Thread: Interesting ABC article on why Masters is not doing well

It was interesting though, that the attitude of staff at my nearest Bunnings improved only when Masters were opening nearby.

I never even new masters had a store in adelaide until my sister
said a work mate went there on the weekend. never saw any advertising on tv, seemed crazy
considering the investment.

I went to check out my nearest Masters during the first week it opened.
Had a look around and picked up a few small packets of nuts/bolts /screws and headed for the checkout.
When I got to a register all of them had crashed.
The staff were hopeless and were running around like headless chooks, surely that would have been the number one "what if" to practice during training?
After waiting for 20 minutes they got one register working for card payments only.
Fortunately quite a few waiting customers had left so I manage to get out fairly quickly.

I still go there for the odd bit of emergency 3phase electrical gear that Bunnings does not stock.
It's far from inspiring, hardly anyone there, there's also a funny lighting colour that feels a bit like a morgue.

They also need to re-do their IT systems - they seem to be designed to suit the accountants, not the customer facing staff.

When I was hiring a trailer from Masters, the guy at the counter was complaining how the trailer hire transaction generates about eight pieces of paper (two of which go to the customer) while it could really get away with just three.

Their stock system also loves doing the "we have X units in stock" and no-one can find where those units are (and he wasn't talking small stuff, it was things like air compressors).

I have to say that the local Bunnings have started carrying a wider range of all the more technical stuff (larger range of 'licensed electrician to install' electrical fittings, more trade building stuff).

Have to say that Masters is handy to have as a backup when Bunnings don't carry something or for different options with flat-pack and fittings/hardware. And batteries. They seem to have ALL the weird sizes.

I was contemplating a thread to get people's thoughts on Masters.

I find that more often than not that I am wasting my time going there, even if it means driving further to the competition.

Experiences - sorry not so good. Recently I needed some coat hanger rails. Yes I found them but I needed flanges. The first staff member asked what are flanges? They needed to get a second staff member and then a third. "Oh we don't stock them". Sorry, I returned the rails to the rack and went to a different trader.

A client wanted to buy two curtain tracks for me to install. Masters was able to have them at the counter for her to pay and collect. So far so good. On installation one packet was missing the screws, no big deal I have plenty, the other had a broken part and was not usable so had to be exchanged. Yes Masters were happy to exchange, but it meant a delay in installing the tracks and curtains. Two packets - one missing parts, one faulty.

With their self serve registers, sounds OK until you have items without barcodes, assistance required, or they take your money but do not acknowledge it. If a human did the latter what would happen?

What are other people's experiences both good and bad?

Remember the forum rules on slander.

Now that you mention it, I did notice that Masters seems to have a lower "basic product knowledge" requirement of staff than the others. I've also noticed that they seem to be more of an "equal opportunity" employer. It's great that they're giving work to people with disabilities, but it can get frustrating when you need to explain what you're looking for to someone who isn't quite 100% intellectually.

As for the curtain rail story, I would say that faulty/missing components of a package/kit are a QC problem of the manufacturer, not the distributor. I know it doesn't look good for them, but they can't be expected to check each kit.

This is an interesting article for a couple of reasons. Did not know Bunnings held 18 percent of the market. Was not aware that Masters was losing money?

I have only been to one Masters store and that was just to look around. As they are not in the most convient location to where I live it would mean an hour drive to the store. Will be heading to one towards the end of the month with some friends as we will be driving pass on our way to another destination. I do have a few things in mind that I would like to get.

I reckon if they get their timber selections broader and STOCK SOME GOD DAMNED TITEBOND 3 they would kill Bunnings.

I hate Bunnings worse than Nazis, parking inspectors and people who talk in theaters - times SIX.

SWMBO prefers Masters too. Nicer store. The staff actually can answer a question - and their nut, bolt, screw and nail selection is roooooly good.

With Ikea opening across the road here I hope it drives a few 9-inch nails into Bunnings.

Originally Posted by Evanism

The staff actually can answer a question

Which one do you go to? My staff experience has been...not as good

I have always liked Bunnings. the store layout is good and the staff know where the products are, usually being able to quote the exact aisle. Masters on the other hand I dont like much, the colour scheme inside the store is blue/grey...its kinda miserable and depressing whereas Bunnings is light n bright. I do however shop at them both since they are about 5mins away and across the road from each other.

Masters have recently opened 2 stores in a "new format", with early reports being increased sales and customer satisfaction. They plan to roll out several more of these new format stores by years end.

On any given day, my Bunnings will have 10 people shopping inside for every 1 shopping at Masters. Its kinda sad since they are literally across the road from each other.

LOOGZSHERRY!

I can't wait for a Bunnings to open across the road from the current Homers Hardware (also owned by Woolworths). All approved as far as I know, but haven't heard much else.

I must say that the staff at Homers are usually pretty knowledgable (ex tradies usually), esp in the paint dept, and they are very helpful. That's good!
But the range....Oh the range....is pathetic. But you can have a choice of six different terrible quality glue guns (for tubes of "stuff") all about $4-6. Or buy the really good one for $20.

Not a single brass screw in the joint as of two years ago.



Yes, read that article this morning. Actually I would have thought Bunnings would have more than 18%.

Masters have some great specials on though. 90 piece Gearwrench socket set, three sizes, three ratchets (of very, very good quality - made in Taiwan) in sizes from ¼" to 1½": ONE DOLLAR PER PIECE! Like, the ½" ratchet alone is worth around $40 easy. I was actually stunned by the quality of this set - thin walls which shows quality steel has be used, and the quality of the chrome plating is stupidly good.

Another one was the Gearwrench cast steel vise for $90.
(fletty gets them for me at his just around the corner branch and brings them up later on).

Good prices on Bessey clamps too - waaaay better than Carbatec.

I've given Masters a good hard go on a number of occasions and overall feel pretty ho-hum about their offering. As someone who's back on the tools for a living, they just don't seem to offer a decent range of the stuff I need.

A couple of examples:

- Safety gear - it all seems to be their "Prochoice" range, limited in model types. Safety glasses being a good example, Bunnings appear to have at least 4 different makes with a heap of models per maker. Ditto for knee pads,
- Power tool fittings, bits, blades, consumables. Again just a narrow range, seemingly dominated by Bosch for things like driver bits, recipro blades etc. I went to Masters to try and pick up some blades for my multi tool, all I found were expensive single-blade Bosch packs, went to Bunnings and bought a good value generic pack with about ten different blades in it.
- Hand tools - looked for a small Cats Paw to hang on my tool belt. Masters have one, not suitable for what I need. Bunnies have two, both suitable. I now own one of each of the Bunnings items.

Masters presentation and range of the tool section just seems naff. At Bunnies I can walk into a separate enclosure that's usually staffed, have a look at a wide variety of choices and, if I need to, ask some "reasonably" knowledgeable staffer if/where they stock a particular item. At Masters there's limited range and no-one to be seen, unless I snag a passer-by staff member, who's usually fairly clueless about the trade-level requirement that I have.

At the end of the day Bunnies is my go-to shop for late night commodity items. Otherwise it's specialty shops like Total Tools, United Tools, Just Tools etc. I have no loyalty either way but Masters just hasn't met my needs on a number of occasions.

Actually, the thing that gobsmacked me the most in that article was:

"In the first few years it had failed to grasp the seasonality of hardware — its ties with Lowes USA meant stock was out of season in Australia."

WWWWWHAT? (in a Brian Blessed voice).
Presumably the Product Manager is an Aussie. How could they possibly miss that??? I mean DERR! I can understand the USA people not being aware that there is a different hemishere involved, but really.......didn't it occur to someone - anyone - when they were unpacking all the spring stuff in Autumn that things were out of kilter? Crikey, that's a fundamental shocker.

It harkens back to the stupidity of the first colonialists here - build all the gorgeous sandstone buildings facing south for the first hundred years until they realised everything was mouldy. "Oh, right, the Sun's back behind me. Who moved it?"