have asked a staff member of it actually works. They didn't seem to have a clue though.

Tumble dryer - has annoying anti crease feature that makes it tumble intermittently every 5 minutes for 2 hours after a cycle or the entire time before a time delay cycle and no way to switch this off.

Independent type places do seem better, I think because it's their livelihood they take the time to learn about the different products whereas with chain stores you get a bored Saturday kid who couldn't care less and only works there for the discount on tech stuff.

AO or John Lewis as PP have said.

Surely it depends on your local area? I'd just go onto any of the brands you like and look at stockists then see what comes up.

Range doesn't matter if what you're interested in is models in store.

Fenwick's have only very recently ditched that section, then. They still had some stuff in the basement, earlier this year.

I do agree with you about seeing them in the flesh. We want a fridge freezer with the big freezer draw and the draw that can be a fridge or a freezer. Had seen it on line and was going to just order but happened to be near a curries so thought I’d go and see it first. Really glad I did the drawers felt really flimsy and didn’t glide open well. Would have been really disappointed if we had ordered it.

Athough as an aside I have bought two houses in the past without viewing them in person.

John Lewis

Totally agree @L00byL00 . I need to see fridges and washing machines before buying.

Fridges, I need to feel how the crispers pull out. Some are terrible and grindy, others smooth as silk. I know which I'd prefer to buy! Then I look at shelves, quality of shelves, space and adjustability. How easy is it to see, move around, reach in etc.

I've got a lovely french door fridge. Really like the two doors as they need less room to open. The only thing I'd like to change is the crisper is the whole width of the fridge, not two crispers. So you've got to open both doors to get things in and out of the crisper.

Totally agree, just redid kitchen so had to pick lots of appliances. Like you I want to touch things, see how sturdy they feel, what the switches feel like. We managed with a combination of JL, Curry’s and kitchen showrooms, most have appliances in the room sets so you can get an idea of quality of different brands.

John lewis / a kitchen design shop

Fisher and Paykel are very nice french door fridge freezers

I'm surprised there are so few shops where you can examine the stock available to you. I'm also trying to purchase a fridge freezer, it's replacing an Amana brand one which was at least twenty years old and was excellent quality but the brand is now part of Whirlpool and just not the same quality.
I want an American style (our old one was actually American coincidentally), two door, side by side, freestanding, plumbed for ice and water, ability to vary humidity for fruit/veg (I was spoilt with the old one, humidity adjustable and controls to adjust the temperature of door shelves which I loved for icey cold drinks), a good quality brand and because it's freestanding set against a white wall in a black and white kitchen I want the sides to be the same colour as the front. Tomorrow I shall go looking but here at least I have Curry's, Harvey Normans, The Sound Store, Euronics, DID, PowerCity plus a few independents, I know a lot of stock will overlap but it's still good to to be to examine them in person.
If anyone has a recommendation suiting my criteria I'd be delighted, from what I've seen getting another one that is the same colour on the front and sides seems difficult, also I don't like the 'brushed steel' effect because it looks grey not black. Like the op I'd never buy unseen.

We’ve bought 3 appliances since moving into our house. The two we’ve bought in our local independent shop both have issues with them but the one we bought online from Argos without seeing first is completely fine.