J&R Music - Not just for New Yorkers
Written: Aug 14 '02 (Updated Aug 15 '02)
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I've shopped at J&R Computer and J&R Music by telephone for years. J&R has historically been a brick and mortar store, but every week they publish ads in the New York times for blowout prices on computers, audio/video equipment, and music and movies. They additionally mail out catalogs. On the phone, the sales people are quite brash but often willing to negotiate prices.
It is only natural, then that the great deals transfer to the web, and they do. They just take their catalog and put it on the web (and the web site shows a little clunkiness of this "paper-first" method). I have shopped (and purchased) at J&R’s website several times, and "window shopped" even more.
Selection
The online selection at J&R is as good as their phone order selection. Areas of product include: Audio, Video, Computers, Software, Music, VHS & DVD, Luggage, Consumer Electronics (such as PDA’s), Cameras, and Home products (appliances and the like). In short you can buy just about anything (but books) there.
The selection is truly outstanding, from the very lowest end to the highest end in name brands and off brands.
Organization
The store is organized in a variety of ways. First, you can search by product. If there are a variety of sub-categories (e.g. Cameras might show digital and film), each screen shows you how many sub-screens there are.
Once you reach a narrow enough category, the “top sellers” are listed at the top (I take that with a grain of salt), and all of the other products are listed below, and you can sort by price or product name.
If you know what you want, you can get there two ways: First, there is a search engine, which works reasonably well. I was shopping for HDTV’s, and it listed actual HDTV’s as “popular sellers” in my search area (this is a nice way to narrow a search), and then listed each of the departments that had anything with HDTV anywhere in the description (this is not as nice a way to narrow a search, though department searching helps some).
Additionally, if you know your brand preference, you can go to the “Sony Store” and see just about everything Sony sells, with not a whole lot of organization. I have never enjoyed shopping that way.
Last but not least, there is a “site map” that shows every product category, organized by type.
In short, you can find what you want, how you want.
Prices
J&R offers great prices on a huge variety of computer and consumer goods. However, not all of the NY Times deals seem to be available, and there is certainly no negotiation. However, computer's are rarely rude to you. (It is truly ironic, that so-so in person service is considered great online). Thus, the online store is not a bad choice. On the high price things, you might try a trick I used once - I was able to find a product online and negotiate on the telephone, as well. This really puts J&R above the on-line only stores.
Purchasing
No big whoop. You add stuff to your cart, and you put in your information. This works like most other stores, and is not distinguishing.
Service
Because J&R is a brick and mortar store with a long and well established phone order history, service is quite good. Indeed, their website makes clear A great website and telecommunications operation is not just servers and phones; it is a collection of hard-working and knowledgeable people.
If you have questions about product descriptions (which are so-so, but not great), there is an 800 number to call and speak with technical product people who truly do know the products. I used this when shopping for my HDTV. This service is not 24 hours, though they have a variety of hours.
Shipping and shipping charges are run of the mill, and are not particularly distinguishable from any other online stores I have shopped at. I have never had delayed shipping - the dates they say are the dates they deliver, and they are large enough that backordered items actually come in.
For items returned, though unless your item is broken you will likely get stuck with return freight charges. The policy about what can and cannot be returned and when is pretty complex, so it is worth looking at before making any major purchase, and perhaps even a minor one. You can return items to the retail store as well.
Conclusion
In short J&R offers “old world” phone order service to “new world” online ordering, which winds up being the best of both worlds. You get the ease of shopping online, the service of an established mail order company, and the prices of both.
Recommended:
Yes
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