City Electrical factors - On The Up!

[rolyberkin]

Well I never thought I would say it but I went into CEF Chelmsford today and was pleasantly surprised, credit where credit is due. I normally only go in there when I absolutely cannot get stuff elsewhere.

Chelmsford has a new female member of staff who is obviously learning the ropes, she served me, needed a bit of help finding what I needed, but found it, charged me a reasonable price, gave me trade discount and was pleasant to boot. Not only did she do a fantastic job she also gave me an account application form and said you should get a trade account. If it carries on like this I may even get one!

When will she be assimilated by the Borg?

 

[Pete999]

It won't take long

 

[LankyWill]

Im the same, avoid it like the plague unless i have to reluctantly go in there for a special item. Always feel like i have been diddled when i leave though

 

[robskiing]

Rather go to screw fix I've got a CEF near me 5 mins away incompetence is putting it mildly didn't want to serve anyone on the counter

 

[Dan]

When we stuck up a poll to find who was most used, CEF came out top of the electrical wholesalers. Screwfix came out top overall but I see them as more of an online DIY shed personally its hit and miss.

What I find is when you deal with dedicated businesses online they have a lot more customer focus than a local shop because the feedback you can leave online can be seen by thousands, where a local, you'll have a moan in the pub and that might be the end of that.

So try out CEF online, their prices are keen (and if they're not, email them and give them a chance to price match or something) and their customer service is spot on from what I've read about them.

They've got some exclusive deals too I hear. And more to come too.

 

[Leesparkykent]

When we stuck up a poll to find who was most used, CEF came out top of the electrical wholesalers. Screwfix came out top overall but I see them as more of an online DIY shed personally its hit and miss.

What I find is when you deal with dedicated businesses online they have a lot more customer focus than a local shop because the feedback you can leave online can be seen by thousands, where a local, you'll have a moan in the pub and that might be the end of that.

So try out CEF online, their prices are keen (and if they're not, email them and give them a chance to price match or something) and their customer service is spot on from what I've read about them.

They've got some exclusive deals too I hear. And more to come too.

They don't display prices online though. I don't think it would fit with their business model.

 

[Dan]

They don't display prices online though. I don't think it would fit with their business model.

If you login they do. You don't want your customers and the general public knowing or getting hold of your trade prices.

Www.tradeonlyplumbing.co.uk is the same. They sponsor our plumbing forum and have some good deals, but only for trade plumbers!

 

[Davisonp]

They don't display prices online though. I don't think it would fit with their business model.

They do display prices if you have a trade account, and some items are cheaper than elsewhere.
There is one 5 mins from my house so it was an obvious move to create an account. The one issue I have with CEF is if an item is out of stock at the branch they charge £5 for me to arrange to pick it up at my local branch.

 

[Adam W]

Well I never thought I would say it but I went into CEF Chelmsford today and was pleasantly surprised, credit where credit is due. I normally only go in there when I absolutely cannot get stuff elsewhere.

Chelmsford has a new female member of staff who is obviously learning the ropes, she served me, needed a bit of help finding what I needed, but found it, charged me a reasonable price, gave me trade discount and was pleasant to boot. Not only did she do a fantastic job she also gave me an account application form and said you should get a trade account. If it carries on like this I may even get one!

When will she be assimilated by the Borg?

Maybe there should be more female counter staff lol.
CEF may be 'on the up' but given previous bad experiences with them it would take a long time and a lot of reassurance before I'd use them again, especially when I can get what I want from other wholesalers which I've used time and again with no problem - maybe if I couldn't get what I need from Edmundsons, Yesss, R&M, Electric Centre, Kew, Wilts, Neweys, John Cribb, Senate, TLC Direct or Screwfix then I might take a punt on them, but until then they're at the bottom of the list.

 

[Dan]

Maybe there should be more female counter staff lol.
CEF may be 'on the up' but given previous bad experiences with them it would take a long time and a lot of reassurance before I'd use them again, especially when I can get what I want from other wholesalers which I've used time and again with no problem - maybe if I couldn't get what I need from Edmundsons, Yesss, R&M, Electric Centre, Kew, Wilts, Neweys, John Cribb, Senate, TLC Direct or Screwfix then I might take a punt on them, but until then they're at the bottom of the list.

Have you tried their website?

 

[Leesparkykent]

I have a an account with CEF and on average used to spend around 3K- 4K a month there. I had a dispute with them where they tried charging me £30 for a drum of 3mm earth sleeve.....I didn't settle my account that month within the permitted time as after two attempts of trying to get them to amend it they still hadn't. One of my lads popped in to a CEF branch to grab a length of MT2 trunking and they wouldn't let him have it due to being on stop from there own stupid mistake. I now only spend around £200 a month at CEF due to this and the only reason they get £200 a month out of me is because on the odd occasion they are the closest wholesaler to pick the odd emergency bit up from.

 

[Dan]

I have a an account with CEF and on average used to spend around 3K- 4K a month there. I had a dispute with them where they tried charging me £30 for a drum of 3mm earth sleeve.....I didn't settle my account that month within the permitted time as after two attempts of trying to get them to amend it they still hadn't. One of my lads popped in to a CEF branch to grab a length of MT2 trunking and they wouldn't let him have it due to being on stop from there own stupid mistake. I now only spend around £200 a month at CEF due to this and the only reason they get £200 a month out of me is because on the odd occasion they are the closest wholesaler to pick the odd emergency bit up from.

Is this in-store too?

 

[Leesparkykent]

Is this in-store too?

Yes as I have someone in the office that does the "shopping" and plays them off each other for the best price. As a company who spends around 100K a year on material I would hope I would receive a price considerably lower than what's advertised online.

 

[Dan]

Yes as I have someone in the office that does the "shopping" and plays them off each other for the best price. As a company who spends around 100K a year on material I would hope I would receive a price considerably lower than what's advertised online.

That's the thing with online, they can adjust your account % discount. So when you login, you see YOUR prices. At least that's how I understand it.

 

[Adam W]

Have you tried their website?

I've just had a look but I don't really use wholesalers like that - in my current job I ask the storeman for stuff and there's some overly complicated system of calling round for whoever offers the best price on that item at the time, but CEF aren't on the list of suppliers we use.
In my last job I'd call a couple of wholesalers which we had accounts with and see if they had what I wanted and if they could deliver it when I wanted it; Edmundsons or Yesss could usually oblige otherwise I'd call Kew. If I'm getting stuff for the odd private job then I go into a trade counter (again, usually Edmundsons or Yess because I find I can trust them) or I use TLC direct or Neweys online to get an idea of the price.
I've used CEF before and found them to have an air of untrustworthiness about them; as I said they may have upped their game, but I don't fancy gambling with the idea of getting shafted.