Take-a-town Edinburgh.

ON THE TOWN

* Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, was built in the 7th Century by Edwin, King of Northumbria. The name is derived from `Edwin's Burgh'.

* In the 11th Century, King Malcolm III Canmore built a castle in Edinburgh and his wife Queen Margaret built a chapel

* By the end of the 16th Century, Edinburgh was established as the capital of Scotland.

* After the Act of Union of 1707, Edinburgh ceased to have its own Parliament.

* Author Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850.

* The Royal Yacht Britannia moved to Edinburgh its final destination in 1997--now a major tourist attraction.

Sales synergy

This BT Retail corner store in Princes Street was flooded with sunlight. Within seconds of locating the DECT range of handsets, a saleslady had joined me.

"Are you looking for one with an answer machine?" she asked, pleasantly.

I wasn't but the saleslady carried on asking questions and gently probing my needs. "Is it just the one handset that you need?".

A Synergy (58 [pounds sterling]) had been her first suggestion, but she switched to the twin pack handsets when she heard I was looking for a couple of phones.

I was curious to find out what the other end of the price range had to offer. Another Synergy (109 [pounds sterling]) was next--although a mobile handset sized Samsung (199 [pounds sterling]) caught my eye.

The range on all the phones, she told me, was 300 metres "in perfect conditions" outdoors and 50 metres inside the house.

So what was better, the Samsung or the Synergy?

"The Samsung is a very good phone," she said, "but you're probably paying for the styling."

Next on her suggestion list was a hands-free Samsung phone (169 [pounds sterling]) with an additional handset. Continuing her tour of the display, a BT Diverse (79 [pounds sterling]) with text messaging facilities was next. Plenty of enthusiasm and ideas to think about here.

Phone a friend

A large Dixons showroom with plenty of salespeople on duty.

At the back of the store I found the Sky+ display. A few minutes later, salesman Ed spotted me and asked if he could help.

"Here's how to pause live TV with it," he said. Pressing the pause button he showed me how using the next TV as a comparison, the programme could be held back.

"Here's how to take it back to real time," he continued.

Showing me how to use the Sky EPG, Ed demonstrated how easy it was to record.

"You just press a button," he enthused.

Funnily enough his product information didn't stretch as far as the price of the Sky+ box, the installation charges and the additional subscription.

In true Who Wants To Be A Millionaire fashion, Ed phoned a friend.

Hitting the right notes

Still in Princes Street, the interior of Phones 4U looked bright, attractive and immaculate

Immediately a saleslady caught my eye, flashed a smiling "Hi" and asked, "How are you doing?" (Contrast this with the later call in John Lewis!). First impressions count and this definitely hit all the right notes.

I was thinking of upgrading my Nokia 6210. What did she recommend?

The questions started; what network and tariff was I currently on, what did I like or dislike about my present network and phone?

Her recommendation was to move the phone over to BT Cellnet with a similar tariff--but one that one gave me GPRS and a new phone (the Nokia 6310) for 24.99 [pounds sterling].

"When are you thinking of changing?" she asked.

I made an excuse and claimed I needed to speak to my present network first. "Why don't you use our phone here?" Gall smiled.

Checkmate!

Nice try

In Carphone Warehouse, I braved a terrifying-looking queuing system that looked as if it had come straight from the Post Office.

A salesman looked up and smiled a greeting when it was my turn.

My scenario was the same as Phones 4U next door, but the best the salesman here could do was to offer me a Nokia 6310 at 99 [pounds sterling].

That was too big a price difference from the 24.99 [pounds sterling] next door--even with the 30 [pounds sterling] trade-in he offered.

Beam me up!

Inside the St James Centre, the Dixons showroom was wide, but strangely short from back to front.

I hovered around a JVC (299.26 [pounds sterling]) mini hi-fi centre that, with its flashing lights, changing colours and futuristic shape, looked as if it had come straight from the flight deck of the Starship Enterprise.

As I digested the technical data of the JVC unit, I took a copy of Dixons' Sound and Vision guide. (I hoped that some alert salesperson would spot my interest and come over).

Some hope. It seems self-service in Dixons means what it says.

In fairness, the store was busy and all the salespeople were occupied. After five minutes of fruitless waiting and browsing, I left.

The heat is on

A heat wave hit me as I entered the Box Clever showroom.

The blast from the air conditioning unit would be handy if you were stripping paint, but it's not too good if you're standing under it, waiting in a store for some assistance.

At a central desk, a white-shirted salesman was trying to stem the hurricane of criticism from a man and a woman seated opposite.

For much of the time Alex, the salesman, was on the phone. He was certainly doing his best, but several customers walked in, took one look at the situation, felt the hot breath of the air conditioning on their heads and left.

Shame really, because a framed certificate on the counter proclaimed this store was an area winner in the `Moments of Truth 2001' campaign.

My moment of truth came after five minutes, when I left the store.

Flicked off!

In John Lewis, there was a large brown goods display with plenty of widescreen TVs on show.

As I waited, a bit of p-o-s caught my eye `If you require assistance in this department please make your way to the customer services desk located next to the central till point'.

Nor was this a solitary message. The department was smothered with the same p-o-s which was also being scrolled on several of the TV screens. What's a mystery shopper to do? When in Rome ...

I decided to do as I was told and approached what I assumed was the customer service desk.

"I'm interested in a television," I said to the man behind the desk.

"Are you asking that you need assistance?" he replied. Yes.

He disappeared for a minute and then escorted me to the widescreen TVs.

"Is it a flat screen you're looking for as well?" he asked.

What's the difference?

"These are all your widescreen TVs here," he said, pointing at the range.

He singled out a Panasonic 28". "And this is a flat screen here ..."

Running through a features menu, he said: "There's quite a wide choice. It all depends what you're looking for. There's Dolby Surround Sound, Pro-Logic Sound, if you're looking for a digital TV."

Panasonic, he told me, was widescreen TV of the year. 100hz, he continued, was "more flicker-free" than 50hz.

I decided to flick off.

The white goods department was not too far away. Again the p-o-s told me no help would come unless I asked first, so I approached the customer service desk.

My, "Please miss, I need assistance", was met by a rather blunt, "For what?" from the saleslady.

I mentioned larder fridges--this was duly logged on an A4 sheet and a nearby salesman was summoned. Had she used the immortal line "Are you free?" I wouldn't have been surprised.

Escorting me over to the larder fridges, the salesman asked, "Any special size?" and then quickly explained their range. Bosch, Hotpoint, AEG and Zanussi were on offer.

"Most are 55 wide, but the Bosch is 60," he cautioned. "Really it's a matter of personal preference."

Tapping the glass shelves, I asked him which was the toughest.

"Oh they've all got pretty strong glass, but Hotpoint give you a five-year parts guarantee," he replied.

But my preference was for the Bosch with its solid-looking build.

"Would that fit your space?" he asked. Definitely.

Clutching the Bosch brochure he'd given me, I left.

Good, hard fax

After the `doctor's receptionist' approach to selling at John Lewis, the saleslady in The Link came across like a breath of fresh air.

Within seconds of my entrance, she'd beamed a smile of welcome, asked if she could help and escorted me over to the fax display.

"Is there anything in particular you are looking for?"

The Samsung (129 [pounds sterling]) looked as if it might fit the bill. The BT (99 [pounds sterling]) was bottom of the range with a Panasonic (149 [pounds sterling]).

"The difference is really all about the answer machine that the Panasonic has," she replied. "This one's got a 10 page document feeder," she added, pointing at the Panasonic.

She rattled through the features--giving me little anecdotes of why she thought they would benefit me.

Although she claimed, "I'm not a fax expert." I beg to differ. I thought she had made an excellent job of handling my enquiry.

Lacking in laptops

I headed to Time, where there was a showroom for the recently departed Tiny.

After quite a wait (there was only one other customer in the largish showroom but several salespeople seemingly un-occupied), a salesman decided to give me his time. The laptop range started at 999 [pounds sterling] and went up to 1,599 [pounds sterling].

"Do you know what specification you want?" he asked. I wanted a laptop that was as quick and powerful as my PC.

"We have a new brochure coming in tomorrow," he said. `I believe we are going to have some more powerful laptops coming out then."

Watch your depth!

Outside the St James Centre again. I had quite a walk to my next call--usa appliance.com.

If there has to be a wait for sales assistance, it definitely helps if there are plenty of interesting appliances to look at.

Such was the sumptuous array on offer here (fridges, popcorn makers, drinks cabinets, stoves) it was inevitable that the saleslady would not keep me waiting. She didn't disappoint--but then neither did the appliances I'd admired.

"Have you any specifications, like size and finish?" she began.

"No. We're just about to have our kitchen redesigned and I know I want one of these American-type fridges," I replied.

The price, she told me, depended on a number of factors. "It depends on the finish you want. If it's black and white it starts at 950 [pounds sterling] and then it can go up to 8,500 [pounds sterling]."

She showed me exactly what kind of fridge you get for 8,500 [pounds sterling]. It was stainless steel and, she continued, had already been snapped up.

She showed me the interiors of several of the `beasts', explaining how they had to be plumbed in to provide water for the iced drinks and icemaker.

I was torn between an LG at 1,249 [pounds sterling] and a Whirlpool at 1,250 [pounds sterling]. Both looked to be just what I was after.

"How soon are you having your kitchen done?" she quizzed, applying the tiniest bit of sales pressure.

Her recommendation was to give me some brochures for my wife and I to have a look at. Then, a bit nearer the time to come back and talk in earnest. "But watch your depth...." she warned.

Suits you, sir

On the way back to the airport, I stopped off at Comet. A salesman dressed in dark trousers, waistcoat and white shirt, and with a tape measure round his neck, looked as if he should have been saying `Suit you, sir' to his customers, rather than selling electrical appliances.

A colleague came over to the vacuum cleaner section and, after the customary "Upright or cylinder?" took me through the range.

"Do you want a bagless or a bagged model?" he asked. I'd heard claims that bagless were less effective--particularly when depositing dust in windy conditions.

He didn't disagree with my assertion, although he claimed that bagged cleaners tended to lose suction as the bag filled up, whereas bagless cleaners didn't.

He plumped for the Panasonic (99 [pounds sterling]) 1600-watt model: "It's got edge-to-edge cleaning and Panasonic all use the same bags, so you never have to search around for them."

Picking up the Panasonic, Alastair showed me how the tools worked, and how easy it was to use and pick up.

Summary

As the flight back to London was delayed, I had plenty of time to chew over the day.

As usual it was a case of the good, the bad and the ugly. However, just for once, the good or better than average just about balanced with the under-achievers.

Sitting happily in the Winner's Enclosure were Helen from the usa appliance.com store and Gail from Phones 4U. Both had been completely different, not just in the products they sold, but also in the way they approached their selling task.

Helen had been the softest of sales, whereas Gall had a slightly more pushy edge. However, both had been highly effective.

BT Retail and Dixons in Princes Street and The Link in St James Centre all earned commendations, as did Comet.

As usual there were a couple of stores--Dixons and Box Clever--where the sheer weight of custom fled up the available selling resource.

However, the big minus of the day went to John Lewis for its policy of asking consumers to report to the customer service desk to ask for sales assistance. What, I wonder, do the really good salespeople at John Lewis think of this policy?

Top of the town

BEST INDEPENDENT            usa. appliance.com
BEST MULTIPLE                        PHONES 4U
COMMENDED                            BT RETAIL
                       DIXONS (Princes Street)
                                         COMET
                    THE LINK (St James Centre)
SATELLITE                            NO WINNER
CREDIT                               NO WINNER