In praise of customer services.

[Baron von Lotsov]

My main quibble with Destroy-It-Yourself Emporia is they don't stock any timber more the 8 feet long. (Travis Perkins being an exception, but the range they stock is limited.)

Fortunately there is an independent timber merchants some 20 miles away who stock timber in 40foot lengths or even longer.

I'm starting to learn. With these firms never visit them personally or they will waste your money(time) . Travis and Perkins were the pits in this department. I had a right go at them, and interestingly when i came back with my saw the same person, rather than being the ct from hell, was the biggest creep you could have ever met. I think the manager told him if he pisses me off again then its p45 time.

[papasmurf]

My main quibble with Destroy-It-Yourself Emporia is they don't stock any timber more the 8 feet long. (Travis Perkins being an exception, but the range they stock is limited.)

Fortunately there is an independent timber merchants some 20 miles away who stock timber in 40foot lengths or even longer.

[Baron von Lotsov]

 However, I suspect you're just a dabbler with a phobia of modern life and can't really hack life outside your bedroom. You should stick to Homebase if you're not comfortable filling in order chits or checking in-store terminals...

It amazes me why you feel the need to be so rude about me when I have not in any way been discourteous to you. I have seen this a few times in the last few days from a few others, and I notice each time it is the same position, in that I have not done anything to offend them, and on the contrary, I have treated them with manners and respect. Each time I see this I see invention of things, and on this occasion you imagine I am sitting in my bedroom. Well I'm not. I'm sitting in my office in a big comfortable executive chair and feel quite relaxed and have been chatting to some Americans about reverse engineering microcontrollers in consumer gadgets. I've never been to Homebase in my life and only bought about half a dozen things from Screwfix as I see them as a last resort. Normally I'll get it off my usual suppliers on Ebay. So I'm wondering what it is that makes you a non-dabbler.

[patman post]

Screwfix was expanding and threatening B & Q's market, so they bought it. The usual thing is when a firm is bought they gradually bring it in line with their normal mode of business. Screwfix is often cheaper than B & Q but it is still pricey, except for their special offers, and if you go in and buy a B & Q special offer you will find it is out of stock like i did and then upon further enquiry you will find it has been out of stock for about 6 months and then you find yourself reporting their illegal practices to trading standards. they break the law, and i can say this because i have a letter from trading standards saying so. I don't know about Toolstation or Wickes, although the once I used wickes I found it pretty cheap. Regular shoppers say it has gone downhill now and is more B & Q.







Amazon do it by forcing competition out of business and stealing competitors ideas, such as the startup called June. Look it up on Youtube if you like.

Alibaba and Ebay are just trading platforms and don't sell anything. They are like  the firm who built the shopping arcade so do not have any control over what the shops charge. They undercut everyone else because the platform is efficient and to a large extent it plays by free market rules. Ebay and Alibaba are very different though.Alibaba is a wholesale site. You are buying directly from the factory there. Prices are cheaper because you have to do more work yourself, and you are supposed to be buying in large quantities. Most items except for very expensive ones have a minimum order quantity (MOQ). The crack there is you have to get a quote first and this gets complicated because when dealing with a factory you can often ask the factory how you want it, so they do semi-customised orders and the like. You have to barter with them, no one click and it is bought.

As a regular user of Screwfix, Toolstation, Buildbase, etc, and employing their offered tools and services over the internet, I'm happy with what they give me. However, I suspect you're just a dabbler with a phobia of modern life and can't really hack life outside your bedroom. You should stick to Homebase if you're not comfortable filling in order chits or checking in-store terminals...

[Baron von Lotsov]

I found that out when I was looking for some "penny" washers. There were dirt cheap each on Alibaba, but only if I purchased 100000.

That's it. it tends to be that the MOQ is inversely proportional to price, hence meaning they tend to have a minimum order value of a certain amount. If on the otherhand you wished to purchase a $5000 industrial manufacturing machine then the MOQ will generally be one. Think of it as the more money you are going to spend the better friend they will be to you. It's like a Middle Eastern bazaar

[papasmurf]

Alibaba is a wholesale site.

I found that out when I was looking for some "penny" washers. There were dirt cheap each on Alibaba, but only if I purchased 100000.

[Baron von Lotsov]

If Kingfisher pushes up prices, how do you explain its Screwfix operation offers prices below its B&Q stores? Do you not think competitors like Wickes and Toolstation help keep Kingfisher in line?

Screwfix was expanding and threatening B & Q's market, so they bought it. The usual thing is when a firm is bought they gradually bring it in line with their normal mode of business. Screwfix is often cheaper than B & Q but it is still pricey, except for their special offers, and if you go in and buy a B & Q special offer you will find it is out of stock like i did and then upon further enquiry you will find it has been out of stock for about 6 months and then you find yourself reporting their illegal practices to trading standards. they break the law, and i can say this because i have a letter from trading standards saying so. I don't know about Toolstation or Wickes, although the once I used wickes I found it pretty cheap. Regular shoppers say it has gone downhill now and is more B & Q.

Also, if the internet does not allow economies of scale how come Amazon, Alibaba, Ebay, etc, are thriving by allowing goods to be offered below usual retail price...?

Amazon do it by forcing competition out of business and stealing competitors ideas, such as the startup called June. Look it up on Youtube if you like.

Alibaba and Ebay are just trading platforms and don't sell anything. They are like  the firm who built the shopping arcade so do not have any control over what the shops charge. They undercut everyone else because the platform is efficient and to a large extent it plays by free market rules. Ebay and Alibaba are very different though.Alibaba is a wholesale site. You are buying directly from the factory there. Prices are cheaper because you have to do more work yourself, and you are supposed to be buying in large quantities. Most items except for very expensive ones have a minimum order quantity (MOQ). The crack there is you have to get a quote first and this gets complicated because when dealing with a factory you can often ask the factory how you want it, so they do semi-customised orders and the like. You have to barter with them, no one click and it is bought.

[patman post]

Kingfisher is the holding company. It's typical of this country to have a system where firms buy up all the competition and then charge sky high prices. Mind you, I think their days are numbered. The market seems to favour small specialist low-price suppliers. There's not the economy of scale there once was when the internet is used to trade.

If Kingfisher pushes up prices, how do you explain its Screwfix operation offers prices below its B&Q stores? Do you not think competitors like Wickes and Toolstation help keep Kingfisher in line?

Also, if the internet does not allow economies of scale how come Amazon, Alibaba, Ebay, etc, are thriving by allowing goods to be offered below usual retail price...?

[Baron von Lotsov]

I buy and sell using eBay. In my experience the buyers are a much bigger pain the sellers. I sold a quartz watch not long ago, and the idiot who bought  it didn't push the crown in. He put in a returns claim without contacting me first. I told him what he needed to do and asked him to withdraw the claim. He didn't, and it took me nearly two months before eBay would release the funds. I have several other examples as well.

That's very true and one reason I eschew business which has to face the general public. Mind you, it is not all bad. I think it has a lot to do with what you are selling and where you pitch your business. If you are selling dirt cheap rubbish to the dregs of society then you'll have no end of trouble with the little darlings, but if you move into higher class merchandise where the customer is educated then it's a different ball game and much less stressful. I mean some people use the tactic of give you agro until you are blue in the face and by doing that they think they can influence your kindness. I never fall for that, but a lot do. The outcome is twice as much agro but they don't come back! Nor do their mates!!

[Baron von Lotsov]

As far as I know Screwfix and B&Q are UK Kingfisher companies.

Travis Perkins owns Toolstation and Wickes, among others...

Kingfisher is the holding company. It's typical of this country to have a system where firms buy up all the competition and then charge sky high prices. Mind you, I think their days are numbered. The market seems to favour small specialist low-price suppliers. There's not the economy of scale there once was when the internet is used to trade.

[Baron von Lotsov]

Won Hung Low and his brother Swung Too Low who lost his nuts to  Lotsov Chop Off! Which nut do you think bolts off to China?

You are talking about me.



Well I think B & Q is one of the worst examples of a British shop.



I often use a Scottish company called Screws City to sell me nuts and bolts. It's a family-run business started in 2016 and seems to do quality merchandise. I click on what I want and it comes in two day's time. I would pay more if I Q'ed down at B & Q. Do you have a screw loose somewhere? They can help.

[Major Sinic]

Which nut bolts off to China for his toys?

Won Hung Low and his brother Swung Too Low who lost his nuts to  Lotsov Chop Off! Which nut do you think bolts off to China?

[Baron von Lotsov]

Well Cromwell you really nailed that one! I suppose it all hinges on the typed of fixings you want. Mind you it goes against the grain to have some nut who always bolts off to China for his toys.



Anyway before I come unstuck I do remember being in the queue at at B & Q, when an old Oxordonian said with a wistful sigh 'Now I knows why it be called B and Q'. The chap behind him said 'why's that then' and the old boy retorted ' Well it be obvious dun it I be and I queues and I b queuin' now for upward of ten minutes'. Never forgotten it and still makes me chuckle.

Which nut bolts off to China for his toys?

[Major Sinic]

Judging by the Parish council here I can't argue with that assessment.

Judging by the posters from there nor can I!

[Major Sinic]

Well they were taught they were all winners never lose anything even if they come last and would all go to uni and be geniuses.....basically they were screwed  :-P

Well Cromwell you really nailed that one! I suppose it all hinges on the typed of fixings you want. Mind you it goes against the grain to have some nut who always bolts off to China for his toys.



Anyway before I come unstuck I do remember being in the queue at at B & Q, when an old Oxordonian said with a wistful sigh 'Now I knows why it be called B and Q'. The chap behind him said 'why's that then' and the old boy retorted ' Well it be obvious dun it I be and I queues and I b queuin' now for upward of ten minutes'. Never forgotten it and still makes me chuckle.