Where to buy your tech from this Black Friday

If you're planning to treat yourself to a new tech gadget in the Black Friday sales, you'll want to pick a retailer that offers great customer service, a wide range of quality products and value for money.

Here Which? reveals the top-scoring tech retailers that offer all that and more. 

To uncover which stores customers love and which are leaving shoppers less than impressed, we surveyed 4,249 members of the Which? Connect panel and 8,003 of the general public in September 2022 about their online and in-store shopping experiences over the previous six months.

Which are the top shops for tech?

With prices soaring and budgets tight, it’s more important than ever to pick a reputable retailer that offers excellent value for money. 

With this in mind, we've revealed the customer score and value for money star-rating for the top 10 tech retailers below. 

Table notes: customer score results are based on an online survey of 4,249 members of the Which? Connect panel and 8,003 of the general public, conducted in September, 2022. The customer score is based on satisfaction with the brand and likelihood to recommend. Sample size of each brand/product is in brackets.

• Find out more: see how customers rated all 22 tech retailers in our survey 

Richer Sounds rated the best tech retailer

Richer Sounds topped our table with a five-star sweep across the board and we've crowned it a Which? Recommend Provider (WRP). It's a perennial customer favourite, consistently doing well in our tech retailer survey. 

Almost all (99%) of customers we surveyed said they would recommend the retailer, and that it offers good value for money – more so than any other tech retailer on both criteria.

Customers applauded the ‘very helpful and knowledgeable’ staff, with one saying that the ‘in-store experts listened to our needs and gave good advice’. It has a free six-year guarantee on most TVs, projectors and speakers, and a bold promise to beat competitors on price by up to £100 within 14 days of a purchase.

Established by Julian Richer in 1978 when he was just 19 years old, Richer Sounds was handed over to an employee ownership trust in 2019 –it’s now 60% staff-owned. 

Richer Sounds has launched its Black Friday promotions, and these are due to end on 29 November. 

• Find out more: when is Black Friday 2022?  

How we award Which? Recommended Provider

Retailers need to meet certain criteria to become a WRP, including at least four stars for staff helpfulness, three stars for value for money, and clear and correct returns and faulty goods policies published online.

After careful consideration, we withheld WRP status from Argos, John Lewis and Very due to concerns with the returns and/or faulty goods policies. 

Why John Lewis isn't a WRP this year

John Lewis (87%) got a clean sweep of five stars for all the measures we asked customers about, but the information about its online and telephone purchase returns policy didn’t meet our standard on clarity.

John Lewis said: ‘We offer a generous returns policy, with 35-day free returns for most purchases. For telephone and online purchases, we'll even refund the standard delivery charge when the whole order is returned in 14 days. 

'As well as being popular with our customers, we’re confident that our returns policy complies with the set regulations, with customers’ rights detailed on our website. ’ 

Why Argos isn't a WRP this year

Argos (81%) shone with customers on several measures, including value for money and how easy it is to use the website or app. It didn’t meet our standard on clarity for its faulty goods policy, though. 

Argos said: ‘We hope customers love the products they buy at Argos, however on the rare occasion there may be a fault with their product we would encourage customers to contact us directly for further assistance. If their item is outside of the manufacturer’s warranty period we may still be able to help.’

Why Very isn't a WRP this year

Very (81%) customers liked the range and quality of products on offer, as well as the value for money and delivery. But we were concerned that Very's faulty goods policy could mislead consumers. 

Very said: ‘If any product we supply fails prematurely due to an inherent fault, we provide an appropriate remedy. For large electrical or furniture products, it would not always be appropriate to require the customer to return the product. 

'Customers who believe a product to be faulty are asked on the returns section within their "My Account" page to contact us. We then liaise with the customer to arrange the most appropriate remedy, including helping to diagnose the issue and repair the product, providing them with a supplier helpline to diagnose and fix the problem, or arranging collection and a refund or replacement.‘

• Find out more: how to get a refund, repair or replacement  

Below average performance for Boots Kitchen Appliances

Boots Kitchen Appliances (63%), a partnership between the high-street brand and AO (a WRP), was rated well below the average customer score of 80%, and was the only retailer with a score below 70% in the tech category.

It was the only tech retailer to score three stars for after-sales service and returns, and one of only three retailers that got three stars for the amount of packaging used in deliveries.