BIg time penny pinching

[jinman]

Jinman, thanks for the input but it seems to me if the item was delivered with a damaged box and the contents hanging out, the delivery carrier should have been responsible for obtaining replacement hardware, etc.

You may be home for all your deliveries, but until I retired, I was almost never home and left instructions for the drivers to drop parcels inside my well house. Also, when I get 10 packages with no issues and then one that is a shambles, I know the problem is really the poor packaging. Now, I don't know about you, but why would you complain about having to go buy a few pieces of replacement hardware and then tell me I should file a claim with UPS to get them to pay for parts that I still have to go find and buy? Unless your time is more valuable than mine, those things are equal. When time and money is considered, stopping by the hardware store on the way home is whole bunch less hassle than dealing with UPS claims and/or Northern Tool claims. When you factor in that this was a gift from my wife before we were married, I would have had to lay all that at her feet to do since it was her purchase. She did call Northern Tool and gave them "oh Billy" about the package. That was more than enough.

 

[bigtiller]

Last week I bought a BBQ grill at Lowe's. It is a Grill Master and it's made in China but surprisingly the Chin-English was some of the best I have seen, and ALL the nuts and washers were allready screwed into place. I had to back-out every screw a few revolutions so it could be assembled. AND there was a bag with about 6 extra bolts and washers that I didn't need to open!

I think they heard us!

 

[MossRoad]

I just installed an above ground swimming pool last month. It had about 160 sheet metal screws and maybe 25 carriage bolts and washers and 50 nuts. I had ONE extra screw and two extra washers. That's it. A lot of those things aren't packaged by count. They are packaged by weight. They know what 161 screws weigh when you need 160. So you either get the correct amount, or maybe one extra and that is it. It is all about not giving away anything, yet making sure all the parts are there for a positive customer experience.

As I mentioned in a previous post in this thread, every little extra they give away adds up when looking at millions of parts. Manufacturing, handling, packaging, shipping, etc... all ads up.

 

[JDgreen227]

Last week I bought a BBQ grill at Lowe's. It is a Grill Master and it's made in China but surprisingly the Chin-English was some of the best I have seen, and ALL the nuts and washers were allready screwed into place. I had to back-out every screw a few revolutions so it could be assembled. AND there was a bag with about 6 extra bolts and washers that I didn't need to open!

I think they heard us!

While the quality of the parts for the gazebo I am assembling is very good, the instructions are pure crap...there is very little to describe what part goes where, they show a generic sketch with the directions to:

"Assemble bracket O to roof support R, 6 each" and the roof supports have a rivnut at each end but slightly different spacing and they do not give you a clue as to which end is which, I had to study the manual four pages ahead to figure out which rivnut on the supports got the bracket. Would it be so hard to tell the buyer which end the bracket went on? Jeeze.

 

[JDgreen227]

Going up okay, had to use all these ladders in one picture to support the four main roof trusses to get them reasonably level as I fastened on the top section...still all holes and rivnuts perfectly lined up so far...putting in the roof panels today...they are something really unique, two sections of plastic sheet, with one side "treated for UV protection so place this side up" and they use a honeycomb type hollow center between the sheets....imagine a sheet of quarter-inch cardboard turned into plastic...that describes it. For $800 plus tax with free delivery I am VERY happy with this product with the exception of the skimping on hardware and the poorly written instructions.

Looked online and several reviews of this gazebo mentioned people paying something like $400 to have a crew assemble it...I can well imagine it would cost that much because I have already devoted something like 11 hours to assembly inclusive of fetching ladders :laughing: and unpacking and getting all the stuff together....

 

[pacerron]

Going up okay, had to use all these ladders in one picture to support the four main roof trusses to get them reasonably level as I fastened on the top section...still all holes and rivnuts perfectly lined up so far...putting in the roof panels today...they are something really unique, two sections of plastic sheet, with one side "treated for UV protection so place this side up" and they use a honeycomb type hollow center between the sheets....imagine a sheet of quarter-inch cardboard turned into plastic...that describes it. For $800 plus tax with free delivery I am VERY happy with this product with the exception of the skimping on hardware and the poorly written instructions.



Looked online and several reviews of this gazebo mentioned people paying something like $400 to have a crew assemble it...I can well imagine it would cost that much because I have already devoted something like 11 hours to assembly inclusive of fetching ladders :laughing: and unpacking and getting all the stuff together....

Bill,
Not to PYO, but I'm surprised that someone with your fantastic carpenter abilities would put up something so out of character with the design of your beautiful home. Is that going to be the final location of that thing?
Ron

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Going up okay, had to use all these ladders in one picture to support the four main roof trusses to get them reasonably level as I fastened on the top section..

How many ladders do you have??? :confused2:

 

[Alan L.]

I have a philosophy. If I put something together and it works, the extra parts go in a jar and I'm done.

 

[JDgreen227]

How many ladders do you have??? :confused2:

Ok you asked:

24 foot fiberglass extension ladder
20 foot aluminum " "
16 foot " " "

10 foot fiberglass step ladder
8 foot " " "
3-8 foot wood step ladders
4-6 foot fiberglass step ladders
2-6 foot wood step ladders
3-4 foot wood step ladders
2-5 foot wood step ladders

about 6 each 4, 5 and 6 foot folding metal household step ladders

1-16 foot multi ladder

About 4 or 5 2-step wood ladders

 

[JDgreen227]

Bill,
Not to PYO, but I'm surprised that someone with your fantastic carpenter abilities would put up something so out of character with the design of your beautiful home. Is that going to be the final location of that thing?
Ron

Ron, you didn't PMO in the least...this is what my wife wanted, something that would provide shade for the furniture she wanted and WILL ALSO MATCH the furniture. It does provide a very good amount of shade. Will probably leave this gazebo on the deck for a year or two until we decide what kind and size of sunroom we want.

 

[sodamo]

Have to chuckle to myself at your use of ladders. My wife is my number 1 helper, given that she is disabled and has physical limitations can make for some interesting solutions. We have become quite good at developing assistive devices, especially ladders. Problem is, I've become so used to devising workarounds that when I have the opportunity for live, able bodied help, it's usually distracting, frustrating, and takes longer.
Your project is looking good.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[JDgreen227]

Sodamo....my spouse too cannot do much, certainly not use a ladder of any type. The instruction manual for this gazebo makes no mention whatsoever of how to get those four roof sections all at the proper height to affix the top section and alignment is very critical as you have to get at least three sections screwed on to hold the top part up so it does not bend (8 pounds, 2 feet long)

 

[pacerron]

Sodamo....my spouse too cannot do much, certainly not use a ladder of any type. The instruction manual for this gazebo makes no mention whatsoever of how to get those four roof sections all at the proper height to affix the top section and alignment is very critical as you have to get at least three sections screwed on to hold the top part up so it does not bend (8 pounds, 2 feet long)

Bill,
Since your going to leave the unit there for a while before building your sun room, you might want to bolt it down to the deck joist in case a big wind comes through.
That thing could do a lot of damage to anything in its path if it becomes airborne.
Ron

 

[JDgreen227]

Bill,
Since your going to leave the unit there for a while before building your sun room, you might want to bolt it down to the deck joist in case a big wind comes through.
That thing could do a lot of damage to anything in its path if it becomes airborne.
Ron

Very true....it is on the east side of the house and the majority of the wind we get comes from the west across the open fields...but the leg pads all have holes for screws and/or bolts and I am going to fasten it down...appreciate your reminding me about that.

 

[pacerron]

Very true....it is on the east side of the house and the majority of the wind we get comes from the west across the open fields...but the leg pads all have holes for screws and/or bolts and I am going to fasten it down...appreciate your reminding me about that.

The wind can be mighty powerful. A couple weeks ago we had a short 15 minute storm that took off half our house roof shingles and loosened most of the others, knocked out the power for 5 days, and mowed off many old trees about 15-20 feet up in the air as well as leaving many big widow makers hanging in the branches. A guy near here found his metal barn roof peeled off and 300 feet away. We've been cleaning up fields and tree lines ever since and will be for quite some time.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Ok you asked:

24 foot fiberglass extension ladder
20 foot aluminum " "
16 foot " " "

10 foot fiberglass step ladder
8 foot " " "
3-8 foot wood step ladders
4-6 foot fiberglass step ladders
2-6 foot wood step ladders
3-4 foot wood step ladders
2-5 foot wood step ladders

about 6 each 4, 5 and 6 foot folding metal household step ladders

1-16 foot multi ladder

About 4 or 5 2-step wood ladders

Wow. That's a lot of ladders! :confused2: :confused2: :confused2:

We only have 4.

 

[CBW1999]

Sure.... profit.

If Sears sells 200,000,000 items in a year and includes even 10 cents worth of spare parts (like a few screws, a couple extra buttons on a shirt, etc...) that's $20,000,000 in lost profit.

I don't recall which company but a similar extrapolation of using one less olive on a particular salad sold at the same price netted a large profit increase.

on the other hand, I recently bought an office chair from Staples- the hardware came blister packed by step of assembly including a couople of extras.