Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but
self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

--
*Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let him sleep.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:35:30 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but
self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

A lot of their stuff is a total rip off. Homebase seem the worst for
overcharging though.

Although they have a more limited stock the quality and price of the
stuff at Wickes isn't bad.

Industrial suppliers are best generally, and they will adjust their
prices when mutually beneficial.

Having said that, Homebase do on occasions come out with ridiculous
offers. These are restricted to a few branches and come out of the
blue. Over the last year I have bought a jigsaw, lighting equipment
and loft insulation at a fraction of their normal retail price.

All are short term and dictated by "head office".

Maybe there is a method to their madness though, as the opportunity
for a bargain keeps me dropping in and I always end up coming out with
some grossly overpriced trinket.

Come to think of it that sums up my shopping technique with Aldi and
Lidl too.

Perhaps it's a tools/ hardware thing.

Oh BTW

Try tap washers and superglue. This has the advantage that the amp now
contains a source of plumbing consumbles [as long as you dont overdo
the superglue]

HN

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber
feet was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like
a small seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had,
but self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of
plastic. Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days -
relying on a fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

There is a lot of things that annoy me about B&Q. At one time they sold
electrical cable off the roll. Now they just sell rolls at fixed lengths
which usually means having to buy far more than you actually need.

--
Triff

On 26/03/2011 08:09, Triffid wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber
feet was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like
a small seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had,
but self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of
plastic. Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days -
relying on a fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

There is a lot of things that annoy me about B&Q. At one time they sold
electrical cable off the roll. Now they just sell rolls at fixed lengths
which usually means having to buy far more than you actually need.

TLC will sell cut lengths of cable - and its cheaper than B&Q.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but
self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

--
*Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let him sleep.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.



B&Q 6 x 20 cross dowel £7.68 for 5 - £1.53 each

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.js...sSearch =true

http://tinyurl.com/6jx3p34




Screwfix 6 x 20 cross dowel £4.69 (1-5) for 50 - 9p each

http://beta.screwfix.com/p/cross-dow...ck-of-50/22009

17 times as much


From emeory up until recently the screwfix dowels were around £2.80 for 50


michael adams

....

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:17:52 +0000, michael adams wrote:

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had,
but self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

B&Q 6 x 20 cross dowel £7.68 for 5 - £1.53 each

Screwfix 6 x 20 cross dowel £4.69 (1-5) for 50 - 9p each

(factor of 17)

I wanted some of those pressed metal picture hooks (where the little nail
goes through two sides of a triangle at the top). In an 'antique' shade,
because I wanted them to blend in (only used occasionally).

B&Q - £7.68 for 10.

Local hardware shop - £0.45 for 10.

Same factor of 17!




--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 26/03/2011 11:17, michael adams wrote:
"Dave Plowman wrote in message
...
Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but
self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

--
*Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let him sleep.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.



B&Q 6 x 20 cross dowel £7.68 for 5 - £1.53 each

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.js...sSearch =true

http://tinyurl.com/6jx3p34




Screwfix 6 x 20 cross dowel £4.69 (1-5) for 50 - 9p each

http://beta.screwfix.com/p/cross-dow...ck-of-50/22009

17 times as much


From emeory up until recently the screwfix dowels were around £2.80 for 50


michael adams

...





Screwfix and B&Q are both owned by Kingfisher. Screwfix tends to be
cheaper but there are exceptions

"H. Neary" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:35:30 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but
self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

A lot of their stuff is a total rip off. Homebase seem the worst for
overcharging though.

Although they have a more limited stock the quality and price of the
stuff at Wickes isn't bad.


Their stablemate is Focus DIY and I have seen some of Wickes prices in
there. They also do a nice discount card for those over a certain age.
--
Tinkerer

On 26/03/2011 00:49, H. Neary wrote:
On Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:35:30 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but
self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

A lot of their stuff is a total rip off. Homebase seem the worst for
overcharging though.

Couldn't agree more. Total rip off prices.

Although they have a more limited stock the quality and price of the
stuff at Wickes isn't bad.

A bit better, but nowhere near the internet sellers. Now Toolstation
will deliver over £10 free I buy loads from them.

The B&Q Tradepoint Card baffles me. I have 2 B&Q normal stores & a
massive B&Q depot in the area. The 2 small B&Q's accept the Tradepoint
card & sometimes I get a discount, other times not.

It depends on whether or not the item is on the Tradepoint catalogue or
not, but there is no indication of the shelves as to which is & which isn't.

Bit of a lottery.

Wanted a tube of white silicone t'other day, they had 3 makes all at
silly prices. Had to find a Tradepoint catalouge & look to see which
was in there.

Had a chat with the store manager & I'm not alone. He has had loads of
similar questions and wants the price label to have a TP symbol on it,
but his area manager says it won't happen.




--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In article ,
Gareth wrote:

On 25/03/2011 23:35, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but
self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.


Maplin have stick-on feet for 1.09 for four. Still a lot for a little
bit of rubber but a lot better than 3.68.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/stick-on-feet-1840

I've actually got lots of stick on ones - but they have a habit of coming
off. ;-)

Got some 'chair buffers' in Homebase for a more reasonable 1.49 for four
including self tappers.

--
*The statement above is false

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Mar 26, 2:23 pm, The Medway Handyman
wrote:
On 26/03/2011 00:49, H. Neary wrote:



On Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:35:30 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but
self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

I didn't buy them.

A lot of their stuff is a total rip off. Homebase seem the worst for
overcharging though.

Couldn't agree more. Total rip off prices.



Although they have a more limited stock the quality and price of the
stuff at Wickes isn't bad.

A bit better, but nowhere near the internet sellers. Now Toolstation
will deliver over 10 free I buy loads from them.

The B&Q Tradepoint Card baffles me. I have 2 B&Q normal stores & a
massive B&Q depot in the area. The 2 small B&Q's accept the Tradepoint
card & sometimes I get a discount, other times not.

It depends on whether or not the item is on the Tradepoint catalogue or
not, but there is no indication of the shelves as to which is & which isn't.

Bit of a lottery.

Wanted a tube of white silicone t'other day, they had 3 makes all at
silly prices. Had to find a Tradepoint catalouge & look to see which
was in there.

Had a chat with the store manager & I'm not alone. He has had loads of
similar questions and wants the price label to have a TP symbol on it,
but his area manager says it won't happen.

course if (t)he(y) really wanted the pro business he would get a drone
to go round the store with a green felt tip and mark the more popular
products' shelf edge tickets to indicate a Trade Point to "those in
the know".... 1/2 a day should do it enough to make it work??

Jim K

On 26 Mar 2011 11:43:03 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:17:52 +0000, michael adams wrote:

So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had,
but self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic.
Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a
fair pricing policy?

B&Q 6 x 20 cross dowel £7.68 for 5 - £1.53 each

Screwfix 6 x 20 cross dowel £4.69 (1-5) for 50 - 9p each

(factor of 17)

I wanted some of those pressed metal picture hooks (where the little nail
goes through two sides of a triangle at the top). In an 'antique' shade,
because I wanted them to blend in (only used occasionally).

B&Q - £7.68 for 10.

Local hardware shop - £0.45 for 10.

Same factor of 17!

When I wanted some door stops SF was much less than B&Q but I didn't want 50
and SF's are hard plastic and B%Q'a are rubber. Paid about 60% of SF's price
for 6 stops but got what I wanted (and didn't have to find a use for 44 door
stops!).
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

On Mar 26, 4:52*pm, PeterC wrote:

When I wanted some door stops SF was much less than B&Q but I didn't want 50
and SF's are hard plastic and B%Q'a are rubber. Paid about 60% of SF's price
for 6 stops but got what I wanted (and didn't have to find a use for 44 door
stops!).

And if you had gone to Toolstation you'd have got something even
rougher for a bit less.

Toolstation IMHO has a clear strategy of going for two audiences. One
is brand names (amongst it some very high quality stuff) at a decent
but not exceptional discount. I'll buy that stuff from them.

Then there's the rest, all of which seems to be aimed at meeting a
price point which is lower than elsewhere. I've tried that a few
times but its always been well...

Screwfix's prices have gone north, and on a lot of things is absurd,
but their own-brand quality seems a lot better to me.

On 26/03/2011 23:35, Bolted wrote:
On Mar 26, 4:52 pm, wrote:

When I wanted some door stops SF was much less than B&Q but I didn't want 50
and SF's are hard plastic and B%Q'a are rubber. Paid about 60% of SF's price
for 6 stops but got what I wanted (and didn't have to find a use for 44 door
stops!).

And if you had gone to Toolstation you'd have got something even
rougher for a bit less.

Toolstation IMHO has a clear strategy of going for two audiences. One
is brand names (amongst it some very high quality stuff) at a decent
but not exceptional discount. I'll buy that stuff from them.

Then there's the rest, all of which seems to be aimed at meeting a
price point which is lower than elsewhere. I've tried that a few
times but its always been well...

I'd agree some of the stuff is dodgy, mainly the 'Silverline' brand -
there seems to be some connection?

Overall, I'm more than happy with Toolstation.

Screwfix's prices have gone north, and on a lot of things is absurd,
but their own-brand quality seems a lot better to me.

Certainly agree on the prices, but still much cheaper than
B&Q/Wickes/Homobase.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Mar 27, 12:02*am, The Medway Handyman
wrote:
On 26/03/2011 23:35, Bolted wrote:



On Mar 26, 4:52 pm, *wrote:

When I wanted some door stops SF was much less than B&Q but I didn't want 50
and SF's are hard plastic and B%Q'a are rubber. Paid about 60% of SF's price
for 6 stops but got what I wanted (and didn't have to find a use for 44 door
stops!).

And if you had gone to Toolstation you'd have got something even
rougher for a bit less.

Toolstation IMHO has a clear strategy of going for two audiences. *One
is brand names (amongst it some very high quality stuff) at a decent
but not exceptional discount. *I'll buy that stuff from them.

Then there's the rest, all of which seems to be aimed at meeting a
price point which is lower than elsewhere. *I've tried that a few
times but its always been well...

I'd agree some of the stuff is dodgy, mainly the 'Silverline' brand -
there seems to be some connection?

Most of the cheap stuff I've had is Silverline. No problems with any
of it yet.
Simon.

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Then there's the rest, all of which seems to be aimed at meeting a
price point which is lower than elsewhere. I've tried that a few
times but its always been well...

I'd agree some of the stuff is dodgy, mainly the 'Silverline' brand -
there seems to be some connection?

Silverline are independent (of Toolstation) I think, they have their
own web site and quite a few dealers sell their stuff. I think
they're basically just importers of the standard Chinese stuff that
becomes all of the cheap brand names like Challenge (Argos), etc.

I have some Silverline tools and they're OK, e.g. their 2kw hot air
gun works fine (not much to be wrong about something like this I
guess).

--
Chris Green

In article ,
says...
There is a lot of things that annoy me about B&Q. At one time they sold
electrical cable off the roll. Now they just sell rolls at fixed lengths
which usually means having to buy far more than you actually need.

TLC will sell cut lengths of cable - and its cheaper than B&Q.


Wilkinsons are slowly sliding downhill towards being Woolworths - and
sadly they'll probably suffer the same fate as a result.

In the meantime, however, they still sell cut cable.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

In article ,
tony sayer wrote:
Conclude with that. The few times I've been to tool station I've been
pleasantly surprised at how cheap they are whereas Screwfix seems to my
mind means lets see if we can screw you;!.. Don't go there anymore as I
don't also like there catalogue look up and queue for your stuff
either!..

What they need is online order and collect at the branch.

--
*42.7% of statistics are made up. Sorry, that should read 47.2% *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article
s.com, Bolted scribeth thus
On Mar 26, 4:52*pm, PeterC wrote:

When I wanted some door stops SF was much less than B&Q but I didn't want 50
and SF's are hard plastic and B%Q'a are rubber. Paid about 60% of SF's price
for 6 stops but got what I wanted (and didn't have to find a use for 44 door
stops!).

And if you had gone to Toolstation you'd have got something even
rougher for a bit less.

Toolstation IMHO has a clear strategy of going for two audiences. One
is brand names (amongst it some very high quality stuff) at a decent
but not exceptional discount. I'll buy that stuff from them.

Then there's the rest, all of which seems to be aimed at meeting a
price point which is lower than elsewhere. I've tried that a few
times but its always been well...

Screwfix's prices have gone north, and on a lot of things is absurd,
but their own-brand quality seems a lot better to me.

Conclude with that. The few times I've been to tool station I've been
pleasantly surprised at how cheap they are whereas Screwfix seems to my
mind means lets see if we can screw you;!.. Don't go there anymore as I
don't also like there catalogue look up and queue for your stuff
either!..
--
Tony Sayer

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:36:55 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What they need is online order and collect at the branch.

Toolstation? You can *but* it's not a "live" system. ie you can't do
an online order then drop down to the local branch an hour or so
later and collect. The order is made up centrally then sent to the
local branch for you to collect the next (working) day. Pretty sure
that is what they did have...

Looks in latest catalog (39 - Apr '11) if you login to their site you
can check stock at any branch, via the basket, wether you can send
the basket to the local branch for picking before you arrive I donno.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Mar 26, 3:23*pm, The Medway Handyman
wrote:

A bit better, but nowhere near the internet sellers. *Now Toolstation
will deliver over 10 free I buy loads from them.


I went to get some 100mm ducting. £1.68 for a piece of white plastic
pipe. The shop was out, so they said they could order it and I could
pick it up tomorrow. Fine.

The next day, the pipe turned up at my house. I don't know how much
they pay UPS for delivery, but they must have spent nearly £1.68 on
the cardboard + sticky tape!

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:11:36 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:36:55 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What they need is online order and collect at the branch.

Toolstation? You can *but* it's not a "live" system. ie you can't do
an online order then drop down to the local branch an hour or so
later and collect. The order is made up centrally then sent to the
local branch for you to collect the next (working) day. Pretty sure
that is what they did have...

Looks in latest catalog (39 - Apr '11) if you login to their site you
can check stock at any branch, via the basket, wether you can send
the basket to the local branch for picking before you arrive I donno.

Toolstation already have (had?) that, although it isn't sent to the
branch for pre-picking.

Last summer I just filled my basket online, selected collect from
local branch and it gave me a five or six character code at the top of
a list of bits I had ordered, I called at a branch a couple of hours
later, they keyed the code into the counter terminal and it printed
them a picking list with all the shelf locations.

All my details were on the screen, all they needed was payment.


--

On Mar 27, 1:36*pm, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
[Screwfix]

What they need is online order and collect at the branch.

Yeah that'd be good. They do offer a 'call and collect' over the phone
which whilst a bit of a pain reading the codes out etc it does allow
me to avoid the all-too-common situation of them being out of stock of
the most wanted item on my list, as long as I phone the day before I'm
going to collect.

Mathew

In message , Tinkerer
writes

"H. Neary" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:35:30 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet
was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small
seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.

Not an Armstrong 521 by any chance?
--
James Noble

Dave Liquorice wrote:

Toolstation?

I hadn't noticed until today that there is a Toolstation near me (can't
have been open long it still looks pretty new inside).

Industrial estate locationm, so light traffic around it at weekend
Parking within feet of the door
Sells what you want, rather than what they think you'll buy instead
Actually have stuff in stock
Served within seconds
No milling hordes clogging the place up
Decent prices

What a difference from the DIY sheds! Certainly will be my first port of
call from now on for anything in their catalogue ...