Shopping Guide: B&Q Athlone
B&Q Shopping Guide: An Informed Visitor's Perspective
Why You Should Visit
- Helpful Staff: You'll find staff members willing to assist you with various tasks. For instance, staff like Jimmy are available to help load large items, such as sheets of wood, into your vehicle. Other staff members are knowledgeable and can guide you to specific products.
- Kitchen Design and Organization: The Athlone branch, specifically, offers kitchen design services with the help of sales personnel like Lee McLoughlin. Customers have praised the helpfulness of the staff and their role in design and organization.
- Special Offers: The store offers great deals. You can expect savings like spending €1200 and saving €280. Furthermore, you can find deals such as "Buy One Get One Free" (BOGOFF) offers, as noted with Dulux acrylic paint, which might be worth the trip.
- Product Availability: The location offers a great supply of goods, a great choice of products, and great prices, offering you a large variety of items to choose from.
- Cutting Services: You can get assistance with tasks such as cutting wood to size, which the floor staff might help with.
- Convenience: There's ample parking.
Why You Might Consider Alternatives
- Delivery Issues: Be aware that delivery orders can be problematic. Several reviews highlight issues with missing items, cancellations without explanation, and unresponsive customer support. The delivery process might involve significant delays.
- Order Fulfillment Delays: You should anticipate potential delays in receiving your orders. Reports indicate waiting periods of several weeks, sometimes even months, with little communication from the store.
- Kitchen Installation Challenges: Consider that if you are ordering a kitchen, the installation process can be fraught with issues, including date changes, incorrect design plans, and a lack of communication from the store. You may experience delays in the completion of the installation.
- Customer Service Concerns: Be aware of potential challenges with customer service. Some reviews mention unhelpful, rude, and dismissive support agents. You might struggle to get issues resolved, even after repeated calls and emails. The Athlone branch has been specifically criticized for poor service in the kitchen design, supply and installation.
- Product Sizing Errors: If buying kitchen components or appliances, double-check specifications. You could face issues, such as a hood designed to be the wrong size.
- Stock Availability Problems: You may experience issues with product availability, leading to the need for exchanges or potentially having your orders not shipped at all after a long wait.
- In-Store Customer Service Concerns: Be aware of potential issues in-store. For instance, you might encounter staff unwilling to provide assembly recommendations, or staff lacking product knowledge, which can affect your shopping experience.
- Dog Policy: There may be a policy against allowing dogs in the store, so plan accordingly.