eSpares

Happy Valentines!

For those who don’t already know, Valentine’s Day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. The day existed for some time without any reference or relation to love and romance. The first recorded association of Valentines to romantic love is in ‘Parlement of Foules’ by the famous poet Chaucer. Chaucer wrote a poem of love to honour the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard of England to Anne of Bohemia. From there forward Valentines became associated with romance and love. Historically the sentiment from one to another remained original and specific to each person. However, as years passed the sentiment has become less original and/or personal with companies like Hallmark producing cards with the same messages on them for the masses. Whether you received a personal Valentine's message from a loved one, a mass produced/ generic message from a loved one or nothing; have a Happy Valentines from eSpares

This is Jacques getting his love on in the office

 

Did you know?

From September 2012 manufacturers will no longer be able to sell old style incandescent light bulbs in the UK- so standard everyday light bulbs to you and me.

The main reason for this change is the (soon-to-be) old style bulbs are really inefficient and the majority of energy lost is in form of heat rather than light. Overall, I’ve found the information regarding the switch to these new energy efficient bulbs pretty overwhelming. There is certainly no shortage of literature (and opinions) regarding the change. A lot of people are supportive, a lot strongly opposed and there is an incredible amount of information that seemingly supports both positions.

We’ve put together a video (see below) and some tips we hope will help to assist you in understanding the fundamental differences in the new bulbs and what you’ll need to take into account when making the switch. We’ve already had quite a lot of feedback from this video and customers querying with more questions and further comments. We will definitely do our best to help give advice where possible but keep in mind it’s all fairly new and somewhat unknown territory to us, much as to you.

Quite a few customers have queried about the new light bulbs compatibility with dimmer switches. From what I’ve researched you must buy a bulb that is suited to work with a dimmer (which apparently does come at a bit of a cost) This is important as using a non-compatible bulb with a dimmer can shorten the bulbs life and will also nullify its warranty. If you have dimmer switches in your home make sure you’re careful in selecting new bulbs that are compatible. This information should all be pretty clear on the bulbs packaging.

Many customers are also querying the issue of energy-efficient bulb disposal. Because these bulbs do contain traces of mercury they are deemed ‘hazardous’ and therefore are not meant to be disposed of with everyday rubbish. From what I’ve gathered the collection of these bulbs will be dependent on where you live and also your council’s guidelines about hazardous waste collection. A useful site that helps further explain this is: http://www.recycle-more.co.uk/lowenergybulb/BulbHome.aspx type in your post code to find places near to you that will collect these bulbs. You might also find some answers to your questions on the Environment Agency website.

For a more general overview and information regarding the appropriate usage of these new bulbs perhaps also take a look at General Electric's information which tries to answer as many bulb-related queries generated from the public.

 

Baby it's cold outside

It’s mighty cold out there and the dropping temperature might be just the excuse needed to stay indoors and get some good ol’ cleaning/ chores completed. This way when the weather does start to look better and your mates are all headed out for a knees up you won’t be kicking yourself thinking ‘why the heck didn’t I get this stuff sorted whilst I should have! Even better if you have any little ones kicking around why not get them to help out and spread the work load, making less for all. Why not have them help out with some washing up? Just be sure to exercise caution and mind you don’t end up with a Bobby Brady situation (see below) Bless, he had great intentions but didn’t quite end up in the place he had probably hoped. See that your own little Bobbys and Barbaras have some helpful instruction then chuck on the 6 Nations, grab a brew and put your feet up!

  

 

Happy Friday and a fine weekend to y’all

6 months to go

Only 6 months until London plays host to the 2012 Summer Games and if only there was a way to incorporate your old appliances into the mix what an event that would make. Some crazy and creative Yanks have already created an entire competition for appliances only; Appliance Art Revival in the wonderful city of Bellingham, Washington. I’m not sure how the IOC would feel about the addition of such events but surely they could at least consider adding them to the list of Summer Games events, perhaps even  Winter Games events…….see which washing machine proves fastest on the bobsled track or challenge your obsolete microwave to the gravity defying  ski jump.

Alternatively if your old appliance isn’t up to sporting, hasn’t trained enough to make the cut or is simply not interested in competitive sport never fear it can still help you out in ways you never thought possible……

A day in the life of......

A new eSpares employee

A quick interview with our newest employee at eSpares. So far so good but it's early days and Carol has a long way to go and a lot to prove (jokes but not really) Please be advised anything below added in italics are the thoughts of yours truly and may or may not endorsed by Carol.

Name: Carol

Role: Web Analyst

Time at eSpares: 1 week, 3 days, 5 hours

Favourite spare: Inlet valve. A small part but oh so important Unless you fancied turning your home into your very own swimming pool every time you run the dishwasher or washing machine and hey maybe you do and that's ok!

Favourite colleague (yes you have to choose): Dawid Kowalski, closely followed by everyone else on the marketing team as they are SUPER funny and easy going Yes we sure are

Least favourite colleague (yes you have to answer): Haven't been here long enough to firmly establish a least favourite (this will obviously happen in due course) but as it stands it would be Jacques as he beat me in an office competition today...and won't share his chocolates No surprises there. Fat cat Jacques's chocolates that are not being shared

Favourite food to inappropriately eat/ snack on at desk: Portugese custard tarts sold by a friendly gentleman at shop near office As these don't smell I won't comment. But next time someone scoffs a saveloy from the local chippy near to me it will get ugly

Favourite day of the week: Monday. Somehow it's always extra cheerful in the marketing room. No blue Monday at eSpares I can wholly confirm that not everyone in the marketing team shares this feeling when it comes to Mondays- not even close

Stairs or (lazy) lift: Lift. Full of adventures and surprises The lift in this fab warehouse conversion office is the moodiest, irratically behaved thing I've ever had experience of dealing with. Goodluck

Favourite TV show: Kang-Xi-Lai-Le, a very chaotic and noisy Taiwanese talk show Sounds brill

Red or White: White Both

Edward or Jacob: Edward To be fair you would be hard pressed to find any girl who would say no to either 

Carol's mug shot below for y'all to see and belittle er admire 

 

Post Christmas mess?

Right folks we are now settled and moving forward into 2012 and there are no doubt plenty of you out there still working on sorting (and ahem sticking to) your resolutions. I personally don’t feel we need the coming of a new year as an excuse to help get ourselves sorted but regardless for those of you needing the extra push then go ahead and let the new year assist you. A thought; if you want to put off your personal resolutions- weight loss, quitting smoking, exercising, being a better citizen but yet still do some good then why not focus on your lovely and loyal home. Come now, get those appliances working in tip top shape. Your kitchen for start has no doubt taken somewhat of a beating if you were entertaining over the holiday period. If it helped you to show you and your guests a good time why not repay it with a little TLC? After all you owe it to it no? Your fridge kept all that guilt-free low calorie food housed and how about the dishwasher that cleaned the dishes that, that food was so nicely pilled onto? Your hoover? It’s helped keep your home so tidy before and after all the food was consumed by your messy guests. Check out these handy advice centre articles to help you and your humble abode feel 2012 fit.

Fridge fix its

Doddle dishwasher help

Hey some hoover advice

Oracle Retail Week Nomination

We are very proud that for the 4^th year running Oracle Retail Week Awards have shortlisted  eSpares for Online Retailer of the Year. This is a huge accomplishment and we are very proud to be a part of such a prestigious list of finalists. A big up to the employees of eSpares and a massive thanks to our customer base for continuing to support the brand. The awards are being held on March 15^th 2012 and in the meantime we’ll continue to work to provide excellent service and always create a positive experience to our customer. 

Last orders before Christmas

Hi All, keep in mind the last day to order an 'in stock' part is on or before 22nd of December. Also make sure you choose 'Next day delivery' to ensure the items will get to you. Happy trails.

It's beginning to look........

With the festive season fully upon us one can’t help but stop and take notice of the decorations and lights that have sprung up all over the country. The once cold dark high streets are now brilliantly illuminated with festive décor. Brightly coloured snowmen, stars, angels and the lot. What could be considered tacky and over the top actually helps to spread festive cheer, increases morality and makes the world a better place.

Gemma Doe of Luton spends all year eagerly anticipating the festive season when she can illuminate her home and share the festive cheer with those in her neighbourhood. ‘It brings me such pleasure to make my home beautiful and sparkly. The children love it and people stop to take pictures n’ that. I think it makes the neighbourhood feel really happy’  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately not everyone shares in the love of the festive lights. Harry and Iain from the neighbouring tower block have now come to fear the time of year when ‘the lights’ go up. Iain said ‘It’s the same thing every year. They shine so bright all through the night it makes it damn near impossible to sleep’ Harry added, ‘It wasn’t so bad the first couple of years when there were only a few strands but each year more and more lights get added. Sometimes we’d get lucky if she was away but now she must’ve got em on a timer or something cause even when she ain’t home come 5 clock they’re on’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In mentioning the comments of Harry and Iain to Gemma she replied ‘I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t enjoy them. It makes me really sad actually. If it wasn’t for the drastic, unmanageable rise in my energy bill I’d keep em on all year.’

Nevermind, at eSpares we are all about festive cheer and like Gemma take much pride in decorating the office to reflect this.

 

Don’t get caught out this Christmas

Right so with the festive season upon us and Christmas only 17 days away I can’t help but take a moment to think about what comes to mind when I hear the word Christmas; Sharing, giving, receiving (come on I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look forward to getting a little something for myself) family, friends, food, alcohol, more food, tight fitting trousers as a result of more food and probably a half inch of snow that will no doubt grind the country to a halt and strand thousands of passengers trying to fly home. Something else that comes to mind which inevitably goes hand in hand with this time of year; stress. I would go so far as to say it is 100% an unavoidable emotion no matter what your plans may be. I have genuinely found it interesting to see what people might be purchasing from eSpares in the lead up to Christmas in order to help reduce the S word. Yes, the aforementioned perhaps sad but indeed true

Universal Space Saver Wine Bottle Rack- provides extra storage for the ever essential festive bubbly

Universal Extendable Oven Shelf- because one tray of Christmas cookies is clearly never enough

Oven Door Seals - no one likes cold turkey. No one.

Oven Elements- no one likes cold gravy with cold turkey. No one likes cold gravy with hot turkey.

Christmas Lights- these bad boys provide guaranteed good time to anyone within range

Fact: the above parts are simple, relatively inexpensive and easy to install and will do nothing but reduce stress and help make for a better festive season*

*Ok not technically a fact but a pretty darn good assumption.