Best stores for home appliances and tech revealed – Which? News

When your washing machine or TV packs up, it’s tempting to buy your replacement from wherever is offering the cheapest price. But our annual survey reveals how important it is to choose a store that beats the competition on more than price alone.

We asked thousands of shoppers to rate the biggest tech and home appliance retailers on everything from product quality to value for money and after-sales service. The best shops combine competitive prices with great customer service and solid returns policies, so you know you’re in safe hands if things go wrong.

Read on to find out which shops and websites go above and beyond – and which failed to impress their customers.

Where should you buy your next washing machine from?

When it comes to household appliances, from washing machines and tumble dryers to vacuum cleaners and ovens, John Lewis is shoppers’ number one choice, just beating specialist retailers Marks Electrical, AO and Euronics. 

The department store impresses shoppers with its range of high-quality products and smooth after-sales and returns service. It’s also second highest in our tech table.

One customer said John Lewis’s sales assistants were ‘extremely helpful and knowledgeable’, adding ‘their customer service is second to none’. An online shopper praised the ‘easy-to-use website, reliable delivery and good-quality products’.

We’ve made John Lewis, AO, Euronics and Lakeland Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) for home appliances – a status we only award to retailers that combine great customer service and value for money – as voted for by shoppers – with compliant and consumer-friendly returns policies, based on our expert analysis of their terms and conditions. 

Marks Electrical, while achieving a high customer score, didn’t make the grade as a WRP as its returns policies aren’t as good as we’d expect from a leading retailer.

This table shows the highest-scoring retailers from our survey of almost 3,400 people who’d bought household appliances. Links take you to the retailers’ websites.

Best home appliance stores

• Find out more: see which appliance stores were given the lowest scores in our full results table

Richer Sounds is top for tech

Audio-visual specialist Richer Sounds is the top tech retailer for the seventh year in a row, and the only one to earn five stars for value for money. 

One shopper said it always offered ‘good helpful advice without pushiness, and rapid delivery at a good price’.

Another added: ‘I’ve used Richer Sounds on many occasions and they never let you down.’

John Lewis, Apple and Samsung are close behind thanks to their great products and solid customer service during the buying process.

Richer Sounds and John Lewis are both Which? Recommended Providers. Samsung isn’t because we think its returns policy could be improved, while Apple isn’t eligible because it only earned two stars for value for money.

This table shows the top-rated stores from our survey of 3,500 people who’d purchased tech products. 

• Find out more: how to spot a fake review

Which stores came bottom?

For home appliances, the Range is at the bottom of the table, just below Homebase and Wilko. It only earns two stars for customer service and is also the second lowest-rated shop for tech purchases.

Sainsbury’s has the worst score for tech, and fellow supermarkets Asda and Tesco join it in the bottom five. 

Sainsbury’s and Tesco also had low scores for home appliances, but Asda fared better with a good value-for-money rating.

You can check the customer scores of the retailers in our guide to the best home appliance and technology shops.

• Find out more: how to get the best price when shopping online