Thread: Bunnings

Originally Posted by Sturdee

Graeme,

On the advice of one of Bunnings electrician employed in their electrical section I bought a 12 volt garden lighting kit, the one with a transformer, cabling and a lot of lights, for a quarter of the cost of the Friedland transformer.

Cheaper and I can rung three ringers, one near my workshop , of the front door bell.


Peter.

That's what I'd considered doing, but the only bell they stock needs an 8v supply. Not that that's a big issue as it's simple to drop a few volts across an appropriate resistor or maybe a string of diodes (depends on what I have hiding at the back of my drawers) it's just that anyone wanting an "off the shelf" list of parts to do the job would need to know that going from 12v to 8v is not necessarily an issue or would need to grab hold of a member of staff who knew what he was talking about (they are there, it's just finding the right one can be tricky).

My decision to plump for a large mains powered bell instead was largely down to the fact that it quite appeals to me to have a loud bell that I can shove in the roof space to be heard throughout the whole house.

Graeme

Generally, I agree with you Sam, and have usually had good service and advice from Bunnings staff, but occasionally have difficulties with someone professing more knowledge than they possess. How to sort the BS ??

Currently I am renovating a kitchen and needed about 30 sheets of moisture resistant (HMR) melamine. Not satisfied with the first answer I talked to three Bunnings staff with the following responses:

* It's not made any more.
* Never heard of it, and
* We haven't stocked it for five years; try xxx or yyy - both had it.

In fairness, I got the following responses from M10 staff:

* We haven't stocked it for years.
* Its the same as ordinary melamine. (its not - just add water to chipboard and see what happens)
* Never heard of it.

And the trade orientated branch of this latter company, four blocks away, do stock HMR melamine! (yyy above)

The real bitch that I have concerning both Big Chains is the absolute incompetence of their buyers in China who seem totally incapable of factoring quality into their buying decisions. Apple Computers, i-phones, etc are very high quality and are all made in China; Apple buyers and specifiers are quite capable of defining their quality requirements and then relentlessly enforcing those standards. There are many other examples of very high quality goods being produced in China. Unfortunately these are not commissioned by Bunnings or Mitre10. And its not just a matter of price.

Sam, I sympathise with you and your colleagues who are being seriously let down by Bunnings specifiers and buyers in China. You must be sick of saying it is made in China when you really mean that it is crap.

Fair Winds

Graeme