Gambling Was A Good Choice For Me
BuyChoice
I got a little daring this past weekend. Dunno what got into me. The holidays are here. I'm under the gun to produce presents and produce them now. I'm still not finished shopping. And somehow or another it seemed a good idea to place three critical holiday orders with three merchants whom I'd never transacted business with before. The only common link between the three merchants is that I'd read a number of positive reviews on each recently.
Unbelievably, I have three happy tales to tell just three working days from placing my orders. Here's my first. (Don't hold your breath for the other two tales. I'll try to write as fast as these people ship, but that's a tall order.)
My First Story
For two weeks, I'd been price shopping a $160 knife sharpener that my husband wanted. Like pretty much everything else in my life, I'd carried my quest for the absolute best deal to an extreme. I was determined to find a price better than $139.99 (Cooking.com, Chef's Resource) but couldn't find the model in more than a few places. I loaded up my cart on Cooking.com (free shipping!) a week and a half back, but never went through checkout. I kept poking around, trying to get the sharpener for a little bit less, just a little better deal.
This past Sunday, I thought, enough's enough, buy the darn thing already. Started to check out at Cooking.com, only to discover that I'd waited too long. Out of stock. Ooops.
Well, I had Cooking.com open in one browser window, and a consumer reviews site in the other. Frustrated with myself, I started reading some review and came across some BuyChoice raves. Clicked over to the site. For the heck of it, I checked to see if they had my husband's knife sharpener...low and behold..... $129.99 plus FREE shipping!
How BuyChoice Works
Before jumping into a BuyChoice order, I took some time to figure out how the company works. If you are going to consider a transaction with BuyChoice, I think it's imperative that you, too, understand how BuyChoice works.
Their online store offerings are extensive within the range of family and home and garden. If you need any small appliance, select types of furniture, baby or kids gear, outdoor recreational items, anything of that nature, they might very well offer exactly what you're looking for.
Now, pay close attention: BuyChoice does not keep inventory on any of these items. When you place an order with BuyChoice, they place an order with the manufacturer and the manufacturer ships directly to you. BuyChoice handles the communication between you and the factory so that (theoretically and in my case) everything goes smoothly.
As far as I'm concerned, this has the opportunity to be both a blessing and a curse. Without inventory on premises, Buy Choice has to rely on the manufacturer to provide accurate stock status, shipping and tracking information. Since Buy Choice deals with many manufacturers, it's not a stretch to imagine a scenario where, through no fault of theirs, they aren't working with the most accurate information. I felt as if placing my first order with them was pretty risky this close to the holidays...but heck, what's life without a gamble or two? Especially when you get the opportunity to claim you really did get the absolute best price on the Chef's Choice Diamond Hone EdgeSelect Professional 120 Electric Sharpener in Chrome. Woo hoo!
I am blessed, not cursed
So, I held my breath and placed an order with BuyChoice for the knife sharpener. I was really happy to see a huge honkin' spot for "special instructions" during checkout. I wrote, nicely, that I had to receive my order by December 24th and asked that if they couldn't meet that date, would they please let me know.
I must have been feeling lucky. The listed delivery time on the sharpener in the product description was 14 days, putting my receipt past Christmas, closer to New Years. But, BuyChoice makes such a big deal about customer service throughout their site, I took the chance that the pictures of friendly people were real human beings who would read what I wrote and respond to it if my date couldn't be met.
Sunday: order placed, automatic confirmation received.
Monday: I didn't think about my order
Tuesday: I checked my order status, for the heck of it, and found the status "tracking number requested". I poked around a bit and decided that was their way of saying they were waiting for a tracking number from the manufacturer. "Tracking number requested" sounded hopeful. Made a mental note to check on the order by Friday and see what was up.
Wednesday: The gosh darn sharpener arrives!
The packaging was just right. The product is clean and fresh. It hasn't gone through the wear and tear of middleman shipments. Straight from the place that made it to my doorstep, almost like a garden fresh vegetable. (All right, that's a little over the top. The thing was in good shape; let's leave it at that.)
Quibbles
I can dig up a few quibbles if I look hard enough.
Even though I've received my sharpener, the tracking number still hasn't made it to my account at BuyChoice. My packing slip from Edgecraft has clear instructions, down at the bottom, for Edgecraft (the manufacturer) to email shipment notification to BuyChoice and to fax the tracking number to a certain person at a specific number. If BuyChoice had shipped the order themselves, they wouldn't have to depend on the manufacturer to get their part right, and I would have had access to the shipping information on Tuesday when I checked my order status.
Hmm. Okay, that's one quibble. That's the only quibble I've got.
The Bottom Line, Clicks and All
I'll tell you flat out, if you are shopping for a home and garden item, you'd be stupid to not at least check to see what BuyChoice is offering. Did I mention that shipping is always free? Every day, every product, including furniture. They also have a 110% price match guarantee, but please read the terms of that very carefully — as well as their return policy before you rely on either.
Whether you order with BuyChoice or not should depend on your comfort level with variables. (I hedged my bets on Sunday and told my husband that his sharpener might not come in time for Christmas.) If you have a drop dead date, or questions about return on a specific item, I think it's a good idea to call and talk to one of the friendly people pictured on the various pages of the website.
I'm giving the store four stars, holding back the final star until I buy from them again. Too many variables in the set up for a flat out five star rating, but you can bet I'll be buying from them again soon. Based on my experience, a gamble with BuyChoice seems like a good choice.
Update 12.20.02
This morning I received an email from BuyChoice updating me on the status of the sharpener I received two days ago:
Greetings from BuyChoice
Your order is at the manufacturer's warehouse and is being prepared for shipment. A tracking number will follow in the next few days. Your order ID number is XXXXX, please save this email for your records......
Very friendly email. I'm still a happy customer. But do you see what I mean about the variables? Edgecraft still hasn't told BuyChoice that they shipped the sharpener to me. If you place an order, be prepared to pick up the phone and call one of the friendly folks and ask them to get an accurate order status for you while you hold on.
