waiting at merchants

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Puddle

Should there not be a public section and trade section down at the merchants, or a trade priority system, is not enough that many give the public the same prices we get without having to wait behind them as well
Went in this morning and had to wait behind a few sheeple asking ‘do you have one of those thingies that fit below water bowl thingy and yeh parts exactly the same as that but plastic bit at top is a different shade of mountain fresh blue and if I fit it and use it for 6 months and do not like them, can I bring them back
Think that’s why they have a coffee machine and a little crazy golf course and table top football,to parm us off for a while,much prefer to be served
Anyway was in a rush, so the counter assistant left the sheeple and served me with new push button siphon and went back to them and they were still rambling as if he had never been away!
 
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The two I use frequently serve trade before retail no matter who's waiting first and I've recently learned there are two trade prices. 1. When you first start (and public who ask) and a second lower one after you've spent a few grand which is worth quite a few bob.
 
Puddle,

Throw a few wobblies and tell them to get back where they belong, B&Q, and Wicks is the place for them, not a trade merchants

dontknowitall,

To right if you are prepared to spend a few grand with the merchants every month or so they should look after you

The thing that got right up my nose, was with Graham's in Liskeard, went in for a box of 15 mm tees, couplings etc,, I used to buy by the box or two box loads at a time, "we have a box sir, but we cannot sell you a full box", why not ?, "our stock holding is 2 boxes" well sell me the box then and reorder, "cannot do that we only reorder every two weeks"

The best crack they came out with, when I wanted to order a length of 108 mm copper tube, "they do not make copper tube that large" Oh yes they do, "no they don't", right "stuff you sales" then I will go to BSS/Manor in Plymouth
A couple of weeks later, after I had fabricated a 108 x 108 90° double branch, plus 5 other 42 mm branches, I took in an offcut of the tube, they looked at it turned it around all over as if it was a rare object, saying never seen this before, a load of ankers they were
 
I find it's other trades who are the worst - eg last week joiner modifying sink unit trying to describe problem wit pipework to assistant and asking him what he needs, and wanting to be told how to do it all, including sketches.

To be fair 108mm copper is very rare and personally I've never used it, even in my pipeline days. 54mm is as big as anyone has in copper on my rounds, and larger stuff is all in steel or plastic. I have a 3m length of 3" copper in my workshop I was given when I started up and it's never been touched. (offers anyone............?)
 
Right I will let you into the secret, 3 pieces of 15 mm copper tube 16 inches long flattened down will slide in side a 22 mm tube, carry on like this right up to 108 mm tube 8 pieces weighs the best part of a hundred weight

TW lost all the copper tube for the second stage of the development, before the first stage was finished

1970 the good old days, £10 a week wages with another £10 bonus for copper smith plumbers, plus what you could get on the side
 
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I HAVE FITTED LARGE BORE COPPER - OR SO I THOUGHT! 108mm! goodness me, why copper? ive fitted and welded and screwed and other techniques on steel and galvo but not copper.
did they do a spring for it?
 
My merchant only serves trade customers - Williams on the south coast. I used to go mad standing behind a DIYer at Grahams...
 
i dont, i think its a good laugh for the day listening to people who havnt a clue, then go home and try and fix what they had bought. if only i was a fly on the wall.

reminds me of the story on here before xmas,

the old boy at b&q, got to the counter with some bits that he forgot to buy the day before, he was saying to the tillier he bought a inderect cylinder yesterday to replace his 35 year old one and took him over 2 hours to remove the foam packaging.............
 
REDSAW34 said:
i dont, i think its a good laugh for the day listening to people who havnt a clue, then go home and try and fix what they had bought. if only i was a fly on the wall.

reminds me of the story on here before xmas,

the old boy at b&q, got to the counter with some bits that he forgot to buy the day before, he was saying to the tillier he bought a inderect cylinder yesterday to replace his 35 year old one and took him over 2 hours to remove the foam packaging.............
Click to expand...

good one that
 
my main merchant has a great system, if theres a load of sheep at the counter, pop round the counter and see your rep at his desk for service and coffee, the great british public dont like it but they have not got accounts so have to pay at a till lol

Screwfix have also got it right, some stores have their own plumbfix counter for the trade and you dont have to mix with the flock of sheep. Better still lol at those plumbers/builders who havent got the nouse to ask for a plumbfix account standing in line with the rest of the flock.
 
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fuzzy said:
I HAVE FITTED LARGE BORE COPPER - OR SO I THOUGHT! 108mm! goodness me, why copper? ive fitted and welded and screwed and other techniques on steel and galvo but not copper.
did they do a spring for it?
Click to expand...


Believe it or not a soil stack in my house I was building, I wanted a corner branch to pick up 2 W/C's, and Grahams in Liskeard wanted the best part of 40 quid for just one branch, "special order and its got to be made, 3 months wait", they only stocked Key Terrain

It was sight easier to buy a 6 mtr length of 108 mm table X, I think the hard thinner walled tube, think that it cost around £45 / £50, only took a couple of hours to knock up the two 108 branches, plus quarter of an hour to knock up each 42 mm branch

I have seen a 108 mm/4" spring used, stupid burr gers did not anneal the copper tube first and they used a hydraulic bender, in one go so the bend came out rippled to hell and back

Glaxo's at Barnard Castle laboratories was all copper wastes, hand knocked up and hard soldered, the Barbican used a fair bit of copper, so did the luxuary block of flats next to Madam Tausauds, this was all copper, soils, wastes, rainwater plus the services, with 150 mm headers for the cold water tanks, the Old Bailey had 108 mm copper tube with lose flanges the internal part of the flange was Spelter braized
 
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