Screwfix- Plumbfix- Electrifix
mark
Has anyone tried spawn of Screwfix ie., Plumbfix and Electrifix?
I had a look at the Plumbfix website and the click to 'order a catalogue'
button wasn't plumbed into anything and there didn't seem to be an online
catalogue to browse.
The idea is: phone through your order then pick it up at your nearest
Screwfix branch. What's the point of that? Might as well go direct to
Screwfix or are they significantly cheaper on plumbing items.
mark
d...@gglz.com
Had a plumbfix catalogue a while back - all the prices I checked were
exactly the same as SF. Seemed like an exercise in the pointless.
As far as the phone and collect service goes, I always find I have to
wait just as long to collect, as I would to order and collect. Only
advantage I can see is **IF** they tell you when you phone whether
it's in stock at your local branch. I'd much rather they were set up
so I could do that online.
Mathew Newton
I saw a Plumbfix van the other day and thought it was a local rip-off
of Screwfix, even down to the use of the same colouring and typeface!
..I then later saw it mentioned on the back of a catalogue but it's
not clear to me what it's been set up for.
Mathew
Dave Liquorice
> ...I then later saw it mentioned on the back of a catalogue but it's
> not clear to me what it's been set up for.
Presumably marketing to counter Plumbcentre, Buildcentre,
Partscentre, Electricentre, etc from the Wolseley Group. Why would a
plumber go to "Screwfix" he wants plumbing bits not screws... B-)
Hence Plumbfix for the plumbers of little brain.
--
Cheers
Dave.
mark
"Dave Liquorice" <allsortsn...@howhill.com> wrote in message
news:nyyfbegfubjuvyypb...@srv1.howhill.co.uk...
Good theory.
Plumbers of little brain? Surely not!
mark
Andy Dingley
> As far as the phone and collect service goes, I always find I have to
> wait just as long to collect, as I would to order and collect. Only
> advantage I can see is **IF** they tell you when you phone whether
> it's in stock at your local branch.
I've tried that, only to find that they'd then sold it in the meantime
anyway! Fair enough risk if I've only made an enquiry beforehand, but
using their deliberate collection service and a 20 mile round trip
ought to be a guarantee of them keeping it to hand.
I don't really use Screwfix any more. Toolstation is more reliable
(out of stock at the counter is very rare) and cheaper.
YAPH
> Has anyone tried spawn of Screwfix ie., Plumbfix and Electrifix?
They're trade-only versions of SFX offering lower prices and quicker
service (no queues of DIYers humming and haa-ing about what to buy at the
counter ;-)).
I think the powers-that-be at Screwfix have twigged that having separate
plumbers' and sparkies' trade counters, each mann^H^H^H^Hpersonned by
some of their more clueful (or, at least, house trained[0] ;-)) staff,
isn't the best use of resources. Here in Reading the second to be opened
of their 2 trade counters was set up with Plumbfix and Sparkfix trade
counters. The first (screwfix-only) branch has more recently been
retrofitted with a single trade-only counter doing both Plumbfix and
Electricfix. I understand (from one lowly SFX person so may be wrong, but
makes sense) the idea is that such Srewfix branches should eventually
have trade-only counters catering to other trades, giving fast-track
service and trade prices to (I suppose) any suitably-accredited
tradespeople.
Given that SFX and B&Q are both parts of the Kingfisher empire and
certainly share some parts of their operations (e.g. both sell KF 'Forge'-
branded tools), and B&Q branches (such as our large one in Reading) have
sprouted general trade-only counters along exactly these fast-track trade-
price lines, the extension of the idea to SFX seems possible.
[0] the folks I've dealt with at our local outlets have generally been
pretty good, not so much for plumbing or electrical knowledge but working
around their employer's god-awful computer systems' limitations[1] in
'normal operation as well as when they go tits-up (which they not-
infrequently seem to do).
[1] until recently (when they rolled-out their new [con]'Fusion' IT
system) if I bought anything from the electrics half they had to switch
my account over from plumbfix to electricfix, then next time at plumbfix
they had to switch me back, as the old system wasn't set up to understand
that a customer might (a) be both a plumber and electrician, and (b) have
a trade account with them)
--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus and Pop Psychologists are from
Uranus
The Medway Handyman
I'm totally confused by B&Q's 'Tradepoint' concept. We have 2 B&Q stores
locally, one at either end of the towns. The one at t'other end of town is
a very large store & now has a 'Tradepoint ' entrance. The local one is
small & just has a sign saying "Tradepoint cards can be used here".
They are totally confused by them. No training obviously.
I used to have a B&Q "Trade Discount Card" which gave a small rebate on
purchases. Once you accrrued over £50 you got paid your rebate.
Incredibly complicated - the rebate on some items was 15% and on others 2%,
but every 2 or 3 months ( I try not to use B&Q) I'd get a cheque for £50
odd.
This is now converted to the Tradepoint Card which apparently gives you
discounts on any item in the Tradepoint catalouge. These prices however
seem to be the same as Screwfix - and if its an item not in the Tradepoint
catalouge I pay the same as Joe Public.
The local Screwfix depot is 100 yards away from the B&Q Tradepoint store, so
I can't see the point.
The benefit of the old style "Trade Discount Card" was that you could bank
the cheque & spend the dosh wherever you wanted. Now I get the same prices
I would pay at SF or TS anyway - if the item is in the magic catalouge.
I'm also convinced that the price difference between the online suppliers &
the big stores is getting bigger.
Wickes also have a loyalty card which pays out vouchers - like a Tesco
Clubcard. Problem is you can only spend them in Wickes.
I have a running 'wish list' of stuff I could find useful, but only if I can
get a silly money deal on it. The B&Q rebate was handy for this, the Wickes
points aren't.
Example - I've been after a 6' level for ages. Local BM had a Stanley one
on offer for £25, which I bought knowing that the latest B&Q rebate cheque
had just gone in. I have a Wickes £10 voucher, but their best deal on a 6'
level at the time was £40.
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
Cicero
==============================================================================
I use Screwfix for most things because it's quite local and Toolstation
for delivered goods but I wonder how long Toolstation will be able to
maintain their excellent free delivery on an order of just £10-00p. There
can't be much profit on such small orders.
Cic.
--
===============================================================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===============================================================================
Rednadnerb
> I don't really use Screwfix any more. Toolstation is more reliable
> (out of stock at the counter is very rare) and cheaper.
I've just been looking at prices for dehumidifiers. Screwfix are
charging about 10% more than Wickes for exactly the same products.
If dehumidifiers, what else?
mark
"The Medway Handyman" <davi...@no-spam-blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:FxTjo.161961$zA5....@newsfe16.ams2...
I've got a 'B&Q' TradePoint card and you pay the bill to Screwfix in
Doncaster. According to a leaflet I recently picked up if you pay by
tradepoint card you canget 55% off the B&Q price for kitchens and bathrooms.
Another leaflet mentioned that the TradePoint card was valid at Screwfix,
Plumbfix and Electrifix. I investigated and that triggered this post.
mark
Jim K
mmm especially as wickes aren't known for being "cheap"....
Jim K
The Medway Handyman
> On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 09:08:19 -0700, Andy Dingley wrote:
>
>> On 14 Sep, 13:38, "d...@gglz.com" <d...@gglz.com> wrote:
>>
>>> As far as the phone and collect service goes, I always find I have
>>> to wait just as long to collect, as I would to order and collect.
>>> Only advantage I can see is **IF** they tell you when you phone
>>> whether it's in stock at your local branch.
>>
>> I've tried that, only to find that they'd then sold it in the
>> meantime anyway! Fair enough risk if I've only made an enquiry
>> beforehand, but using their deliberate collection service and a 20
>> mile round trip ought to be a guarantee of them keeping it to hand.
>>
>> I don't really use Screwfix any more. Toolstation is more reliable
>> (out of stock at the counter is very rare) and cheaper.
>
> ==============================================================================
>
> I use Screwfix for most things because it's quite local and
> Toolstation for delivered goods but I wonder how long Toolstation
> will be able to maintain their excellent free delivery on an order of
> just £10-00p. There can't be much profit on such small orders.
I've wondered the same. I now buy lots more stuff from TS - but how can
they afford it?
The Medway Handyman
SF aren't the cheapest place for lots of stuff anymore.
YAPH
> I've got a 'B&Q' TradePoint card and you pay the bill to Screwfix in
> Doncaster. According to a leaflet I recently picked up if you pay by
> tradepoint card you canget 55% off the B&Q price for kitchens and bathrooms.
> Another leaflet mentioned that the TradePoint card was valid at Screwfix,
> Plumbfix and Electrifix. I investigated and that triggered this post.
And is it?
I gave up the B&Q trade card a few years ago (can't remember why: I think
they were changing it and wanted me to jump through some paperwork hoops
and I wasn't using it much anymore).
But if I could buy stuff from B&Q on my screwfix trade a/c that would be
useful.
--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk
The clairvoyants' meeting has been cancelled due to unforseen circumstances.
mark
"YAPH" <use...@yaph.co.uk> wrote in message
news:8fd0rl...@mid.individual.net...
> On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:40:33 +0100, mark wrote:
>
>> I've got a 'B&Q' TradePoint card and you pay the bill to Screwfix in
>> Doncaster. According to a leaflet I recently picked up if you pay by
>> tradepoint card you canget 55% off the B&Q price for kitchens and
>> bathrooms.
>> Another leaflet mentioned that the TradePoint card was valid at Screwfix,
>> Plumbfix and Electrifix. I investigated and that triggered this post.
>
> And is it?
>
> I gave up the B&Q trade card a few years ago (can't remember why: I think
> they were changing it and wanted me to jump through some paperwork hoops
> and I wasn't using it much anymore).
>
> But if I could buy stuff from B&Q on my screwfix trade a/c that would be
> useful.
>
>
>
Haven't tried my Tradepoint card at Screwfix yet so can't say if is accepted
there. Like others I tend to go TS for bits and pieces as they have been
cheaper than SF in all of my sample tests.
The Medway Handyman
<SNIP>
>
> Haven't tried my Tradepoint card at Screwfix yet so can't say if is
> accepted there. Like others I tend to go TS for bits and pieces as
> they have been cheaper than SF in all of my sample tests.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a 'shopping basket' of common DIY supplies
and compare the price of it at various suppliers.
What would we put in it?
15mm compression elbows, 2.5 T&E stuff like that?
mark
> mark wrote:
> <SNIP>
>>
>> Haven't tried my Tradepoint card at Screwfix yet so can't say if is
>> accepted there. Like others I tend to go TS for bits and pieces as
>> they have been cheaper than SF in all of my sample tests.
>
> It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a 'shopping basket' of common DIY
> supplies and compare the price of it at various suppliers.
>
> What would we put in it?
>
> 15mm compression elbows, 2.5 T&E stuff like that?
>
>
I have started a comparison list of various items. It is more difficult than
you'd expect to get 'like for like'. For instance if you compare branded
tools there are slight model differences etc. Some accessories may be
included by one supplier and not the other. On the plumbing side they are
sold in different quantities, lots of 10 or 25 etc.
I'll report back when I've got a few more items on my list.
mark