I WAS looking to buy a digital radio, so headed to Selfridges to find something suitable.

The technology department is a concession run by John Shah's Shasonic. Stephen approached me and asked if he could help. He first showed me the Pure Avanti, which was priced at £279, then the Roberts MP53, also at £279. He said the main difference was that the Roberts had a CD player.
He then went on to show me the R4 from Vita Audio, which was priced at £599. Stephen said: "Going up to a full music system, out of everything we sell here, the best full music system is the R4, it's brilliant."
He handed me the remote control and carried on telling me about the R4: "It's got CD, a dock for your iPod or iPhone,

DAB and FM radio, a USB on the front in case you've got any music on your USB stick. There's also an input on the front to connect another device.
"On the rear, there's another input so you can connect your TV, or a laptop - the sound is beautiful."
The R4 was available in white, black and walnut. The walnut version was priced at £549. He then showed me a sparkling graphite limited edition at £630.
I asked for some information to take away. Before going to look, Stephen took out his iPhone and began to demonstrate the unit.
Stephen couldn't find any information, but I told him that I was very impressed with the sound quality.
He said that if I wanted the limited-edition graphite model, he'd match the usual price of the R4 - a saving of £31.

Summary: Stephen talked me through the Pure and Roberts and then traded me up to the Vita Audio. His discount on the limitededition model was an attempt to close. Excellent performance.

Score: 10 out of 10

JOINT WINNING INDIE

I HAD decided I wanted to get an iPad 2 and so headed to the Apple Store to find out more.

The store was very busy. I counted 14 staff serving customers, while a further dozen or so customers were browsing.
I began to 'play' with an iPad 2 on display. As I got to grips with it, I noticed that adjacent to the iPad I was using, there was another one that was being used as point-of-sale and by pressing the screen, I found out more

about the different types of products available.
I was able to find out all of the different variations of iPad, their capacities and prices. It took me through the options of wi-fi only and wi-fi plus 3G, and explained about the need to sign up to data services from a carrier such as Orange or Vodafone.
Back on the iPad I had been using, I played a quick game of Fish Fingers before realising that the store was too busy and I reluctantly headed to the exit.

Summary: The store was very busy and it would have taken ages for me to get served. The use of an iPad as a silent salesman was clever, but more staff on the floor would have been better.

Score: 0 out of 10

AS SOMEONE who likes being an early adopter, I headed to the Sony Centre to find out more about 3D TV.

Puru greeted me and said the 3D TV range started at 32in and went up to 65in. I said a 40in set would probably be ideal.
Puru presented two 40in sets and I asked him about content. He said 3D Blu-ray movies were becoming more popular, and there was also the 3D channel on Sky.
He handed me a pair of 3D glasses, explaining that they cost £80 or £60 a

pair depending on the size.
He began his demonstration, which included the Sony aquarium demo. I told him I was impressed with the quality.
Puru led me to the front of the store to show me a 40in model that was on promotion. The KDL-40EX724 was usually £849.99, but Puru offered me a deal for the TV, two pairs of glasses, a 3D Blu-ray player and four Blu-ray movies and a fiveyear warranty, all for £1,000. he said. He then outlined an interest-free credit offer.

Summary: Puru was friendly and helpful and backed up his knowledge of 3D with a compelling demonstration. The interestfree credit offer was a clear attempt to close the sale.

Score: 10 out of 10

JOINT WINNING INDIE

LOOKING for a new vacuum cleaner, I headed to the Comet store on Trafford Retail Park.

In the floorcare area, I was ignored by two members of staff who were having a chat.
I began to count the products - there were 26 uprights and 21 cylinders.
Perry approached me and I explained that I needed to buy a new cleaner as our old one had stopped working.
He described the Henry cleaner from Numatic as being a "workhorse" and

said that stores in the area had bought a Henry cleaner because they do a good job.
Perry asked if we had pets and I said we had a dog. He recommended the Harry cleaner form Numatic, which was priced at £149.99, as it came with a pet tool.
I asked him if there was anything else he could recommend and he briefly mentioned a Miele product, the S5211, at £209.99.
I asked Perry for some information to take away, but he never came back. On my way out, I then saw him serving another customer

Summary: After being ignored by two staff, Perry's approach was welcome, but he did not explain why I'd want the Miele, after selling the advantages of Harry. And then he just disappeared.

Score: 4 out of 10

Keen to find out more about getting Sky+ HD, I headed to the Sky Shop.

I was greeted by Aaron, who asked if I was already a Sky customer and whether I was looking for TV, broadband and a telephone landline. I said I was new to Sky and that I just wanted TV.
Aaron told me that the basic TV package cost £20 a month with a top tariff of £63.25 a month and that there were "loads of options in between".
I said that I'd be keen

to get as much TV content as possible, including Sky Sports and Sky Movies.
Aaron then switched the conversation back to the other products from Sky. He explained that the free internet service only offered 2GB of data, but he added that if I wanted an unlimited service, I'd have to pay an extra £7.50 a month.
Aaron gave me a leaflet and encouraged me to save his number in my phone so that I could contact him when I was ready to proceed.

Summary: Aaron knew his stuff. He ascertained my needs by asking questions and suggested suitable products and services. He only dropped one point for not demonstrating Sky+ HD.

Score: 9 out of 10

JOINT COMMENDED MULTIPLE

LOOKING to buy a washing machine, I walked the length of the Trafford Centre to the John Lewis store to see what was available.

I was greeted by Howard, who asked if I needed any help. He started his pitch by asking if I was looking for a particular spin speed.
I explained that I was looking for a machine that was economical to run, but I wanted to buy a large capacity machine.
"The biggest load, for the least money, would be that Hotpoint model there," he said, pointing to a 9kg model (WMUD962P), which was priced at £374.
Howard then showed me a 7kg Bosch model, which he described as being a "particularly good buy at the moment". The machine (WAQ28460GB) was priced at £479.

He explained that Bosch was currently celebrating its 125th anniversary and that, as a result, the guarantee had been doubled from two years to four years.
Howard said: "And to push home just how good these are energy-wise, with the model being A+++, they're giving you two years' running costs back, which equates to over £40."
He then talked me through the Bosch model, explaining each program in turn, but he told me that all parameters were variable, so I could use the machine however I wanted to.
I asked about delivery and Howard said that John Lewis would deliver free of charge, although I would have to pay £9 for the old machine to be taken away and a further £25 if I wanted the new appliance connected.

Summary: Howard was friendly and helpful and did a great job explaining the Bosch model, as well as the added extras I would get, such as the four-year guarantee and £40 cash-back.

Score: 10 out of 10

WINNING MULTIPLE

SATNAV was on my shopping list when I went to Currys Digital.

I made my way to the satnav display and was promptly ignored by two members of staff.
Chris approached me and asked what I was looking for. He mentioned that some products featured live traffic updates, which he said meant they would find me an alternative route if there was an accident or traffic jam on my original route.
He explained that live services were free for the first year on TomTom models,

and then £7 a month thereafter.
Chris then told me that Garmin was offering free lifetime traffic updates and free lifetime map updates.
"It was £300 last week, but it's come down now to £139.99," Chris said. "I couldn't believe it myself."
He then showed me the model he'd mentioned. The Garmin model (Nüvi 2340 LMT) at £139.99.
"I don't know how long it'll stay at that price, it's a really good price - it'll probably jump up in a couple of weeks," he added.

Summary: Chris saved the day. He talked about the features of the Garmin product. The mention of free lifetime services and that the price may go up were clear attempts to close.

Score: 9 out of 10

JOINT COMMENDED MULTIPLE

WALKING through the bed department of Marks & Spencer Home, in Barton Square - the annexe to The Trafford Centre - I noticed a sign by the escalator promoting 'home electricals', so I headed down to find out more.

After searching for the electricals area, I eventually found the products, which were limited to small domestic appliances. Some colourful 1.7 litre jug kettles - in magenta, purple,

lime, orange, ruby, cream, white and midnight - caught my eye. Priced at £29.50, the kettles came with a two-year warranty, according to the descriptive text on the box. In addition, a two-slice toaster was available in magenta, purple and ruby, priced at £19.50. Richard was merchandising products just a few feet from where I was standing, but chose to ignore me, so I left the store, feeling somewhat short-changed.

Summary: After its well-publicised exit from electricals, I was surprised to see that M&S Home was still promoting its electricals offer. Mind you, they won't sell many this way.

Score: 0 out of 10

MY NEXT stop was the Jessops store, where I was keen to buy a compact system camera.

I noticed how busy it was, with three customers being served and another six browsing.
I located the compact system cameras and began to browse the models on display. Three models from Panasonic caught my eye.
The GF2 at £369.95, the GF3 at £379.95

and the G3 at £469.95.
All of the sales staff were serving other customers, so I continued to browse. Then I noticed a poster for a twinlens kit on the GF3.
The poster read: “Save a total of £100, including £50 back from Panasonic. You pay £499.95 and can claim £50 back from Panasonic plus a free gift pack worth £230, including Adobe Lightroom.”
After five minutes browsing, it was clear that I wasn’t going to get served.

Summary: I was not able to judge this store as it was so busy. It was encouraging to see a store so busy, but being seventh in the queue, I was not going to be served any time soon.

Score: 0 out of 10

FOLLOWING signs for the home department at Debenhams, I ended up in the lingerie department, but spotted the electricals section in the distance.

I was keen to look at Nespresso coffee machines, so I began to browse.
There were three products on display from Krups and three from Magimix. The Krups Essenza was £100, the Krups Citiz was

£150 and the Citiz Milk £200 plus three identically named models from Magimix at the same price points.
I was less than impressed with the coffee machine display. There were price tickets on the floor and the displays were dirty.
There were no other customers in the department, although Rob was sat on the floor – no, literally – legs crossed, replenishing stock on the shelves.
Time to leave.

Summary: There were quite a few lessons to be learnt here. Dirty displays and staff ignoring customers for a start. With a new MD at the helm, I wonder if things are going to improve?

Score: 0 out of 10