Are B&Q THE most inept...

[gbb]

Where did you get most people from, amongst my friends and colleagues I am the only one that does my own DIY.

Also very few quality builders would use B&Q, they would be in Jewsons, Travis Perkins, Plumb Centre etc.

That's a difficult one to quantify, but i'd probably agree.
I ALWAYS DIY, the only time ive ever paid tradesmen was to fit a gas cooker (I used to do that as well but its effectively illegal to do it now) and ...I can't remember another occasion
The level of the job is what deters many...i'll do electrics (although I probably legally shouldn't), plumbing, carpet laying, door hanging, decorating etc etc...but I 'm sure most people will hang a shelf, decorate, but blanch at the thought of more serious stuff like a kitchen or bathroom fit out.
They (BnQ) did offer me a trade card funnily enough (as soon as I told them I was in maintenance...so their criteria isn't that tough) but I agree, proper builders use proper trade suppliers. BnQ probably have some benefit for odd items or for speed (trade counters are notoriously slow), and occasionally cost (trade isn't always cheap despite what people think).

I've adopted a zen approach to it now...the stuff appears when it appears, its a waste of time trying to chivvy them along. So long as its here for Easter weekend, then I can rip into it the week after.

 

[400bhp]

I don't fancy a bath, 10 doors, a 6ft length of decorative shelftop and 2 sets of taps sitting on my doorstep..waiting for me to get home

So get it delivered when you're not working, or get them to deliver within a small timeslot.

If not, order from somewhere else.

No chance, in this day and age, should you be expected to wait in all day.

 

[gbb]

So get it delivered when you're not working, or get them to deliver within a small timeslot.

If not, order from somewhere else.

No chance, in this day and age, should you be expected to wait in all day.

No delivery on Saturday or Sunday..period. No specific time given, not even am or pm.
Thats the way they work it...and theyre not alone in their delivery methods / times.
It wont happen again thats for sure.

 

[400bhp]

No delivery on Saturday or Sunday..period. No specific time given, not even am or pm.
Thats the way they work it...and theyre not alone in their delivery methods / times.
It wont happen again thats for sure.

Lesson learned then.

 

[gbb]

Lesson learned then.

Lesson learned and hopefully message spread to anyone else considering what should be a straightforward transaction in this day and age...dont touch em with a bargepole.

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

That's a difficult one to quantify, but i'd probably agree.
I ALWAYS DIY, the only time ive ever paid tradesmen was to fit a gas cooker (I used to do that as well but its effectively illegal to do it now) and ...I can't remember another occasion
The level of the job is what deters many...i'll do electrics (although I probably legally shouldn't), plumbing, carpet laying, door hanging, decorating etc etc...but I 'm sure most people will hang a shelf, decorate, but blanch at the thought of more serious stuff like a kitchen or bathroom fit out.
They (BnQ) did offer me a trade card funnily enough (as soon as I told them I was in maintenance...so their criteria isn't that tough) but I agree, proper builders use proper trade suppliers. BnQ probably have some benefit for odd items or for speed (trade counters are notoriously slow), and occasionally cost (trade isn't always cheap despite what people think).

I've adopted a zen approach to it now...the stuff appears when it appears, its a waste of time trying to chivvy them along. So long as its here for Easter weekend, then I can rip into it the week after.

Electrics should be off most peoples DIY task list. Part P of the building regulations applies to the design, installation and testing of electrical installations and most people wouldn't be conversant with the regulations (including the IEE 17th Edition).
Besides with electricity you can't see it, you can't smell it, you can't hear it (magnetostriction aside), but if you touch it - it may be the last thing you touch......
After 20 years as a practising electrical engineer I have seen so many spectacularly dangerous DIY installations it really conerns me. At least most installations are protected by RCDs which is some comfort providing they are working correctly.

 

[gavroche]

I once went into a photographic store , long before the digital age, and asked for a Tampax slr camera. Lousy service as I am still waiting for it to come. They did offer me a Pentax one though.

 

[gbb]

Electrics should be off most peoples DIY task list. Part P of the building regulations applies to the design, installation and testing of electrical installations and most people wouldn't be conversant with the regulations (including the IEE 17th Edition).
Besides with electricity you can't see it, you can't smell it, you can't hear it (magnetostriction aside), but if you touch it - it may be the last thing you touch......
After 20 years as a practising electrical engineer I have seen so many spectacularly dangerous DIY installations it really conerns me. At least most installations are protected by RCDs which is some comfort providing they are working correctly.

Quite right really, the lines get blurred re experience because I work with 3 phase, quite confidently fault find, replace contactors, motors, etc etc.
But, youre right in that I dont know regs and do find myself shying away from jobs at home id happily do years ago..fitting a shower, that kind of stuff.
Insurance wis if nothing else, .its a definate no no

 

[gbb]

Gave in in the end.
2 broken promises of delivery, I was getting nervous it'd even be here for the weekend, holidays booked, everything in place,,, except a bath from BnQ.
Tried to cancel it, you'd think it'd be easy...oh no. Twice I had to go back to the store to get refunded, but got there in the end.
Guess what...twice theyve phoned me since (BnQs delivery people) ...to arrange delivery of a bath they didnt have, now suddenly they do have, that I don't want, that I don't now have on order.
Got my bath from Bathstore. Ordered it Thursday, delivered Today, exactly as promised, no fuss, no aggro....there's a lesson for you BnQ...that's how you do it.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Good, serves you right. Maybe if you'd supported some local retail outlets you would have received better service, not been sold the wrong tiles, not had stuff delivered damaged or if things had gone wrong you could have called in the shop and sorted things out with somebody face to face etc etc etc

I'm just reading this, you cheeky so and so!
What local outlet? You mean local companies that would buy the stuff from Wickes/B&Q/similar others and charge you more for it?
Did this, for my tenant, to save her the inconvenience of having to wait for deliveries and the usual delays by workmen not showing up.
We needed a new radiator, after the job was priced: the plumber got one, charged me £ 60, when I said that the same radiator cost £20 in B&Q, he said " well, it does not jump in the van by itself, you know?"
Fair enough, you pay for his time and van wear.
For my own new bathroom I decided to buy my own stuff from a one stop shop like Wickes to save time, but I gave the jobs to local tradesmen.
Guess what? There are still bits to be finished, 'cause the tiler couldn't manage with the joiner who could not manage with the plumber because when they were all free one did not show ... more than once.
Anyway, there are no local outlets here for tiles and bathroom fitting, it's all big national companies or pricey importers of designer stuff from abroad.

 

[Andy_R]

Electrics should be off most peoples DIY task list. Part P of the building regulations applies to the design, installation and testing of electrical installations and most people wouldn't be conversant with the regulations (including the IEE 17th Edition).
Besides with electricity you can't see it, you can't smell it, you can't hear it (magnetostriction aside), but if you touch it - it may be the last thing you touch......
After 20 years as a practising electrical engineer I have seen so many spectacularly dangerous DIY installations it really conerns me. At least most installations are protected by RCDs which is some comfort providing they are working correctly.

ermmm.....bollox.......if you are competent you can install. Guess what competent means...you paid for an NICEIC registered installer to come and do what you can do in your sleep, unless you are an idiot. Electrics are so simple, but the main problem is with cutting corners. If it says 2.5mm, then install 2.5mm. Dont question why, just do it!

 

[Andy_R]

What I'm trying to get at here,
is that so many of us have forgotten our DIY skills and now need a "professional" to fit a plug. I recently converted my garage into a living space with running water, electrics, central heating without the need for "trades". All I did was pay attention to building regs. There is no "magic" or "alchemy" invovled. It's all common sense, and a knowledge of the current regs.

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

ermmm.....bollox.......if you are competent you can install. Guess what competent means...you paid for an NICEIC registered installer to come and do what you can do in your sleep, unless you are an idiot. Electrics are so simple, but the main problem is with cutting corners. If it says 2.5mm, then install 2.5mm. Dont question why, just do it!

If you are competent I have no real concerns. Although there is competent and competent. In my 20 years of experience I have seen a vast number of dangerous installations carried out by "competent" installers, and attended court as an expert witness following electrical shock incidents and electrical fires caused by supposedly "competent" people.
It isn't merely a question of installing 2.5 because it says install 2.5 - its knowing why 2.5 should be used and under what circumstances you may need to install 4mm instead of 2.5, knowing and understanding the impact of any change on the earth fault loop impedance, the impact of a resistive or capacitive or inductive load, the difference between true power and apparent power and the likely impacts of installations served by the TT system rather than a TNC-S system etc etc.

 

[classic33]

If you are competent I have no real concerns. Although there is competent and competent. In my 20 years of experience I have seen a vast number of dangerous installations carried out by "competent" installers, and attended court as an expert witness following electrical shock incidents and electrical fires caused by supposedly "competent" people.
It isn't merely a question of installing 2.5 because it says install 2.5 - its knowing why 2.5 should be used and under what circumstances you may need to install 4mm instead of 2.5, knowing and understanding the impact of any change on the earth fault loop impedance, the impact of a resistive or capacitive or inductive load, the difference between true power and apparent power and the likely impacts of installations served by the TT system rather than a TNC-S system etc etc.

I've had two seperate companies, CORGI registered, either fit gas fires or come to service them.
The first, whilst servicing one fire, bust a connection. Result gas leak.
What he did next made me waste the cuppa I'd made. He lit a fag up, before going back to sort the damage out.

Brand new fire, insurance approved/authorised fitter, didn't remove baffles within the flue leading to carbon monoxide buildup in the room. Later classed as unsafe by another company.
They also took four months to actually fit it. For some reason the fitter claimed stone can burn, but had no problem using expanding foam to fill in gaps round the fire.

 

[Globalti]

Does any serious professional actually use B&Q? Their prices are a disgrace and their stock a mess. I sometimes see tradesmen in there browsing bits and wonder what the heck they are doing with their time and money if they don't realise they're being ripped off and wasting precious time. The sooner B&Q close, the better.