How would you like to sit back, relax and tuck into a hearty lunch while someone else goes out and does your Christmas shopping?
Sounds too good to be true?
Well it really is happening at the Room restaurant in Liverpool city centre. And for those who see trawling the shops for gifts for great auntie Agnes and next doors dog as only marginally less painful than having a root canal done, it could be the answer to all your Christmas prayers.
Instead of joining the enormous queues and carrying more bags than a fellow from Onyx, you can give a personal shopping list of the gifts you want and let them take all the strain.
John Pallagi, Director of Sales at Room, says: “the festive season should be all about having fun, not stressing out about Christmas shopping.
Our concierge-style Christmas shopping service is set to be a hit with people who prefer to spend their time indulging in good food and drink than battling through crowds of shoppers”.
I decided to put the service to the test and turned up at Room on a Monday lunchtime with a list of presents for my very own personal shopper to buy.
I ordered my lunch and simply passed on my list to a personal shopper from City Servants and then let her do all the rest.
It really was that simple. All I had to do was polish off my lunch while she battled with shoppers and joined the queues at Hugo Boss and T M Lewin in the Met Quarter.
Even though one of the presents I asked for was not available at the time, she simply rang me on my mobile and told me of the alternatives so I could make a new selection.
Around 40 minutes later she returned to the restaurant with my Christmas shopping complete – without me even having to set foot in a single shop.
There is a catch. For every shop you send the personal shopper to you have to pay £6 (the trick is probably to send them to a department store like John Lewis where you can pretty much get everything) and a further 3% commission is added to your final bill.
It certainly isn’t the cheapest way of doing your Christmas shopping, but it’s undoubtedly the easiest options.
I wonder if they offer the same service for birthdays?
Tony Barrett |
