Ad – Capsule x Appliances Online
We test out a new player to the appliance game in New Zealand, Appliances Online, and see how the its unique shopping experience stacks up from the usual (and Capsule’s Kelly Meharg treats herself to the purchase she has always dreamed about making because, you know… treat yourself!) Also, scroll down for a little update!
Ok so here’s a question – when the hell do you start feeling like you’re actually an adult?
I’m 34 years old and I just got married. I own a business. I have so many grey hairs that seem to double every day no matter how much I pluck them out. In fact, I’m positively barrelling towards middle age.
But why is it when I’m strolling through stores buying big-ticket items – especially for the house – I feel like I’m… cosplaying adult?!
But when I’m at home, it’s another story. When did I get to the stage in life that finding the perfect fridge fills me with genuine joy, or spending hours comparing specifications, prices and features sounds like a bloody fun Sunday afternoon?
As many millennials can (hopefully) relate to, I prefer to do most of my shopping online – save for an initial nosy in person, perhaps, but I’m much more comfortable with making the big calls from the comfort of my laptop (of course, all the big stuff needs to be done via laptop not phone because we’re not psychopaths here right).
So imagine my millennial delight when I was asked to give a new website a hoon to see if the shopping experience was any good. (Spoiler – it WAS).
What is Appliances Online and how is it different from everywhere else?
Look great question. Appliances Online is a new player in New Zealand but are huge across the ditch and basically they are all about reducing time, stress and mental load when it comes to buying new stuff for the house, so naturally, we at Capsule were jazzed because anything that helps free up some mental load is a GODSEND to the busy woman who’s just trying to keep it all together at any given moment.
Appliances Online is, unsurprisingly, an online appliance shop where you can buy all the usual top brands of fridges, washing machines, ovens, small appliances, coffee machines, BBQ’s, furniture and more (I spent two hours mindlessly scrolling through every category dreaming).
The biggest difference, however, is what happens when you do purchase your new appliance. Appliances Online offer their legendary service which includes free next-day delivery (you can order up until midnight for next day delivery in Auckland, perfect when your washing machine has shat itself and you have a two-year-old who doesn’t understand that mashed kūmara should stay in the bowl NOT on every single layer of clothing they own) which, itself, is fabulous. (Available Auckland currently, with free delivery for Whangārei, Hamilton, Tauranga, Taupō and Rotorua But they also provide basic connections of appliances AND they take away your old products for free, so you don’t have to worry about organising an inorganics collection or, shudder, brave Facebook Marketplace because, no. They also recycle them and the packaging from your new appliance which is lovely, and there is 24/7 support available on the phone if you need some advice or help.
I tried Appliances Online – here’s what happened for me:
I was given a voucher to try Appliances Online for myself and look, I could have been ‘adult Kelly’ and put it towards a new washing machine, knowing that when we finally move out of our rental to our first home (wishful thinking, perhaps?!) we’ll need a new one. I could have upgraded my janky Anko kettle that kind of bounces around the bench when it’s boiling. But no, for my maiden Appliances Online purchase, your girl decided that the timing was perfect to instead buy something that has been on my wish list for almost a decade.
I finally got my dream KitchenAid. I think the inspiration always comes every year from when I watch MasterChef and think that, with just a little more practice and the right tools, I too can be whipping up genoise sponge and homemade bread. Nothing like a little delusion to get you through life, eh.
So I scrolled through the (impressive) options, found my desired colour (almond cream, thank you very much) and pushed ‘place your order’. When I’m parting with serious money I like to do as much research on things as I can, from different models, different price points, different brands and also different suppliers (but don’t worry, Appliances Online also price match which is super-handy, so you still get all of the aforementioned benefits and the cheapest price).
In less than 24 hours my phone buzzed to let me know that Appliances Online delivery driver Maui was on his way, which really jazzed me in more ways than one.
With a huge smile, my KitchenAid was handed off – Maui even offered to help carry it in – and I immediately started googling cinnamon scroll recipes before realising I had exactly zero of the required ingredients, including cinnamon. But hey, you have to start somewhere right?
The whole experience was genuinely fantastic – I knew exactly when my order was going to be dropped off, it was super-fast and free and, although I didn’t need anything removed this time, I can really see how handy and stress-relieving it would be to have your old broken appliances taken away for you so you don’t have to worry about it. In fact, I mentioned this to my sister-in-law whose washing machine has in fact died a horrible death, and she was thrilled there was an option to do everything in one go because parenting a four-year-old leaves exactly zero brain space to deal with broken whiteware.
When I do move into the aforementioned first home, this is exactly how I’ll be ordering all of our new appliances, that’s for sure. In the meantime, this cosplaying adult will simply enjoy her fresh cinnamon rolls with an exuberant amount of joy.
ED’S UPDATE: Oh hey team – it’s been five months since I first wrote this review (I finally made the cinnamon rolls and they were a delight, thank you for caring) and the seemingly impossible happened – I bought a house!
Annoyingly, it came without a fridge and a double door fridge space that was narrower than the norm – so it was time to give the pals at Appliances Online a buzz, and finally test out some of the bigger stuff! I had a scroll through the website – helped by the dimension filters on the side, so I was only looking at fridges that actually fit the space, what a game-changer – I found the perfect one: a true adult fridge with fancy water-out-of-the-door-from-a-tank tech and my God, I was as excited by this as I used to be about a new Spice Girls song coming out, so that was a fun age marker for me.
I can report back that the experience was so good, it almost left me in tears of gratitude because not only did my perfectly-sized Haier fridge arrive the next day, the Appliances Online guys installed it for me, removed every trace of packaging and truly went above and beyond, and spent half an hour levelling it on my crooked floorboards so it sat perfectly.
They also took all the rubbish with them and honestly the whole experience was an actual dream – watch the reel here!
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