Everything Great is *Nixbased

Like most men I enjoy an escape to the hardware store every now and again but sometimes all I need is to do some price comparisons of products on a materials list, in which case checking prices online via the websites of local hardware stores is the easiest option…..at least that’s what I had thought.

Little did I know that even when it asks for your Postal Code on Home Hardware’s website and shows you the closest retail outlet it does not show the pricing information for that outlet. When visiting without an account or not signed into an account you are presented with a text box and the following statement “Type in your postal code to connect with your neighbourhood Home store.“ (did anyone else notice the spelling error there? Well that’s what it says). When registering an account on the website a section appears stating the following:

“The selection of “Your Local Store” means we can deliver accurate store-specific information. Your postal code tells us the closest store store is: “ followed by the closest location. One would think by “ accurate store-specific information” and “ connect with your neighbourhood Home store” they would mean accurate local pricing as you can not buy the products online directly from the site. This however is not the case according to the owner of my local Home Hardware location whom claims prices are different based on region and will not be reflected on the website. At that point one must wonder a few simple questions as follows:

• Where do the listed prices come from and how do I buy the products at those prices?
• How do I take advantage of listed sale prices?
• Why isn’t the site listing prices of items for my local store if the price fluctuates by region as the local store owner suggests?
• Why isn’t the fact that prices on the website won’t reflect the pricing in your local store made known?

To add insult to injury the Technical Support page on the website says the following:

“You see, all 1,000 Home Hardware, Home Building Centre, Home Hardware Building Centre and Home Furniture dealers are independent Canadian storeowners who, collectively, own the company. So when you speak with your local Home dealer, you’re not only talking to the store owner, you’re talking to the owner of the company! “

“independent Canadian storeowners” leads me to believe that a store owner is able to set their own pricing but it does not explain the reason for price listings on the website including sale pricing (obviously) or why local store prices aren’t the ones listed.

Something seems fishy here so I have taken the liberty of emailing the www.homehardware.com webmaster for some answers and will post an update when I receive a response.

Two other chain stores exist in my area for building materials and supplies. They are Rona and Home Depot. I haven’t done as much research into the prices at these outlets versus those shown online but I do know both Rona and Home Depot allow most of the products shown on their websites to be purchased through their online stores, this means that even if the pricing in local Rona and Home Depot stores does not match that of their online catalogs, it isn’t near as much of an issue as it is with Home Hardware.

I would like to know if anyone else noticed this and/or has been to Rona or Home Depot to check if a online price difference exists at these stores.

The other day was a day like any other…. so I thought. I put a load of laundry in like usual and was doing some other chores around the house while waiting for it to finish. I enter the bathroom and now notice that the water from the wash is entering the bathtub. Now I’m no plumber but I do tend to do as much of the home maintenance and repair as I can. Immediately I know that because the bathtub is the lowest fixture the water will follow the laws of gravity when there is a blockage somewhere further up the pipe and come out in the tub. In the case of the washer and pretty much any other fixture, further up the pipe means the main sewer line.

Since this was the case and I don’t have access to a powerful auger I had to call a plumber. As a DIYer I absolutely hate calling plumbers. Plumbing is simple and in most cases I can figure it out myself. So the plumber arrives and tries to auger the line from the toilet even though I advised him that the issue would probably be best dealt with by auguring the clean out which is out back about 10ft from the house. His attempt failed so he took my advice and proceeded to auger the clean out. As suspected their were roots in the line and auguring it out did the trick.

So what did I learn? I learned that my logic is often better then the professional even when the professional is in a business sector I do not deal with on a daily basis. I learned that I won’t be calling that company again as the “professional” cost more time and therefore more $ then needed by not doing things the logical way. I also on a positive note learned where the pipes run to get to the city lines. Whoever designed it was less then intelligent and ran them the long way around.

So now that I know roots have penetrated the pipes I will be putting rock salt in the cleanout every few months to kill any penetrating roots. This trick I learned a long while ago, the plumber didn’t mention it. I hate to sound so cocky and negative but with any business the professional should give the customer as much info as needed to help the customer in the long run. It is what produces the repeat customer. Speaking of plumbing I need to send some bicarbonate of soda and vinegar down a few drains before they become clogged as well. I’ve heard nail removal products work for hair filled drains but I wouldn’t think they would be very environmentally friendly.

I may some day do a plumbing and electrical tips post, I don’t know. I just enjoy sharing what I know with other people (and sometimes bitching about things). Marketing may suggest that targeted content does better for traffic but I’m a jack-of-all-trades, making a site for each topic I know things about just won’t work well.