Screwfix, get in quick...

[Graeme]

And today In the post I got a Screwfix Brochure !!!

I think someone should have asked for them to be put on hold while they = sorted the website out !!

[Andrew Gabriel]

They've been having to replace lots of plaster damaged in the floods a year or two ago.

[Anna Kettle]

And not a multimeter in sight. Sigh. Another good pigeonhole bites the dust

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Andy Hall]

Well it's not an entirely unjustified pigeonhole. In my early career I did electronics hardware, firmware and software design and development, followed by application work with customers for a microprocessor company. From that I moved into Unix systems and ultimately networking, which is really what I've done in different forms for the last 20 years.

Actually I'm not as cynical about it as the earlier comments imply. Each organisation that I work with has different requirements and aspirations, and the people are always different of course. Increasingly, hotels have high speed internet connections which means that in effect I can do pretty much exactly the same work and have the same business facilities regardless of where I am. That is a huge change over the last few years. Unfortunately in Europe these kind of facilities can be very expensive in comparison to the U.S. where internet access is included in the room rate. In Europe, 15-20 euros per day is typical and it can be as high as 10 euros for two hours in some places.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[N. Thornton]

You might check out Lisboa in Portugal, truly beautiful buildings.

NT

[Anna Kettle]

Thankyou ... I'll add it to the list, which is getting very long hurrah. Though when I will get to go to all these places I don't know cos at the mo I am much more interested in getting some half (or even fully) decent plumbing installed

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Anna Kettle]

O well thats a relief I'm not going completely bonkers yet

You have my great admiration! Back in the bad old days I used to do networking too, mostly Netware 3 & 4, but my new career suits me much better

I suppose that means you can spend your evenings posting newsgroup messages and suchlike which is an improvement of ways to spend the evening. Evenings in hotels used to drive me barmy with a choice of the bar and the TV. I even took up knitting

Where are you today?

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Andy Hall]

I can understand that :-)

In quite a lot of hotels, the owners are being smart and installing wireless access points only in the bar area.

So now you see people sitting with their laptops and writing emails over a beer or three.

Today I'm in the UK, at home, but in general you're right, VPN technology means that I can be pretty much anywhere and still have the same functionality.

.andy

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[Paul C. Dickie]

In article , :::Jerry:::: writes

That was *exactly* what I did, after I left the "management team" simpleton (and corporate parrot) at Screwfux in no doubt at all what I thought of the shambles they had become. As a result, I should be able to complete an urgent turnery job by tomorrow, but I still resent having to waste time getting the items personally rather than ordering them by telephone.

[Paul C. Dickie]

In article , Lobster writes

It would even be a strange way to run a whelk stall...

[Paul C. Dickie]

Only because he also recalled the phrase "utter crap"?

[Andy Hall]

Therein lies the point. Normally it's convenient. People get used to that and get upset when it breaks. As soon as it's fixed, some vouchers and promotions will soon help people to forget.

.andy

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[Paul C. Dickie]

In article , Andy Hall writes

But which month/year/decade will that be?

Not me, sunshine. Nor would those folk who'd had to find alternative (and better/cheaper/more local/more pleasant) suppliers when they couldn't order from Screwfux.

[Andy Hall]

I would imagine fairly soon. One doesn't maintain a market leadership position otherwise.

Oh good. Then perhaps you won't need to go on moaning about it.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[IMM]

For every good service no one says anything. For every bad one they tell 9 people on average.

[Paul C. Dickie]

In article , IMM writes

What "market leadership position"? Is that the "leadership position" in the market whereby customers' orders are repeatedly screwed up? Or is it in the market where would-be customers are ignored and generally regarded as existing only for the amusement of staff?

That's something that Mr Glib-Simplistic seems unable to comprehend.

One might even wonder if he's still a member of the Tory "Party".

[Andy Hall]

Take a look at the Kingfisher Group web site and you can read the sales figures.

As a group, they are the market leader in Europe and third in the world.

This may be your experience, but it isn't mine. Most people here who have commented on orders being screwed up have found that this is not repeatedly happening. Few people are going to bother to post to say that they had good service each time an order arrives.

Market leadership is generally defined by revenue and market share unless stated otherwise. Sometimes it is used in the context of product content and innovation. Obviously for a distribution operation, the revenue and market share numbers are the representation of market position. Customer service is obviously important because it is required to ensure repeat business.

Do you really think, in your wildest dreams, that somebody in SF's head office in Yeovil or their warehouse in Stoke, has a hitlist with your name on it and deliberately gives you poor service?

All that has happened is that they have relocated their distribution centre from one part of the country to another. Clearly, they have had problems in doing so, one reason being not being able to recruit staff in the new location fast enough. It's entirely reasonable to assume a level of demotivation of those being made redundant in Yeovil.

That's about it, though.

It's true that bad news travels fast, and in the case of buying something implying a longish term commitment such as an electrical appliance or a car, this matters as manufacturers have found to their cost.

However, this is a distribution operation.

It doesn't have a significant brand in terms of product but in terms of having a widely distributed catalogue, a reasonable web site, and until the current blip generally good delivery and customer service.

People buy from SF because for reasons of breadth of product range. It's far quicker to place an order on one site than to dot around from place to place, even on the internet.

A small minority of people who have been agrieved by recent service will shop elsewhere either for a while or permanently.

However, this does not alter the basic premise of why people shop at places like SF.

Who's still a member of the Tory party? Personally, I've never been a member of any party, or ever likely to be.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Capitol]

The problem for Screwfix, is that they have screwed up badly. This means that there is a major window of opportunity for their competitors, even those with a much smaller catalogue. As a result Screwfix are going to lose business long term. I can assure you from selling experience that customers have long memories about couldn't care less suppliers and will migrate to new ones over the following couple of years.

Screwfix have been saying all week at times on their website, that they are taking orders, but their telephone order line is totally out of action. They have not said that they are only taking online orders. Another customer relations failure.

B & Q are successful in sales volume terms, but judging by my filthy local stores, have serious problems in display, quality and stock control. Following from the advice I was given many years ago, about buying shares to hold long term in companies, B & Q fails the customer buy test of "I WANT to buy goods there".( Screwfix is now joining this category) The P/E ratio on their shares is poor, as is their retail margin. I think there is room for a new competitor in the diy market, more along the lines of the original "Texas Homecare" than the present retail shed sheep.

Regards Capitol

[G&M]

Sound like they need new store managers. We have six local stores with 15 miles or so, three of which are warehouses, but two are indeed filthy so I never use these. There have been stock issues with tools in all branches recently but there are apology notices up. B&Qs are generally rarely out of stock.

Haven't noticed them on any sell notices yet though.

How do you work that out? They get the best prices from suppliers - in fact they tell suppliers how much they will pay for an item - take it or leave it.

[Capitol]

They're on a lot of "Hold" notices and relatively few "Buy". Long term investment requires that the current price is not inflated by takeover rumours and you believe in the ability of the company to keep growing turnover and earnings. The best example over the past 10 years I can think of is Tesco.

Sorry, for retail margin, I meant net profit on turnover. Walmart does the same sort of diy hardware buying, frequently you don't buy the product twice. ( Also true of Home Depot, has the worst wood quality I've ever seen.) Poor products and limited ranges send some customers elsewhere.

Regards Capitol