Big Stores Not Best For Appliances
Consumer Reports says "big stores aren't necessarily the best." For its September issue, the magazine asked 6,000 readers where they'd go to get the best price, service, and selection.
"We found that independent stores actually have better staffing, better knowledge about the products that they're selling, and better selection of appliances," says the magazine's Alberto Rojas.
According to this survey, smaller stores often have the best prices, and they're more often willing to negotiate. They also scored much higher than the big stores on customer satisfaction with delivery and setup.
Readers told Consumer Reports Costco was their favorite big name retailer for small appliances. "Costco is the only store that excelled in price without compromising quality," the magazine says, "which helps explain its high reader score." But the editors point out "that appeal was offset by sub-par service and checkout and less product selection."
Sears is the favorite big retailer for large appliances and right behind Costco for small appliances. "Sears was the only major retailer that matched the independents for product, selection, service and checkout for small appliances, and served readers nearly as well when buying large appliances," Consumer Reports says.
Wal-Mart had the lowest overall rating of the seven big national chains in this survey. Readers gave the retail giant low marks for service, checkout, and selection.
And here's the real shocker - based on this survey, the store that promises to give you low prices "always," was not the low-price leader.
The magazine says more than twice as many people who bought small appliances at Wal-Mart said they "overpaid." Wal-Mart shoppers also ranked small appliance sold by the retail giant "lower in quality than readers who bought elsewhere," the editors say.
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