The Borg part..... ?

[BDBConstruction]

As most of you are well aware I am an anti-borg to say the least. Well here is the latest I found out today. Local lumberyard tells me that they are getting a lot of people saying they are out of line with regard to pricing on 250' boxes of 12-2 romex. Salesman calls a fellow salesman at the borg and says "wtf is up with this"? Borg salesman replies, "ahhh, hehe, you don't realize that corporate changed all our wire to 200' boxes instead of 250' ". The new packaging minimally mentions the footage in the box as opposed to the old packaging.

This of course goes along with Kellogs putting a couple ounces less ceral in the same box for the same price, Lays and other chip makers doing the same for chips, and so on. These minimal reductions (not to say that 50' of wire is minimal) of course add up to millions of dollars across the nation. Whats odd is why there would not be a notice posted in the wire isle telling the guy who figured a job for

750' of wire that he now needs 4 boxes instead of the three he has bought for the last 35 years.

Yet we still question, Mark

[Leon]

Well getting less food is probably a good thing. We all probably need to eat less. As for the Borg pricing in Houston, the Borg has just about always been the highest place to buy. Same items at the local hard ware store are less expensive. The Borg is convenient, and that is its only value IMHO.

[Kevin M. Vernon]

Simple Marketing. Most people will notice a price change, MUCH quicker than they will notice a quantity change. Which means a quantity change will have less impact on sales than a price change. Which, ultimately, makes it a much more desireable way to raise prices, for a bean-counter with his eye on the bottom line.

Nobody ever went broke by understimating the stupidity of the average consumer.

-Kevin in Indy - who's got an Orange Borg & Green Borg within 2 miles

- Woodcraft & 84 Lumber, 3 miles, Blue Borg, 4 miles, Harbor Freight & Rockler 5 miles, Sears Hardware & Ace Hardware, 6 miles. I think I'm about to be assimilated. To reply, remove (+spamproof+) from address........

[Tanus]

I've noticed the same here. I work in Ottawa in Ontario, as well as in a Quebec city across the river, where there are quite a number of HDs and a Quebec equivalent called Reno Depot.

I live in a very small town about 30 miles away, which has a local hardware/lumber store. It's small, and doesn't have near the stock that the stores in the city have, but the prices on almost everything are no more than the larger centres, and at times they are cheaper. If they don't have stock, they'll often order for me.

It's not Lee Valley, and they don't stock exotic woods. But then neither do the Borgs.

Plus, it's really nice to walk into a store and be greeted by my first name.

Tanus

[Lew Hodgett]

When is the last time you checked a can of coffee?

Last I looked, a 16 oz can now has 13 oz in it.

Paper products, especially toilet paper, is another.

Lew

[patrick mitchel]

The thing that bothers me about the downsizing to keep the same price point- you are also paying for the change in packaging and the associated changeover (if any) in the production line. Pat

[LRod]

That's been going on for more than ten years. 13oz? I haven't seen anything bigger than 12oz in any grocery store in this century. The one huge exception is Dunkin Donuts. They still sell a 1lb bag at a fairly reasonable price--at Christmas, it's half price. Don't scoff. DD is right up there with MickyDs for good tasting coffee. People who think Starbucks is good coffee need not continue in this thread.

[SonomaProducts.com]

Wait a minute. The OP said people noticed the wire was cheaper at the borg, so they put less wire in the box AND they lowered the price. Honestly, as a consumer it is up to you to keep track of what you are paying. Yeah, maybe they cut the amount of wire by 20% and only lowered the price by 15% but you can easily figure that out.

I like the bogs. I like Rockler and Woodcraft. I like mon and pop stores but on the things that matter I know who charges what and if they are mostly too expensive, I stop shopping there. Typically the borg has pretty good prices but if it is something I buy often or is expensive, I see who has the best price before I buy.

BW

[BDBConstruction]

Agreed, I too shop for food. An average pound of pasta has been 12oz for quite some time. Especially since the petroleum conundrum companies across the board have been reducing the product while maintaining the exact package size, and in many cases increasing the price, to offset additional costs which they feel they can not pass on to consumers through price alone.

The issue for me is attempted and willfull deception. I see both sides of it. Kudo's to the marketing agency who gets a big bonus for coming up with a way to save the corporation millions annually and yet I also see the family who grabs the same box off the shelf they have been grabbing for 15 or 20 years only to realize after a several purchases that the company has rooked them.

This is a common practice across the board, that is no news to anyone. The issue for me is as I said, willfull deception in an attempt to deceive the consumer. In this case, a 250' box is basically an industry standard and has been well established for decades. It is further compounded by them changing the infomation on the packaging in an attempt "not" to inform the customer of the quantity change rather than to inform them.

This would be like you going to a rack of plywood and because it doesnt say 4x8 on it, you get it home only to put your tape on it and have it measure 45" x 93". The same would be true, buyer beware.

Mark

[BDBConstruction]

I am not sure about the pricing but I will make a call tomorrow and post what I find. I am pretty confident that the price likely doesnt reflect the reduction to 200' quantity in the box however I am also pretty comfortable that they are not charging for 200' of wire the same as they did for 250'. Its likely a split somewhere in the middle.

The fact of the matter is if you cant see when a company is willfully changing an industry standard in an attempt to deceive consumers to maintain sales, then you should be on the board or are perhaps a corporate lawyer. I agree with you 100 percent that it is ultimately up to the consumer to monitor purchases and that they inffact have driven the industry to where it is. This will however become a fulltime job and would apply to every single item you purchase if this became the practice as a whole.

The system that you propose support of is infact working in reverse. Rather than a corporation being supported by satisfied customers, the corporation is trying to sustain itself through customer deceit. This has actually basically been their mission statement from the get go. Of course if the bigger system truley works, this deceit should result in dissatisfaction which should result in change, and if refused, failure.

Mark

[Robatoy]

The toilet paper sunsabitches have increased the size of the inner cardboard roll and manage to blow more air into the paper as well. 30 rolls!!! Of what? Air?

[mac davis]

I can't reply about industry standards, not being in the industry, but in California and Arizona, the borgs use "unit pricing" like the grocery stores do.. just check how much per foot each place wants and buy the best deal..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

Only if you buy it... If you don't, it goes to the Dollar store..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[lewis hodgett]

I can remember a time when a wire quote was only good for 1/2 day.

With the price of scrap copper above $3/lb, I'm surprised the wire people aren't quoting price in effect at time of shipment.

It's been done before.

Lew

[Mike Marlow]

It will be worthwhile seeing what you discover upon calling yourself. Where I live HD is still selling 250' rolls of wire. No repackaging to 200'. No deception.

[B A R R Y]

Not me!

Thanks for sharing that.

[Jeff]

All over the United States, ppl scream bloody hell when a new big box is built in their neighborhood - WalMart is particularly reviled. The market is good at determining success. Rarely do these types of stores go out of business ... yet. - I remember when malls were the Next Big Thing. If you don't like 'em, don't shop 'em. Personally, I find their quality mostly lacking. Has anybody ever been satisfied with Behr paint? Yet for some items, I don't care. I got a power mower from Home Despot. We live on a small city lot and price drove that purchase, not quality. It takes twenty minutes to mow the lawn. How good does it need to be?

Jeff

[Swingman]

"Kevin M. Vernon" wrote

There you have it!

[Swingman]

"LRod" wrote

Any college student will confirm that in a heartbeat. When visiting I asked my college senior daughter where the best cup of coffee in town was, and her quick reply was "Duncan Donuts".

[Swingman]

"Robatoy" wrote

Just noticed that with paper towels: "30% more sheets" means 30% smaller sheets.