UGH!

[Larry]

I'm sick of these box stores. They carry a billion things online, but little in the store.

So you want to order a bathtub do you? Yeah, but I'd like to see one first. Sorry, we don't carry it in the store. So you want to order a faucet do you? Yeah, but I'd like to see one first. Sorry, we don't carry it in the store.

Tile, or yeah, we can order that. You mean those little trim pieces that actually go with the tile? Here, I can show you our money maker accessories we sell.

What's up with the big orange? They constantly display online stuff, that's discontinued? Hello, why show it on the website if you don't sell it anymore?

Don't get me going about wholesalers and plumbing stores. They're geared for the high-end user. Do they really need to display $6K faucets?

I sure do miss the little plumbing/hardware shops. Even the local lumber yards _used_ to carry items not carried by the box stores.

If they want to compete, carry stuff the average joe uses. This ordering stuff is for the birds. It comes in damaged or missing parts, then you have to reorder. It's getting near impossible to schedule work.

Frustrated? Nah, just miss the good ole days.

[HomeGuy]

Don't be a chicken shit.

If you mean home depot (or home despot) then say it.

This is usenet - and (good for you) you're using AIOE to post anonymously. So don't be afraid to shit all over Home Depot - we all know they basically deserve it.

But don't be an attention-seeking emotional woman by posting "UHG!" as the subject line. That does suck.

Next time, be a man and put some effort into it.

[clare]

I can still USUALLY get whatever plumbing and electrical parts I need, in stock, at one or the other of about 6 wholesalers and 3 or 4 retailers here in Kitchener Waterloo, and if not in stock I can almost always have it next day. The most frustrating place to try to get anything is Home Despot or any other big box store. The cell phone saves a lot of miles on the old Ranger. (and unlike the Borg, the wholesalers know what I'm talking about and what I need, and if they have it in stock)

[Guv Bob]

Ace Hardware here is very good for most everything - especially the odd items. And nice to park 20 feet from the front door!!! It could just be this particular store, but they hire exceptionally knowledgeable and pleasant people. They all wear these little earpieces and can talk to each other without trying to "find someone who knows."

[Meanie]

Maybe he should be an invidious attention seeking woman by posting adverse issues about the US. That's how real chicken shit men do it.

[David Martel]

Larry,

I'll join the rant. I'm working on an undermount sink. It's held in place with sink clips ( E lugs). Need to replace the clips. Went to both box stores and 2 hardware stores. Nothing. Looked on-line. Easy to find at around $7 per pack. I'd gladly pay that. But they want $12 for shipping and handling. I'll not pay $20 for a pack of sink clips. I'll jury-rig something.

Dave M.

[Frank]

Clerk at Lowes gave me this argument the other day that store could not possibly carry all the items in their on-line catalog.

Amazon warehouse is only about 20 miles from here and a neighbor that works there tells me they have 8 million items in stock. Being so close, I've gotten stuff from them in regular mail without shipping charge in a couple of days.

Same for huge computer store not stocking a battery for a lap top I bought from them. Considering price of gas and a 10 mile round trip to pick up item they would order for store, it was cheaper to buy at Amazon.

[trader_4]

Which seems very reasonable to me. They'd be out of business if they stocked every possible product. The bathtub is a good example. There is a huge variety of bathtubs, kitchen sinks, etc. I'd expect they stock the ones that people most frequently buy. But not every possible style, number of holes, color, etc. When I went to buy a Kohler, I had to order it at HD. It took less than a week. I didn't have a problem with that. The major regional plumbing supply that has a store here didn't have the sink in stock either.

IDK why anyone would expect HD to stock all, or even most of the items they have online.

Amazon also only has about 50 of those in the USA, while HD has

2200 stores. You can't see the item at Amazon, nor can you go buy it there this morning either.

That's true with many things. You just have to figure out what channel is best for which product. There are a lot of things I buy on Ebay, Amazon, other online retailers either because they have it, price, etc.

[BenignBodger]

Odd. I live in a relatively small market but when I was purchasing plumbing items for a total bathroom to-the-studs-and-joists replacement I found a vast number of plumbing and lighting and tiling and electrical items in stock at my nearest big-box stores. The biggest problem was winnowing through the scores of faucets from at least eight different makers before making a choice. Same thing for lights. Same thing for sinks. Same thing for vanities. Same thing for toilets. Same thing for electrical. Same thing for tiles. Not that I bought everything locally; sometimes price just overrides everything else. I got the special night-light GFI outlet and heated towel rack elsewhere because I couldn't find them locally and I bought the Schluter material and exhaust fan online to get a better price. I _did_ order the shower door from HD's website and they totally f***ed up the whole purchase by losing the first one without even a clue as to how they shipped it but that was the only thing that caused any real pain. BTW, my 'local' big-boxes aren't the largest of their kind in the area, just the closest -- the selection is larger in the other stores.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Hmmm, I want above average stuff so I go to supply houses. They did not have $6000 faucets but I did buy $300 Kohler ones. Upstairs bath got brushed nickle Devonshire, downstairs is getting Forte.

When you turn the sink faucet on it is the same feeling you get handling a quality tool versus the cheap ones. They are on a Swanstone sink on a cherry Bertch vanity.

[clare]

My local building supply has them. My local plumbing supply has them. My local hardware store can have them next day from the warehouse about 15km away.

In the odd case that they are out when I need them, the plumbing supply can generally have them in a couple days.