 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
TOP 10 SITES THIS MONTH
For the best in UK secure online shops add Skinflinters.com to your favourites now. Safe online shopping starts here.
Buy and Sell Your
unwanted items on the world's largest marketplace.
ebay.com uk ebay.com auction ebay.com m e-bay Auction e-bay UK e-bay Motor, ebbay eBayUK ebay.UK eBay Motors .com
Free Membership
ARGOS - ARGOS SUPERSTORE UK ONLINE CATALOGUEThe Argos catalogue UK is packed with great gift ideas at great prices. Argos invests heavily on advertising their products in the UK national press and online because there are so many bargains in their catalogue. The buying power of Argos means they can pass these savings onto us- the customers! Check out the latest price drops and clearance items from the new Argos superstore below. We have all seen the fancy adverts from Argos on TV and the daily advertisements in the UK national press, but what is the customer service like? There is no denying that the range and price of their products is very good- they would not be so successful if they weren't up to standard. I have bought numerous items from the Argos superstore in the past and from my own personal experience I have never had any trouble with the products and the customer service. Whilst the concept of shopping that Argos follows should be very straightforward, i.e., (bring out a catalogue of products and then ship them to your door) the problems start to begin when you have so many products and a large demand for them. The logistics that Argos face are massive- so much stock and so much transportation, not a day goes by when I don't see an Argos van or truck on the UK roads. I wonder just how many orders are placed with Argos, online and at their superstores each and every day- thousands. Your order is just one tiny cog in the wheel and it is inevitable that errors and mistakes will happen. Argos have an advantage over most of the other catalogue retailers in that they have a high street presence, you can physically go to their stores and do your shopping there. The advent of the internet has given Argos a huge boost, there is no fun in going to the local Argos superstore at xmas. I am sure you have all been there as well! Trying to find a space to look in the catalogue, then trying to find a pen that works! After that you end up waiting ages to place your order, and then have to wait some more until you finally receive it. This of course is if the item you want is in stock. Now this may sound a bit critical but it is the truth. This is why the internet has helped not only Argos but all of us lot as well. Shopping online has grown and grown each and every year. The very first item purchased online by secure encryption was a cd! HALF of the UK's adult population shopped online for xmas 2005 and between April 2000 and December 2005, Uk online shopping has grown 2,600%! In 2005 UK consumers spent £19.2 billion, 32% more than in 2004 and the 2006 forecast predicts that UK shoppers will spend £26 billion, with over 25 million of us shopping online! This proves beyond doubt that more and more of us do not want to trudge around city centres at xmas only to find that the items we want are not in stock, whilst waiting in long queues and getting "shopping rage"! Argos.( who were owned by GUS plc), have also profited from this sales boom. Their profits in 2004 were £827 million, and in 2005 they had grown to £910 million as a group. Since 2006 the Argos business has changed .Argos superstore plan to open a further 150 stores in the UK by 2009, most of them in retail parks, out of town- so you don't have to pay for parking. Incidentally, 9% of all transactions were by the Argos store card. Please be aware that a recent report from Which? stated that the Argos Easy Shop store card is a complete rip off. If you used this card to buy a £300 iPod it could actually cost you £405. It must be said that this card is not produced by Argos or promoted by them, if you bought the same iPod using the Argos store card and paid the amount due in less than 9 months there would be no interest charges. However if you do not pay the amount back in the specified time, the APR on the Argos store card is a hefty 25.9%. What does this mean? Easy- do not use the Argos Easy Shop store card! and if you need to use an Argos store card then pay it back before you get hammered by the interest!! If Argos is selling 9% of all items they sell on this store card can you imagine the extra revenue they are making ? Perhaps this is why their profits are £910 million. After looking at many reviews about the Argos superstore online, it appears that there is a wide variety, ranging from excellent to very poor( I will never do my shopping at Argos again!!) I think this kind of feedback is standard for a large company because you lose the personal touch that you get with a small company who only deal with a small amount of customers. Yet this is the major point in buying anything from anyone- if you are happy with the product and the customer service then you will go back and use them again. "The customer is always right" well not all the time, but most of the time! This customer service leads to people telling others, either by word of mouth, or on an internet forum, all about their experience in dealing with Argos or any other company, as I have seen, some good, some bad. Think about this though, as Argos superstore continues to expand and open more stores with more products at lower prices, surely this competitive pricing policy will put smaller businesses out of business? This is the "Tesco Effect" whereby the large company eats up all small business because no one can compete with their bulk buying power. The same thing is happening with Argos as they put more and more small firms away. What happens next is that even if you have a bad experience with Argos you will be stuck because there will be nowhere else left to buy your items! You will have little choice but to buy from them, so maybe Argos will not care so much about a little bit of bad publicity from a few people( quite a few actually if you read some of the reviews!) Another problem with Argos superstore UK are the delivery times. Many people seem to be unhappy with the time they have to wait for the goods and then taking a day off work to sit in and wait all day for the good to arrive, I can think of nothing worse than doing this, what a waste of a day! Unfortunately, this problem will not go away, as our roads get ever more busy, delays are inevitable, and we pay the price. Even if you go shopping at your local Argos store and order a large item it will still have to be delivered, so you can't escape! The Argos UK online catalogue and their superstores do offer a huge range of stuff at competitive prices and I reckon that you will be unfortunate if you have any problems when shopping with them, or any other online store. It can be very frustrating when problems do arise, so my advice is to go on the internet forums and voice your anger, it may not solve the problem, but it will make you feel better!! ARGOS HOME INSURANCEArgos home insurance offers you a 30% discount off the price of your cover if you have 5 years no claims. If you take out argos catalogue buildings and content insurance together you could save another 12%. Now, if you also happen to have Argos catalogue car insurance you can then get an extra 5% discount on top of all that! Argos catalogueue throws this in, hoping you will end up purchasing all your insurance cover with them so you can get money off. I would look into this before you start buying all their services to see if it works out cheaper. What does the Argos catalogue home insurance cover? You receive automatic cover for your keys, and up to £1000 to cover any locksmith's charges for replacement locks and keys (per year). You get up to 3 days car hire if you are stranded due to loss or theft of your keys, and you are covered if your keys break in the lock or if you lock your keys in your house( easily done!) There is also legal cover of up to £50,000. ARGOS CAR INSURANCEArgos catalogue car insurance offers you up to 70% off the price of your cover if you have 9 years no claims. ( a hell of lot of no claims) If you have Argos catalogue home insurance you get an added 5% discount. Note that this works both ways, i.e., you get a discount on argos catalogue home insurance if you have car insurance. As standard with your insurance you will receive new car replacement ( if your car is written off and is less than 1 year old), you get legal protection up to £50,000. You also get 90 days argos catalogue foreign travel cover and emergency medical expenses. Argos catalogue car insurance also has the key care protection scheme which basically covers you if you lose your keys. ARGOS PET INSURANCEArgos catalogue pet insurance has 3 levels of cover, argos silver, argos gold and argos platinum. It will cost you different amounts for a cat, dog, or pedigree dog. For example, the argos silver level cover for a cat is £3.79 per month, compared to the argos gold level cover for a pedigree dog which costs £10.92. If you want argos platinum level cover then you need to call Argos for a more detailed quote. Incidentally, these prices relate to pets aged under 4 years. They do insure pets older than 4 years but again, you will have to call for a detailed argos quote. The argos catalogue cover includes legal fees, vet's fees and any help with any costs involved with advertising for lost or stolen pets. Click on the link to apply for Argos pet insurance. ARGOS TRAVEL INSURANCEArgos catalogue travel insurance now has a separate online web site called www.argostravelinsurance.co.uk. You get an extra 5% discount if you apply online. Individual argos cover for one year costs from £42.74, couples from £71.72 and you can also get single trip cover from just £6.64. The benefits available with Argos travel insurance include single trip cover from 3-31 days, muti trip cover for Europe and worldwide. Extra argos cover is available for winter sports and business trips. Additional argos cover is available for hazardous sports. This type of argos cover is extremely competitive so shop around for the best deal you can get. ARGOS TRAVEL SERVICESArgos has teamed up with A.P.H., Travelex, Last minute.com, and the R.A.C. to offer some great discounts on travel. You can save 25% on airport parking if you pre-book with A.P.H. You can also get argos commission free travel money delivered direct to your door this sounds too good to be true, how can Argos make money if they give you commission free money and then have it delivered to you?. If you sign up with Argos travel services you can get roadside assistance from the R.A.C from around £36. Argos catalogue wedding lists - Gift IdeasThe Argos catalogue Wedding Gift Service is designed to make setting up your list easy, hassle free and fun. Keep an eye on your list online at the argos catalogue website, see what has been bought or add extra items if you want to. There's always that extra frivolous item that you may need or want! Argos catalogue guests can view your list online or obtain a copy in any Argos catalogue store - they just need to quote your reference number on the catalogue ref machine Wedding Gifts can be bought in the argos catalogue store, online or by telephone - whichever is most convenient for your guests. If your guests buy gifts in the argos store, they take their gifts home with them to wrap and take to the wedding Your argos wedding list is automatically updated as soon as a catalogue gift is bought - which minimises the chances of receiving duplicate gifts! After your wedding we'll send you an argos list of who bought what - to help you write your thank-you cards.
When should I start planning my Argos catalogue wedding list? How many guest cards should I ask for? How long before my Argos catalogue wedding list is available for guests to view and buy from?
|