Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped into
the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in Canterbury.

As they had 10% off everything and free burgers and hot dogs it was rather
busy (unsurprisingly) but while I was there I thought I'd stock up on some
filler I've been meaning to order for age and pickup some more screws but
they had none of the filler and and were also out of stock on the screws.

A freind went in later to get a load of dry lining boxes and again, they
had none in stock.

Is this common at the trade counters (in which case I'll carry on ordering
online) or is this just the opening weekend offer rush?

I'm hoping they normally have plenty of stock and it'll be handy to drop in
during my lunch break but if stock is hit and miss I'll pass...

Darren

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:49:37 UTC, (dmc) wrote:

Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped into
the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in Canterbury.

Oooh...didn't know that! Mind, it's the 'wrong' side of the city for
me...

Are these trade counters still easy to use if you're a general punter?
(I know you aren't a builder, Darren....)

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On 10 Feb 2007 20:10:03 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:49:37 UTC, (dmc) wrote:

Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped into
the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in Canterbury.

Oooh...didn't know that! Mind, it's the 'wrong' side of the city for
me...

Are these trade counters still easy to use if you're a general punter?
(I know you aren't a builder, Darren....)

Disregard the TRADE name . It's like Argos .You fill in a wee slip
with the items you want and take it to the counter .they check if the
stuff is in stock first ( well the Glasgow one does) then you pay for
it and take the slip they give you and the stuff gets brought out and
they shout out your number . I've been in a couple of times and
everything I wanted was in stock .
Stuart

On Sat, 10 Feb 07 19:49:37 GMT, (dmc) wrote:



Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped into
the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in Canterbury.

As they had 10% off everything and free burgers and hot dogs it was rather
busy (unsurprisingly) but while I was there I thought I'd stock up on some
filler I've been meaning to order for age and pickup some more screws but
they had none of the filler and and were also out of stock on the screws.

A freind went in later to get a load of dry lining boxes and again, they
had none in stock.

Is this common at the trade counters (in which case I'll carry on ordering
online) or is this just the opening weekend offer rush?

I'm hoping they normally have plenty of stock and it'll be handy to drop in
during my lunch break but if stock is hit and miss I'll pass...

Darren

In the last year I have made three trips to Toolstation in Bristol to
find they have no stock of most of the items I want, usually a mix of
plumbing and electrical stuff

My local screwfix counter was the same when it first opened, seems to
a lot better now, a few months on.

In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:

Oooh...didn't know that! Mind, it's the 'wrong' side of the city for
me...

Parking is a bit of a pain (they don't seem to have more than about 4 spaces
- all of which were full with a burger van and a powertool demo tent) but
there is the big pay'n'display (or park in iceland etc ;-))

Are these trade counters still easy to use if you're a general punter?
(I know you aren't a builder, Darren....)

Yeah. Think Argos with more staff, less gold hoops earings and pushchairs
and free coffee while you wait.

Stacks of catalogues, write down the numbers of what you want and queue up
(only took a couple of mins even though it was packed). They check your
order is in stock, you pay and get a number. You then hang until they yell
your number out. Again, quick despite being packed. Only took me 20mins to
browse the catalogue, order and collect my stuff, have a coffee and a free
burger and chat with the (bored) guy on the powertool display. Could be
dead handy if the stock levels pan out ok.

What I really want is to be able to order and check stock online and then
just go pick it up. I dunno if you can ring them and order - I didn't see
anything suggesting a ring and reserve type service.

Darren

In article .com,
avocado wrote:
My local screwfix counter was the same when it first opened, seems to
a lot better now, a few months on.


That's good to hear. As I say, it was packed (understandably - free food )
so I wasn't all that surprised that they had some stock issues.

I'll give 'em another go in a few weeks time when the novelty has worn off.

Darren

On 2007-02-10 20:25:31 +0000, Stuart B said:

On 10 Feb 2007 20:10:03 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:49:37 UTC, (dmc) wrote:

Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped into
the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in Canterbury.

Oooh...didn't know that! Mind, it's the 'wrong' side of the city for
me...

Are these trade counters still easy to use if you're a general punter?
(I know you aren't a builder, Darren....)

Disregard the TRADE name . It's like Argos .You fill in a wee slip
with the items you want and take it to the counter .they check if the
stuff is in stock first ( well the Glasgow one does) then you pay for
it and take the slip they give you and the stuff gets brought out and
they shout out your number . I've been in a couple of times and
everything I wanted was in stock .
Stuart

It's actually worse than Argos (if that were possible).

If this arrangement were set up properly, one would be able to order on
their web site
and collect from the trade counter without the hit and miss of whether
or not the items
are in stock.

All in all, somewhat useless when it could easily be considerably better.

In article , Andy Hall wrote:

It's actually worse than Argos (if that were possible).

heh

If this arrangement were set up properly, one would be able to order on
their web site and collect from the trade counter without the hit and
miss of whether or not the items are in stock.

Yep. that would be perfect. They are obviously linked up somehow as they
knew my name from my postcode and my previous (online) orders.

All in all, somewhat useless when it could easily be considerably better.

This particular one happens to be on my way home so it's not much effort to
pop in and check but yeah, it's gonna get annoying if the out of stock thing
happens too much.

Anyone know if they attempt to stock everything from the catalogue (bar special
order things)? It certainly looked that way. If so, there must be a fair amount
of stuff that they can only hold one or two off - the place isn't *that* big
really.

Darren

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 20:25:31 UTC, Stuart B
wrote:

On 10 Feb 2007 20:10:03 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:49:37 UTC, (dmc) wrote:

Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped into
the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in Canterbury.

Oooh...didn't know that! Mind, it's the 'wrong' side of the city for
me...

Are these trade counters still easy to use if you're a general punter?
(I know you aren't a builder, Darren....)

Disregard the TRADE name . It's like Argos .You fill in a wee slip
with the items you want and take it to the counter .they check if the
stuff is in stock first ( well the Glasgow one does) then you pay for
it and take the slip they give you and the stuff gets brought out and
they shout out your number . I've been in a couple of times and
everything I wanted was in stock .

OK, thanks. Useful to know.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Sat, 10 Feb 07 19:49:37 GMT, dmc wrote:


Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped into
the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in Canterbury.

As they had 10% off everything and free burgers and hot dogs it was rather
busy (unsurprisingly) but while I was there I thought I'd stock up on some
filler I've been meaning to order for age and pickup some more screws but
they had none of the filler and and were also out of stock on the screws.

A freind went in later to get a load of dry lining boxes and again, they
had none in stock.

Is this common at the trade counters (in which case I'll carry on ordering
online) or is this just the opening weekend offer rush?

My somewhat limited experience: a few visits to the outlet in Reading,
is that they don't stock everything. I've only gone to the outlet when
I wanted a few things and couldn't make an order up to the free delivery
value _and_ when I was due to be in reading anyway.
So when I've bought stuff from the outlet, it's been in small quantites
and for only a few items. I think on 2/3rds of my visits I've not got
a full order - something's been missing.

Pete

--
.................................................. .........................
.. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
.. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
.. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................

In message , dmc writes
In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:

Oooh...didn't know that! Mind, it's the 'wrong' side of the city for
me...

Parking is a bit of a pain (they don't seem to have more than about 4 spaces
- all of which were full with a burger van and a powertool demo tent) but
there is the big pay'n'display (or park in iceland etc ;-))

Are these trade counters still easy to use if you're a general punter?
(I know you aren't a builder, Darren....)

Yeah. Think Argos with more staff, less gold hoops earings and pushchairs
and free coffee while you wait.

Stacks of catalogues, write down the numbers of what you want and queue up
(only took a couple of mins even though it was packed). They check your
order is in stock, you pay and get a number. You then hang until they yell
your number out. Again, quick despite being packed. Only took me 20mins to
browse the catalogue, order and collect my stuff, have a coffee and a free
burger and chat with the (bored) guy on the powertool display. Could be
dead handy if the stock levels pan out ok.

What I really want is to be able to order and check stock online and then
just go pick it up. I dunno if you can ring them and order - I didn't see
anything suggesting a ring and reserve type service.

Darren


You used to be able to ring them and order stuff to pick up, and I have
done so a few times.

The service was withdrawn a while ago, and my local Trade Counter
(Luton) told me it was because there were too many instances of people
ordering stuff and not bothering to collect it.

They said it was still possible to ring and check the stock, but you'd
have to be lucky to actually get someone to answer the phone. Last time
I spoke to Yeovil, they said they weren't able to check branch stock
levels on their system.

The staffing levels can get a bit like Argos or your local bank at
times. I was in there during the week and there was only one till
manned. When the bloke went away to query something with his supervisor
I gave up and came home as the queue to order stuff was growing and
there were still several people waiting for orders to be filled.
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 20:55:44 +0000, Andy Hall wrote:

|!On 2007-02-10 20:25:31 +0000, Stuart B said:
|!
|! On 10 Feb 2007 20:10:03 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:
|!
|! On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:49:37 UTC, (dmc) wrote:
|!
|! Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped into
|! the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in Canterbury.
|!
|! Oooh...didn't know that! Mind, it's the 'wrong' side of the city for
|! me...
|!
|! Are these trade counters still easy to use if you're a general punter?
|! (I know you aren't a builder, Darren....)
|!
|! Disregard the TRADE name . It's like Argos .You fill in a wee slip
|! with the items you want and take it to the counter .they check if the
|! stuff is in stock first ( well the Glasgow one does) then you pay for
|! it and take the slip they give you and the stuff gets brought out and
|! they shout out your number . I've been in a couple of times and
|! everything I wanted was in stock .
|! Stuart
|!
|!It's actually worse than Argos (if that were possible).
|!
|!If this arrangement were set up properly, one would be able to order on
|!their web site
|!and collect from the trade counter without the hit and miss of whether
|!or not the items
|!are in stock.
|!
|!All in all, somewhat useless when it could easily be considerably better.

aol
I was also very disappointed with our local Screwfix trade counter.
I will stick to the sheds where I can see what I am buying.
/aol
---
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
20,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.org
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/
also PG Nos 2888, 3232, 17472, 17799

On Sat, 10 Feb 07 21:05:21 GMT, (dmc) wrote:

|!In article , Andy Hall wrote:
|!
|!It's actually worse than Argos (if that were possible).
|!
|!heh
|!
|!If this arrangement were set up properly, one would be able to order on
|!their web site and collect from the trade counter without the hit and
|!miss of whether or not the items are in stock.
|!
|!Yep. that would be perfect. They are obviously linked up somehow as they
|!knew my name from my postcode and my previous (online) orders.

No! the use a CDROM with all addresses in the UK on it.
My address on the CDROM has a parculiarity which allows me to spot where
they got it.
---
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
20,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.org
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/
also PG Nos 2888, 3232, 17472, 17799

On 2007-02-11 00:04:19 +0000, Peter Twydell said:

You used to be able to ring them and order stuff to pick up, and I have
done so a few times.

The service was withdrawn a while ago, and my local Trade Counter
(Luton) told me it was because there were too many instances of people
ordering stuff and not bothering to collect it.

Which is easily fixed by collecting payment at time of order. They
then pick and box the goods ready for collection when the customer
arrives



They said it was still possible to ring and check the stock, but you'd
have to be lucky to actually get someone to answer the phone. Last time
I spoke to Yeovil, they said they weren't able to check branch stock
levels on their system.

There are two concerns the

1) It's a lost business opportunity. I'm very unlikely to spend at
least 2 hour making a trek to the nearest of their counters to me on
the hope that they might have the things I want

2) How do they track what the branches have and therefore their
business position? Suggests manual intervention? Prone to error
and costly.




The staffing levels can get a bit like Argos

I haven't seen them wearing fake gold junk and Burberry, but I suppose
they may this on under their overalls.


or your local bank at times.

Hmm.... the only reason I ever go there is if I receive a cheque and
need to pay it in. I then ask the sender to make payments
electronically in the future.

I was in there during the week and there was only one till manned.
When the bloke went away to query something with his supervisor I gave
up and came home as the queue to order stuff was growing and there were
still several people waiting for orders to be filled.

Exactly. Similar experience. It will take a lot for me to want to
waste half a day with them again.

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:

|!Yep. that would be perfect. They are obviously linked up somehow as they
|!knew my name from my postcode and my previous (online) orders.

No! the use a CDROM with all addresses in the UK on it.
My address on the CDROM has a parculiarity which allows me to spot where
they got it.

No, I don't think so.

I gave him my surname and postcode - he said "Is that Darren?"

He also seemed to know I'd ordered with them before.

I never gave him my name - and even if he had a cdrom with all the names
and addresses on I'd not given him my house number and half of our
street share the postcode.

Darren

On Sun, 11 Feb 07 12:47:58 GMT, (dmc) wrote:

|!In article ,
|!Dave Fawthrop wrote:
|!
|!|!Yep. that would be perfect. They are obviously linked up somehow as they
|!|!knew my name from my postcode and my previous (online) orders.
|!
|!No! the use a CDROM with all addresses in the UK on it.
|!My address on the CDROM has a parculiarity which allows me to spot where
|!they got it.
|!
|!No, I don't think so.
|!
|!I gave him my surname and postcode - he said "Is that Darren?"
|!
|!He also seemed to know I'd ordered with them before.
|!
|!I never gave him my name - and even if he had a cdrom with all the names
|!and addresses on I'd not given him my house number and half of our
|!street share the postcode.

AFAIK the CDROM also has names and *definitely* other things attached to
house numbers. A shop which I have never had dealings with knows a lot
about me from postcode and house number.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
20,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.org
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/
http://www.gutenberg.org/author/John_Hartley
http://www.gutenberg.org/author/F_W_Moorman

On Sun, 11 Feb 07 12:47:58 GMT, dmc wrote:
In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:

|!Yep. that would be perfect. They are obviously linked up somehow as they
|!knew my name from my postcode and my previous (online) orders.

No! the use a CDROM with all addresses in the UK on it.
My address on the CDROM has a parculiarity which allows me to spot where
they got it.

No, I don't think so.

I gave him my surname and postcode - he said "Is that Darren?"

He also seemed to know I'd ordered with them before.

I never gave him my name - and even if he had a cdrom with all the names
and addresses on I'd not given him my house number and half of our
street share the postcode.

Darren

I assume he got this from your order history. Last time I was in an
outlet the guy behind the counter took the same info from me and then
told me how many catalogues/flyers they had sent me (IIRC it was over
60 in the past 5 years) as well as when my last order was. I don't
know if he was showing off or just bored.

Pete

--
.................................................. .........................
.. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
.. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
.. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................

On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 13:27:59 GMT, Peter Lynch wrote:

|!On Sun, 11 Feb 07 12:47:58 GMT, dmc wrote:
|! In article ,
|! Dave Fawthrop wrote:
|!
|!|!Yep. that would be perfect. They are obviously linked up somehow as they
|!|!knew my name from my postcode and my previous (online) orders.
|!
|!No! the use a CDROM with all addresses in the UK on it.
|!My address on the CDROM has a parculiarity which allows me to spot where
|!they got it.
|!
|! No, I don't think so.
|!
|! I gave him my surname and postcode - he said "Is that Darren?"
|!
|! He also seemed to know I'd ordered with them before.
|!
|! I never gave him my name - and even if he had a cdrom with all the names
|! and addresses on I'd not given him my house number and half of our
|! street share the postcode.
|!
|! Darren
|!
|!I assume he got this from your order history. Last time I was in an
|!outlet the guy behind the counter took the same info from me and then
|!told me how many catalogues/flyers they had sent me (IIRC it was over
|!60 in the past 5 years) as well as when my last order was. I don't
|!know if he was showing off or just bored.


Thanks for the warning, I often refuse to give my details using the excuse
that I get too much Junk Mail.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
20,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.org
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/
http://www.gutenberg.org/author/John_Hartley
http://www.gutenberg.org/author/F_W_Moorman

"Stuart B" wrote in message
...
On 10 Feb 2007 20:10:03 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:49:37 UTC, (dmc) wrote:

Had an hour to kill today waiting for my car to be finished so popped
into
the Screwfix trade counter that has just (yesterday) opened in
Canterbury.

Oooh...didn't know that! Mind, it's the 'wrong' side of the city for
me...

Are these trade counters still easy to use if you're a general punter?
(I know you aren't a builder, Darren....)

Disregard the TRADE name . It's like Argos .You fill in a wee slip
with the items you want and take it to the counter .they check if the
stuff is in stock first ( well the Glasgow one does) then you pay for
it and take the slip they give you and the stuff gets brought out and
they shout out your number . I've been in a couple of times and
everything I wanted was in stock .

But unlike Argos, they dont publisise the trade centers phone number so you
cant phone before hand and check on stock... (though the lads will happily
give you their number if you ask in the shop)

Tim.

"dmc" wrote in message ...
In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:

|!Yep. that would be perfect. They are obviously linked up somehow as they
|!knew my name from my postcode and my previous (online) orders.

No! the use a CDROM with all addresses in the UK on it.
My address on the CDROM has a parculiarity which allows me to spot where
they got it.

No, I don't think so.

I gave him my surname and postcode - he said "Is that Darren?"

He also seemed to know I'd ordered with them before.

I never gave him my name - and even if he had a cdrom with all the names
and addresses on I'd not given him my house number and half of our
street share the postcode.

If you have ordered via phone or internet before, all that info is available
to the guys in the Shops via the computer having given them your postcode.

Tim.
..

In article ,
Peter Lynch wrote:

I assume he got this from your order history. Last time I was in an
outlet the guy behind the counter took the same info from me and then
told me how many catalogues/flyers they had sent me

Quite. I'm pretty certain he had access to more than a cd of addresses and
names...

Darren

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:

Thanks for the warning, I often refuse to give my details using the excuse
that I get too much Junk Mail.

From personaly experience, I wouldn't worry too much about that with screwfix.
I find that if I don't order for a while then I start not getting the cataloges
just a leaflet telling me there is a new one and some offers/flier about new
ranges.

Seems a whole lot better than blindly sending out endless catalogues to be
thrown away and I don't really class this as junk mail (something which I
hate - both electronic and otherwise)

Darren

On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:48:37 +0000 Dave Fawthrop wrote :
No! the use a CDROM with all addresses in the UK on it.

Except mine (business): when I buy stuff at PC World and ask for a
VAT receipt they type in the office postcode and up pops a list of
all the businesses here ... except mine. We've only been here since
2002!

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk