This is an angry rant about Bunnings warehouse.

gazket said :

Bunnings suck

They sell metric nuts and bolts but only sell imperial size washers to fit the nuts and bolts. Washers are either to big and loose or too small and don’t fit. I asked the salesman why this was the case , he said that’s the way Bunnings does it.

Specialty Fasteners in Fyshwick if you’re after good stuff.

I bought nuts and bolts from Masters, where there are only self serve checkouts. Two problems: scanning 16 bolts individually (they do have a bar code) and scanning 16 nuts that don’t have a bar code. It took me a full 20 seconds for the “assistant” to realise why I had a problem.

I loathe how Bunnings (Fyshwick) has a door greeter, who stands there while people stand in loooong lines. Shops who let their customers stand in long lines have no respect for their customers.

I was in Masters the other night and after buying a lamp, had an assistant walk me up to the other end of the shop where the lightbulbs were! And then two off-duty staff, who were searching for a Tastic bulb to take home for their Tastic, scurried around helping me find the right lightbulb. So-far, Masters are only guilty of over-service. I spend most visits shoo-ing the staff away.

Bunnings suck

They sell metric nuts and bolts but only sell imperial size washers to fit the nuts and bolts. Washers are either to big and loose or too small and don’t fit. I asked the salesman why this was the case , he said that’s the way Bunnings does it.

Sorry to bring this up but can I remind people that, much like reading a map or asking for directions when driving, real men don’t ask for help in a hardware store! 🙂

dph said :

Slightly off topic but am I the only one who couldn’t give a rats about ‘customer service’. For anyone that has never worked in retail, ‘customer service’ is a fake, disingenuous, load of s***.

Here’s how customer service training works for any & all major retailers… Stereotype ALL customers based on age & appearance. Strike up fake, awkward conversation & ask the bleeding obvious… “What are you up to today?”… hmmm, shopping perhaps? Finally, up sell & add on anything & everything in the store… “Gee’s that belt would look really good with those jeans. How about a pencil case & a pair of thongs too?”

Op, I sympathise with you & understand how frustrating it can be to shop at places like Bunnings. My advice, don’t ever go into any major retail store with the expectation that they’re there to do anything else other than to have you spend money.

‘Customer service’ simply doesn’t exist within major retail chains. It’s a myth.

I spent a number of years working as a Service Manager for a Supermarket chain. If you think customer service doesn’t exist, you’re not shopping at the right places.

Unfortunately having worked that job, I can’t help but critique the service in any business I walk into. It’s a curse 🙁

PrinceOfAles said :

If you hate Bunnings so much why don`t you open your own hardware store? You`re either part of the problem or part of the solution.

Yep. That’s clearly the most realistic way to solve your problem.

Bunnings = sausage sandwich.
That is all.

If you hate Bunnings so much why don`t you open your own hardware store? You`re either part of the problem or part of the solution.

I have been to Home at Karrabar. Good service there. Also Specialty Fasteners for, well, fasteners. Fisher Discounts, or maybe Gasweld, for tools, and almost any plumbing supplies for taps etc.

This can be a bit inconvenient, so someone has worked out a solution. It’s called Bunnings/Masters.

I quite enjoy bunnings actually. All things considered, it is an improvement over a few decades ago when it didn’t exist. Back then, it wasn’t realistic to try to acquire a nice garage full of tools and do a lot of decent home renovating for normal people. Today, many many more can afford decent tools and equipment. It’s also down to an increase in overall prosperity, but bunnings played a part for hardware.

I agree that it is sad that you can’t go in and ask a question, but realistically if there was a store selling your tools for $40 instead of $25, you are NOT going to pay $15 for a question or two to be answered. At most you would ask the question and then go nextdoor to buy it at bunnings. So it is inevitable.

They also have a much larger range than was previously possible. And if you go at the right times or you find older men working there, you can get some quality advice still. Obviously the teenagers have no experience and are cheaper, but they do hire some middle aged men who work outside of business hours to meet the mortgage payments, and they will be the ones with some knowledge.

This is basically ideal for hardware. Do your research online before coming into the store, that’s what the internet is for these days. Then you just compare the many products available.

All you are going to get from now onwards is either a bunnings-type store or an online store.

Although not being able to find something is a legitimate issue. I’ve found them to generallly be good with that sort of thing though, or I can guess from related aisles.

dph said :

Slightly off topic but am I the only one who couldn’t give a rats about ‘customer service’. For anyone that has never worked in retail, ‘customer service’ is a fake, disingenuous, load of s***.

Here’s how customer service training works for any & all major retailers… Stereotype ALL customers based on age & appearance. Strike up fake, awkward conversation & ask the bleeding obvious… “What are you up to today?”… hmmm, shopping perhaps? Finally, up sell & add on anything & everything in the store… “Gee’s that belt would look really good with those jeans. How about a pencil case & a pair of thongs too?”

Op, I sympathise with you & understand how frustrating it can be to shop at places like Bunnings. My advice, don’t ever go into any major retail store with the expectation that they’re there to do anything else other than to have you spend money.

‘Customer service’ simply doesn’t exist within major retail chains. It’s a myth.

Well that’s the thing, I wanted to spend money there and they didn’t want to help me do it. If I was less patient I would have left after 15 minutes and spent nothing.

dph said :

Slightly off topic but am I the only one who couldn’t give a rats about ‘customer service’. For anyone that has never worked in retail, ‘customer service’ is a fake, disingenuous, load of s***.

Here’s how customer service training works for any & all major retailers… Stereotype ALL customers based on age & appearance. Strike up fake, awkward conversation & ask the bleeding obvious… “What are you up to today?”… hmmm, shopping perhaps? Finally, up sell & add on anything & everything in the store… “Gee’s that belt would look really good with those jeans. How about a pencil case & a pair of thongs too?”

Op, I sympathise with you & understand how frustrating it can be to shop at places like Bunnings. My advice, don’t ever go into any major retail store with the expectation that they’re there to do anything else other than to have you spend money.

‘Customer service’ simply doesn’t exist within major retail chains. It’s a myth.

And the mystery to why everyone is ditching retail for online shopping is solved… (and the 50% markups help that too).

Tell me something I do not know about Bunnings and their staff!!!!!!!!!!! I am a sales rep and have been accosted by many a customer asking for help I do not mind helping one or two people but when I have ten standing around me asking questions its a bit hard to get my work done. I do not wear a Red shirt Nor one of those hideous Green aprons…………. UGH!!!!

And when I go off to find a team member most of the team members sigh and say okay I will be there in a minute!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG that is your job get off your backside and go and serve!!!!!!!!!!! You work in retail why not do your job properly. (I love selling my own product to customers very proud of the quality of the product) Just wish the team members thought the same of their wonderful customers who purchase my products.

,

schmeah said :

Best rant ever!

Seriously though, I can’t stand Bunnings. They employ so many useless dopes and only a couple of dudes who know their trade. And what is with the middle aged woman who says ‘Hello” and “goodbye” at the door .. is that some kind of cult thing? It’s creepy.

Probably a security thing to stop shoplifters under the guise of a meet and greet.

Slightly off topic but am I the only one who couldn’t give a rats about ‘customer service’. For anyone that has never worked in retail, ‘customer service’ is a fake, disingenuous, load of s***.

Here’s how customer service training works for any & all major retailers… Stereotype ALL customers based on age & appearance. Strike up fake, awkward conversation & ask the bleeding obvious… “What are you up to today?”… hmmm, shopping perhaps? Finally, up sell & add on anything & everything in the store… “Gee’s that belt would look really good with those jeans. How about a pencil case & a pair of thongs too?”

Op, I sympathise with you & understand how frustrating it can be to shop at places like Bunnings. My advice, don’t ever go into any major retail store with the expectation that they’re there to do anything else other than to have you spend money.

‘Customer service’ simply doesn’t exist within major retail chains. It’s a myth.

try asking for a material data safety sheet on any of their products and you will be left with looking at a stupid grin on the face of a dullard.

The trick is definitely to visit on week days and seek out the older staff.

Madam Cholet said :

Hmm. Ok. How about reading the label to find those big words, ‘CAUTION Keep Out of Reach Of Children’….that is a signal heading and basically tells you the risk associated with the product.

There are kept out of reach of children, by safely storing them, not in a child care centre, but a hardware store. [/sarcasm]

Best rant ever!

Seriously though, I can’t stand Bunnings. They employ so many useless dopes and only a couple of dudes who know their trade. And what is with the middle aged woman who says ‘Hello” and “goodbye” at the door .. is that some kind of cult thing? It’s creepy.

And don’t get me started on those BBQs on weekends .. if ever anything was sure to bring out the bogues for a couple of hours of useless shopping and carpark rage ..

astrojax said :

bigfeet said :

“…..Overall the whole process was worse than the time I tried to find black eyed peas at woolworths (it took me an hour to get them to tell me they didn’t have them…”

Why would you expect to find a successful American Hip-Hop group at Woolworths? Were they even touring Australia at that time?

they should have been next to the m&m’s, no? 🙂

😀

and the … ummmm … vanilla fudge?

p1 said :

Madam Cholet said :

….they should move the rat bait out of the reach of small children to ensure thy we’re complying with regulations……A few months later the products were moved.

Ok, a few months is a while, but considering you felt telling the random floor staff was enough to discharge your duty of care to the world, I think that fact that they improved their operation can hardly be a bad thing.

It must be pretty hard to decide what in Bunnings needs to be out of reach and what doesn’t. Pretty much everything in the store is either, sharp, poisonous, heavy, etc. Can’t put everything on a top shelf.

well, then they could rebrand themselves as an inconvenience store…

p1 said :

Madam Cholet said :

….they should move the rat bait out of the reach of small children to ensure thy we’re complying with regulations……A few months later the products were moved.

Ok, a few months is a while, but considering you felt telling the random floor staff was enough to discharge your duty of care to the world, I think that fact that they improved their operation can hardly be a bad thing.

Hmm. Ok. How about reading the label to find those big words, ‘CAUTION Keep Out of Reach Of Children’….that is a signal heading and basically tells you the risk associated with the product. Look under your kitchen sink at the various products you keep for cleaning. And btw, it’s the law to comply with the label. If your well known high street store owned by a large corporation that stocks chemicals and poisons can’t do that then there’s something to worry about.

Also under WHS laws all staff should be appropriately trained to do their job and everyone is responsible for reporting a hazard. Business ending fines for those who have accidents with no risk assessments.

I’m going to go against the trend here and say I quite like Bunnings, and I shop there at least once a week.

Like somebody else said, weekends are the worst time to go because there simply isn’t enough staff to deal with all the customer enquiries and unless you know the store well things are hard to find. But go there during the week, particularly after work, and you can get excellent, knowledgeable service.

Interestingly, I have experienced some of the worst customer service in specialty hardwares. A lot of the specialty shops assume that any person who walks through the door is a tradie and so rarely offer any assistance.

It’s been my observation that Fisher Discounts staff rarely come out from behind the counter and can be quite condescending toward the untrained DIY customer. Gasworld and Specialty Fasteners however are fantastic!

p1 said :

Madam Cholet said :

….they should move the rat bait out of the reach of small children to ensure thy we’re complying with regulations……A few months later the products were moved.

Ok, a few months is a while, but considering you felt telling the random floor staff was enough to discharge your duty of care to the world, I think that fact that they improved their operation can hardly be a bad thing.

It must be pretty hard to decide what in Bunnings needs to be out of reach and what doesn’t. Pretty much everything in the store is either, sharp, poisonous, heavy, etc. Can’t put everything on a top shelf.

That’s what I was thinking too, it’s a freaking hardware, not a playground. Parents should be supervising their idiot children in the store.

I think you’ll find that Magnet Mart is in fact owned by Woolworths aka Masters. It’ll be rebranded somepoint soon, there was a DA for the new signage a few months ago.

Madam Cholet said :

….they should move the rat bait out of the reach of small children to ensure thy we’re complying with regulations……A few months later the products were moved.

Ok, a few months is a while, but considering you felt telling the random floor staff was enough to discharge your duty of care to the world, I think that fact that they improved their operation can hardly be a bad thing.

It must be pretty hard to decide what in Bunnings needs to be out of reach and what doesn’t. Pretty much everything in the store is either, sharp, poisonous, heavy, etc. Can’t put everything on a top shelf.

dpm said :

Disposable said :

I was eagerly awaiting the opening of Masters but found their customer service to be the same. They don’t care about their customers and either does their head office just like Bunnings so now I buy all of my gardening supplies from a nursery and pay more.

Out of interest, have you already had occasion to contact the Masters head office about an issue?

Yes I have.

“So I went to Bunnings in Tuggernong to get 2 things, a foam floor mat and a rack with hooks to hang tools from the wall. “

BTW, what exactly are you doing down in that dungeon of yours?!? 🙂

Madam Cholet said :

I was in Bunnings in Tuggers a while ago during the week and pointed out to the young in the aisle who had been helping me that they should move the rat bait out of the reach of small children to ensure thy we’re complying with regulations. I also suggested that he move the pool chemicals in the same way just to do a better job, especially as the containers were not child proof. I explained to him that I work in the area of chemical compliance and that I just can’t help but notice these things, especially as I have a young child myself. A few months later the products were moved.

In my experience to date, Bunnings are not interested in anything but getting people through the door, and showing us that they are good community citizens by putting on sausage sizzles and providing cardboard boxes. Poisoning of a young child or other type of incident would certainly wreck that image. I once had a young perso from Bunnings call me at work to ask how to treat scheduled poisons and claiming to have been asked by their OHS committee to go find….it was scary how much she didn’t know and that they had not gone straight to the health dept for further information. It’s truly woeful….and this is where people take the whole family to hang out at the weekend.

Won’t somebody think of the children!?

I was in Bunnings in Tuggers a while ago during the week and pointed out to the young in the aisle who had been helping me that they should move the rat bait out of the reach of small children to ensure thy we’re complying with regulations. I also suggested that he move the pool chemicals in the same way just to do a better job, especially as the containers were not child proof. I explained to him that I work in the area of chemical compliance and that I just can’t help but notice these things, especially as I have a young child myself. A few months later the products were moved.

In my experience to date, Bunnings are not interested in anything but getting people through the door, and showing us that they are good community citizens by putting on sausage sizzles and providing cardboard boxes. Poisoning of a young child or other type of incident would certainly wreck that image. I once had a young perso from Bunnings call me at work to ask how to treat scheduled poisons and claiming to have been asked by their OHS committee to go find….it was scary how much she didn’t know and that they had not gone straight to the health dept for further information. It’s truly woeful….and this is where people take the whole family to hang out at the weekend.

bigfeet said :

“…..Overall the whole process was worse than the time I tried to find black eyed peas at woolworths (it took me an hour to get them to tell me they didn’t have them…”

Why would you expect to find a successful American Hip-Hop group at Woolworths? Were they even touring Australia at that time?

they should have been next to the m&m’s, no? 🙂

Disposable said :

I was eagerly awaiting the opening of Masters but found their customer service to be the same. They don’t care about their customers and either does their head office just like Bunnings so now I buy all of my gardening supplies from a nursery and pay more.

Out of interest, have you already had occasion to contact the Masters head office about an issue?

I’ve found Magnet Mart at Gungahlin to be fantastic. Mostly older staff who know their stuff and are happy to help you.

satyr said :

There are a few independent stores in Fyshwick, and they all have pretty good customer service. Probably not the range you’re looking for, but that’s the price you pay for going to an independent over a big box store. Try the place opposite Herzog Steel with the hobby store on the second level. At least you’ll be supporting a local small business by shopping there.

Fisher Discounts is the place you’re thinking of. Worth the effort, as they really do know their stuff. Although it’s a tool shop rather than a hardware store. They don’t sell materials.

Tools and modelling supplies in one place? I think I’ve died and gone to heaven…

HenryBG said :

Don’t buy tools from Bunnings – they’re made of some kind of soft twisty chinese metal instead of steel. Rubbish.

What a wonderfully silly comment. Last time I checked, most of the tools in Bunnings are not Bunnings branded, and are made in the same sweatshops, labelled with the same brands, as you’ll find them in the other stores.

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

However, the management of Bunnings seems to delight in putting certain items in completely random, unrelated sections. This forces you to walk all over the place looking for said item.

satyr said :

There are a few independent stores in Fyshwick, and they all have pretty good customer service. Probably not the range you’re looking for, but that’s the price you pay for going to an independent over a big box store. Try the place opposite Herzog Steel with the hobby store on the second level. At least you’ll be supporting a local small business by shopping there.

Fisher Discounts, tool porn, the kind that real men get excited by

I always find Bunnings hysterically funny – my warped and twisted sense of humour displaying itself I guess, or else I am just getting so jaded I can’t get angry about stupidity anymore.

On the weekend I find either staff who know nothing about their stock or older male staff who assume that, because I am a woman, I don’t know a screwdriver from a spanner. Actually had one tell me that maybe I shouldn’t be “buying tools for your husband without him telling you exactly which one he wants, dear” …. I was buying an electric drill for myself and knew what features I wanted, had narrowed the choice down to 2 I had only asked if I could handle them so I could compare the balance and weight…… he wondered why I asked to speak to the manager……

The staff during the week are MUCH better – especially at Fyshwick, they actually listen to my questions and make judgements about my knowledge based on that, and they are really helpful. Last time I went in to get new window locks the guy actually showed me exactly how to install them and what to watch out for and even advised me to get a cheaper lock that the one I was looking at because “these ones work better on those older style windows” – only go into their Fyshwick store now and keep an eye out for him.

It seems that most speciality stores have the same issues.

Don’t buy tools from Bunnings – they’re made of some kind of soft twisty chinese metal instead of steel. Rubbish.

There are a few independent stores in Fyshwick, and they all have pretty good customer service. Probably not the range you’re looking for, but that’s the price you pay for going to an independent over a big box store. Try the place opposite Herzog Steel with the hobby store on the second level. At least you’ll be supporting a local small business by shopping there.

Bunning’s main offering is on price. They buy vast quantities of crap at low prices, sell it at low markups and attempt to squeeze their competitors out of the market. This is called competition.

Hiring staff that have actual experience or expertise that might be valuable to consumers is a business overhead. You end up paying for it as higher prices for the goods. Much cheaper to hire the know-nothing teenagers you refer to.

Magnet Mart in belconnen used to have some pretty knowledgable staff around, but they have apparenlty been caught up in the race to the bottom.

The reality of the hardware mega-store is, you have to do your own comprehensive research before setting foot in the store. Then, the best you can hope for is that they’ll have what you’re after, and know roughly where it is, to reduce the amount of time spent aimlessly wandering the aisles. In your case you didn’t even get that.

Price competition has both good impacts and not-so-good. If it’s any consolation, exactly the same thing is happening/has happened in the car parts retailing market.

Magnet Mart – http://www.magnetmart.com.au/store-locator

Masters – http://www.masters.com.au/masters/storelocator/store_finder

I don’t think they’re going to be any different though. You could try smaller places, you’ll get better service, just expect to pay more.

http://www.truelocal.com.au/find/hardware/act/canberra-city/

May I suggest you pay slightly more, or less on some products, and head to a local hardware store? I go to Home Hardware at Karabar becuase the service is awesome (I have never waited more that about a minute to be asked if I need help), they know what they are talking about, they will help you carry 15 bags of cement to the car and load it and they will get stuff in if they don’t have it.

I only go to Bunnings if Home is shut and I can’t wait, like when the tap seal shat itself the other night and the water ran as if the tap was open.

“…..Overall the whole process was worse than the time I tried to find black eyed peas at woolworths (it took me an hour to get them to tell me they didn’t have them…”

Why would you expect to find a successful American Hip-Hop group at Woolworths? Were they even touring Australia at that time?

The reason that Bunning hire teenagers is the same reason that they serve you a burger at McDonalds, or scan things at the checkout at IGA. It isn’t because of their superior culinary skills or their eidetic memory for bar codes – it is because on average you pay them a lot less.

As someone said, at ten AM on a Tuesday you are more likely to get adult staff, as the kids will all be at school.

Bunnings got rid of all the reputable brands of potting mix etc and replaced them with their own inferior mould creating products that you have to add to in order to get decent results and drainage.

Their trade section has some of the most appalling customer service I have ever experienced as well. Their head office doesn’t care when you raise these issues with them as they are making far too much money to care about the little guy.

I was eagerly awaiting the opening of Masters but found their customer service to be the same. They don’t care about their customers and either does their head office just like Bunnings so now I buy all of my gardening supplies from a nursery and pay more.

I’m used to Bunnings staff knowing nothing, Magnetmart staff standing around chatting rather than helping and the one time i went to Masters, staff actually running away rather that help.

That being said, I’ve had great service at the two former. I think they probably base their customer service models on Walmart but we’re Australian and actively derail any attempt at inculcating great customer service culture on a large scale.

Which is why I assume, Costco has so many Americans working there.

neanderthalsis said :

The trick with Bunnings is to go there on a weekday when the staff average age and IQ is slightly higher than the mid-teens, which is what you get on the weekend.

Good call.

I tend to think of Bunnings (in particular) as a supermarket with different stuff – great if you know what you want and where to find it; pretty ordinary if you need help.
My experience of MagnetMart is a little more positive, but the days of the old-school hardware store seem to be over. Modern society, in the main, values cheapness much more highly than skill/service.

Yes the grass is always greener at another hardware megastore. I went through the travelling to Magnetmart and Masters, but just like Coles and woolies are the same beast but different colours, so are the hardware store shops.

The best thing about bunnings is being open weeknights and generally a much better time to go there then on the weekend.

We used to have smaller, more helpful hardware stores. Unfortunately, they couldn’t compete with Bunnings and Magnet Mart on price, so many pulled down the shutters and went off on their way.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you trawled back through the Riot Act archives and found readers complaining about how much more expensive the gear was from the smaller shops, and therefore they would only be shopping at the big box stores. Best place in Tuggeranong used to be the small hardware and garden centre at Calwell; that shut down within a year of Bunnings opening.

More expensive and good service v cheap and a supermarket experience. Canberrans voted with their feet, well, wallets.

There’s Magnet Mart too. I’ve had good experiences there.

Magnet Mart – parking is easier, stocks most of the same stuff, seem to employ older people rather than teenagers.

Zeital said :

“We really need another brand of hardware store in Canberra.”

i’m gonna pull you up on the one and tell you that there IS already another one in canberra called Masters out at majura park…..

i was there on the weekend, big range and helpful people and yes much better then bunnings

I’ve always hated Bunnings, they have maybe one or two floor staff with any sort of knowledge and willingness to help, and the rest are totally useless and seem to run the other way when they see someone looking for help.

The one time I’ve been to Masters since they opened, I had I think two friendly staff come up and ask if they could help with anything. The prices seem lower there as well.

Bunnings can go stick it.

The trick with Bunnings is to go there on a weekday when the staff average age and IQ is slightly higher than the mid-teens, which is what you get on the weekend.

We really need another brand of hardware store in Canberra.

You’ll be pleased to hear that we now have Masters Hardware, however their customer service is no better than Bunnings, which has often been the cause of some blood-boiling moments for me as well.

“We really need another brand of hardware store in Canberra.”

i’m gonna pull you up on the one and tell you that there IS already another one in canberra called Masters out at majura park…..

i was there on the weekend, big range and helpful people and yes much better then bunnings