Thread: shouldn't salespeople be more professional

Oh dear,

90x45 framing pine floor joists ? Ouch, I just had a painful day after I had ordered some recycled hardwood to extend my deck neede 5x2" for joists they sent the wrong size, I only noticed after I had carried half of it up to the back of the house only to find they were 6x2" .... called back, to their credit they sent the stuff out same day but sent all but one.... think I can get by but was a pain all the same

Tom

If your mate is prepared to take floor framing advice from a person that works at a chain hardware store, then more fool him.

Don't blame the sales person, they are just retail sales assistants that happen to work in a hardware store.

Probably they shouldn't have offered the advice, but equally, your mate shouldn't have taken it.

90 x 45 crapiata is going to make for one springy floor.

I hope your mate is into ballet.

Hi Craig , I think you miss my point . I stated that my friend should have had more sense than to follow this absurd advice and sure "they are just retail sales assistants that happen to work in a hardware store." but they should not offer advice if they dont know what they are talking about . My main gripe is that the companies like mitre 10 should offer training to their staff , treat them as professionals & teach them about product knowledge , not just treat them as "retail sales assistants that happen to work in a hardware store. "
Spend more money on training to develop professional sales assistants that can offer professional advice .
Regards
Rick

Originally Posted by craigb

If your mate is prepared to take floor framing advice from a person that works at a chain hardware store, then more fool him.

Don't blame the sales person, they are just retail sales assistants that happen to work in a hardware store.

Probably they shouldn't have offered the advice, but equally, your mate shouldn't have taken it.

90 x 45 crapiata is going to make for one springy floor.

I hope your mate is into ballet.

agree

Look at it this way...

Your 90x45 is what we would call a 2x4. (Really 3-1/2 x 1-1/2) It is probably the most common piece of timber at any BORG.

(Editorial comment: A 2x4 as a floor joist? Surely you jest.)

If I were to go to the BORG to pick up a couple dozen of 90x45 by 2400 (or 2500 as I'm not sure what your standard is.) there is no one that would ask how I'm going to use the timber. Nor would anyone expect a retail clerk to query the customer on the use.

If someone goes into the BORG and asks, "I need to replace some rotten floor joists, what should I use?" There are only two correct answers.

1) The code requires that floor joists use...
2) I don't know but I'll get some one that can help.

Note that the first answer is factual but requires that the customer make the actual decision regarding the appropriate timber.

I hope that your friend had the work done by a licensed professional. At least that way there is some legal redress when there is a failure.

why didn't he replace them with the same size & timber type the original joists were made of?

Originally Posted by rick_rine

My friend has just bought a house and the floor joists were rotten . I called in today to see how he had gone replacing them and he cheerfully told me that the mitre 10 chap had told him that ordinary pine 90x45 was quite sufficient and that is what he used.

If he needed to ask a chain hardware store what timber to use he shouldn't have done it himself as obviously he isn't qualified to do that kind of work.

Apart from not using the right timber what else did he stuff up, did he use clamps to tighten the boards before nailing, did he use nails or maybe liquid nails only?

Maybe in a few years time when he has to do it again he might use a tradesman.



Peter.

Its funny cause our local Mitre 10 store (Hornsby) has at least 2 really, really knowledgeable and helpful guys (older guys) who also never treat me as an idiot just because I'm female. Both my husband (the main woodworker) and I have found them helpful, however there are some not so knowledgeable,speak without the knowledge guys there too, although mostly they do have the honesty to refer to the knowledgeable ones. Our local Bunnings however have a habit of having staff who when I ask where something is send me to the wrong aisle, I then spend 10 minutes looking for it only to ask someone else, who looks at me like I'm an idiot and sends me a different aisle. This has caused some significant mutters under the breath in the past.

l think you cant tar everybody with one brush as to bunnings and m10
l know as fact that they have people there with good advice ex tradies
if you ask a 17 year old kid for advice live with it that was your call

Doesn't one chain store advertise that they employ ex-trades people who are their to help? ..... perhaps the help is limited to giving directions on how to find a product.

It reminds me of a story I read from an IT writer in the paper before Christmas. To paraphrase he went into a store to purchase an MP3 player. He asked the sales guy what MP3 was .... the response was that MP3 is a music format that deteriates when you play it, the salesman went onto say that he has a friend who has played his MP3 tracks so many times that they have basically faded away to nothing. The salesman didn't manage to sell the MP3 player that day.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

......has a friend who has played his MP3 tracks so many times that they have basically faded away to nothing. The salesman didn't manage to sell the MP3 player that day.

THAT must be what the mp4, mp3 and mp2 formats are - it starts as mp4, and fades to mp3, 2, 1 gone. And I've spent ALL these years trying to figure it out

Training for retail staff
Don't make me laugh,
at the local "large chain" the staff knoweledge of basic fasteners is so poor that they hae to look up a book with full sized pictures of nuts & bolts so the know what it is.
At another local hardware they have a gadget on the counter which uses video recognition to identify basic fasteners.

They want to pay these people minimum wage and treat em poorly too so no one is going to hand round long.

Electronics stores are just as bad....most 10 year old enthusiasts know the product range and catalogue better that some of the shop assistants in a certain "electronics store".

cheers

Originally Posted by colleend

I Our local Bunnings however have a habit of having staff who when I ask where something is send me to the wrong aisle, I then spend 10 minutes looking for it only to ask someone else, who looks at me like I'm an idiot and sends me a different aisle.

I used to have that problem at Bunnings but solved it by looking in a different isle first. That saves a lot of time and i never have to look in the first aisle at all. It takes a while to get this system correct but if you persevere, you'll get the hang of it.

I also find that the staff to ask are always in the other aisle so if you need to ask, go there first. then go to the different aisle afterwards. If you don't, they might not be there.

MMMM trying to get my head around gumby's logic and I thinks I get it but????

If the floor joists were rotten I wonder what the bearers and stumps were like. Wonder what kind of rot?? or even white ants?? Well, as long as the carpet is down good who cares right?