Has anyone bought anything from fesal.com.au before? Looking for positive feedback (hopefully) before I take the plunge.

They seem to be an Italian importer which ships international appliances to Australia.

If I buy from them - am I likely to have issues with compliance for installation (looking at a gas cooktop) and/or warranty if it comes to that?

The Neff cooktop we're looking at is $1,419.07 + $200 shipping through these guys, as opposed to $2999 everywhere else!

Any feedback on either this site directly or else buying overseas models and installing them here would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Rowena

Before you buy you need to get answers from them in writing.

Ask them if the products they supply are covered by a FULL manufactures warranty WITH LOCAL support (I.e in Australia)

If this is the case you should also be able to get eh same answer from Neff here.

I doubt Stamford will support imported Neff appliances; factory direct such as Bosch and Siemens may, although unlikely I suspect.

.
I just made a purchase from Fesal.com.au. I have been looking for a quality kitchen mixer tap with pull out vegi spray, but I was restricted to a base measurement of only 43mm, which is very small. It's so hard to find anything in this measurement that didn't cost an arm and leg. Prices in Australia are ridiculous, we are all being taken for a ride with almost everything we buy here. The only nice tap I could find available here to fit my sink is a KWC Ono sink mixer RRP $1164. WOW Wasn't planning on spending that much then I found fesal.com.au. selling the exact same tap for AU$388. Tried to do some research on fesal but like you I couldn't find much, they are based in Italy. I emailed them and they answered my concerns about plumbing fittings, they reckon they ship taps to Australia regularly and the fittings fit perfectly.
So I HAVE taken the plunge Postage is $90 can take up to 20 days to arrive though. All up still less than $500, under half price.

I'll let you all know how it goes. Fingers crossed.

.

Hope things go well for you cranster63, It would be the warranty on appliances that I would be worried about...taps and the like, not so much !!

Cheers,

P_D

I received the tap last Monday, well wrapped, plenty of bubble warp and newspaper stuffing inside the original KWC tap box. Everything perfect, the tap is spotless and not a second. I am very happy with this purchase, saved me about $500. The seller was very helpful too. I started a thread on whirlpool forums and plenty of people have come forward with favourable reviews on Fesal.com.au.

Hi Cranster63

Have you had an issues getting the tap installed or problems with wels ratings?
I am looking at a gessi tap which is similarly priced and half the cost through fesal
I would appreciate any feedback you may have

Just re-posting my comments from another forum with similar topic:
Post1
Initially we also were very apprehensive about dealing with Fesal. However in the last few months we have made several purchases through this company and never had any problems. We hold Fillipo in the highest regard for his reliability, accessibility, advice and very professional customer services. It was a real pleasure to deal with him. We were amazed that there was always an online chat option popping up whenever we visited fesal.com.au website, which was very helpful.

This Friday I am flying to Italy to meet Filippo as we also want to import tiles and other things like WC, bath tabs etc. Will let you know more about Fesal when I am back from Italy. Cannot wait to see this beautiful country and beautiful things they manufacture! PS: we are owner builders building a dream home in Perth. If you are interested you can follow our project on Twitter O_B_Rock

post 2

Just wanted to update you on my trip to Italy and meeting with Filippo. I can reassure you that he is a real person, with real business and with real desire to succeed in what he does by doing a right thing, not by ripping off people. Fesal is two people company. These young Guys in their 30th work long hours as they need to accommodate the time difference in different countries. They rent a small office in a warehouse about 2 hours away from Rome. That is all what they need to receive orders, pack and send the goods to their customers. The reasons they are "cheap" is not because Fesal is cutting corners but because there are only two people running business and they don't have huge overhead costs. They also keep a reasonable profit margin. People have been "robed" by local shops in Australia and we just do not know anymore what are the real prices for the items we are buying. Local prices are driven by high showrooms' rental fees, high wages to the sale assistants and high profit margins. Shops' philosophy is to sell less for more. Fesal's business practice is – sell more for less.

Last months, Fesal was announced by Gessi as third largest retailer of it's products. I saw a picture of Filippo receiving this award. That picture did not look like it was Photoshopped... It gave me reassurance that Fesal sells genuine Gessi products.

The reason why I went to Italy was because... I could. It was a good opportunity to take a break from building house and meet Filippo in person. Before ordering tiles from Fesal I wanted to see them myself. Exactly the same tiles at local shops would cost us $30 – $100 psqm more than from Italian retailer (not even manufacturer!). On 450sqm tiles we need for our house, my trip to Italy will be well paid off. We also would like to order WC and Bathtub. (By the way, please do not hesitate to ask Fesal if they can find for you products which you like but are not on their website. These Guys can find pretty anything you want!).

On my request, Filippo also took me to a local Italian carpenter who can custom make for you anything from kitchen/bathroom cabinets and internal doors to original furniture. I visited a few apartments to see his finished work and I was very impressed with the quality. The prices cannot be compared to the prices in China ( I also visited Chinese manufactures) but you pay for what you get. Still... the quotation (including transportation and local GST) for kitchen cabinets is about $5000 cheaper than the quotation we received from local kitchen manufacturer.
We also interested in purchasing some Italian lighting fittings (absolutely beautiful but ridiculously expensive in Perth).

Being an owner builder we are trying to save money but still have high quality finishing for the house. Fesal was a lucky discovery for us. I hope Russ will not take my comments as "advertising for Fesal". The reason I spent the last half an hour of my life typing this is because I want to share my honest opinion about Fesal and hope other people can save a lot of money they earned sometimes in much harder way than some local retailers.

Once again, you can follow our experience as owner builders on Twitter account O_B_Rock. I post there every step of building process and give a few tips how to avoid problems we face sometimes. I apologize if my English is not good at times as I am Russian and English is my third language.

Just a warning . I bought all my Hansgrohe tapware from a UK store at a fraction of the cost locally. The two mixer taps had fittings smaller than the australian standard. With some difficulty I managed to source some adaptors, most plumbing suppliers wont sell you the adaptors as they know the internet is killing local retail.

We bought our Gessi tap locally (ripped off even with the good deal we got) and it comes with the adaptors so I knew what to look for for the Hansgrohe stuff.

As far as wells ratings etc, most plumbers dont care about that stuff, and most good fittings are higher rated than australian standards anyway. The gessi tap flows very slowly....but we still love it. There is a pic of it somewhere in my thread.

Hi toniblundell

I am thinking of buying from Fesal. With tapware you mentioned adaptors that came with the Hansgrohe taps. What should I be looking/asking for specifically? Are the sizes different? Will Fesal have these adapters?

I am also considering other items like appliances but worried about service/warranty. Filippo said Neff was covered with international warranty but I have to confirm this before buying. I could not firn a German Head Office for Neff to confirm. Any experience anyone?

Also tiles from Porcelanosa? Anyone have any experience?

Thanks for all your help/replies in advance

I bought a Elica Star from Fesa.
I am from Perth and found to have quality items in our home is impossible, as the prices here in this town are only for the wealthy. I ventured out and bought most my products overseas (bath, toilets, tapware, basins, elica, clementi)and am very fortunate have never had any problems.
On Fesa blog I've thanked Mr Filipo for his integrity and selling quality products.
I have had more bad luck in Perth from bad trades and retailers here than buying from overseas.
When purchasing for the wet areas I checked out the pipe sizes and fittings and made sure what was sold overseas suited ours, both UK and USA dont.
Good luck and do your homework before buying.

Luki thanks for the post. We are also thinking of buying tapware and I thought UK has the same sizes as Australia. You say they do not, so what sizes should I be looking for please? Aso what about buying sinks from the US or UK? Are the drain sizes adaptable to Australia?
Thanks
Gtr

Cranster63 did the KWC aps fit Australian plumbing?
Thanks
Gtr

My only concern about ordering from OS is whether the taps come with a WaterMark certificate. Most plumbers will not install taps that dont have the WaterMark and should something happen, insurance companies will not pay out if they discover that the taps are not certified to the Australian Standard. I am prepared to order one just to test the water (no pun intended) and see what comes through.

Can anyone confirm whether there is a WaterMark certificate in the box?

Well I live in Singapore and am looking at Grohe taps etc and I think they are quite a bit cheaper. The model numbers are different only by the last digit but all descriptions are the same.

If anyone wants I can check out some items..... there is a big market and because the island is so small you can find everything easily. I know when I renovated the bathroom in an apartment I have for the cost of the glass sink we actually got all fittings, racks, soap dishes toilet roll holders, mirror and bowl for about 15% less than what the bowl would have cost.

I will be getting the Australian Pirce quote for grohe fitout from my builder this weekend so I will be able to compare.... Pretty sure I will get hosed

Cheers
Mark