Rant about screwfix

[stuart little]

As the title suggests I am annoyed with Screwfix. I have been a customer as long as I can remember.
They have always had the book in store, they used to do the nice big one with laminated pages, then during the lockdowns they stopped that and just put a dog eared copy of the small book on the counter which was fine as well, but one of the staff told me a while ago soon there would be no more books at all.
That day has arrived and it is beyond bloody annoying.

So now they have some kind of Ipad or tablet fixed to the bench which appears to be running similar software as the phone app which I reluctantly installed last year.
Basically 4 items visible per "page" on the screen.

I looked for the stuff I wanted and managed to find some things but there is no ability to easily "browse".
Sometimes I am not quite sure what plumbing connector I want or maybe I am after a tool but not sure which one suits my purpose and budget.
When you have the book you can easily and more importantly quickly compare many items on that page or flick to the next page etc.

I think it took me 10 minutes to find what I wanted, with the catalogue it would have been maybe 2.
I am inclined to frequent the toolstation 300 metres away who still have a book ( for now ) a bit more.

I am not anti technology by any means, quite the opposite. I do use the app to pre-order often but to my mind this is not really "progress" but a step backwards it is actually less efficient.
Not to mention a more annoying experience overall. If you know precisely what you want I guess its ok but even if I want, say 4 x 50mm screws there will be several options to look at.
I also suspect they may break down after a while and then you wont be able order anything, even a really knackered book still works, its the appearance of improvement

I am reminded of when Axminster got rid of the book, which I said was a bad idea at the time, people like to browse and its handy to have one in the workshop. Well they bought the book back a couple of years later. I am hoping screwfix might learn from this.

Rant over

Ollie

Their 'seach engine' leaves A LOT to be desired - must still be running on steam! Example: looking for a certain type of screw has in the past come back with 'not found' re do search for 'screws' you get every screw, which takes forever to go thru.. That's only one example.
I tend to use Toolstation first - it saves me walking another 100m. on my aching legs! & their search finds what you're looking for.

 

[clogs]

Thingybob.....
them at the very top will never learn and the over educated with no common sence will run/mess up all the companies.....

like when u have designers that cant bang a nail in, let alone straight....forget it....

I wonder which clown messed up the latest NASA project.....???????
prob forgot to put the drain plug back in.....hahaha......

 

[Denty]

As the title suggests I am annoyed with Screwfix. I have been a customer as long as I can remember.
They have always had the book in store, they used to do the nice big one with laminated pages, then during the lockdowns they stopped that and just put a dog eared copy of the small book on the counter which was fine as well, but one of the staff told me a while ago soon there would be no more books at all.
That day has arrived and it is beyond bloody annoying.

So now they have some kind of Ipad or tablet fixed to the bench which appears to be running similar software as the phone app which I reluctantly installed last year.
Basically 4 items visible per "page" on the screen.

I looked for the stuff I wanted and managed to find some things but there is no ability to easily "browse".
Sometimes I am not quite sure what plumbing connector I want or maybe I am after a tool but not sure which one suits my purpose and budget.
When you have the book you can easily and more importantly quickly compare many items on that page or flick to the next page etc.

I think it took me 10 minutes to find what I wanted, with the catalogue it would have been maybe 2.
I am inclined to frequent the toolstation 300 metres away who still have a book ( for now ) a bit more.

I am not anti technology by any means, quite the opposite. I do use the app to pre-order often but to my mind this is not really "progress" but a step backwards it is actually less efficient.
Not to mention a more annoying experience overall. If you know precisely what you want I guess its ok but even if I want, say 4 x 50mm screws there will be several options to look at.
I also suspect they may break down after a while and then you wont be able order anything, even a really knackered book still works, its the appearance of improvement

I am reminded of when Axminster got rid of the book, which I said was a bad idea at the time, people like to browse and its handy to have one in the workshop. Well they bought the book back a couple of years later. I am hoping screwfix might learn from this.

Rant over

Ollie

Tool station is the answer you need. Only if I’m desperate now I will use SF, they were good when they just sold screws, but hay ho people seem to like them.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I must admit I found SF better pre Kingfisher (I first bought from them in 1983).

 

[Jacob]

Screfix is just a particular business model which works very well and keeps prices down. Order and pay on line with choice of delivery or collect. Dead simple! They deliver here 8 a.m following day - must be we are near the start of the run.
If you need to look around and pester sales assistants there's always B&Q

 

[Spectric]

They are sometimes ok for the odd get you out of trouble item but there are many better outlets that supply decent products at competative prices especially if you have planed ahead.

 

[Ozi]

May I please rant about Halfords as well. Dam touch screens that require endless detail about your vehicle - I was just buying a number plate bulb spent ten minutes trying to enter engine capacity, fuel type etc. thought I'm just getting old, sort help from passing assistant they couldn't make the think work either. Had to phone my son to find the part number on line.

 

[Ollie78]

May I please rant about Halfords as well. Dam touch screens that require endless detail about your vehicle - I was just buying a number plate bulb spent ten minutes trying to enter engine capacity, fuel type etc. thought I'm just getting old, sort help from passing assistant they couldn't make the think work either. Had to phone my son to find the part number on line.

It is as though they are just removing as much humanity as they can from the system.
The problem is that you remove the amazing agility of the human mind which can adapt and process complex and nuanced information very fast.
Humans are unfortunately expensive.

I was in Wilkinson the other day and bought a wire or something, I was standing in front of the tills while there were a few staff loitering about. One noticed me and asked if I was paying card or cash, card I replied. Well you can do it yourself then she said and pointed me towards the self service till !

Ollie

 

[TheUnicorn]

odd, I picked up a catalogue no problem from SF a few weeks ago, nobody said anything about them being discontinued. maybe they hadn't told the staff yet?

I've been shopping at SF and Toolstation for most things for years now, normally in store, the other main options near me being B and Q (awful selection, overpriced) and Wickes (similar), almost by accident I found myself in a proper (mostly proffesional power tools) store recently with a proper range of tools that you could actually handle and staff that knew what they were talking about, but that weren't tripping over you as soon as you walked in the door. It made such a nice change.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

So you found what you wanted there then went and bought it online because it was cheaper?

 

[TheUnicorn]

So you found what you wanted there then went and bought it online because it was cheaper?

as it goes I didn't, but it goes without saying that it wasn't as cheap as tool station or screwfix (I normally find amazon to be overpriced in comparison). I don't mind paying more (within reason) for a good selection and knowlegable staff, I find more and more shop staff to be ill manored and ignorant of what they are selling, I rarely (if ever) return to a shop like that, and in that respect I have moved online.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It was a little tongue in cheek, but many people do it.

 

[Scruples]

As the title suggests I am annoyed with Screwfix. I have been a customer as long as I can remember.
They have always had the book in store, they used to do the nice big one with laminated pages, then during the lockdowns they stopped that and just put a dog eared copy of the small book on the counter which was fine as well, but one of the staff told me a while ago soon there would be no more books at all.
That day has arrived and it is beyond bloody annoying.

So now they have some kind of Ipad or tablet fixed to the bench which appears to be running similar software as the phone app which I reluctantly installed last year.
Basically 4 items visible per "page" on the screen.

I looked for the stuff I wanted and managed to find some things but there is no ability to easily "browse".
Sometimes I am not quite sure what plumbing connector I want or maybe I am after a tool but not sure which one suits my purpose and budget.
When you have the book you can easily and more importantly quickly compare many items on that page or flick to the next page etc.

I think it took me 10 minutes to find what I wanted, with the catalogue it would have been maybe 2.
I am inclined to frequent the toolstation 300 metres away who still have a book ( for now ) a bit more.

I am not anti technology by any means, quite the opposite. I do use the app to pre-order often but to my mind this is not really "progress" but a step backwards it is actually less efficient.
Not to mention a more annoying experience overall. If you know precisely what you want I guess its ok but even if I want, say 4 x 50mm screws there will be several options to look at.
I also suspect they may break down after a while and then you wont be able order anything, even a really knackered book still works, its the appearance of improvement

I am reminded of when Axminster got rid of the book, which I said was a bad idea at the time, people like to browse and its handy to have one in the workshop. Well they bought the book back a couple of years later. I am hoping screwfix might learn from this.

Rant over

Ollie

I go to my PC, search for the bit(s) I want and the availability, Click and Collect and then pop down and pick it up. So easy.

 

[Scruples]

Axminster were brave enough to re-introduce their catalogue - MAPLIN didn't and look what happened to them ...

I miss Maplin. When I first started out in electronics back in the 70s, they were the only real source of cheap components by mail. No store in our area until around 2000 which, by that time, they'd lost their way.

 

[George B]

I agree with the OP, like the catalogue when your not sure of the exact thing you need.

When it comes to ordering I go through the British Airways Excutive shopping channel and get Avios points on my Screwfix, Toolstation , John Lewis purchases and more https://www.shopping.ba.com/retailers.

 

[robgul]

I go to my PC, search for the bit(s) I want and the availability, Click and Collect and then pop down and pick it up. So easy.

Absolutely - planning for most things isn't difficult (yes, there will be "Oh, I need one of those for this job")

- a friend owned a builders merchant/plumbing/DIY store years ago and was amazed at the inefficiency of tradesmen that came to the shop every day as they hadn't planned their work . . sometimes perhaps for 2 off 15mm end feed copper fittings!

Not sure if it's still the case but quite a few suppliers offer/offered free bacon sandwiches to trade customers before about 0930 each morning as an incentive to shop there?

 

[John Hall]

Anything to save money…Argos has done the same…

 

[Stuart Moffat]

If they look at my buying habits over the last 25 Years they might also get the message

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I regret the passing of paper - it is easier assimilating information on page than screen.

With a smart phone there is less screen real estate for content with a usable font size. Digital catalogues distract with variable advertising and promotional content.

Being objective - I look and order online, then go to store to pick up. I compare prices and availability before travelling. It can link to specifications, user manuals etc.

From a SF perspective - catalogues are expensive to produce and distribute. Updates are necessarily infrequent, do not respond to price and product changes, customers may habitually use to out of date catalogues.

They probably have more data than us upon which to base their decision - eg:

• what proportion of sales are sold click and collect vs instore via catalogue
• impact of possibly alienating a possibly small part of customer base
• enabling a quicker response to competitor activity - pricing and products

The main issue IMHO may be more to do with flaws related to search functionality, and presentation on screen.

 

[robgul]

The local B&Q (brother of Screwfix) has just taken out ALL of the checkout-lines and replaced them with self-scan units . . . . makes the purchase of bags of cement/compost etc and paving slabs or sheet goods a challenge. Madness.