B&Q again!

[The Medway Handyman]

As I'm starting a large tiling project on Monday I decided to by an electric tile cutter. Having looked around my local (Strood) store I wasn't impressed by the Plasplugs machines @ £39.99. The plastic construction seemed flimsy, the depth of cut on the low side and the angle adjustment flaky to say the least.

I decided to drive to the B&Q Warehouse in Greenwich, about 20 miles away to view a larger selection.

I saw a Tile It machine which seemed to be much better made, all steel construction and £10 cheaper to boot, so I bought one.

I arrived home at 3:30pm and when I unpacked the machine I found it had been used - and not just a little. The printing had worn off the blade almost completely.

With no time left to return to Greenwich and a large project to start in the morning, I took the machine back to Strood.

They only had the Plasplugs machine in stock. I explained the situation, that I had driven 40 miles and wasted not just an hour of my time, but several gallons of fuel as well. I further explained that I didn't really want the Plasplugs machine as I considered it inferior and I expected a straight exchange.

They wouldn't help at all.

The fault lies with whoever replaced it on the shelf without checking it's condition. Whatever, I have wasted a 40-mile round trip, over an hour of my time and over a gallon of fuel, and I am now stuck with a machine I didn't want at a higher price!

[Owain]

You'll be getting a *lot* of vouchers from the manager then, unless B&Q want to meet you in Small Claims, and explain themselves to Trading Standards for selling a used item as new.

Owain

[Hugh Jampton]

Had a similar thing recently. I bought a house alarm from B & Q. On unpacking it, I found a couple of the door sensors had the remains of double sided tape stuck to them - they'd already been used. The manual already had codes and details written by pen on the page for recording these details. Obviously a returned item :-( Got it replaced but I just wonder how often this is happening at B & Q ? Perhaps easier to replace returned items straight back onto the shelf hoping that no-one will notice?

Even worse - a few years back I bought a cat flap from B & Q - one half of it was missing when I unpacked it. Took it back and got it replaced. A few weeks later I was looking around B & Q again and was amazed to see that same cat flap (with half of it missing) back on the shelf :-( Pointed it out to them and they just looked at me as if I was some kind of idiot.

[Adrian Brentnall]

Got a better one than that

A couple of houses ago - wanted to replace the rotted wooden garage doors with a meal 'up&over' one.

Purchased it from local Wickes (Oxford). They delivered it 1st thing Saturday morning.

Like a fool - I didn;t check that all the bits were there - before gleefully ripping out the old, rotted, wooden doors.

Got ten minutes into fitting the new door - only to find that the metal tracks that the top ende og the door runs in were missing.

Rushed down to Wickes. Went with 'Customer Service' bod to where the doors were stored. Ascertained which bits were missing - and bod removed them from the first door on display.

Spent 20 minutes explaining that this was all very kind of them - but that the next person to buy a door would find that _their_ guide rails were missing....... and finally gave up trying to explain.....

Wonder how long this went on - with people buying doors, finding that the guides were missing, robbing the guides of the next door in stock, people finding that their door had the guides missing....and so on....

Makes you wonder, doesn't it ??

Adrian Suffolk UK

======return email munged================= take out the papers and the trash to reply

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Hmmm! when I buy new tools I make sure the packaging is as it came from manufacture, if not then I'll ask for another.

So you've known for quite a few days now this job has come up,why's it taken you a day to aquire the tile cutter?

They only had the plasplugs in stock,what do you suggest they do?

So why didn't you ask for your money back since they didn't have a direct replacement?

B&Q is not the problem here.

[shaun]

As it was £10 more expensive i'd say he was hoping they'd have done the straight swap as a goodwill gesture.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Good Luck. It *will* rust.

[The Medway Handyman]

Good heavens! I'd never be clever enough to think of that.

Doh! The first one I picked up was open, so I put it back and took another sealed one. Completely sealed in the same clear tape as all the others. Next time I'll unpack it prior to putting it in the car.

I've had the job booked for a couple of weeks, but why on earth would I want to tie up even a small sum of money on something I wouldn't use for a fortnight?

Doh! If you read my post properly, I wanted them to me a straight swap of the £29.99 machine for the £39.99 machine - the £10 being compensation for my inconvenience.

Doh! Second time you simply haven't read my post properly. It was 3:45pm. B&Q close at 4:00pm. So does everybody else. Where would I get another tile cutter before the morning?

Oh please tell us what is the problem here. I'm sure you will find a reason to take a cheap shot at me.

But before you do, please learn to pay attention to what posters write.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

for the life of me, I cant see the logic in that remark.

Had you had bought it a week early your predicament could have been resolved 2 or 3 days before the job start.

[Bookworm]

For the life of me I cant see the logic of you criticising this bloke when it was B&Q at fault for selling goods 'not fit for purpose'

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

No it wasn't B&Q at fault, he has now stated this item was in the manufactured wrapper? which B&Q are not responsible for this,how are they to know its been used?

[John Cartmell]

Two types of fault:

1. The retailer is responsible;
2. The likeliest way (by a very long way) that the old machine got into the box on the shelf was through a deliberate act or mistake by a B&Q employee.

[meow2222]

If theres one thing that puzzles me most, its why you decided to take the inferior machine and pay more money for it too. I'd have gone home with the better one.

Really you cant expect them to swap without charge, or everyone you know might be buying a cheap one, using it, then asking for a better one in return. You nkow it was used, they probably dont.

Hopefully you'll allow more time to deal with these wallies in future.

Now I guess I've got work to do.=20

NT

[manatbandq]

B&Q *are* responsible. Read the sale of goods act. The fact they may have been shafted by the manufacturer is of no consequence.

MBQ

[manatbandq]

? He paid less money for the one he felt was better quality.

MBQ

[.]

yes it was.

[David M]

While B&Q are at fault here, I'm not convinced at your reasons for taking the Tile-It model

I purchased a Plasplugs tile cutter a couple of years ago and it's done a good job on thick tiles for the bathroom (12mm) and porch (14m). Admittedly I've never asked it to do anything fancy or produce accurate cuts at 45 degrees.. that feature is pretty ropey But I've been very happy with the results for long straight cuts..

At 30 quid I was very suspect of the construction and quality of the metal used in the Tile It model.. you may well have come out better in the long run by being forced to take the Plasplugs model... yes it is plastic, but it won't rust as I suspect the other model will. There is simply no way they are using a decent quality steel at that price...

cheers

David

[soup]

An anecdote (so not really evidence), bought a tool for getting between slabs and removing the weeds (basically just a small blade with a handle) the handle came of the first time I tried to use it, took it back to B&Q (fortunately the store is fairly local otherwise would have just chucked the de-weeder and chalked it down to experience as it was fairly inexpensive [£3.99 region]) with the original wrapper, told the bod on the tills I didn't want a replacemennt as I had no faith in that design. Was in that B&Q a couple of days later and had a look on the shelf were all the de-weeders were and I saw what looked like the one I had had, (handle could be taken off the blade through the packaging, so I feel it was definately mine, there were some marks on it to which made me even more sure it was the one I had had), but had been put back on the shelf as new but with a piece of sellotape holding the packaging [1]shut rather than a staple. So in that case would very definately say it was B&Qs fault not the fault of the original manufacturer.

[1] A cardboard back with a blow moulded front, the front shaped with a recess for said tool the cardboard back and the blow moulded front are usuallt stapled together. (sometimes called a blister pack).

[Mungo]

Incorrect. Better: "So does everywhere else in my area".

Mungo (mischieviously trying to elevate this to a UK level, not England.d-i-y :-)

P.S. Just for fun, B&Q Darnley's opening hours are Mon-Fri: 07.00-21.00 Saturday:07.00-20.00 Sunday:09.00-19.00

You can always complain about their merchandise; I cannot fault them on their opening hours.

[The Medway Handyman]

To be fair having spent the day using the Plasplugs jobby I do now rather like it. I've not tried the bevel facility either.