The... Er... Um ...brigade At The Trade Counter .

[Evans Electric]

I see more & more of these guys lately .......  you walk into the wholesalers , theres a couple of guys before you ..... you soon realise that they are making it up as they go ...and the last encounter went something like this.

First guy;              Erm...I think we need some more moulded boxes

His mate:               Um...I think you're right 

Counterman;         Twins or singles ?

Guy;                      Erm  ..I think we want both

Mate;                     Ah  we do . 

Counterman ;        OK  10 of each ?

Guy;                      Oh ...erm... well theres only four singles ...so ...erm...  what do you think ?

Mate;                     Yeah theres only 4 singles 

Counterman ( with sidelong glance at me)      OK   then 4 single moulded boxes ..& how many twins ?

Guy ;                     Well we need 8 but I don't know whether to have a pack of 10 .

Mate ;                    Have the 10 ...we might break one .

Guy ;                     Yeah  but ...erm.... I'll just have nine I think ...no we'll have ten .

                                                            Pause .

Counteman scuttles off & returns with boxes.

Guy ;                      Now we'll need sockets

Counterman gives me another sidelong glance  and it starts all over  as I see my day slipping away from me .

Edit;     Where did those emotion faces come from ?

 

[Blue Duck]

so It was you standing behind me!

:slap

I order most things online, only go into wholesaler for odds n sods but inevitably end up behind someone doing a shed ordering one thing at a time! headbang

 

[kerching]

Possibly in a new van, all tools by Forge Steel, logos forever?

I now have a policy of NEVER entering into a conversation...unless it is about the weather or J Savile.

I NEVER offer advice or "my opinion"

Best piece of advice when i was an Apprentice ( apart from the 'always treat it like it is wick, even if it aint, as one day it will be.....!)

"Stay as numb as you can, for as long as you can"

Just advising

 

[Andy™]

i get just about everything online... usually much cheaper than getting locally, even if i do have to pay a delivery charge

 

[Evans Electric]

OK  I have a bit more time these days but generally it goes like this :-

Customer phones or emails , quote accepted please do the job .

Dig out quote , make list of materials , email it to Denmans,  phone to make sure they see it .  Anything that needs ordering in , carry on .

Call at branch , box of stuff awaits .

Or day to day stuff ...............sit in van , go over job with whats left of mind , make list , hand list to counterman ,ignore usual insults , drink proffered cuppa  , bear goods off into the sunset .

 

[Blue Duck]

Don't the wholesalers have a buy and queue brigade button on the computers?

 

[ProDave]

No proper electrician is going to go in and buy 9 sockets and 9 back boxes.  Those are staple items that I buy usually by the box of 30 or so, so I always have them.

 

[Evans Electric]

I think quite a few are narrow minded TBH ....I've heard them buy one 3A fuse  ( Its for the fan)

It can go the other way though ..........  I remember yonks ago , one of our guys ( given free rein at the wholesaler)   needed two 20mm, steel H boxes, so he buys 20   :C   They cost a fortune and we had the 18 forever .

Same guy wouldn't use up galvo boxes on  surface B/E conduit ,  thought it looked awful irrespective that it was a ward & would all be painted shortly. 

He brought black paint from home , purposely wheels the tower over , climbs up & paints a galvo through box black.

 

[kerching]

Spark in front of me at wholesalers one day asks for "2 bits of 30 A conn strip and 6" of green sleeve"!

Just saying

 

[davetheglitz]

"No proper electrician is going to go in and buy 9 sockets and 9 back boxes.  Those are staple items that I buy usually by the box of 30 or so, so I always have them."

If you've got limited storage, run out of an estate car and your local Denmans is half a mile away it makes sense to get stuff when you need it rather than risk breakages in the precariously stacked garage at home! Mind you - that side of the border it's probably 3 hours to the supplier and you could afford a bigger garage!

 

[Murdoch]

"No proper electrician is going to go in and buy 9 sockets and 9 back boxes.  Those are staple items that I buy usually by the box of 30 or so, so I always have them."

If you've got limited storage, run out of an estate car and your local Denmans is half a mile away it makes sense to get stuff when you need it rather than risk breakages in the precariously stacked garage at home! Mind you - that side of the border it's probably 3 hours to the supplier and you could afford a bigger garage!

Wholesales need to reward those who buy in bulk.

I find emailing orders a good time saver too!

 

[ProDave]

If you've got limited storage, run out of an estate car and your local Denmans is half a mile away it makes sense to get stuff when you need it rather than risk breakages in the precariously stacked garage at home! Mind you - that side of the border it's probably 3 hours to the supplier and you could afford a bigger garage!

It's an hour round trip to a wholesaler from me and I'm rarely working in that direction. So there's only one wholesaler I ever use and that's the Electric centre, and only because they have a daily delivery in their own van. and I tend only to use them for the bigger stuff like 3 phase boards etc.

Everything else comes by post from the likes of electrifix, TLC, CPC and dare I day it ebay which is where I get a lot of one off stuff from.

The loft space of my garage resembles a mini wholesalers stock room.

Did I mention my house with it's double garage is for sale for a price you southerners probably think is missing a 0 off the end  :innocent

 

[davetheglitz]

Wholesales need to reward those who buy in bulk.

I find emailing orders a good time saver too!

Wholesalers generally reward regular customers. I get the bulk price for what I use without the storage issues. My local wholesaler couldn't cope with bulk orders without notification due to limited stock  area.

 

[Evans Electric]

It's an hour round trip to a wholesaler from me and I'm rarely working in that direction. So there's only one wholesaler I ever use and that's the Electric centre, and only because they have a daily delivery in their own van. and I tend only to use them for the bigger stuff like 3 phase boards etc.

Everything else comes by post from the likes of electrifix, TLC, CPC and dare I day it ebay which is where I get a lot of one off stuff from.

The loft space of my garage resembles a mini wholesalers stock room.

Did I mention my house with it's double garage is for sale for a price you southerners probably think is missing a 0 off the end  :innocent

How much Dave ?       This place is getting worse .....................mind you  we'd have you as a neighbour wouldn't we?  :innocent

 

[Sharpend]

Think he'd be able to wave at you in the morning Deke, whilst you're brushing your teeth!!!!

 

[ProDave]

How much Dave ?       This place is getting worse .....................mind you  we'd have you as a neighbour wouldn't we?  :innocent

£300K

5 bedrooms, 3 of them with en-suite.  Double garage, 0.27 acre plot.



Don't worry about competition, not long after finishing the new house I hope to retire.

See post above. Think how much money and hassle you will save.

 

[roys]

And the garage is stocked with all the electrical comsumables you can use

 

[apprentice87]

That is well nice!!!!

john..

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

My local independant has an old  globe light on the trade counter & written on it ' Crystal Ball, for customers who don't know what they want'

 

[Evans Electric]

£300K

5 bedrooms, 3 of them with en-suite.  Double garage, 0.27 acre plot.

Beechwood_Lodge_from_above_small.JPG

Don't worry about competition, not long after finishing the new house I hope to retire.

See post above. Think how much money and hassle you will save.

The missus would love it  ...............slight financial problem there though .......and I'm not sure about the neighbours TBH . :innocent