If you give Abt a try, I think you'll like doing business with them.
Written: Apr 10 '03 (Updated Apr 10 '03)
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Background & Overall Impression
I have been an Abt customer for over 15 years. My wife describes me as a "buyer, not a shopper", since I generally make up my mind about what I want before ever leaving for the store. I began to use Abt’s web site for purchases several years ago, saving the trip.
For selection, price and service, Abt is tough to beat.
Products
Abt has one of the most comprehensive selections of electrically operated household equipment I've ever seen. If you want a $15 toaster, go to Target. Anything past that, check out Abt.
From an $80 cell phone to a $30K home theater system, a $125 blender to a $4500 Sub Zero refrigerator, a $100 PDA to $2800 laptop, if it runs on electricity inside your home, Abt probably has what you want on their web site (or at their retail store).
Abt carries products for virtually every budget, from some of the most modestly priced brands, to top-of-the-line luxury items, and just about everything in between.
Although product selections are deep and wide, I consider Abt's strongest suits to be home electronics (audio/video) and major appliances.
There's only been one time (on a seasonal item near the end of the season) that Abt didn't have, and couldn’t get, what I needed.
Price
After shopping their prices dozens of times, Abt is consistently among the most competitive. There are stores that match Abt's prices, but I haven't found one that consistently beats them. We recently purchased a Miele dishwasher at Abt for $150 less than the asking price at another major appliance retailer. Oh, the competitor offered to meet the Abt web site price, but they tried to wring that extra profit out of me first. (NOT!)
Service
Thousands of items, from the common and popular to the arcane, are in inventory, available for prompt shipment or delivery. Do they have everything in stock? No, but virtually no retailer does. If you want it and they don’t have it, the longest wait I’ve experienced is about 5 days.
Phone support, when needed, is courteous and efficient.
We live in the Chicago area and have used Abt’s installation and repair services on occasion. This is where Abt really shines. The most stunning example was a couple of years ago when our double wall oven gave out 5 days before Christmas, and we had the whole family coming for the holidays. Ours is an older home and sometimes the spaces for built-in appliances are a tight squeeze for modern replacements.
Abt had our chosen (on the web) replacement model and color in stock and scheduled installation for the second day after our order was placed. The first installers had problems fitting the new oven in the cabinet and connecting it, ultimately giving up. Worried that we’d be serving the family take-out pizza on Christmas Eve, I called Abt customer service to plead my case.
After hearing me out, they arranged to have one of their teams of custom installers, who do the high dollar custom kitchen projects, at our home the next day (a Saturday, no less). After a 2-½ hour struggle, they got the new unit in place, working properly and looking great, just in time for the holiday guests, at no additional charge over and above the basic installation price I was originally quoted.
That’s SERVICE!
Web Site
As a lover of buying on the web, thus avoiding the mall, I rate Abt’s web site as very good. The typical navigation bars with drop downs at the left side and top of the screen are logical and facilitate easy focus on the type of product for which you are searching. Colors and arrangement of the web pages are easy on the eyes. Pages load reasonably quickly and are unburdened by excessively complex, bandwidth-sapping graphics.
One thing that could be improved is their key word product searches. For example, if you want a dishwasher, you can use the navigation bar to search for dishwashers, which gives you a list of every dishwasher organized by brand and price, or do a key word search by your desired brand, which gives you a page with every appliance of that brand available on the site. I haven’t found a way (yet) to search for a specific brand and type of item.
The Abt web site is also an excellent research tool for deciding what it is that you want to buy, including detailed and comprehensive technical specs, dimensional information and manufacturer links in the individual product description pages. This is very helpful, eliminating the need to hop around to various manufacturer web sites to do your research and evaluation.
Once you’ve settled on what you want, making purchases on the web site is a simple and straightforward process.
Conclusion
Abt is a very competitively priced retailer, with a broad selection of home electronics and appliances.
As far as we’re concerned, their service and support of the products they sell is second to none. We’re highly satisfied customers.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Location: Chicago, IL USA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me: If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
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