B & Q - Trade point

[Deleted member 174758]

From my looking at CLS, MDF, T&G flooring, etc. they come out ahead of Wickes when you factor in delivery and the fact that hey can and will cut sheeting for you.

Delivered to site for free starting at £250 incl VAT can't be bad when Wickes want £30 or so, an extra 12% or thereabouts. Wickes won't cut either.

Obviously you've never tried getting B&Q to cut parallel rips of MDF for you. They seem incapable of making the same cut twice despite £20ks worth of Striebig wall saw in my local branch. My local timber merchant can do the job on a 20 year old wall saw (which came out of a B&Q shop, too) and is cheaper to boot.

About the only plus is that for out of hours Trade Point is cheaper for timber/sheet stock than buying retail in B&Q. So I have a card, but I don't use it all that much.

I use Oldham and Bury branches which have the proper TradePoint service (i.e. with stock) rather than the "order Point" version at other branches round here. Wait till tomorrow? Sorry, but I'm off to Tool Station or Screwfix

 

[Whitespirit66]

Does anyone still go to Wickes? Always seems empty on my occasional visits.

Plumbing stuff, especially fittings, seems very expensive.

 

[seasickstevie]

I always feel a bit sorry for Wickes.
Must be a reason for it, but B&Q car park is half full, and Wickes directly opposite will have one car in it. And that's probably a member of staff!

 

[iaith]

My local wickes has a beat any price by 10% policy. not a lot of people know about it. I've gone in with my tradepoint, screwfix, and toolstation catalogues and made some great savings.

 

[dave1953]

Whoever designed the trade point checkouts wants dragging through them by their "nads" My local Poole branch is a total joke, 2 large trollies and it's blocked, no-one can get in or out, hopeless crew! Toolstation/Screwfix for me!

 

[GraftingTerry]

Thanks for that Iaith, good to know!

 

[Pedrovr4]

Scewfix is much more efficient. It takes them a lot less time to tell you that what you want is out of stock.

Had to laugh at this post!!!- So true.
Their the same company ....Kingfisher..... That explains it!! lol

 

[sydneyshaw]

The 10% off jargon i think is a massive swiz.

Why should we, the customer, have to do the merchants and retailers jobs for them. If they want to be the cheapest then they should do there homework and make sure they are the cheapest.

If they can beat any like for like price then its an absolute con not to do it in the first place. I beleive in the smaller stores and merchants, these outfits often have staff in that know what they are talking about and the gaffs/owner generally cares more because its there reputation and business at the end of the day.

If a tradesman does a bad job then its there reputation sam applies for the smaller shops.

 

[seasickstevie]

Would be interesting to know how any outlet can be sure to always be cheaper than everyone else. I would think it not possible, as there's nothing to stop a rival shed or b'merchant altering their price on a whim without any notification.
How can shed A know at any time of the day what shed B is charging for literally thousands of items in it's store. Just can't be done.

And it's all right saying patronise the independents. The fact is some of the sheds have immense buying power, and often off-load stuff that doesn't shift at less than cost price. Or even as loss-leaders.
And if you've got materials left over from a job, you can take it back (as long as in new condition etc.) for a full refund.

Try doing that in a builders' merchant unless you've got special arrangement, or a very good customer with big turnover.

And another thing. The staff in half the independents I can think of are miserable b---ards

Went to a local independent last day before Christmas, and a member of staff verbally assaulted me 'cause he didn't like the way I drove into the car park!
Can't imagine that happening in B&Q.

 

[beezo]

I got told by another guy in the trade about this last week, that when using the trade point, somethings work out more expensive!!
I thought surely not and after speaking with him, I left thinking surely he must be wrong. after reading this, he was obviously very right

can believe they can add vat on to the self price because your buying through the trade card. Even though the dosy cow said that you can claim the vat back (providing you are vat registered), its still cheaper to buy it off the self and then claim the vat back rather than paying shelf price plus another 20% or what ever it is

absolute joke. i will be making sure i check my reciepts from now on

 

[pls1]

What is the discount they actually offer? This is what I find confusing and their website doesn't clarify it either.
Is it only on building materials? Does the discount vary depending on what you are buying?

 

[streetlighter]

I have the card and get no discount on electrical fittings from the normal shelf price, yet when buying plumbing fittings like speed fit I got a massive discount ! Yet I'm registered as an electrical contractor madness.

 

[McHaleBuildingServices]

trade point just seems to be getting more expensive every time I go when I first got the card the kitchens had massive savings on them but now they have gone up price by a good amount
same as the hand tools the stuff out in the store you save only a few pennies on I bought a router and only saved 1p from the off the shelf price and any offers they have in the book they dont have in store and they always answer the same "its a discontinued product" even though its the new edition just out!

 

[Builderspace]

You lot obviously just don't understand how it works, it's not really that difficult to understand, I think a chimp could manage it. the book has stuff from the store and behind the counter, the stuff in store has some
Discounted products like building materials/timber which is in the book clearly
Priced, yes you add your VAT on but it is the same price or cheaper. stuff like plumbing or electrical is behind the counter at trade only prices so if u pick it from the store it won't be discounted because it has a different barcode even though it looks the same SIMPLE. And this thing with adding VAT onto the store shelf price is false, the person who told you was obviously thick. you need to know how to work the system, but some things from behind the counter at trade only Prices and the stuff from the store that isn't Discounted go with a pensioner On a Wednesday and get 10% of everything.

 

[dmplastering]

Got 25% (£10) off a hop-up the other day. Bargain