Had a job booked in today, house divided into 3 flats. One of the tenants
has complained that another has stolen his mail, so the (remote) landlord
asked me to fit 3 exterior mailboxes.

The landlord obviously wanted each mailbox keyed individually, so he gave me
three Argos catalogue numbers for three entirely different mailboxes.

Didn't have time to get to Argos earlier & typically one box was
discontinued, one was out of stock & one had a changed part number.

Finally managed to sort this out & bought three mailboxes each completely
different from each other. Different price, shape, size, finish.

Having been caught out by Argos before, I unpacked each one in the van
before I drove away to check for missing bits.

Unbelievable. Any of the keys would open any mailbox.

Identity theft? Easy! If your chosen victim has an Argos mailbox. No
security whatsoever.

Are these people completely thick?

Local security centre solved the problem. Three identical mailboxes all
with completely different keys.

Don't buy an Argos mailbox if you want any privacy.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On 2008-02-18 22:53:45 +0000, "The Medway Handyman"
said:


Are these people completely thick?

Yes. It's in order to match their customer base.


Local security centre solved the problem. Three identical mailboxes all
with completely different keys.

Which is why it almost always makes sense to go to the place that has a
focus on what you are intending to do.



Don't buy an Argos mailbox if you want any privacy.

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-02-18 22:53:45 +0000, "The Medway Handyman"
said:


Are these people completely thick?

Yes. It's in order to match their customer base.


Local security centre solved the problem. Three identical mailboxes all
with completely different keys.

Which is why it almost always makes sense to go to the place that has a
focus on what you are intending to do.



Don't buy an Argos mailbox if you want any privacy.

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.


Not usually one to stick up for Argos, (I hate the place and we are just
getting a new Argos Extra - whoopee), I have to admit to relative
approval yesterday. Did anyone else see Watchdog? (Yes - I know, the
program that seems to spend most of the time promoting itself.) They
covered some horrendous skin rashes seemingly caused by sofas made by
one company in China. Of the three suppliers I can remember, World of
Leather and Walmsleys seemed to not give a damn wheras Argos has done
something about informing all customers and replacing sofas.

Credit where credit is due.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/consumer_goods/consumer_20080218.shtml

--
Rod

"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:47ba4b2e@qaanaaq...
On 2008-02-18 22:53:45 +0000, "The Medway Handyman"
said:


Are these people completely thick?

Yes. It's in order to match their customer base.


Local security centre solved the problem. Three identical mailboxes all
with completely different keys.

Which is why it almost always makes sense to go to the place that has a
focus on what you are intending to do.



Don't buy an Argos mailbox if you want any privacy.

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Nothing wrong with Argos, I frequently shop there. An Argos mailbox having
an entirely unsecure lock is not at all unbelievable though, I agree - can't
imagine why the TMH would have expected anything else!


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. ..
Had a job booked in today, house divided into 3 flats. One of the tenants
has complained that another has stolen his mail, so the (remote) landlord
asked me to fit 3 exterior mailboxes.

The landlord obviously wanted each mailbox keyed individually, so he gave
me three Argos catalogue numbers for three entirely different mailboxes.

Didn't have time to get to Argos earlier & typically one box was
discontinued, one was out of stock & one had a changed part number.

Finally managed to sort this out & bought three mailboxes each completely
different from each other. Different price, shape, size, finish.

Having been caught out by Argos before, I unpacked each one in the van
before I drove away to check for missing bits.

Unbelievable. Any of the keys would open any mailbox.

Identity theft? Easy! If your chosen victim has an Argos mailbox. No
security whatsoever.

Are these people completely thick?

I suppose it rather depends on what they see the pupropse of the lock being.
A keyed-alike system will prevent access from the causal, curious passer-by,
which may be all they expect. It also has some stocking advantages to them
and would allow them to provide spare keys easily, were they minded to do
so. They should, however, advertise the boxes as keyed-alike.

In France, you have to have a mailbox on the perimeter of the property, so
even the ones you buy in a shed have a high-security lock.

Local security centre solved the problem. Three identical mailboxes all
with completely different keys.

I would have gone to a locksmith to start with.

Colin Bignell

"Bob Mannix" wrote in message
...
"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:47ba4b2e@qaanaaq...
On 2008-02-18 22:53:45 +0000, "The Medway Handyman"
said:


Are these people completely thick?

Yes. It's in order to match their customer base.


Local security centre solved the problem. Three identical mailboxes all
with completely different keys.

Which is why it almost always makes sense to go to the place that has a
focus on what you are intending to do.



Don't buy an Argos mailbox if you want any privacy.

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Nothing wrong with Argos, I frequently shop there. An Argos mailbox having
an entirely unsecure lock is not at all unbelievable though, I agree -
can't imagine why the TMH would have expected anything else!


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)



No one in their right mind could expect Argos to be responsible for the
locks that they put onto the boxes or anything else. They boxes and other
goods are sourced by Argos from manufacturing companies who in order to keep
the price down often use the same components.
James

On 19/02/2008 03:21 Andy Hall wrote:

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Why not? A simple problem with keys and mailboxes shouldn't be enough to
damn them out of hand.

I've bought lots of things from Argos over the years. Quick and pleasant
service, decent prices, good quality goods and on the odd occasion I've
had to take something back (usually because it turned out to be not
quite what I wanted - ie my fault) they've given me a full refund with
no questions asked.

--
F

(Beware of spam trap - remove the negative)

In France, you have to have a mailbox on the perimeter of the property, so
even the ones you buy in a shed have a high-security lock.


Despite this the postman has a special master key that
opens all mail boxes so he can put small parcels in that
are too big to go through the slot. I can't help wondering
how freely available such a master key is. A crooks
delight.
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message


Don't buy an Argos mailbox if you want any privacy.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257




Righto,however I'd find it a bit cramped doing it in a mailbox.

Bob Mannix wrote:
"Andy Hall" wrote in message
news:47ba4b2e@qaanaaq...
On 2008-02-18 22:53:45 +0000, "The Medway Handyman"
said:


Are these people completely thick?

Yes. It's in order to match their customer base.


Local security centre solved the problem. Three identical
mailboxes all with completely different keys.

Which is why it almost always makes sense to go to the place that
has a focus on what you are intending to do.



Don't buy an Argos mailbox if you want any privacy.

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Nothing wrong with Argos, I frequently shop there. An Argos mailbox
having an entirely unsecure lock is not at all unbelievable though, I
agree - can't imagine why the TMH would have expected anything else!

I'm just gullible Bob :-)


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . ..
Had a job booked in today, house divided into 3 flats. One of the
tenants has complained that another has stolen his mail, so the
(remote) landlord asked me to fit 3 exterior mailboxes.

The landlord obviously wanted each mailbox keyed individually, so he
gave me three Argos catalogue numbers for three entirely different
mailboxes. Didn't have time to get to Argos earlier & typically one box
was
discontinued, one was out of stock & one had a changed part number.

Finally managed to sort this out & bought three mailboxes each
completely different from each other. Different price, shape, size,
finish. Having been caught out by Argos before, I unpacked each one in
the
van before I drove away to check for missing bits.

Unbelievable. Any of the keys would open any mailbox.

Identity theft? Easy! If your chosen victim has an Argos mailbox. No
security whatsoever.

Are these people completely thick?

I suppose it rather depends on what they see the pupropse of the lock
being. A keyed-alike system will prevent access from the causal,
curious passer-by, which may be all they expect. It also has some
stocking advantages to them and would allow them to provide spare
keys easily, were they minded to do so. They should, however,
advertise the boxes as keyed-alike.
In France, you have to have a mailbox on the perimeter of the
property, so even the ones you buy in a shed have a high-security
lock.
Local security centre solved the problem. Three identical mailboxes
all with completely different keys.

I would have gone to a locksmith to start with.

I will next time.



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On 2008-02-19 11:46:12 +0000, F said:

On 19/02/2008 03:21 Andy Hall wrote:

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Why not?

Zero value over and above ordering the items from a web site.


A simple problem with keys and mailboxes shouldn't be enough to damn
them out of hand.

I've bought lots of things from Argos over the years. Quick and
pleasant service, decent prices, good quality goods and on the odd
occasion I've had to take something back (usually because it turned out
to be not quite what I wanted - ie my fault) they've given me a full
refund with no questions asked.

Bad experiences on all of those points.

On 2008-02-19 11:46:12 +0000, F said:

On 19/02/2008 03:21 Andy Hall wrote:

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Why not?

Zero value over and above ordering the items from a web site.


A simple problem with keys and mailboxes shouldn't be enough to damn
them out of hand.

I've bought lots of things from Argos over the years. Quick and
pleasant service, decent prices, good quality goods and on the odd
occasion I've had to take something back (usually because it turned out
to be not quite what I wanted - ie my fault) they've given me a full
refund with no questions asked.

Bad experiences on all of those points.

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:21:08 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

On 2008-02-19 11:46:12 +0000, F said:

On 19/02/2008 03:21 Andy Hall wrote:

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Why not?

Zero value over and above ordering the items from a web site.

Not exactly; if you can get goods 'over the counter' there's the
advantage of not having to wait for a delivery.

Admittedly Argos does have a bit of a 'chav' image - people hanging
around waiting for their 'number' to be called, but I suppose it's not
much different to Screwfix :-)

A while ago I bought a TomTom thingie from Argos. After a short time
the carrying case stitching failed and I had no bother whatever having
the whole kit & caboodle replaced with no paperwork or questions asked
(as is only right). There wasn't the hassle of having to parcel up and
post the machine to some vague destination...

--
Frank Erskine

In message , Frank Erskine
writes
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:21:08 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

On 2008-02-19 11:46:12 +0000, F said:

On 19/02/2008 03:21 Andy Hall wrote:

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Why not?

Zero value over and above ordering the items from a web site.

Not exactly; if you can get goods 'over the counter' there's the
advantage of not having to wait for a delivery.

Yup, and prices can be better than websites. I also like being able to
look things up and reserve online, knowing they have just what I want
and just have to pick it up.


A while ago I bought a TomTom thingie from Argos. After a short time
the carrying case stitching failed and I had no bother whatever having
the whole kit & caboodle replaced with no paperwork or questions asked
(as is only right). There wasn't the hassle of having to parcel up and
post the machine to some vague destination...

My returns experience to argos has also been similarly good.

Yes some of the stuff they sell is a bit rubbish, but that goes for lots
of places. But mostly they sell branded stuff it seems and you pretty
much know what to expect.
--
Chris French

On 2008-02-20 09:52:08 +0000, chris French
said:

In message , Frank Erskine
writes
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:21:08 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

On 2008-02-19 11:46:12 +0000, F said:

On 19/02/2008 03:21 Andy Hall wrote:

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Why not?

Zero value over and above ordering the items from a web site.

Not exactly; if you can get goods 'over the counter' there's the
advantage of not having to wait for a delivery.

Yup, and prices can be better than websites. I also like being able to
look things up and reserve online, knowing they have just what I want
and just have to pick it up.

Been there, tried that and they didn't. No apology or compensation

Similar issue with M&S and received both

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:27:46 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

On 2008-02-20 09:52:08 +0000, chris French
said:

In message , Frank Erskine
writes
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:21:08 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

On 2008-02-19 11:46:12 +0000, F said:

On 19/02/2008 03:21 Andy Hall wrote:

Better still, don't buy anything from Argos.

Why not?

Zero value over and above ordering the items from a web site.

Not exactly; if you can get goods 'over the counter' there's the
advantage of not having to wait for a delivery.

Yup, and prices can be better than websites. I also like being able to
look things up and reserve online, knowing they have just what I want
and just have to pick it up.

Been there, tried that and they didn't. No apology or compensation

Perhaps it's you, then, Andy...

--
Frank Erskine

On 2008-02-21 01:19:44 +0000, Frank Erskine
said:

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:27:46 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

Been there, tried that and they didn't. No apology or compensation

Perhaps it's you, then, Andy...

That could be.

However, the difference is the outcome.

I will buy from M&S in the future. I will not buy from Argos.

There is no excuse for bad service, regardless of the price.