Wickes advertise hardwood ply, but deliver softwood ply

[deema]

Exterior ply is such because it meets a certain test criteria, the CE2+ test. It does not imply any grade of the facing ply. To get a grade of the facing ply, you would buy ply with a specified grade.
It might seem harsh, but if you do not understand the specification / grading of something it’s not the sellers fault it’s the buyers.
The Wicks advert does not state anywhere that I can see the grade of the facing ply. So, absolutely anything is acceptable as it would meet the CE2+ test criterion. The picture of the ply they use is fully compliant with the rest of the advert. It’s not misleading or inaccurate.

 

[morqthana]

I've seen better looking OSB

 

[TRITON]

Exterior ply is such because it meets a certain test criteria, the CE2+ test. It does not imply any grade of the facing ply. To get a grade of the facing ply, you would buy ply with a specified grade.
It might seem harsh, but if you do not understand the specification / grading of something it’s not the sellers fault it’s the buyers.
The Wicks advert does not state anywhere that I can see the grade of the facing ply. So, absolutely anything is acceptable as it would meet the CE2+ test criterion. The picture of the ply they use is fully compliant with the rest of the advert. It’s not misleading or inaccurate.

I hear what youre saying but whats being advertised looks nothing like whats being supplied, and that isnt my fault but company policy.
We've got to at least have some sort of standard and if it seems to be misleading, then we should complain, and not pretend its part and parcel.

 

[deema]

@TRITON There is a standard for specifying the facing ply grade (which I’ve given in an earlier post) which isn’t used / stated on the advert so you can get and should expect anything. That’s both clear and fair enough, most exterior ply is used under something so the face quality isn’t important.
As an example if you ordered exterior paint would you be upset if a tin of any colour arrived when didn’t specify the colour but you wanted white? Well, that’s what you’ve done with the ply. It’s not Wicks fault.

 

[Doug71]

Their website page that you linked to does also show a picture of the knotty softwood stuff if you click on the other picture.......

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Structural-Plywood-CE2+---18-X-1220-X-2440mm/p/252240

 

[bertterbo]

I would have probably just refused delivery to save having to send it back. Not so much because of the knots, but because of all the splits.

Having said that, I have used Wickes plywood a lot, and the hardwood stuff I have bought looks exactly like in their picture (the good one). And the other cheaper stuff they sell looks exactly like what you got.

So this is probably just a supply thing.

 

[deema]

The problem with the attitude ‘that I will just send it back’ because I wasn’t aware of what I was buying (or sufficiently interested to research it properly) is that it increases the overall cost of the things we buy as well as the environmental impact. Retailers add on a percentage for ‘idiot’ returns as we used to call it in an unrelated customer facing industry.
Chancers are ply won’t be stored by customers flat inside out of direct sunshine so will be ruined and cannot be resold when returned. That’s not taking account of the cost of picking it, shipping it, collecting it, checking it and restocking (disposing of it)it as well as the transactional costs. Some industries add on over 20% to account for the ‘idiot’ returns that the rest of us all pay for. Doesn’t seem such a good idea when you know what it costs everyone as well as the planet.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

You ordered structural grade plywood

I got my order of 4 8x4 sheets of what i thought was going to be hardwood ply, and whats been delivered is clearly softwood. I mean theres more knots in it than a scout camp and it's pretty much unsuitable to build units with. This is rough as a badgers bum stuff you'd use for shuttering and the like, or mixing up cement on, then skip or burn after use.

This might actually be something im stuck with as i've just noticed the get out clause at the bottom of the description
" We currently hold stock of both white and brown boards, so you may receive either colour. The brown board is hardwood & the white board is softwood, both boards are structural 18mm Plywood CE2+ "

So you got exactly what you ordered. If you didn’t want structural grade plywood but cabinet grade plywood then you should have ordered that.

If you wanted A/B ply then you should have ordered it, but of course it’s going to be far more expensive.

If you are happy to make cabinets out of structural ply then the faces are going to be pot luck.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

... their advertised pic is of a nice unblemished brown faced clearly hardwood board, but what ive been sent is just tat. Knots, fill, cracks and all the other horrors you dont want to see.

Part of the problem seems to be that, like a number of retailers, they use generic stock photographs to illustrate all their similar products. In this case, Wickes seem to have used a small range of generically similarly brown faced plywood images to go with all their plywood descriptors, whatever their length, width, thickness and category. In other words, you really shouldn't assume that what you order is going to look like what's pictured at the website: you need to dig a little deeper so that if, for example, the quality of the appearance of the faces matter because they're seen and need to look reasonably attractive, you'd need to look for that information in the item's descriptor. For example, this one specifies the faces as B/BB, although it doesn't seem to specify the veneer's wood species, just that it's hardwood.

As to apportioning blame or responsibility to either side here I'm not going to get involved. Slainte.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Ultimately, the description is accurate but the picture misleading - it would be better if the picture wasn't used, and it's not completely unreasonable to expect the purchase to at least resemble the photo they chose to use.

 

[profchris]

You have to distinguish between trade buyers and consumer buyers.

A trade buyer should understand the meaning of the spec, so would have no complaint unless there were defects.

A consumer buyer will naturally put a lot of weight on the picture - I'd have to look up CE2+ to find out what it means, but I've bought ply which looks like the photo before, so I'd assume that I'd get something like that. I can't see the 'Product Details' without scrolling down, so I might well order based on what I can see, which is the picture.

For anyone who's thinking 'stupid idiots, buying without reading it all', I have a quiz on the UK Workshop terms and conditions, which you all agreed to without reading them!

 

[deema]

Wicks use two photos, which has already been highlighted to illustrate what is being sold. The other that applies to what has been purchased is:

Well, that looks like what was purchased. So, in summary the written description was clear and concise, the illustrative photos were in this case similar to what was delivered. Well done Wicks.

 

[starlingwood]

TP and Wickes are the same company too.

 

[morqthana]

I'd never let a DIY store choose timber for me.


Unless I wanted some CLS or PAR to make an aeroplane propellor and wanted it roughly the right shape when it arrived.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

TP and Wickes are the same company too.

They're not.

 

[deema]

@sawdustandwax I owe you an apology, I hadn’t seen on my phone the grade that Wicks attribute to the ply. I was wrong, I’m sorry for questioning your post.

 

[deema]

Im not affiliated with Wicks, just feel that a balanced perspective needs to be provided, the customer is not always right.
It’s been highlighted that none trade might not understand what the different terms mean and that Wicks were remiss for not providing more info. Now I’m on something a little larger than my phone, and looking at the product again, Wicks specify what the finished grade actually is, they also provide a full description of both what external ply is and what the grades mean which are all linked into the product page. If you look down the page, it states the ply is B/CC meaning one side is grade B and the other grade CC. Helpfully they provide a technical data sheet which tells you what these grades mean

On one side, which is grade CC you would expect lots of knots some open and dead along with splits. This seems to exactly correlate with what was supplied.

 

[MikeK]

I wonder if someone elsewhere is amazed at the high quality of the plywood he ordered from Wickes to make some forms for a concrete foundation.

 

[Seascaper]

I got my order of 4 8x4 sheets of what i thought was going to be hardwood ply, and whats been delivered is clearly softwood. I mean theres more knots in it than a scout camp and it's pretty much unsuitable to build units with. This is rough as a badgers bum stuff you'd use for shuttering and the like, or mixing up cement on, then skip or burn after use.

This might actually be something im stuck with as i've just noticed the get out clause at the bottom of the description
" We currently hold stock of both white and brown boards, so you may receive either colour. The brown board is hardwood & the white board is softwood, both boards are structural 18mm Plywood CE2+ "

Im annoyed all the same though, that their advertised pic is of a nice unblemished brown faced clearly hardwood board, but what ive been sent is just tat. Knots, fill, cracks and all the other horrors you dont want to see.
https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Structural-Plywood-CE2+---18-X-1220-X-2440mm/p/252240Do I have any come back on this. Can i refuse and ask for specifically hardwood, or lay an accusation at them for false advertising, that they are claiming they do both, but in reality dont and the nice hardwood board is just for advertising to fool the unwary.
Currently I cant get through to their store. Keeps ringing out though its still only the morning. But im sure il get through eventually or maybe better phoning Wickes head office and see what they're willing to do about it.

Unfortunately there are many grades of ply, one has to buy from from someone who selects suitable materials not the cheapest. I can recommend Travis Perkins, their supplier is top quality, it may not be the cheapest but their exterior ply is top quality and 19mm shutter ply is not full of holes. I have gone to see cheaper options and not proceeded with the purchase because of low quality ply. I have never been disappointed with TP stock and buy from them unseen and have it delivered, ‘‘tis the way forward.
Regards

 

[mikej460]

They're not.

I also thought this but Phil is correct - from Wickes Wiki page:

In July 2019, along with reports of sales being up 9.7%, the parent company of Wickes, Travis Perkins, announced plans to action a demerger and spin off Wickes, quoting Wickes "is well positioned to thrive as a stand alone business" and "will have the autonomy to execute on its strategy and allocate capital to its customer proposition and growth opportunities with a clearer focus."[24] In April 2021, it was confirmed that Wickes would be demerged from Travis Perkins by the end of the month.[25]