Direct Power 18V Cordless Hammer Drill. @ 10.75 Argos

I don't think he has done any DIY in his life. He wears DeWalt boots down the boozer.

Reply to
IMM
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Years of bitter experience. ;-)

From the one who doesn't know how to cut plastic pipe properly. And uses rotozips. Now I've never seen a pro use one of those...

Why the fetish with boots? Do you wear them with your tutu when tango dancing?

Haven't touched alcohol for many a year. Judging by some of your late night posts, you'd be advised to do the same.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

OK, in more detail:

Use the first and keep second as a backup. If the first one goes wrong, use the second and fix the first if you can. If the second goes wrong too use bits from the first to keep it going. If both go wrong get a refund under the 3 year guarantee. In the meantime you have an spare battery and spare charger too which can be useful, or a complete spare drill/battery/charger to lend out or use elsewhere.

Not bad for £20 surely...

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

No, but what about all the time titting around with doing this?

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

This DIY! They like doing that, so they can save £180 on not buying an overpriced un-needed tool.

Reply to
IMM

Good sensible post.

Reply to
IMM

I see tomorrows special offer is a Power Devil 30V cordless SDS drill.

Makro really is pikey world isn't it? I saw more cheap gold jewellry around men's necks last time I was there than I had seen in my entire life to that point.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Why would a cordless hammer drill be unneeded at any price? You either need it or not,

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

I went into one once and it smelled of decaying food and general uncleanliness. The car park had broken trollies littered all around it. I shredded the card and have never returned.

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

Oh the one down here is a palace of modern clean looking design. Clad ont he poutside with stainless steel and lit up electric blue at night. Spotlessly clean inside. No complaints there.

It's the cheapest place for miles aroudn for good quality office stationery - about 1/3rd to 1/2 the price of Staples. IBM inkjet paper is currently around £2 a ream and it's much better than the nasty DataCopy stuff.

It's also very good for wine, the only place in the area that sells Penfolds Grange and it sells it for a reasonable price.

The real complaints are that most of the food is stuff I wouldn't push around with a broomstick - nasty processed bland mushy crap. And the scary subculture that afflicts most of the shoppers there.

Reply to
Steve Firth

The one near us is clean enough and in most respects OK. The food selection is relatively poor and not noticebly cheaper than any of the supermarkets. The remaining stuff is mostly OK. Quite cheap on electrical, office, tools, wines / beers, and houshold.

The odd thing about the whole setup is they seem to have difficulty "positioning" themselves. They claim to be a wholesaler, and yet don't have the reliability of stock availability in most cases. They pitch much of their product range at end users (even though in theory, end users are not allowed in!).

Reply to
John Rumm

LOL, was just explaining how a second drill would be used as a backup, in addition to a useful second battery and charger.

If there are no problems it's hypothetical, otherwise there's always the option of returning under guarantee for refund or replacement, no extra time is required. Personally I prefer to spend a little time repairing something rather than throw it away.

There is still a big gap between these tools and Makita etc, but that gap has closed a lot over the last few years. IMHO you can expect good service from these tools in normal DIY use unless you buy the cheapest of the cheap.

Even mid range stuff isn't without it's problems, I would tend to steer clear of mid range stuff made in China at present, and either go for something inexpensive made there or mid range/top line stuff made elsewhere.

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

Great suggestion. Give up he just can't see it.

Very true. The likes of Ryobi and Wickes (Kress) are excellent value for money.

The Chinese will give the quality you specify. Don't just think because it is from China it is bad.

Reply to
IMM

Wonder what that weighs? Must be about as bad as slinging a genny over your shoulder...

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Yup, Mrs F. runs a wholesale/retail business and although from time to time Makro has had stuff in that was of interest to us, the lack of security of supply means we can't use them for that side of the business.

Reply to
Steve Firth

I think they know just who they're positioning to: single-shop general retailers appear to be their core market. The idea seems to be that they'll buy some stock for their shop, and add on bits for domestic consumption (but pass it all through the books as if for resale). By doing the "trade only" thing, they dodge the consumer-protection legislation for the stuff they sell - it's business-to-business, right? and may save on some aspects of business rates, get cheaper locations on industrial estates zoned for b2b rather than retail. They seem to oscillate on just how "trade-only" they are in practice - I can only speculate as to whether that comes about through regulatory pressure (if the local Trading Standards people get p'd off with them pushing too close to retailing, they could choose to enforce the trade-only thing harder in that location) or through commercial pressure (e.g. Spar and similar multiple-outlet convenience outfits buying up/franchising Makro's traditional customer base, decreasing the number of small shopkeepers coming in), or simple phase of the moon and managers deciding to try what the previous management didn't...

Reply to
Stefek Zaba

Looking at the trolleys leaving the shop, I get the feeling that only

10% ish of the customer base is buying for resale. A fair number probably treat it like a cash and carry for bulk buying things for catering. I get the feeling that a good half are people buying for direct consumption.

I expect it also skirts round some of the manufactures who like to price fix their product to the end user. They can claim that since they are not selling to the end user they don't have to comply.

;-) I know when the local one opened up they were signing anyone up no matter how tenuous their business credentials. We got a form letter from local trading standards a few weeks later, that asked any people who had signed up at Makro that were not genuinely "in business" to contact them. Bet they did not get many responses to that!

It does seem to vary by shop. I have a friend who goes to one of the ones in London, and quite often gets interrogated at the door with questions like address of your head office, business phone number etc to get him to verify he is "for real".

Reply to
John Rumm

Well I bought one, out of curiousity more than anything as I've already got 2 decent cordless 18v drills.

It appears the Power Direct brand is exclusive to Argos and their answer to B&Q's Power Pro range. They've now cleared the stock and have started a new line named Worx using bright orange casings instead. If you look at the current Worx 18v it's exactly the same as the PD one. Either these products are produced with higher grade parts or it's one big marketing con. I'll soon know.

Oh..I reserved it online before going to pick it up on Sunday and was told I shouldn't have been allowed to reserve it online as it was clearance and only available from the clearance room which didn't have any stock.

Then I spot the manager shifting a whole trolley of power tools over to the clearance room, including the aforementioned.

One excited woman called over to her husband, "Hey, there's a drill here for £10". Husband glances at them, " Nah...they're crap". First thing I thought of was this NG. :-)

Trolley was emptied out in about 3 minutes anyway.

Reply to
StealthUK

Wasn't me. I never go to Argos. ;-)

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

No it isn't I have seen it elsewhere. Challenge is the Argos brand = PP in B&Q. Challenge Extreme = PP Pro in B&Q. They sell a battery SDS drill.

Reply to
IMM

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