I did.
Support your local shops - yeah.....right!
- Thread starter Dirk
- Start date
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lazybloke
Ginger biscuits and cheddar
- Location
- Leafy Surrey
I used to be a fan of screw fix and their low prices 2 decades ago but the quality was poor and prices are now significantly more than others. Toolstation is my new fave.
swansonj
Guru
Actually, I largely agree. I fell in love with Srewfix in the old days when a catalogue that listed every kind of screw with every variant of head in every material and every length was a nerd's paradise. That is no longer such a novelty now, and their catalogue is increasingly consumerist and advertising rather than systematically functional.
But I still vastly prefer them to B&Q (and yes I do know they're the same firm).
You know they were both started by the same guy, at least that is my information.
Salty seadog
Space Cadet...(3rd Class...)
I like Srewfix. And they have just moved into our local industrial estate. Which means they are now the closest shop of any description to our house
Can you nip in there for a pint of milk...
swansonj
Guru
Before Screwfix opened, our closest shop was a tyre place, and I don't recall getting a pint of milk there either....
Loaf of bread, four cans of Stella for a fiver?
KneesUp
Guru
Were the products absolutely identical OP - or is this the plumbing eqivalent of saying that Decathlon are selling cranksets for £19.99 and the LBS has the bloody cheek to ask £200 for one, with no mention of one being a heavy B'twin one and the other being a high end Campag?
I love my local hardware shop, and find that they are as good as B&Q or Screwfix (definietly the same company btw - but Screwfix are loads cheaper) for most things, and much cheaper for others. Plus when I go in thinking 'well, they'll not have an inverse-wongle adaptor but I'll go in anyway' they will not only have one, but Ill be able to bu just one rather than a packet containing the one I need and 9 more I'll loose before I need them.
I love my local hardware shop, and find that they are as good as B&Q or Screwfix (definietly the same company btw - but Screwfix are loads cheaper) for most things, and much cheaper for others. Plus when I go in thinking 'well, they'll not have an inverse-wongle adaptor but I'll go in anyway' they will not only have one, but Ill be able to bu just one rather than a packet containing the one I need and 9 more I'll loose before I need them.
Difficult to say - but how different can tap glands be?
They're probably both made in China anyway.
For one to be 5 times the price of the other, I would expect it to be made of exotic materials and have a lifetime guarantee; it wasn't. This is more the equivalent of my LBS selling the same item at a highly inflated price versus a discounted price from Chain Reaction.
KneesUp
Guru
Someone who doesn't take an interest in bikes might ask how different two cranksets can be ...
They very well might; but having been involved in a plumbing and electrical business in the past, I think I could tell if two tap glands were significantly different from each other.
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
Chainsaw accident last year had me scuttling down to the indie optician. All was ok, but they discovered my eyesight wasn’t legal so started wearing contacts and signed up to a monthly disposable subscription.
Over the first year, there were a few cock ups with this and check up appointments. I got the hump and decided to shop around. To my surprise, I found exactly the same deal AND free checkups with the latest equipment and tests for ONE THIRD of the price online.
I used to be all for indie retailers and their survival, but I couldn’t justify 3 times the price and crap customer service. I don't use any local shops in the town nearest to me and I only use Lidl in the next town. Almost everything I purchase is online.
Over the first year, there were a few cock ups with this and check up appointments. I got the hump and decided to shop around. To my surprise, I found exactly the same deal AND free checkups with the latest equipment and tests for ONE THIRD of the price online.
I used to be all for indie retailers and their survival, but I couldn’t justify 3 times the price and crap customer service. I don't use any local shops in the town nearest to me and I only use Lidl in the next town. Almost everything I purchase is online.
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
There is a big push in my area to shop local, and I'm happy to. On first name terms with the green grocer, iron monger and bike shop. And too many eating places!
