Independent tv rental/sales/ repair shops. Who remembers them

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Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Back in the early 70s we rented our b&w tv from a shop called Littlers. Great service and we stayed with them many years.
They were established 1957.
Our auntie is still with them. Mr Littler (not the original ^_^) goes every month to collect the rent and always spends time with her.
They still do home visits and repairs.
They don't make them like that any more.
 
We, like most of the country, used Radio Rentals.
I can't remember if we had the Windsor or the Kensington model but it lots of fine wood veneer.
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
My Grandmother was on one of those schemes, I only found out that she had the same TV for 20 years and had being paying rent on it all the time when I offered to give her a cast off of mine. I dread to think how much she paid in rental but it would have been many thousands of pounds. I am glad that the Mr Littler's of the world don't exist anymore
 
I remember Rediffusion!

Mrs Optic still tells the tale of how she embarrassed her parents as a schoolchild. They only rented a TV in the Winter. In the Summer, the children were expected to play out-of-doors instead (remember those days?)

In her school journal one day, apparently she wrote "Yesterday a man came and took away the television"
 
In the early days of colour TV it made perfect sense to rent a set. Unlike today where TV's are super reliable the old one were anything but.
I some areas radio reception was poor but you could get a wired connection from Radio Relay, at least you could in London.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
It wasn't all that long ago- maybe 2000 or just afterwards- when we were still renting a TV from Granada. We had it a few years then they gave it to us. It broke almost immediately and I had to take it to the dump on my bike.
 
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Dave7

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
My Grandmother was on one of those schemes, I only found out that she had the same TV for 20 years and had being paying rent on it all the time when I offered to give her a cast off of mine. I dread to think how much she paid in rental but it would have been many thousands of pounds. I am glad that the Mr Littler's of the world don't exist anymore
Ahhh but Mr Littler was a gentleman and to my knowledge did not fleece people. I am talking independents....not multies.
 
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