Can anyone suggest a supplier for Villeroy & Boch basins, etc?

[Dave]

SWMBO has decided that she likes the Villeroy & Boch "Subway" basin/loo/bidet but the prices are a bit startling; can anyone suggest where to get the best prices?

[Mike]

Unlike some top-end brands, I believe V&B will supply plumbers merchants so ask at your local independent one if they can give you a quote.

[Bolted]

I bought the subway loo from a german site called megabad.de. A totally

German site, no English, terrible coms and demand bank transfer, but the savings were very good, fast delivery and excellent packaging. I'd recommend them.

[Dave]

That looks like being a very good lead ...

- loo: 161 Euro vs £202

- basin: 95 Euro vs £97

How much was shipping? How long was delivery?

I'm sure this will be obvious with hindsight but ... what's the difference between a "washdown" and a "wash-out" WC?

[Bolted]

I'm doing this from memory, but I think shipping was about 50 euros, but that was for the loo and a whole bunch of shower valves, shower heads, etc. It's a bit of wierd site, in that you have to "order" before they quote the shipping, but they let you know by email (in German). I think it took about a week between them getting the money and us taking delivery. We saved about 30% overall. The only difficulty is dealing with the emails in german (for a non-speaker), but I found that they do speak English if you call them up.

No idea - the only two types of loo I can think of would be wall-hung and floor standing. Unless it's a urinal?

[Andy Burns]

Don't the Germans have a habit of wanting to inspect their business before sending it on it's way? Could that represent the type with and without the shelf?

[Rob Morley]

Some German WCs have a flat horizontal surface at the back of the bowl (a bit higher than the water level would be on a "normal" WC) with a smaller outlet in front of it.

[Dave]

Yup, I found the drawings: washdown is the good old British style, wash-out gives an opportunity for analysis before disposal!

[Dave]

Thanks to the earlier pointer to

for Villeroy & Boch Subway loo, etc; here's some feedback. Prices for loo, seat, bidet and basin were all good (especially the loo) but, because of freight cost, the best overall price came from using the megabad prices to haggle with Bathroom Warehouse for the bidet and basin (20% off list) and buying the loo and seat from megabad (about 45% off list). The freight cost for the whole lot would have been about E150 but for the loo and seat was E68.

[Bolted]

Glad it worked out.

Jake