Who Are JD Williams?

JD Williams was one of the first retailers to offer a delivery service to its customers back in 1882, just seven years after its founding year.

Since then, the company has kicked on to become the most successful home shopping company, offering a vast array of product ranges from clothing to home appliances and everything in-between.

They boast a customer base of over six million and employ over 3,500 people to work across their operations.

Initially, JD Williams focused on providing a fantastic range of clothing to both men and women before extending that range to other products like electricals, home appliances, and technology, amongst many other products.

This wide range allows JD Williams to target quite a broad demographic and target audience.

Still, they also provide certain services that attract a smaller niche in their commitment to providing fashionable women’s clothes in larger sizes that can’t be found abundantly with many other retailers.

The wide product range, coupled with the focus on providing larger women’s sizes, has made JD Williams a popular choice in home shopping and their credit accounts, only encourage this further.

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How Does JD Williams' Credit Account Work?

JD Williams offers credit accounts that allow you to spread the cost of your purchases over time. The JD Williams Pay Account is subject to interest, and the credit limit is set by JD Williams when you submit a credit application to them.

To apply for a credit account, you fill in your details on their website, which will include your personal details, address history, and some income information.

They will use this information, along with a copy of your credit score and report, to decide whether or not to grant you credit and how much the credit account limit will be.

If you’re accepted, you will then be able to use your store credit to purchase anything in their wide range. Regarding repayment, you can either pay the entire amount back within 28 days to avoid any interest being added, or you can pay back over 12 monthly instalments, however you will incur interest charges.

Another option is making a minimum payment each month of £5 or 4% of the outstanding balance, depending on which is greater. This outstanding balance will be liable for interest being added at the same rate indefinitely until it is completely cleared.

If you miss a payment, you will be charged £12 for a late payment fee, which will be added to your balance. If you continually miss payments, the credit account can be closed, and the final sum will be pursued as a personal debt either by JD Williams’ collection team or by a third-party debt collection team.

This could also have a detrimental effect on your credit score and can affect your ability to gain future credit elsewhere.

What Products Do JD Williams Offer in Its Catalogue?

JD Williams boasts and prides themselves on having a wide array of product ranges throughout their website to provide a real one-stop shop for most of their customers. We’re going to break down each section in a little more detail to give you an idea of the products you can purchase from JD Williams.

Clothing

We’ve already mentioned that JD Williams put a real focus on providing fashionable clothing for women of all shapes and sizes, which is something that has boosted their popularity in the industry.



But they also offer a comprehensive product range for men and children, with designer brands on offer at great prices with styles ranging from loungewear to formal suits. You can clothe the entire family through JD Williams, and their wide range of styles provides that there’s something for everyone.

Footwear

Trainers have probably never been as popular as they are today, with people racing to smartphones and exclusive apps to snare the latest releases from the likes of Nike and Adidas.

With this in mind, JD Williams has ensured they have a fantastic range of trainers, shoes, heels, and everything else in stock for their customers. You’ll find new releases, old favourites, and modern designs for every type of footwear, along with a great size range for children.

Health & Beauty

JD Williams’ health and beauty section covers everything from women’s make-up to male grooming tools. With some of these items becoming increasingly more costly as the science in these products increase, a credit account is an excellent option for customers that want the best items on the market but can’t afford them in a single payment.

Home & Garden

Moving into a more practical section, the home, and garden section offers everything from garden furniture to home lighting.

The interior designs of homes are becoming more important for homeowners each year, with people wanting their homes to look more creative and personal to themselves and their families.

The stylish items on sale with JD Williams helps their customer base achieve just that, and of course, in an affordable way with their pay account.

Electricals & Tech

Technology and home electricals have never been so advanced, and in turn, so costly. The rise of smart homes and smartphones that continue to exceed our expectations have created quite a thirst for more of these products from manufacturers.

JD Williams offers a wonderful selection in this regard, from the best technology on the market to affordable tech that helps us immensely without leaving us broke. They stock products from the titans in the industry like Samsung, Apple, and many more.

Gaming & Toys

Much like electricals and technology, the gaming industry continues to move from strength to strength, especially with the recent releases of new games consoles – the XBOX Series X and PS5.

JD Williams gets access to these new consoles, along with the accessories and games that go with them, enabling its customers to get their hands on the latest consoles while also having a credit option to spread the cost.

What JD Williams Catalogue Deals Are Available?

JD Williams runs regular discounts and deals on their products, including a ‘Clearance’ section that is regularly updated with products that are available to purchase at a significantly reduced cost.

They also run regular finance offers that usually consist of credit with 0% APR for a certain number of months enabling customers to spread the cost of items without paying more than the recommended retail price.

They may also run promotions on their page that offers certain additional discounts through a promotional code at checkout. These codes are usually advertised across the site along the top banner.

Benefits of Shopping at JD Williams

There are several benefits to be enjoyed by shopping with JD Williams, and we’ve listed the top ones below.

Unlimited Delivery Option for 12 Months

JD Williams has a fantastic delivery feature available on their website that offers their customers unlimited next-day delivery for 12 months, including click and collects and nominated day delivery, for just £9.95. Considering next day delivery is £4.50 alone, this is a fantastic deal.

Various Payment Options

The flexibility offered by JD Williams attracts a lot of customers, whether that be the credit options or the vast amount of payment methods on offer.

You can even purchase items on credit and avoid paying any interest if you pay the entire amount off before the due date on the statement, utilizing it as a buy now, pay later service.

You can also pay using any VISA or MasterCard credit or debit card. Several more unconventional payment methods could be considered quite old fashioned but are available through JD Williams, which we’ll discuss a little later on.

True Fit Technology

JD Williams offers True Fit Technology throughout the products on their website, which enables their customers to find their perfect fit in any item by merely answering a quick 60-second online form.

The technology pulls the information together to advise you on what size you need in particular items when cross-referenced with the size guide. This greatly reduces the amount of time spent on sending back ill-fitting clothes.

Disadvantages of Shopping at JD Williams

Standard Interest Rate is Paid on Outstanding Balances

The standard interest rate of JD Williams’ credit accounts is actually pretty high compared to some other financing options. This can deter you from paying off your debts to the company as quick as you may with another provider.

Credit Checks are Required

As with any credit application, a credit check will be required, but whether you are accepted or declined, it will leave a mark on your report that a hard search has been conducted. This can be damaging to your score if too many are carried out in a short amount of time.

Missed Payments Could Lead to Debt and a Bad Credit Score

If you find yourself unable to meet the terms and conditions laid out in regard to keeping up with repayments, you will be liable to further charges on top of your outstanding balance.

In addition, continuously missing payments can lead to collection proceedings that will significantly impact your credit score, making it very hard for you to gain credit anywhere else.

What Payment Methods Do JD Williams Accept?

JD Williams carries on ensuring their brand is the most accessible on the market with a number of payment options for their customers. We’ve broken them down into a little more detail here:

  • Debit/Credit Card – The most common way for people to purchase anything nowadays is by credit or debit card. This also provides you with a safety net should any issues occur after the purchase, acting as a proof of purchase with your bank.
  • BACs Transfer – You can actually transfer the money into JD Williams’ bank account to pay for items or the balance on your credit account if you wish to do it in this way.
  • Direct Debit – If you purchased items on a pay account, you could pay your monthly amount each month by Direct Debit to ensure you never miss a payment.
  • Automated Payment Line – JD Williams has an automated payment line that you can access over the telephone for any instance that you find yourself without an active internet connection.
  • Payzone and Post Office – You can visit a post office or a Payzone location to pay off your account by taking a barcode you will have received with your items. It costs 45p to do so with the post office and 33p for Payzone.
  • Post – You can pay via post with either a cheque, postal order or by filling in your card details on a form received with your items and then sending it back to JD Williams.

Can I Open a JD Williams Credit Account with Bad Credit?

Credit reports and scores are quite odd because different companies view them in different ways and tend to use various credit agencies. There isn’t a specific cut off point in which you will or will not receive credit based on your score, as many different factors are considered.



Of course, the better your score, the more likely you will attain credit with a company. However, you can still gain credit with a bad credit score if you have shown improvements recently or if a company’s policy is more lenient to bad credit customers.

How Does JD Williams' Delivery and Return Policies Work?

JD Williams’ delivery and return processes are very straightforward and easy to understand. For delivery, there are four options available:

  • Standard Delivery – Takes 3-5 working days and costs £2.95
  • Next Day Delivery – Next day delivery is guaranteed if the order is placed before 3 pm and costs £3.95
  • Nominated Day Delivery – You can choose a specific day that you want to have your items delivered and costs £3.95
  • JD Williams Unlimited – For a one-off cost of £9.95 you can have free delivery for an entire year, for all of the above options

For returns, you now have up to 60 days to return your items, due to the ongoing global pandemic. You can do this by either dropping them off at the post office, an INPOST locker or arranging them to be picked up for free by a Hermes courier.

When you send you items back, make sure you include the returns form from inside your original delivery.

Conclusion

JD Williams has stood the test of time by continually updating their product ranges, customer support, and features to offer their enormous customer base.

Its range is inclusive, competitively priced and their returns and delivery procedures make life quite easy for the consumer and allows them to save time by shopping safely and efficiently at home.

The addition of unlimited delivery for a year and true fit technology is just another two examples of how JD Williams has adapted to the times to ensure their longevity in this competitive industry.

FAQs

Q: How often does JD Williams increase its credit limit?

A: JD Williams will review your credit limit at various points throughout the year and alert you if your limit is about to increase. You can also refuse the increase if you wish to.

Q: Can I pay weekly with a JD Williams credit account?

A: You have access to an online portal in which you can review you limit, your spending and make as many payments as you wish.

Q: How can I close a JD Williams account?

A: If you want to close your JD Williams account, you need to pay off the remaining balance on your account and then contact JD Williams directly to close your credit account otherwise it will just lay dormant until you want to use it again.

Q: Who are JD Williams regulated by?

A: JD Williams is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority that ensures they follow the correct regulations and procedures proceeding to their credit account services.

Q: Who are JD Williams owned by?

A: JD Williams is owned by the N Brown Group, which also owns similar stores like Jacamo, Simply Be and Home Essentials. JD Williams is the oldest company within the group, and each of the stores that came after them have a similar business model.

Sources

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_Brown_Group