Bunnings

[Wunderlust]

A rant.. Are Bunnings staff generally bad or do I just get the wrong person every time, in the last few vistis the following:
1. Replacement washing line required. Told by their staff 'we only sell by the metre', two Minutes later I find it as I know from previous visits it exists in packs.
2. Today needed bitumen repair sealant. I had seen it previously in the local Bunnings store and as I went to another store, thought I'd ask at trade for the location (it was previously in trade), their response after describing the product in detail was a negative never heard of the stuff (or understood what it was for) and they don't stock it. Two minutes later I was able to find it in TRADE. Silly me for thinking they would know what they stock.

God knows what and how many items folks look for and the staff just don't know. Bunnings management are missing a trick here. Good news for masters!

HNY

Tim

[Bird]

standard issue for bunnings.

thats the price we all pay for demanding cheap prices.. nobody there has a clue anymore.

[shakey55]

Personally I find the staff at Bunnings (Narellan) very knowledgeable and helpful.  Never had a problem.


'shakey'

[Jenko67]

Cheap prices?    Not cheap at my local Bunnings....

[Bill]

We have found that customer service and product knowledge from the staff at our Cairns store leave a lot to be desired.
But customer service and product knowledge from the staff at our Smithfield store is outstanding.
Mind you since Masters opened down the street from the Cairns store the staff have improved a little.
Bill

[nbd73]

Its just a job for the majority of them. At the pay rates they receive you could hardly expect to find experienced tradesmen, or even cluey handymen, working there. They don't want to know and can't imagine them reading stock listings or even looking at the products as they restock the shelves.
Sorry, but this is the norm and isn't going to change, and applies to more than just bunnings. What about super cheap? They are all kids getting $ while studying etc. Are they really going to know the answer to anything technical beyond the location of mobile phone charging kits?

[Top.ender]

I was just saying to my wife that Bunnings must have sent there staff to customer service school as the last few times I've been there the service is awesome. Well thats in Joondalup W.A anyway...

[D4D]

I love Bunnings, when I die my wife will scatter my ashes there but don't expect service

[Jeepers Creepers]

I have always had excellent service at Bummings when we lived on the Sunshine Coast.

The staff would always have a smile and ask what i wanted, then proceeded to supply exactly what i'd requested.

Upon paying, i was always wished a nice day, as i wandered off with my sausage in a bit of bread. hmmmm, sausie sanger.

Not to sure about the hardware side of it, i only went for the snags and stale bread out the front. 

[krisandkev]

I love Bunnings, when I die my wife will scatter my ashes there but don't expect service

I am not sure if you are serious or not? 

I hate Bunnings. I do go there when I have to, only because they have forced local smaller stores out of business.  We do have a small hardware just up the road which is a family run business and their service is brilliant.  But they do not stock all hardware items, that is when I am forced to go to Bunnings.  I have noticed at our Bunnings that once staff would come up to you and ask if you need assistance, that has not happened for some time now.  In fact I have had to search the store to find someone.
Price wise, it depends.  Like Supercheap, they are not cheap on some items. But then again, the other day Repco had 25% off for RACQ members so I went there and bought a 10 litre plastic fuel container for $17.  A few days later I was a Bunnings and there was the same fuel container for $11....... I had already used the one I bought so I could not take it back, but could not believe the difference.

Kevin

[D4D]

I am not sure if you are serious or not? 

It was a little tongue in cheek

We have a new Bunnos that opened about 2 weeks ago, it has a huge number of lines that you don't see anywhere else (see my spacecase post). That said if I actually need to ask a question I will go to the local Mitre10.

[Turbojohn]

I'm a chippy and a few of us refer to bunnings staff as cockroaches as they tend to scurry away as soon as they see you in a high vis shirt.
I love it when you ask one of them for information about a product and they start reading the back of the item out to you! Thanks for reading that for me I couldn't have done that without you!
Generally they are polite and as helpful as they can be with limited knowledge. Except for the girl at the checkout one time I was in a major hurry and she tells me to chillax! Could've strangled her!

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk 2

[sandman]

Fortunately for me a fair number of the guys that work in the trade area at bunnings here are ex-tradies or have been there long enough to remember where everything is. However I have noticed that the range at our local store is diminishing to only a few brands and not always the quality brands either. For quick fix jobs I go to Bunnings, for the times where I want a good finish I go to our local Home hardware.

[baldheadedgit]

I'm a chippy and a few of us refer to bunnings staff as cockroaches as they tend to scurry away as soon as they see you in a high vis shirt.
I love it when you ask one of them for information about a product and they start reading the back of the item out to you! Thanks for reading that for me I couldn't have done that without you!
Generally they are polite and as helpful as they can be with limited knowledge. Except for the girl at the checkout one time I was in a major hurry and she tells me to chillax! Could've strangled her!

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk 2

LMAO... you been to my local store then..
they have there good points. but not many. if i have an idea in my head and need a certain piece of something, i can wonder down the isle's and will always find something to do the job.
But if you ask one of the staff a question it's like Turbojohn said,,, they run away.
the Mrs wanted new tap's for the bathroom, so of we go down to the local,,, looking at all the taps trying to decide what she wanted. along comes one of the staff, she ask's the question's. he has the answers.! now i'm thinking this guy has brains...
plumbing section, plumbing questions = correct answers.?? how does this work.?
so got talking to him... turned out he done his time as a "Chippy" lmao.  but at least he knew what he was talking about.
My Mrs said to me, "see i told you they had Plumbers that work in that section.!. i gave up..

 
BHG

[jnik]

But then again, the other day Repco had 25% off for RACQ members so I went there and bought a 10 litre plastic fuel container for $17.  A few days later I was a Bunnings and there was the same fuel container for $11....... I had already used the one I bought so I could not take it back, but could not believe the difference.

Easy ... buy the Bunnings one and return it to Repco!

[Turbojohn]

BHG probably do mate

[D4D]

Do you expect the pimply kid stacking shelves at Coles to be a chef and help you with your recipes? Why should Bunnings be any different?

[briann532]

Do you expect the pimply kid stacking shelves at Coles to be a chef and help you with your recipes? Why should Bunnings be any different?

LOL......

So true.

[Turbojohn]

Do you expect the pimply kid stacking shelves at Coles to be a chef and help you with your recipes? Why should Bunnings be any different?

The kid at Coles doesn't have a nametag with plumbing, timber or whatever expert on it.
So I don't expect him to be;)

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk 2

[BLKWDW]

At our bunnings theres a few older fellas in the store who are ex tradies retired who know there stuff the rest just simply fill the void. there prices are cheaper then the mitre 10 they replaced but living in a small country town its really the only store we have that has everything and is open 7 days. Theres is a smaller hardware store but not open weekends when i need them.

[Nay-DMAX]

I am mostly happy with bunnings as I or the BF usually know what it is we are after there and can find it ourselves.  However I was extremely unhappy when we were looking for a particular product this past 2 weeks that is not stocked in our local store they said it is a promotional item and they dont get to order them.  So we were going to another town anyway but they didnt have them so I phoned our next closest 1 hour away described the whole product and told the YOUNG guy on the phone what it was called he said yep we have them here.  Great so we think ok we will go there the next day have some breaky in town and get the product.  Drive the hour have breaky go there and nope they never seen them and looked up the product code I googled on my phone and their store was not issued any.  Now the 2 people on that day were good offered to get one sent from another store even though they cant physically order them they can transfer them from another store.  Our local store did not offer this.  They also asked who i spoke to the day before and what time I had rang I could not give them a name but did give time and they knew who it was.  Now these 2 staff apologised and looked up a list of what stores were carrying the product.  So some good and some bad.

[Roo]

Commonly held belief that all customer service staff have had extensive training in either service or product....they rarely do. I worked @ BBC Hardware(taken over by Bunnungs since) for 8 or 9 years and the only training rec'd was when they changed the cash register to a computer terminal. That said, trade counter staff usually had some experience or had done some time on the counter before being left on their own unless severely short staffed. I started as the receiving clerk so I had to check every item into the store and usually put it away too so over time at least I knew what everything was and where it lived...from packets of thumbtacks to packs of timber!!. By default, being situated in the yard and next to the trade desk, I invariably spent plenty of time serving customers on the trade counter and covering breaks there. Generally casuals worked minimum 3 days and at least 16 hours a week but most did closer to 35hrs a week with 7 day trading. I was doing 5 days in receiving(8-4) then front counter till 5pm close and another day on the front counter for sundays for a few months...boss had to cut my hours back as I was earning too much with penalties.

I occasionally see an old familiar face at my local bunnings. These old school guys and gals really know their stuff but they seem to be more and more surrounded by shelf stacker's that only do a shift or two per week. Turnover of stacker's is high so they never really develop the knowledge. I've noticed how the trade section has become smaller and smaller. Harder to buy loose or bulk items now, everything in plastic packets.

[Boxhead 71]

Bunnings in Geraldton is awesome. Very friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, etc. Hey wunderlust, did you go and show the staff the packaged clothes line, and the bitumen patching stuff after you found them? We're not ranting after failing to possibly fix the problem, are we?

[Sawed-Off]

I avoid the place most of the time. They never cease to find ways to disappoint me when I go there. To add insult to injury, I now discover they discriminate against common rural outdoor pursuits such as rodeos and shooting. Fortunately, Cairns has alternatives, such as Masters and Cairns Hardware.

[dazzler]

standard issue for bunnings.

thats the price we all pay for demanding cheap prices.. nobody there has a clue anymore.

Wise words.  When they first opened in canberra they had specialists everywhere that seriously knew their stuff.  Plumbers, joiners, sparkies.  Then, once the competition was screwed and closed down they were replaced with mongo's and now we get crap chinese stuff served by mongo's.

That explains why I go on about buying cheap crap from Aldi and such.  It just perpetuates the curse.

Our grandpas would be rolling in their graves.