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Before I retired from the police force, we lived in a police allocated property which was fully maintained by them, even down to the decorarting, although thankfully, we made the choice of paper, paint emulsion colours. I dread to think of what their colour scheme might have been, judging ... Read review
Advantages: Reasonable prices, offers and benefits. Disadvantages: None for me.
...I became a customer of B & Q, as influenced, ( not at all ), by their slogan, ' You can do it, when you B & Q it.' but solely because of the fact that I possessed no tools whatsoever, apart from the odd screwdriver and it was recommended to me by my colleagues as the place to shop.
I therefore began my first, of subsequent may, trips to my local store, where I became a regular visitor.The store was relatively small then, compared with ... ...wife, would entertain buying from B & Q, such as carpets and soft furnishings for a couple of examples.
Enough of this, let me get down to the nitty gritty reason for this review.
My local warehouse store have just re-launched itself following an extensive refurbishment, something I believe has happened in other such stores and is still happening in all parts of the United Kingdom.
A little bit of background first to set the scenefor this review so to speak.
Before I retired from the police force, we lived in a police allocated property which was fully maintained by them, even down to the decorarting, although thankfully, we made the choice of paper, paint emulsion colours. I dread to think of what their colour scheme might have been, judging from the station and section offices I worked in!
On retiring we purchased our own house and I found the need to become a bit of a do it yourself handyman, although in a very small way. It was at this time I became a customer of B & Q, as influenced, ( not at all ), by their slogan, ' You can do it, when you B & Q it.' but solely because of the fact that I possessed no tools whatsoever, apart from the odd screwdriver and it was recommended to me by my colleagues as the place to shop.
I therefore began my first, of subsequent may, trips to my local store, where I became a regular visitor.The store was relatively small then, compared with the new warehouse type stores which have evolved over the last few years, opened.
These warehouses were much larger and offered a far greater range of products for the D.I.Y person than the previous smaller stores and many happy hours were spent browsing the aisles, although I may have only gone for a specific single item. There were however some things that neither I, nor my wife, would entertain buying from B & Q, such as carpets and soft furnishings for a couple of examples.
Enough of this, let me get down to the nitty gritty reason for this review.
My local warehouse store have just re-launched itself following an extensive refurbishment, something I believe has happened in other such stores and is still happening in all parts of the United Kingdom.
We visited the re launch of our local store today and to say the change is amazing, is an understatement. Better lighting, a totally different layout, more customer help stations have all helped to make the store look not only cleaner and brighter, but a more pleasant enviroment to shop in.
Particular improvements that impressed the both of us were the fantastic kitchen and bathroom display areas which caused a glazed ' I want that and that ' look in the wife's eyes and a panic attack in my wallet. Luckily, I managed to escape relatively lightly by buying her the new bathroom taps that she had been pestering me for.
There has been a total change to the range and quality of the carpet and soft furnishings, which are excellently diplayed, the soft furnishing are totally her domain and she was highly impressed, even with the prices, which she compared with her usual shop where she buys those items from. The only downside for her was that the most of the curtains could not be washed and required dry cleaning which, to me, is not a problem but I would not argue that point with her!
As for the products available, they are too numerous to mention but if I explain that one could actually, from scratch, build, fully furnish every room and finish with a garage, drive, paths and garden with the materials and tools one can either buy in store, or order, then one doesn't need to be a genius to work out that they have the lot!
They stock all the famous brands, Bosch, Black and Decker, De Walt, Ryobi, Stanley, Wilkinson Sword garden tools, you name it, they probably have it, along with their own branded stuff.
The garden centre was also impressive, spacious now and well laid out, whereas before, it seemed closed in and cramped. The plant were plentiful and of all varieties with some decent offers on some.
The staff we spoke to were friendly and helpful, although there seemed to be more than usual about, now whether this was because of the re launch day or not I cannot say as I do not wish to commit myself to saying something that may not be fact.
A big bonus of the re launch was that there was 10% off evrything in store, including already reduced items, but with the exception of their fitting service.
If there is a store near you undergoing a refurbishment, keep popping in whislt it is going on, there are some amazing bargains to had. On one of our visits, we found an area full of all sorts of stuff, tools, electrical, doors, kitchen units, plumbing, door handles, the list goes on, all massively reduced so as to be ridiculously cheap.
Some other benefits offered include, a very good returns policy, experts in departments to give you their advice, a delivery service although their are charges for this, a diamond card for the over 60's allowing 10% off on Wednesdays. Regular weekly price rductions which are advertised widely in the pres and on television and a big plus, their price promise gaurantee, which states if you find the same product even 1p cheaper they will refund the difference plus 10% off the lower price. There are terms and conditions to this offer, the full details I don't know but I think it has to do with the quality and being of an identical standard, but as I say, I am not sure of the exact details.
A tip which I have found useful in saving quite a lot of money, providing one is patiant, is not to rush to buy things as soon as their mew seasonal stock comes into store, but to wait for a few weeks when invariably they offer some excellent reductions, great for larger, more expensive items. The next big savings time is at the seasonal end when all the products are being replaced with the new seasonal stock, believe me, there are some mega bargains to be had.
Personally, I look forward to my future birthdays and christmases, to enable me to enhance my garden tools so as to allow me to dispense with my very long extension cable and wander round my huge garden, hands holding cordless hedge trimmers, strimmer and all other manner of cordless tools which will save me precious time and energy, without tangling myself up with a trailng electric wire.
I hope you have, or are to have, one of these new stores near you and enjoy shopping there as much as we will in future.
Advantages: Promotional offers.Everything under one roof.supposedly. Disadvantages: ques,Customer services-DIY of course!
Hi guys...
Well,I don't know if it's because I am fast approaching pre-menopausal age but I am finding B&Q very difficult to stumble around eversince my local ware house decided to expand and move to larger premises.
I miss the personal touch of the old B&Q store; the friendly waves,winks and non chaotic or conflicting sound advice/help/assistance and general service we used to get.
Maybe it's something to do with detesting everything to do with ... ...DIY = Disaster in your home!)
The worst thing I have discovered is the customer services,where the average assistant can't spell Vacuum,nor speak clearly,except in non syllabic mumbles,with about as much common sense and interest in your enquiry as a bikini clad tourist in Iceland!
I can assure you,that the advents I'm about to describe here are real,and actually happened without any embellishing on my part at all!
I hope you are ready with your ...
christina44 17.03.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of B & Q (Shop)
...make here I am a B & Q addict! I simply love shopping in a store which offers me such a wide variety of home and garden products. Although having written this opinion I'm starting to wonder why…. ~~~ Helpful Staff ~~~
Every time I visit the staff are friendly and helpful. They have experts who can give you advice on your project and the building man helped me to work out all the materials I would need to build a patio. This is a free service ... ...I love power tools! B & Q offer a range of how-to leaflets giving easy to understand step by step instructions on various projects. These come in a really wide range and also include garden projects, I picked one up today on lawn care.
~~~ Bargains ~~~
Well my regular readers know I'm a bargain lover and B & Q have given me some gems. Last January I bought all new Christmas tree lights (and some candles – sorry Dave!) all for under half the ...
KathrynE 18.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of B & Q (Shop)
Advantages: Great store Disadvantages: none just great
B & Q……..I need to be Dragged There!! There is one hell of a B & Q store in Belfast, it is situated on the Boucher Road and if you are going to it, bring a packed lunch because it is just massive. It is one of the biggest stores I have every visited. So just in case anyone doesn’t know, it is a large Diy warehouse, and believe me I mean large… Well let’s go a walk around the store and see what they have, God that sounded ... ...take my hat of to B & Q, because yet again the range is well set out and every taste is catered for. Next aisle we turn brings us into a section filled with lighting. From spotlights to desk lamps its all there. Now the kitchens, every sort of kitchen you can imagine is here. Again it’s well laid out and there is always someone about to give friendly advice. Bathrooms are next on the agenda. All set out nicely and then a separate section for ...
art1954 05.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of B & Q (Shop)
Advantages: Everything under one roof. Disadvantages: Slow service at the checkouts.
We moved house about 18 months ago, and as with all houses they look lovely until you uncover all the minor little problems that build up and get on your nerves and then you just have to do something about them.
This is when my love of B&Q comes in. I hate shopping and can't see the point of going shopping just for fun, but at B&Q it never seems a chore.
If you are lucky enough to have a B&Q warehouse near you then you will understand just how ... ...one roof.
They sell almost everything that you will need to do almost every job around the house and garden. The range of plants and shrubs are reasonable, the don't have as much stock as your local garden centre, but if you just want to pick up a few things to make the garden look neater then here is the place to be. For bedding plants I don't think you need look elsewhere. You can get a box with 30 pansies in it for around £3.99, this works out ...
HellyBelly 09.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of B & Q (Shop)
Advantages: None Disadvantages: Poor Stock Control and poor customer service
This is a tale of warning from my recent experience with B&Q Warehouse at Ashton (near Manchester) and unfortunately has put both my wife and I off using B&Q in the forseeable future. On July the 20th my wife and I visited B&Q to purchase a shed (two sheds actually). Seeing the ones we wanted on display we went to customer services to place our order for the sheds to be delivered to our house. Just one problem - one was in stock and the other wasn't, ... ...problem' though said the assistant - 'we are having a delivery of the out of stock shed on the 31st of July so we could deliver the first week of August'. We looked at each other, both nodded and then explained to the gentleman that that would be OK, provided the delivery was in that time frame. My credit card was swiped and £208 taken from my account and we returned home to wait. And wait. And wait. I phoned the store - they couldn't get through ...
IainCMartin 09.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of B & Q (Shop)
Price
Value for money
Selection & range
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Advantages: Excellent prices Disadvantages: Relatively limited range
and materials but not that much more.
B&Q Supercentres are generally the second best option in terms of cost, but they do have a much more extensive range than the other sheds. Standard B&Qshops are ok. The main problem B&Q have is with their re-stocking. If they're out of stock, come back in 3 months time and they might just have got some in.
As for Homebase; consistently at least 30% more expensive than anywhere else, they're really just a housewares shop with a few DIY bits thrown in. Even on their "10% off Fridays" they're still a rip-off.
And Wickes don't seem to subscribe to the "if there are less than 5 people in the queues, we need to close some tills" school of management". Maybe that's because Wickes don't seem to be as crowded as the other sheds. Maybe I shouldn't be writing this review. ...
Overview
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Topps Tiles is a chain of nationwide tile shops selling wall tiles and floor tiles and various kinds of other flooring such as laminate. They are usually in out of town shopping areas with plenty of parking.
Stores
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The stores are reasonably large with a less than convenient layout - most items are piled on the floor and are not very easy to see. Opening hours are good (open 7 days a week)
Prices
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I would say prices are above average and the quality and choice isnt great either. They do a lot of mid range stuff but they are no better than B&Q and B&Q are cheaper.
Range
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The range is mostly plain and simple. Nothing too special, i think this is where the shop lets itself down. The range is definately boring and for anything fancy i would shop else where ...
johanna18 12.05.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Topps Tiles
Advantages: can shop online now Disadvantages: exspensive
Do you actually Save, when you buy something at Homebase and use your loyalty card? i have held the card for about 2 years now and yes i get the vouchers come through the post every three months. But would i have done better shopping around?
Well i carried out a small test, that was i needed to decorate my bedroom. I needed Wallpaper, Lights and a Fire surround.
First off to Homebase, it was on a 10% off day so everything was 10% cheaper to start with. Armed with paper and pen i jotted down the cost of the items i wanted, then off to B&Q and Greatmills.
Ok, the shops don't stock the same makes. But i went for like for like items.
Fire surround and back board first Homebase £70 (not including 10% and spend and save), B&Q £48 (same quality). Greatmills unfortunatley did not have a fire surround or back board.
Lights ...
jasonevered 11.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Homebase (Shop)
