I have a condo unit in Makati which was left bare for more than 4 years now. I bought it while on preselling stage back in around 2015 then was turned over on December 2019. Few months right after, the covid pandemic struck. It was supposed to be my own space near the office but working from home (anywhere) became the norm. I also got extremely busy during that period; also, was in a dilemma in terms of what kind of renovations needed. Eventually, I decided to just rent it out. Instead of an elaborate interior design, I chose a more practical route.
Appliances and Where to Canvass and Buy
I started to canvass for the necessary appliances for the unit: Aircon, Refrigerator and a rangehood. Since I live in Cubao, I started to check the shops nearby to know about the models and corresponding prices.
It took me around 3-4 hours just doing some window shopping with priority on an airconditioner! I'm a very conscientious buyer and so I don't expect buying right after a few visits on shops. I even went straight to Makati right after to compare. The experience was well worth it. Too bad, it's not like I'm going to shop around for appliances more often. Hence, I'm sharing this experience for the others to learn.
I visited the major appliance sellers since they have likely better scale to give good prices and after sales services. Here is my list (in order of visit) and some comments:
Abenson
Very professional staff, knowledgeable and relevant. They use proper tools like having a laptop to help you browse into their inventory. Their website is also the main reference used by the sales team. They have centralized communication channels. I visited both the branch in Farmer's Plaza in Cubao and in Glorietta, Makati.
Western Appliances
I visited their 2 locations in Cubao (P. Tuazon and Farmers). Interestingly, both locations are less than 1km away. The prices quoted to me are relatively higher than the rest. The stores' design feel outdated like a generic appliance store.
Anson's
I really like the branch in The Link, Makati. It's relatively the biggest appliance store with 2 floors and I enjoy window shopping there. The staff I chanced upon was helpful; however, I noticed he was hard selling me a brand that he was assigned to. Like in department stores, seems like the sales persons are hired by the brands. In terms of price, they offer the cheapest and you can easily check the promos at their website.
Automatic Centre
Though I skipped the branches in Cubao (Ali Mall and Gateway 1), this was my last stop when I was in Makati. It was on the same floor as Abenson. I was told that they are sister companies now. Apparently, Automatic Centre has ceased its operations in 2021 due to financial constraints. Most likely Abenson took over and retained the shops.
The Decision
I went home and researched more about pricing and the desired models. After a few days, I went back to Makati to have another quick round of canvassing and started my purchases. I was particular with where I buy my AC because I've read about the challenges of installing it in our condo building. I wanted someone already familiar with the condo layout and process to avoid mistakes done by the early adopters. This is the main reason why I chose to buy at the Makati shops. Eventually, I placed my orders with Automatic Centre since they gave me assurance on the familiarity with our building, and the installation costs were reasonable.
Ended up buying 1 2HP window type AC inverter unit and 1 Refrigerator at Automatic Centre. Then 1 Rangehood at Ansons via online.
Tips
So if you're buying appliances in Metro Manila, here are my tips:
1.) Visit Anson's and Abenson's website. They are reliable and also offer online purchases. This can save you time. I would still encourage visiting the physical stores to check out the appliances in actual. There is also a chance to haggle more on physical stores. At least you also give the benefit of commission sales to the person you bought from the shop.
2.) Anson's prices usually are the cheapest and they aggressively give out promos. Use it as your baseline which you can negotiate to ANY appliance store. In my case, Anson's had a sale to my desired AC unit and Automatic Centre matched it after I told them about it. I bought this AC unit at Php38,448 but now I see it went back to its original price. I have saved at least ~Php5k.
3.) Installation services and costs are different from each provider. This was actually a major factor for me in deciding where to buy. I like Abenson's customer service; however, the installation cost was higher. Apparently, I will be charged Php500 more compared to others, but probably the agent was also misinformed. This led me to Automatic Centre, their sister company, which didn't charge extra.
4.) Delivery costs are not per unit . The AC I bought has free delivery but the refrigerator did not. However, I can take advantage of free delivery if I buy them at the same time.
5.) No Annual Fee for Life (NAFFL) Credit Cards - I knew I have these big ticket purchases coming up and I also wanted to get NAFFL credit cards. I applied for a JCB Platinum at RCBC which compels me to spend at least php60k in 2 months in order to get this benefit. I don't normally spend this much so this appliances purchase and the NAFFL application was in the right timing. Even without the promo, I'll use my credit card to rack up some points.
6.) Go for Energy Saving Features - My initial purchase ideas was just a 1.5HP Aircon and some 7 cubic feet refrigerator. I ended up buying 2HP AC and a 9 cu. ft refrigerator instead. Why? It's mainly because I wanted to maximize energy as much as I can.
A small aircon unit might get overworked and would spend more time trying to cool your place, ending spending more watts to do that. Similarly for refrigerators, I realized that you can achieve better energy efficiency with bigger refrigerators. While the smaller ones are cheaper by a few thousands upon purchase, it's the monthly bills that accumulate and end up being costly.
