The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Sat Feb 08, 2014 2:11 pm**

the bane of my life and I am sure a good deal of you people are suppliers
they promise this that and the other then fail abysmally,when you ask why? ( and i had this experience with my local BM the other day) the manager said " i dont know"

anyway we have been using a company called everton glass for all of our internal doors lately

they do what they say,when they say and are very helpful
I have no connection to them but in this day and age its good to find people who care about what they do

everton glass

cheers LLL

Posted: **Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:34 am**

Problem with many BM's is not keeping one informed. If there's a problem let me know so I don't waste half a day waiting for something that ain't going to turn up.
And please no lies, false promises etc.
I asked the driver the other day why he turned up at 10 am when I was promised first drop, he said "to be honest with you Mark, every delivery on my sheet is marked as first drop, I just deliver to the nearest first".

Edit:Why don't emoticons work for me, I thought it was just a case of clicking on them.

Posted: **Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:43 am**

Emoticons have always been a bit hit and miss in The Brew Cabin. I usually do a 'Preview Post' to check whether the damned things are working or not before posting.

For years I've been tinkering with a Noo Brew Cabin with working emoticons and lots of other niceties, but I never seem to get the time to get it all finalised. One day......perhaps.

Anyway, back to the off-topic. I've long believed BMs do a massive disservice to the construction industry. The big nationals are far too powerful. They squeeze suppliers until they bleed and they treat contractors like summat they stood in accidentally.

Occasionally, you can forge a relationship with the manager of a local branch and get a reasonable level of service, but even though I've been out of contracting for over a decade now, the tales I hear of the really good suppliers are invariably the smaller, local, independents who *know* they might not be able to compete on price but they can definitely offer a standard of service that most of the nationals wouldn't even dream about. Sadly, for too many of them, that's their only chance of survival, so if anyone feels like 'bigging-up' (as I believe the young 'uns say) a small local supplier, whether it's a BM, a specialist hard landscape supplier, or even, as in LLL's case, a door supplier, you're welcome to do it here!

Posted: **Sun Feb 09, 2014 1:35 pm**

Yes, definitely think it's worth bigging up good companies. Credit where it's due...

Sand , cement blocks etc -

I use a company called Lewis and Co in South west London who are an independent outfit. I could get a ton of sand for a few quid cheaper elsewhere but I like the personal service that I get from a smaller company. They will also deliver same day if needed and will generally look to help you out. This level of service far outweighs the money I could save by going with a bigger merchant.

Stone suppliers - I use London Stone and am very impressed with the level of service. They deliver when they say they will. Letting you know by text the day before which is a nice personal touch. Generally impressed across the board with the level of service and quality of products.

Don't really like to name and shame negative experiences but I will. CED are pretty shambolic. There is no communication between staff members meaning it's pointless leaving messages as they wont get to the right person. They say they have a product in stock then you go to order it and they tell you they don't. But I keep going back because the product range is so good. Oh yeah one of their delivery drivers dropped a VERY large boulder onto one of my clients concrete drive. Punched a large dent in it

Posted: **Sun Feb 09, 2014 2:05 pm**

exactly what I am talking about John
because steve has been at the contracting side of the building game he knows what clients want
delivery on time,no BS,and reasonable prices
I could get stone maybe Â£1-2 a metre cheaper elsewhere but they would faff me about and probably send out a load of hardcore a day late
1 day for me is Â£450 in lost wages
so its a no brianer

same with the doors
local branch of britains biggest kitchen supplier cant get a delivery right
because half the lads that work there just dont care
cheers LLL

Posted: **Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:12 pm**

A major problem we have with jewsons is we are usually on stop

Posted: **Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:59 pm**

Haha talking about texting before delivery. Jewsons do this, they text me that my delivery is 5 miles away, 30 minutes later no sign of the lorry. A little later same message and my ears are pricking up with excitement every time I hear a lorries engine; still no delivery.

It turns out that their tracking system picks up on the delivery location.
So no matter the fact that the driver is delivering to a nearby address the auto text will let you know they're on the way.

Don't hold your breath.

Edit: the emoticon delivered this time at least.

Posted: **Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:22 pm**

i think to make the emoticans work you have to use the "post a reply " tab rather than the quick reply box

like so
LLL

Posted: **Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:23 pm**

and in the quick reply box this happens
:rock:

Posted: **Mon Feb 10, 2014 5:28 pm**

I completely agree LLL. I'm shocked that so many companies stay in business the way they operate. My overriding feeling when dealing with the majority of companies is that you are doing them a favour. Not that you are providing them with valued business. That's why companies that do it right should be applauded.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:08 pm**

Worked in a BM for many years. Still cross over being let go. Anyway, during the biggest building boom in Irish history it was amazing the way things were done. All the biggest customers were done first, usually a full lorry load, that truck came back and then did the smaller deliveries. But we had up to 8 trucks doing this everyday. Huge effort put in to loading the trucks as soon as possible to keep them going, and to keep customers happy/off our backs. What really pissed me and the transport guy off was a customer ringing after the truck arrived on site to add something small and silly on, then expecting the truck to come straight back. Also, getting roared at to get something on to a site, 2 weeks later the site has not even opened the delivery. This is in Cork, Ireland, not a huge city, London must be a nightmare.
Just giving the other sides view.

Posted: **Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:41 pm**

John156 wrote:Stone suppliers - I use London Stone and am very impressed with the level of service. They deliver when they say they will. Letting you know by text the day before which is a nice personal touch. Generally impressed across the board with the level of service and quality of products.

Thanks for saying that John, its always nice to get positive feedback. Our mantra has always been to treat people how you would expect to be treated yourself. It does definately help that we have come from a contracting background because we understand the game and we understand how fine the margins are.

Having said that we make our fair share of F**C ups but we like to think that we will always hold our hands up and try and fix things as quick as possible, even if it means at considerable cost to ourselves

John, we are launching a contractor profile scheme in April where trade clients will be able to register a profile on our website. Our retail clients will then be able to search for contractors in their area. It takes no time at all to set up. Obviously we cant guarantee that it will bring in loads of enquiries but if it brings in 1 job a year then its worth it.

The real benefit of this scheme is that trade clients who participate in the scheme will get an extra 5% trade discount (taking the discount up to 10%)

Let me know if you want any more info. Obviously the offer is open to everybody

steve

Posted: **Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:04 pm**

great idea steve
thing is ideally you could pick and choose
the flags that were laid down my road look like the ocean wave
but your crates were sitting outside the job
LLL

Posted: **Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:53 pm**

Youve lost me Tony. You on the source ? :p

Posted: **Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:24 pm**

remember that drive down the road from me i mentioned
I only noticed because i saw your crates there
but whoever did it looks like they just banged the flags down with a bit of wood
~~~~ like that
anyway what I mean is an un-vetted scheme has potential danger for your reputation too

and yes I have been on the source

LLL

The Brew Cabin

Off topic good company