Refrigerator buying

I wasn't sure that we needed a new refrigerator, but it wasn't really up to me.   And a family member was prepared to take the hand-me-down one. So, the process of buying a new one commenced.

Fortunately, the choice was to some extent dictated by the space available, on the basis that we ought to get the biggest one that would fit.    In fact this conveniently limited the choice to a range of refrigerators that, while slightly bigger than I would have thought necessary, were not excessive.  But as a result of a little research on the internet, by reviewing catalogues and by visiting bricks-and-mortar stores (four, by the time we'd finished!), we found out that there were at least  half a dozen brands with the desired capacity.  This was narrowed down to a short list of three, and eventually the favoured model was selected. 

None of the retailers stocked the full range of brands (perhaps understandably), but interestingly, Mr Harvey's franchisee stocked the most limited range (and was eliminated early in the piece both because of this and a strong perception that his pricing wasn't competitive).

Having made the decision, the next issue, obviously, was to get the best price.   As is well-known, all is not what it seems when it comes to pricing for whitegoods, especially regarding sticker prices.    The internet is very helpful here, and as it happened, the chosen model was on "special" at one of the retailers, at what the research had shown was a good price (similar to the best price available on-line).  Even so, we asked for the "best" price, and, lo, a few more dollars came off!

Yes, it took some time and effort.  Was it worth it?  I  guess you have to go through the exercise to decide what features you want - although how important these will be in the longer term is difficult to say (for example, is the shape of the door racks really that important?)  However, in hindsight, for a number of reasons, we're glad we didn't buy the first refrigerator we saw - although at the time we would have been satisfied with it.  But delivery is still a couple of days away, so the final chapter remains to be written.