How to get the best deals for home items

Editor’s note: The Chronicle is partnering with Bay Area Consumers’ Checkbook magazine and Checkbook.org, a nonprofit consumer group with a mission to help consumers get the best service and lowest prices. Checkbook is supported by consumers and takes no money from the service providers it evaluates. You can see Checkbook’s evaluation of appliance stores, including customer ratings, price comparisons and advice on how to deal with stores, until Oct. 5: www.checkbook.org/CHRONICLE/appliances

Refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers — you live with these things and rely on them. And when you need new ones, a lot can go wrong. It’s not easy to return a defective refrigerator, and most people

need help with delivery and installation. Unfortunately, the customer reviews Bay Area Consumers’ Checkbook magazine and Checkbook.org receives from surveyed appliance purchasers indicate that delivery and installation are the most problematic parts of many transactions. Delivery crews often damage floors and doorways, and workers frequently cause water damage and even floods by improperly installing dishwashers and clothes washers. Mistakes in the installation of gas appliances are common and nerveracking.

Equally unfortunate, Checkbook finds that most stores use fake sale prices to mislead their customers into believing they’re getting deals when, in fact, appliances are essentially on constant sale and at most stores buyers are paying too much.

Fortunately, some area stores get high marks from their customers. Some stores were rated “superior” for overall quality by 90% or more of their surveyed customers. On the other end of the spectrum, too many stores received similar ratings from only 30% or less of their surveyed customers.

Wherever you shop, start by zeroing in on the models you want to buy. There are a few excellent sources that provide independent buying advice. Consumer Reports regularly evaluates appliances on a range of quality issues, including reliability, and offers advice on the pros and cons of configurations, designs, features and options. The Department of Energy’s Energy Star program provides lists and energyuse data on certified appliances.

Salespeople can also be good sources of buying advice — but only at stores that employ knowledgeable, helpful staff. Unfortunately, Checkbook finds this is an aspect of service for which many stores — particularly big chains — rated low on our consumer surveys. Fortunately, several local stores received very high ratings from their surveyed customers for the advice they offer.

You want sound buying advice, careful and prompt delivery, and a troublefree installation — but you don’t want to pay a steep price for them. Fortunately, you don’t have to. Checkbook finds that highly rated stores often quote prices as low as, or even lower than, their lowrated competitors.

Checkbook’s undercover shoppers checked prices at local retailers and online outlets for 17 appliance models. Their advice:

Don’t assume sale prices are low prices. The sale prices you’ll find at many local stores and on most websites probably aren’t special prices at all. Even if the sign says “Save 60%,” it’s probably meaningless.

Shop around. For example, the highest price quoted by local retailers for a Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ refrigerator in stainless steel was $2,339; the lowest price was $1,379 — a tidy savings of $960. For a Maytag MDB4949SHZ dishwasher in stainless steel, prices ranged from $500 to $939, a difference of $439.

Don’t rely on advertised prices — visit, call, or email for price quotes. Appliance manufacturers (and makers of other bigticket items) use the problematic policy called “minimum advertised prices.” Designed to boost profit for both manufacturers and large retailers by squelching price competition, these policies require retailers to advertise product prices at or above preset minimums. But those policies don’t apply to prices quoted to customers in person, over the phone or by email, and stores — particularly independent stores — often quote lower appliance prices to close a deal.

When calling or emailing stores, mention that you’re contacting several outlets for price quotes. At independent stores, Checkbook’s shoppers found that informing sales staff that they were getting price quotes elsewhere often spurred discounts, waivers of delivery and installation fees, or both.

You don’t have to pay more for superior service. Checkbook found that stores that rate high on service were as likely to quote low prices as stores that rate low for service — and that the best prices usually weren’t offered by the big chains.

Don’t assume onlineonly retailers are less expensive than local stores. Although Checkbook often found low prices online, it also found that you can’t count on the internet to deliver the best appliance deals.

If you need delivery and installation services, nail down prices for that work along with prices for the appliances.