We’ve recently purchased a package of white goods and discovered how inefficient some companies can be.
After a year of holding off we finally bit the bullet and ordered a new fridge, cooker (stove/range) and dish washer. The whole process really highlighted some of the differences between purchasing these types of goods in Canada and in the UK. Boring, I hear you say, but bear with me.
As a corporate eco-warrior part of my brief when looking for white goods concerns energy efficiency and water consumption. The Energy Star label in North America makes it relatively easy to identify more efficient appliances, however, there’s still a need to actually check the probable energy use as similar appliances can be a couple of hundred KWh apart in terms of annual electricity consumption, yet still both have the Energy Star label. Walking down an aisle looking at the A-G ratings in Comet seemed much easier. As for water consumption, don’t even try and identify how much will be used, and the sales staff just give you a blank “Why on earth would you ask that” look if you ask the consumption question.
Back from the digression. Having made the selections it was time to start the horse trading. What reduction could I negotiate. The answer was not paying for delivery, and that was fine as it saved $100. I even agreed to wait for the cooker to come back in stock and have all the appliances delivered in one go. Easy. Or so I thought. I received a call from the Brick delivery folks advising me that my fridge was ready for delivery. “But what about the stove and dish washer?” “They’re not in stock, we’ll call you when they are.” I’d like to take delivery of all 3 appliances at once please.” The response was along the lines of there’s only 2 fridges left, if we don’t deliver it you could lose it. Reluctantly I agreed to have the single item delivered.
On the day of delivery I received a call from the Brick delivery folks. “We have your stove in stock and would like to arrange a delivery.” “That’s good, I have a fridge being delivered today so……” “I’m sorry, we can’t do it today the earliest is…..” “Okay, I have a dishwasher as well, can the stove wait until…..” You know what’s coming!
So, having negotiated away the delivery fee I’m now taking 3 separate deliveries of appliances. I can’t help feeling that that’s somewhat inefficient and probably adds to the running costs of the Brick. Oh, wait, they charge for delivery, so that’s okay then.
I love being in this country, however, it’s these little things that trip me up from time to time. Inefficient, well, yes, I think so.
