Mac Disaster

[Andy Hall]

Good grief.

Any company that believes that enough of their product is being sold is not long for this world.

[Andy Hall]

A reliable source of information, then.

[Doctor Drivel]

Kress is a quality product in the Makita quality range, or better. I rate their SDS drill as the best in price/performance. Anyone wating an SDS from the £90 to £150 range then the Wickes/Kress is by far the best buy. Saying that S/fix are ioffering a Ryobi for £50.

[Andy Hall]

It's in about the Ryobi range. Not bad but not remarkable either.

Bosch is the best buy in this range, along with DeWalt.

.. and?

[Doctor Drivel]

No. Once again "Kress is a quality product in the Makita quality range, or better." Made in Germany and German company.

No. Kress/Wickes.

A good deal as it is usually around £90 and being a Ryobi is equiv to a Makita of around £110

[Andy Hall]

The fair market price for a Techtronics Ryobi drill is in the £50 area.

It is nowhere close in quality to Makita.

Have you actually picked up either of these products and studied them?

[The Medway Handyman]

The Wickes/Kress SDS is an excellent piece of kit. I've had one for over a year and given it loads of stick. I believe it has the Johnson motor also used by DeWalt.

[dmc]

Aye, quite possibly. I did actually ask the guy this and he claimed that wasn't the case but he may have been talking rubbish I guess (or more likely, didn't actually know). I'd still rate the Wickes SDS drill though - it's outlasted a Dewalt that was more expensive and the Wickes one has certainly had a much harder life :)

As I say, I've actually seen Kress branded powertools in my local wickes recently but that may have been a one off.

Darren

[dmc]

Ah, must be true then. I mean, I'm sure a Wickes manager would be first to tell customers how the tools sold in his store were lower spec than the Kress ones (even assuming he would actually know).

Darren

[John Rumm]

The Makita 780W HR2450X is pretty hard to beat in this prince range as well (at about £110).

I can't see any attraction in a shop own brand at that sort of price point.

[John Rumm]

How would you know? You never use these tools or do anything with them it seems.

[:Jerry:]

No you are wrong, do you really think that someone wanting to put up the odd shelf or picture is going to buy a DeWalt (or similar) when they know that they will be using the drill a couple of hours a month - you really are up your own arse on this, they just want something that will drill a reasonable accurate hole.

[Frank Erskine]

He could probably recommend a hacksaw...

[:Jerry:]

What didn't you understand about "in the UK", they could be selling

100,000,000 units p.a. in another country, also they might now consider Wickes their UK agent.

I'm sure that Snap-on could sell even tools more if they approached someone like Halfords (in the UK) but they are still very successful company with their self limiting sales approach!

[John Rumm]

No one is saying that there is anything wrong with the product in this case. (I don't know if wickes do more than one version of the 2kg class machine, but I do note that the one I had a look at in Wickes had a rotation lock, but did not seem to allow you to chose the angle of rotation that the bit locked in - this would make it far less useful to me).

However look at what is is competing with... for the same money you could have the Makita with its excellent speed controller, multiple position rotation lock, 780W motor and 2.7 Joule impact energy, or you could have the Hitachi with 800W motor and 3.2J impact energy. Both of which are backed by a nationwide spares and service operation that means if I lose the side handle and want another one, getting a replacement is easy.

If you need a tool in a hurry and wickes is to hand, then fine buy one - it will probably do most jobs just fine and last well. If one is taking the time to pick and chose, then I can't see the attraction of paying the same money for a shop branded (and more importantly - supported) tool with a lower specification.

[John Rumm]

It would make sense if they started to promote the OEM brand rather than badging them if they are to carry on selling in the same price range as the other big brands.

BTW, a couple of years back when dribble was spouting on about Kress, I emailed them to ask about service arrangements in the uk. The response I got is as follows (my obfuscation of email addies):

" Dear Sir,

thank you for contacting us yesterday asking for any dealer or service centre in UK. First please note that we do not have any dealer at present in UK. Purchase of new tools is handled directly from our headoffice, here in Bisingen-Germany. However, if you are in need of repair, service or spare parts, we would appreciate if you contact one of the hereunder stated companies for further action:

N & J Tools Westcross Centre

15, Shield Drive TW8 9EX Brentford Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-Mail: njtoolsbrentforedPUT_AT_SIGN_HEREbtopenworld.com Contact person: Nigel Stevens

JG POWER

5, Green Bank Lofthouse Wakefield WF3 3QN Tel.: [phone] E-Mail: JOHNPUT_AT_SIGN_HEREjgpower.fsnet.co.uk contact person: John Greenhill

If you need any further information, please let us know.

Best regards,

KRESS-elektrik Spomenka Stroh Tel.: +49 / 7476 / 87-312 Fax: +49 / 7476 / 87-342 E-Mail: sstrohPUT_AT_SIGN_HEREkress-elektrik.de (10.08.04) "

I don't know if they have made any more service arrangements since then, but they would have some way to go to match the levels of the more well known brands.

[The Medway Handyman]

The one I have does - I agree an essential feature.

When I bought mine it was around £80 compared to the big brands at £125. The Wickes is now £100 & the Makita is on promo at £115, so I might well make a different decision now, but I can't fault the Wickes machine to be fair.

[:Jerry:]

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message news:f68gfu$v5$ [e-mail]...

The above suggests that Makita are worried then, which means that they must be somewhat comparable is quality...

[Doctor Drivel]

Exactly.

[Doctor Drivel]

The Makita, approx 700w, SDS is actually cheaper than the Ryobi. in s/fix.

It is a Kress and more reliable than the rest - boy are you dumb!