Went to B&Q this arvo to buy a 4m x 1m roll of willow screening. I'd seen
it in the Wickes book for £19.49, but was 5 miles from the nearest Wickes.

Label on the shelf said £26.98 so I thought I'd try their price promise.
Droid asked for proof it was cheaper at Wickes. Got Wickes book from van.

Description in the Wickes book was; "Willow Screen 4m x 1m".
Description on the B&Q label was; "Willow Screen 4m x 1m".

Droid claimed it wasn't the same product because it wasn't the same make.

I enquired how many types of willow screen there were. Blank look. I asked
how it was different; "this is B&Q Willow Screening & that is Wickes Willow
Screening".

Price promise my arse.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
om...
Went to B&Q this arvo to buy a 4m x 1m roll of willow screening. I'd seen
it in the Wickes book for £19.49, but was 5 miles from the nearest Wickes.

Label on the shelf said £26.98 so I thought I'd try their price promise.
Droid asked for proof it was cheaper at Wickes. Got Wickes book from van.

Description in the Wickes book was; "Willow Screen 4m x 1m".
Description on the B&Q label was; "Willow Screen 4m x 1m".

Droid claimed it wasn't the same product because it wasn't the same make.

I enquired how many types of willow screen there were. Blank look. I
asked how it was different; "this is B&Q Willow Screening & that is Wickes
Willow Screening".

Price promise my arse.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk


I pay £28.18 for 100m of 2.5mm T&E from B&Q and not the £37.00 that B&Q
offer to sell it at. There was a small argument about it it being a
different manufacturer and I pointed out that it is Prysmian cable that I
could buy elsewhere for £28.18.

The manager loves me. He tried to price match at £28.18 plus vat. There was
then a bigger argument and I won. I pay £24.50 plus vat.

There is no point in a trade counter at B&Q if they cannot match the trade
prices.

Adam

Price promise my arse.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk



You could have phrased that better.

There some perverts reading this newsgroup.


Adam.

ARWadsworth wrote:
Price promise my arse.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk



You could have phrased that better.

There some perverts reading this newsgroup.

Even so, I can't see him earning enough to retire on the strength of
that offer alone!

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
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| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , The Medway
Handyman writes
Went to B&Q this arvo to buy a 4m x 1m roll of willow screening. I'd seen
it in the Wickes book for £19.49, but was 5 miles from the nearest Wickes.

Label on the shelf said £26.98 so I thought I'd try their price promise.
Droid asked for proof it was cheaper at Wickes. Got Wickes book from van.

Description in the Wickes book was; "Willow Screen 4m x 1m".
Description on the B&Q label was; "Willow Screen 4m x 1m".

Droid claimed it wasn't the same product because it wasn't the same make.

I enquired how many types of willow screen there were. Blank look. I asked
how it was different; "this is B&Q Willow Screening & that is Wickes Willow
Screening".
FWIW, I went through the same sort of process in the other direction
when trying to get Wickes to price match the Onduline I just bought. I
suppose I was being a bit cheeky because B&Q only stock some other
-duline, but What happened was this:

Droid (always pleasant in Wickes, I have to say) said have to speak to a
manager.
Manager came over and stood beneath the price promise sign. Said "We
have to see a receipt for the identical material from B&Q". I said "But
I want to buy it from you". He said " Without a receipt or a signed
statement from B&Q of the price, we can't reduce the price".

As B&Q didn't have quite enough sheets anyway, I gave up. The difference
wasn't huge anyway, but all their price promise has achieved is to make
me more wary of their prices. I went elsewhere for the fittings, bolts,
screws, washers I needed.

--
Bill

Bill coughed up some electrons that declared:

As B&Q didn't have quite enough sheets anyway, I gave up. The difference
wasn't huge anyway, but all their price promise has achieved is to make
me more wary of their prices. I went elsewhere for the fittings, bolts,
screws, washers I needed.


Which is all very odd, because I go to Parkers Building Supplies
(Sussex/Kent local firm) and they match B&Q prices on ton bags and sheet
materials quite happily, despite commention that said prices are "quite
cheap". I even take printouts of B&Q's website and never even had to show
one.

Talking of which, Currys have been quite happy to price match based on
website printouts before.

On May 30, 5:02*pm, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
[...]

Droid claimed it wasn't the same product because it wasn't the same make.

I enquired how many types of willow screen there were. *Blank look. *I asked
how it was different; "this is B&Q Willow Screening & that is Wickes Willow
Screening".


This seems perfectly reasonable on their part to me. It's not a matter
of 'type', it's a matter of make (and, by implication, quality). B&Q
can claim that their willow screening is of different (better) quality
to Wickes.

I understand that in practice it's likely to be mfd at the same place,
etc. But you can't expect them to check that it's an identical product
by looking through such details. That's why they do it on make.

I am after some ordinary fence panels and no two panels from different
manufacturers are likely to have excatly the same constructional
details, etc.

J^n

On Sun, 31 May 2009 03:08:43 -0700 (PDT), jkn wrote:

On May 30, 5:02*pm, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
[...]

Droid claimed it wasn't the same product because it wasn't the same make.

I enquired how many types of willow screen there were. *Blank look. *I asked
how it was different; "this is B&Q Willow Screening & that is Wickes Willow
Screening".


This seems perfectly reasonable on their part to me. It's not a matter
of 'type', it's a matter of make (and, by implication, quality). B&Q
can claim that their willow screening is of different (better) quality
to Wickes.

I understand that in practice it's likely to be mfd at the same place,
etc. But you can't expect them to check that it's an identical product
by looking through such details. That's why they do it on make.

I am after some ordinary fence panels and no two panels from different
manufacturers are likely to have excatly the same constructional
details, etc.

J^n

The trouble is that many places have specific types/models of things made
for them - generally completely standard, but with a vendor specific part
number, which they then use to say that no-one else sells the same
item/model and refuse to price match! It's basically a con.

SteveW

Steve Walker wrote:

The trouble is that many places have specific types/models of things made
for them - generally completely standard, but with a vendor specific part
number, which they then use to say that no-one else sells the same
item/model and refuse to price match! It's basically a con.

SteveW

I think that is common with white goods - washing machines, fridge
freezers etc. Same product with a different badge on it, usually made in
the same factory to exactly the same specification. "Sorry sir - we
can't price match - it's a different model".

--
David in Normandy.

On Sun, 31 May 2009 18:38:33 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:

Steve Walker wrote:

The trouble is that many places have specific types/models of things made
for them - generally completely standard, but with a vendor specific part
number, which they then use to say that no-one else sells the same
item/model and refuse to price match! It's basically a con.

SteveW

I think that is common with white goods - washing machines, fridge
freezers etc. Same product with a different badge on it, usually made in
the same factory to exactly the same specification. "Sorry sir - we
can't price match - it's a different model".

It gets even better, as otherwise identical - and identically badged -
products often have slight changes to the model number according to which
distribution channel they are intended for.
e.g. 5530 for direct sales, 5550 for discount retailers, & so on.

On Tue, 2 Jun 2009 06:08:20 +0100, Appelation Controlee wrote:

It gets even better, as otherwise identical - and identically badged -
products often have slight changes to the model number according to
which distribution channel they are intended for. e.g. 5530 for direct
sales, 5550 for discount retailers, & so on.

Yep HP iPAQ model numbers are like that hx2790 is "business" hx2795 is
"retail". The machines are indenictal may even carry the same part number,
which is the bit that really determines the specification the model number
is a marketing tool.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 31 May 2009 16:20:38 +0100, Steve Walker wrote:

The trouble is that many places have specific types/models of things
made for them - generally completely standard, but with a vendor
specific part number, which they then use to say that no-one else sells
the same item/model and refuse to price match! It's basically a con.

Yep, you won't find the "Karcher" pressure washers that B&Q sell anywhere
other than B&Q. They don't even exist on the Karcher website.

--
Cheers
Dave.

The Medway Handyman wrote:


Price promise my arse.

And another winge while I'm at it. Local enourmous B&Q had a promotion on
Bosch accessories, buy 5 get 50% off.

Luvley jubbly I though, 5 blades for my PMF 180. Trouble is, they all had
to be the same and they only had 4 of any particular type. Looked every
time I went in over the next few weeks, never more than 4 of a kind.

Asked various assorted droids if I could buy 5 mixed and the answer was that
HQ had specifically forbidden managers to allow that.

Piggin scam if you ask me.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman coughed up some electrons that declared:

The Medway Handyman wrote:


Price promise my arse.

And another winge while I'm at it. Local enourmous B&Q had a promotion on
Bosch accessories, buy 5 get 50% off.

Luvley jubbly I though, 5 blades for my PMF 180. Trouble is, they all had
to be the same and they only had 4 of any particular type. Looked every
time I went in over the next few weeks, never more than 4 of a kind.

Asked various assorted droids if I could buy 5 mixed and the answer was
that HQ had specifically forbidden managers to allow that.

Piggin scam if you ask me.



Sounds like one for a note to Trading Standards. If they are bored enough,
they might go in. If they find 4 of everthing under a "buy 5" sign, they
might just give the manager some verbal abuse...

Long shot, but it would only take 10 minutes to knock up a note.

On Sun, 31 May 2009 12:52:18 +0100, Tim S wrote:

Sounds like one for a note to Trading Standards. If they are bored
enough, they might go in. If they find 4 of everthing under a "buy 5"
sign, they might just give the manager some verbal abuse...

Certainly worth a phone call. The devil is in the detail though, were a
significant number of other Bosch accessories also only available with 4
or less on the hook/shelf? A single item at that stock level doesn't make
a scam. 25% of items eligable for the offer is getting suspicious, 50%
very much so. On display stock levels remaining below the threshold for
more than a week would also be suspicious.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
om...
The Medway Handyman wrote:


Price promise my arse.

And another winge while I'm at it. Local enourmous B&Q had a promotion on
Bosch accessories, buy 5 get 50% off.

Luvley jubbly I though, 5 blades for my PMF 180. Trouble is, they all had
to be the same and they only had 4 of any particular type. Looked every
time I went in over the next few weeks, never more than 4 of a kind.

Asked various assorted droids if I could buy 5 mixed and the answer was
that HQ had specifically forbidden managers to allow that.

Piggin scam if you ask me.



Remove the four and give to a mate for temporary keeping. They go and ask a
'droid if they have 1 in their warehouse part. QED

Fredxx wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
om...
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Price promise my arse.
And another winge while I'm at it. Local enourmous B&Q had a promotion on
Bosch accessories, buy 5 get 50% off.

Luvley jubbly I though, 5 blades for my PMF 180. Trouble is, they all had
to be the same and they only had 4 of any particular type. Looked every
time I went in over the next few weeks, never more than 4 of a kind.

Asked various assorted droids if I could buy 5 mixed and the answer was
that HQ had specifically forbidden managers to allow that.

Piggin scam if you ask me.



Remove the four and give to a mate for temporary keeping. They go and ask a
'droid if they have 1 in their warehouse part. QED

Or remove a couple and place in some other part of the shop tucked at
the back of something. Go back later and have the 4 off display plus you
cache of them making up the numbers.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm coughed up some electrons that declared:


Or remove a couple and place in some other part of the shop tucked at
the back of something.


Isn't that how B&Q works anyway?

On Sun, 31 May 2009 18:51:39 +0100, Tim S wrote:

John Rumm coughed up some electrons that declared:


Or remove a couple and place in some other part of the shop tucked at
the back of something.


Isn't that how B&Q works anyway?

Nope. B&Q work on the computer telling them that they have run or are
running out of an item. My local one had two 22mm/10mm 4-way manifolds in
their plumbing section, but they were no use as the nuts and olives were
missing - 15 months later they still had the same two as they'd never
ordered any more as the computer insisted that they had two on the shelves
and the droids couldn't see any problem (despite me pointing it out on at
least two occasions!)

SteveW

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
om...
The Medway Handyman wrote:


Price promise my arse.

And another winge while I'm at it. Local enourmous B&Q had a promotion on
Bosch accessories, buy 5 get 50% off.

Luvley jubbly I though, 5 blades for my PMF 180. Trouble is, they all had
to be the same and they only had 4 of any particular type. Looked every
time I went in over the next few weeks, never more than 4 of a kind.

Asked various assorted droids if I could buy 5 mixed and the answer was
that HQ had specifically forbidden managers to allow that.

Piggin scam if you ask me.

Easy to get around the problem..
buy four and then take them back at a different branch.
Then buy five from there.

dennis@home wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message om...
The Medway Handyman wrote:


Price promise my arse.

And another winge while I'm at it. Local enourmous B&Q had a
promotion on Bosch accessories, buy 5 get 50% off.

Luvley jubbly I though, 5 blades for my PMF 180. Trouble is, they
all had to be the same and they only had 4 of any particular type. Looked
every time I went in over the next few weeks, never more than
4 of a kind. Asked various assorted droids if I could buy 5 mixed and the
answer
was that HQ had specifically forbidden managers to allow that.

Piggin scam if you ask me.

Easy to get around the problem..
buy four and then take them back at a different branch.
Then buy five from there.

Only the local enourmous B&Q stocks the, smaller ones have never heard of
them.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk