We’ve had a cracking time this year at eSpares. Here’s a little look back, a retrospective if you will, at some of the best stuff.

Best Fix It Yourself Story

This year we’ve seen 18,000 customer reviews submitted. We really love reading how customers have fixed it themselves after their appliances break down. There’s been some really great stories; reading them every day really helps us understand what makes our customers tick. Anyhow, here’s our favourite story of the year. Submitted all the way back in January, when a fellow named Brown lived at Downing Street and no one knew what an iPad was, Havard Thomas’s story of satisfaction at fixing his dishwasher himself, despite the fact it was pressure from his wife that prompted him to fix it in the first place, perfectly encapsulates an FIY mentality coming from an unlikely source…

A true story of pride and presence (of mind)

Last year we were getting fed up with our dishwasher’s lower rack being derailed each time we pushed it back into the machine. At least one of the plastic wheels would fall off and would need to be replaced.

Eventually my wife, who I think may be allergic to money (as she needs to spend it all), declares that a new dishwasher is needed. In exasperation I agreed but first I took a closer look at the problem. It appeared that a couple of the wheel axles were broken. Such a shame, I thought, such little mouldings deteriorating would cost us a new machine. This niggled away for a few minutes then I suddenly thought “I wonder if I could buy a new rack?” so I googled away until I got to eSpares site (and a few others) and was amazed to find that I could not only buy a new rack but new wheel and axle sets for the rack! After finding out how cheap they were and comparing prices I decided to buy a complete set of wheels for the tray and when they arrived found that changing them all took only a few minutes and was so easy.

So, for around £18, virtually a new dishwasher…much pride!

Most Helpful Video

We had a bit of a bumper year on the video front; over 130 were uploaded, with everything from strimmer spools to coffee cleaning being covered. Of all the videos, our favourite is not one about fitting a spare part, but rather, showing how an appliance itself works. I think it’s a great video because it demystifies the tumble dryer, turning it from a box in the kitchen (or utility room) that drys clothes, into a deceptively simple piece of kit. Ladies and gents, I give you Matt explaining ‘How a tumble dryer works’.

Proudest Achievement

In October we surpassed one million views of our How To videos. Earlier this month we surpassed one million views on YouTube alone. We now stand at 1.3 million views and counting. We really are genuinely proud that we’ve helped so many of you fix your appliances yourselves.

Most (Un)Memorable Night Out

When we went out to celebrate surpassing a million How To video views. El vino did flow.

Best Selling Spare Part

We sell a pretty wide variety of stuff – did you know we sell safety chaps? You do now. Need a new gyrator knob shaft? We’ve got you covered on that one too. But of the half a million that we stock, which one sold more than any other product? What was the most in demand spare part of 2010? What’s been the most common fix it? The winner? This humble dishwasher basket wheel.

Tags: Appliance Accessories, Appliance Spare Parts, eSpares