B&Q Pressure washer

[Malcolm Race]

Saw one today in a depot for 19.98! Seems to have a lance & claims to take 'all performance pro accessories' Surely a 'cant lose' buy?

Malcolm

[Andy Hall]

The only thing you have to lose is £19.98 when it falls apart quite soon and the waste of X amount of time and Y amount of petrol to take it back.

Performance Pro is a brand that B&Q is attempting to establish, but whch in reality has no backup and covers an arbitrary set of tat emanating from the far east.

If you don't care about X or Y then it may be a reasonable buy. If you do then it is likely to be a disaster. Buy cheap, buy twice.... or three times......

[Christian McArdle]

I bought one a few years ago. It isn't as powerful as a basic Karcher, but it does work and I've abused it to the extent that I am astonished it still works. (i.e. it overwinters lying in a frozen puddle outside).

Christian.

[Kevin Brady]

[Dave]

Hi

Bear in mind the total motor life is 10 -12 working hours. But also bear in mind that B&Q have a great warranty policy.

If it breaks, take it back, if it breaks again, take it back again.

If it lasts for 11 months 3 weeks & 6 days and is still working, take it back anyway. They will keep replacing stuff almost indefinately. Dave

[John]

Well mine (used all of six times so far) hasn't fallen apart yet. For the smallscale applications I use it for, it's dead good (to someone who never had one before).

Whenever I catch myself thinking "as I was brought up" -- i.e. thinking 'bloody hell - 20 pounds?!?!?'', I remind myself that I put 30 quid in my car every week, and never even give it a thought. That adds perspective to the decision (I'm still tight-fisted).

I'd agree with Malcolm - a "can't lose buy".

Cheers John

[Andy Hall]

If you don't care about the cost of your time it might be.......

If I have to take something back to B&Q, then it is going to take about two hours including getting there getting back and sorting out the problem. That is worth way more than £10/hour in terms of what I could have achieved productively in that time on other things.

[Kevin Brady]

Andy

IF you ever need to swap it in, here's a tip: wait until you're going to B&Q anyway and do it then - that will save you your valuable time.

[Andy Hall]

and do it then - that will save you your valuable time.

That's fine, but what if I specifically needed to use it there and then? Sod's law dictates that that will more than likely happen.

I would rather pay more and get something decent and not have the hassle. If that breaks, then I can reasonably ask the retailer for compensation for having to return the product and get it.

[Mark]

Well my expensive Karcher fell apart after 6 months, was repaired under warranty and then fell apart again 1 month later. Expensive cheap rubbish. At least if you spend £19.98 you know what to expect...

[Kevin Brady]

I suppose I've always been a bit of a risk taker...live life on the edge!

[Andy Hall]

I've always had good results with my Kaercher machine. Had it been less than that, it would have gone back for a replacement one time and refund second time plus compensation. I've never had problems with B&Q either in terms of getting recompense for inconvenience.

[Pete C]

In what way did it fall apart?

I've had some good use out of a small Karcher, even with it running dry a few times due to airlocks in the garden hose (oops!)

Though I've no doubt the cheap ones are reasonably good.

cheers, Pete.