Orbital sander at Aldi

[Andy Hall]

Exactly. Then comes the PITA of finding the next POS.

[Andy Hall]

Oysters are OK but not special except for one or two particularly interesting species. Champagne is certainly over rated, but I don't drink fizzy sweet white anyway.

[Andy Hall]

I am. This does not mean that I will accept crappy service. There's no excuse for it.

[:Jerry:]

So the only place you buy your power tools from are the authorised dealers, who offer a spares counter then, as no were else does or can offer the service you say you require!

Yes, that's been discussed on this group before, the fact that it's often been mooted (especially in the days when Kingfisher had real problems) but it's never even come close (have they ever admitted to talking to each other about such a sale / merger?) suggests that it's unlikely - of course Kingfisher it's self might be taken over as a whole.

Don't be a silly nob, of course it is, anything that resolves the issue is (customer) service. Are you seriously suggesting that if (say) one of your DeWalt power tools went wrong during (or very soon after) warranty and the dealer offered you a replacement or refund you would not accept and demand the tool be repaired?

Agreed, I just can't see how Argos is going to survive (as is) for much longer, they can only now have the non internet connected and or non debit / credit card holders as customers.

[Andy Hall]

Where you get this straw idea from, I have no idea. The central points are entirely consistent and no fallacy of the position of others is assumed. I have simply provided a variety reasons why not to buy junk from irrelevant retailers. All that that assumes is that people would entertain the idea of doing so in the first place. Of course if they don't then that's another matter.

[Andy Hall]

Often there is the former (or at least within reasonable driving distance). Sadly, there is no longer the latter. That's entirely because people want to buy on price and not on service.

.. or one could ask them to deliver.

I quite like Waitrose' system of barcode scanners (Quick Check) for JL account customers. There is zero waiting with that, as it should be. I wonder if Aldidl could run such a scheme....

If I am going to wait in a shop to pay, there should be a reason to do so - e.g. that I am going to get some level of service - in other words the service of the individual shop. There's a reason to wait for that, assuming it really as some value.

OTOH, if it's just a person on a till mindlessly scanning items there is no value added at all. I am having to select the items from the shelf and then I'm expected to wait to pay? That's a nonsense. I might as well do the whole job and make it *really* self service, then I can go at the pace that I need or want to do..

[:Jerry:]

Contradict yourself Andy, why not....

[:Jerry:]

Your anti cheap tool arguments are often of the straw man type.

[Andy Hall]

Typically yes. I also ask them to match the lowest price I can find. I never have problems with that. Thus I can get the lowest price and good service.

Assimilated by the Borg it is called.

No it isn't. The issue is how many times is that going to happen.

I'll give you an example.

Some moons ago, I bought a B&D Scorpion saw, mainly for branch trimming in the garden and similar work. It was a pile of junk. On the first one the mechanism locked and jammed. It was returned to B&Q and replaced. The replacement began smoking immediately the trigger was pulled. That went back. B&Q wanted to replace it again. Nope. Refund. Moreover, cost of fuel and £25 in store vouchers on top. That doesn't cover the actual cost of the time but at least it was a good gesture and they didn't have to be squeezed too hard for it.

Different issue. The more important points are whether the same or a better product are available or another has to be found - the successor may be crap - and what happens at the end of the warranty. If I think that there is a fair likelihood of needing to use a warranty, I almost certainly won't buy the product.

The only value I can see is if one needs to get a product really quickly. A few months ago, I needed to obtain an iron within an hour. I was able to check stock on line, order and collect and done.

Shopping in there reminds me of a tombola stall. I half expect customers to be throwing rubber rings over the racks of items behind the counter.

[Andy Hall]

I think you're getting lost, Jerry. There's no contradiction.

The other great marketing lie is "new size". Smaller.

[:Jerry:]

If you knew anything about the industry you would know that there is one hell of a contradiction. :~(

[Andy Hall]

Not really. The reasons as to why not are clearly explained. A straw man argument is where the position of the other party is erroneously assumed.

If somebody suggests or asks about sourcing a "product of limited value" to be kind about it, then it is reasonable and not erroneous to assume that they may at least be fleetingly considering its purchase. Under those circumstances, it's entirely reasonable to point out that there are many other things in the value equation than price. By definition, it is not a straw man argument.

[Owain]

"A penny saved is twopence gained"

Owain

[Doctor Drivel]

You will get used to this.

[Andy Hall]

Then it's even worse than I feared.

[The Medway Handyman]

Is that because the oysters are French bred?

[The Medway Handyman]

Or perhaps its because the supermarkets have more choice, longer opening hours, bigger range?

The darstadly fiends have given the punters what they want!

[Andy Hall]

Weee.....lllllll

Those from the Brittany coast are pretty good.

Many that arrive in the UK are from the Pacific. They are large, but without worthwhile flavour - a real baguettelle in fact.

[dennis]

Why do you care? As long as you get a fixed/working product does it matter if its new or repaired?

[Andy Hall]

I don't think the punters really know what they do want.

It's perfectly possible to get the quality and merchandising of food right. For example, a while back I went into a Carrefour store in one of the suburbs of Paris - not a particularly upmarket area at all on the east side. It could be the proximity of Eurodisney.

At any rate, they had a proper fish counter with live crustacea in tanks of pumped seawater, any other fish you could think of. There was a proper vegetable counter, correctly presented. Same for the meat.

All of this is before one looks at the individual shops.

None of these are particularly expensive but quality is high.

In the UK, presentation and quality are awful by comparison. Some of the organic produce is reasonable, but that's about it.

It relates to wanting to buy cheaply regardless of the quality and then accepting any old crap.

There is better.