Darty - wonderful service

[Rose]

I cannot speak highly enough of this company. I telephoned them to say there were tiny cracks in the doors of a fridge freezer I bought from them last year. They agreed to send a technician to look at the doors and he arrived today and said he would replace both the doors. He will be back next Wednesday with the new doors and will fit them then.

[john]

I must say the few things I've ever bought fro Darty have never gone wrong,so I've never had to put their SAV to the test,but it's good to hear this sort of story ,Rose.

Yet another example of why,as was mentioned on the forum last week ,it's always best to buy expensive stuff from the specialists,and not risk the internet or grand surface suppliers.

[opas]

I too have used Darty, I bought my washing achine from them when we first came to France, it was delivered on the day they said between the times they stated. It would not spin for some reason one day and the washing wash locked inside the machine. Hubby phoned them and the repair man came the next morning.

[John & Elaine]

A couple of weeks ago I posted my story of a replacement TV supplied by UK dealer which was definitely beyond the call of duty and an example of excellent service. We just bought a second one from the same dealer at 50% of the usual retail price and delivered in 48 hours from Bolton to Collioure for £17. We shop frequently on the internet and find real value - even bargains - and have experienced no problems. J&E

[Rose]

That site sounds great, John and Elaine. Can you tell us which one it is? I have shopped twice today on the net in France and I have never had problems except for one book which did not arrive and as it was from a reputable dealer I think it was the Post Office's fault - in UK. I have also received some wonderful bargains from French ebay.

[Santiago]

A bit off-topic but I bought car parts for my Merc on Ebay last year. They were around 30% of the price quoted by the Merc garage at Espace Polygon. I'm sure they were parts nicked by workers at the Dusseldorf factory but is that my problem?

[Puddles]

I Have a Neighbour who bought her fridge freezer from Darty.
Just about every month it seems to go wrong & the repair man has to come round. No , I do not think she has a thing about repair men, it's just the thing is not reliable . I have visited the Darty store in Perpignan & that was enough, Never again!!!!!!!!!!

[opas]

I do not know what it is about appliances but some people seem to have them forever and others have the worst luck ever and seem to have to replair or replace them everyfew years.
My sister in UK was on her 3rd fridge freezer when I was on my first wich was still going strong after 19 years and went to the charity shop when we moved here.
She was also on her 3rd or 4th washing machine when I was on my 2nd one (one of mine was also bought 2nd hand). She bought expensive ones such as Ariston, mine was a hotpoint and the other wa a budget brand as are my appliances from Darty, shouldn`t say this but my freezer and washer from there are nearly 5 years old and going strong.

I would buy from them again for the service alone.

[PaddyFrog]

I would buy from them again for the service alone.

Yeh Right, this is why opas recommends them, notice the fit young bloke!!!!!

And he doesn't have an eye patch

http://www.darty.com/achat/views/services.html

PS Quackers your neighbours have got to understand, feathers go into pillows not fridge's

[Roger O]

I would like - just once - to see a positive post from our birdie!
What does he love in life and where is it?
Maybe we could club together and get him a Tardis for a birthday present to go back to the 60/70s
- which I also remember fondly but not to dwell on!
http://www.life-with-confidence.com/ima ... idence.jpg

[Jungle Jim]

Couple of points.

First, what is the relevance of the post by Roger O?

Secondly I've dealt with Darty for over a decade and never had cause for complaint. Goods always delivered as promised, SAV on site on the two occasions that it was needed. Must admit that one of those times the problem was of our own making!

The people that really annoy me are Castorama in Perpignan. For those of us living to the south and west they are very conveniently situated. Parking at Leroy Merlin is no joke. The old Castorama was cramped and unwelcoming, I thought things would get better with the move. Wrong!. The goods are well displayed, the boys and girls keep the shelves filled and can always point you in the right direction. Everything works fine until you reach the check-out. Then the system just falls to pieces. Almost every transaction seems to cause some sort of a problem. Progress is invariably painfully slow. Brico Depopt are no great shakes but the're certainly better than Castorama. Odd thing is, if my memory serves me right, they both belong to the same group!

That's it, whinge over, back to the coalface!

Jungle Jim.

[Roger O]

First, what is the relevance of the post by Roger O?Secondly I've dealt with Darty for over a decade and never had cause for complaint. Goods always delivered as promised, SAV on site on the two occasions that it was needed. Must admit that one of those times the problem was of our own making!

a) Just because everything is "negative" - so why bother?
b) Agree about Darty - always buy our "good stuff" through them, such as our Liebherr fridge and all TV/PC/recording equipment, plus my Braun electric shaver, etc. because they give service and if certain individuals don't, you mention it, they get taken to task and you get a 'commercial gesture' as compensation. This happened to us once in 2003 when the said Liebherr was delivered to our place in Le Soler and the guys discovered they would have to unpack it to get it through the door. They just left it outside - in the rain in the packing - and fortunately 3 guys from the Pesages et Volumetrie helped move it into the kitchen. Annaïck called Darty and told the SAV. We received a nice bon d'achat for 100 euros (the fridge cost 1500 - we bought it as we have a Liebherr deep freeze bought in Zürich in 1985 still as good as new - quality pays off!) and we were assured that this would never happen again and the guys concerned had been "taken to task"!

Also agree completely about the "new" Casto - Zero "service" - the one in Antibes is much better!! The one good thing about the Perps Casto was I bought a B&D "Alligator" in there for 99 euros introductory offer - and I saw the other day the DIY Leclerc sells it for 150 euros!! I mentioned it to the manager - Leclerc is always shouting (see the TV adverts etc) about being cheapest.. red face and promise to look into it..

As with all these multis - much depends on the local management as to how the staff are trained and how they deal with customers. The darty here in Carcassonne is rather "offhand" in this respect, whereas the one in the ZAC outside Toulouse is super - that's where I bought our new PC.

Having said that, I would recommend Tridôme in Carcassone to anyone. All the "rayons" are clearly labeled in French/English/German - I think this is the only branch of any DIY where I've seen this!) with clear descriptions - at both ends! The prices are very competetive and the service is, as written on their "uniforms", certainly supplied!!

[rbg]

Good to hear one positive story about quality service in France.
We bought our top of the range GPS system from Darty too about 9 months ago. It was faulty ( had me scampering down dirt roads all over the region! - once with a full bus of tourists ) - we brought it back and they sent it off to be fixed. They were very nice, helpful and knowledgable about their range of products.

[Roger O]

Good to hear one positive story about quality service in France.

For Puddles:
If service is what one desires to have in such important measure that the need disproportionately overides other joys in life, then it's pointless to live in a place where service is consistently bad or non existent, then spend much time and energy moaning about it. We wouldn't choose to live in such a place, anyway. We do choose to live here, in France!

[Santiago]

Personally I'd like to do something to change the level of customer service or any other thing I think is lacking in my chosen place of residence, rather than moving somewhere else to try and find utopia.

[carol sheridan]

Darty delivered a small freezer for me, which I ordered on-line - they were not quite on time - 15 minutes early! I am very pleased with it.
I regard Brico Depot in the same light as Ryanair - rotten service but too cheap to ignore! I used BD exclusively to renovate my house in Aude - I noticed that the same little tiles for a frieze in the bathroom were three times as expensive at Mr. Brico. The BD bathroom and kitchen units were good quality and VERY good value. I had to hire a van from them and struggle to load the heavy packages into it myself, but it was worth it.

[Roger O]

Personally I'd like to do something to change the level of customer service or any other thing I think is lacking in my chosen place of residence, rather than moving somewhere else to try and find utopia.

Rather than make yourself unpopular with the organisation, better play the innocent wounded foreigner and tell a sob story to a local friend who will call them in indignation and ask what kind of a reputation they are giving to visitors who are too nice to make a fuss! Always works and you come out looking white as snow - as well as giving your friend or neighbour great satisfaction to be able to righteously let off steam!!

[PaddyFrog]

[Rather than make yourself unpopular with the organisation, better play the innocent wounded foreigner and tell a sob story to a local friend who will call them in indignation and ask what kind of a reputation they are giving to visitors who are too nice to make a fuss! Always works and you come out looking white as snow - as well as giving your friend or neighbour great satisfaction to be able to righteously let off steam!!

[opas]

I do not know what it is about appliances but some people seem to have them forever and others have the worst luck ever and seem to have to replair or replace them everyfew years.
My sister in UK was on her 3rd fridge freezer when I was on my first wich was still going strong after 19 years and went to the charity shop when we moved here.
She was also on her 3rd or 4th washing machine when I was on my 2nd one (one of mine was also bought 2nd hand). She bought expensive ones such as Ariston, mine was a hotpoint and the other wa a budget brand as are my appliances from Darty, shouldn`t say this but my freezer and washer from there are nearly 5 years old and going strong.

I would buy from them again for the service alone.

The above mentioned washer from darty has just stopped working. 10+ years of service!

[Robert Ferrieux]

It would seem that you take better care of your things than your sister does

All the best for the New Year.

Helen