COMMENT Caveat emptor “ A


s the editor of a trade publication, I’ve had my share of odd phone calls. Usually, they are from someone who ‘saw a product advertised in your magazine a few months ago, I don’t know its name, nor which issue. Do you have the contact details of the manufacturer?’ One the other day brought home to me a couple of things: that, while consistency in a product is necessary, it’s not always that easy to get totally right. And that when you buy something you really should check you know what you are asking for and that what you’ve been given is what you ordered.


A builder – let’s call him Bob – rang. He was in a tizzy because he had ordered brivcks that turned out not to be the colour he thought they would be. I did suggest that his first port of call should be the merchant he ordered them from, followed by the manufacturer, rather than me, and that’s where it got more bizarre. Three or four years ago, Bob built some garages and liked the bricks he used, so he re-ordered them this Spring. He ordered them from the branch of a national merchant, one that he’d used for many years and he ordered them by name of the product because that was what he’d used three or four years ago. This was in mid-March 2020. The bricks duly arrived, just as lockdown did. So, Bob told me, the three pallets of bricks sat on the driveway for three months, until he opened one to start work.


Only to find that they are the wrong colour. According to Bob, he went for a sandy autumn brown and the bricks he’s been sent are more purple and will look awful. Alas for Bob, not only has so much time passed that he’s missed the merchant’s two-week returns deadline, but the branch he bought them from is one of a large number that have been closed down this year. He has, he says, no contacts and every time he rings head office or the regional office, he gets to talk to a different person, none of whom are able to authorise the return of the bricks. The reason they can’t


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Builders Merchants Journal Datateam Business Media London Road Maidstone Kent ME15 8LY Tel: 01622 687031 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net


EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Fiona Russell Horne 01622 699101 07721 841382 frussell-horne@datateam.co.uk


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or won’t take the bricks back, he says, is that those were the bricks he ordered, by name, in the first place. Bob says he also contacted the manufacturer, who told him that the colour of the bricks has, indeed changed slightly, due to the use of different aggregates and that this change was communicated to every merchant customer at the time. But not, it appears to Bob, so he says. In any case, he adds, the pictures of the bricks on the internet appear to be the colour that he wanted in the first place. Having said that, if you Google the product, at least one merchant website carries a prominent warning that colour variations may occur due to the different processes used. Again, the manufacturer says these bricks are what he ordered, so these bricks are what he got. Apparently, he’s not paid for his bricks yet and is, unsurprisingly, being chased for payment now by the merchant.


I really didn’t have much advice for Bob, other than to gently suggest that you can’t rely upon a website or even a printed brochure for true colour matching and that it’s always a good idea to order a sample of a natural product like brick, although, of course, even then you aren’t guaranteed a total match. I also mentioned plenty of places that sell-on excess bricks; eBay has a thriving spare building materials section. What I can’t really get my head round is why you wouldn’t check that something you ordered three or four years ago hasn’t changed in the intervening period. And why didn’t he check them when they arrived, instead of leaving them on the drive for three months? OK, so the lockdown meant he couldn’t return them immediately but at least the process could have been started and the paper trail would show the timescale was in his favour. How many times have merchants felt that they are the ones who have to do all the thinking for their customers?


Fiona Russell-Horne Editor-in-Chief - BMJ


COMMENT


Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and


fall.. William Shakespeare CONTENTS


4 The Month What’s been going on in the industry this month


6 News Extra


Changes are afoot at Companies House


8 People Who’s now working where?


10 Business Helpdesk The BMF looks at transport issues. 12 Viewpoint


Our guest commentators look at blocks, cement and online trading.


17 Insulation Looking at dispelling some common myths


18 Merchant Focus Keyline talk merchanting leadership in the new-normal


20 Rainwater management


Green infrastructure and the SUDS situation


24 Plumbing & Heating


New products and how merchants can make the most of the sector


27 Painting and Decorating


Demand grows for paint and decorating supplies


30 Workwear Making workwear a more sustainable option


32 BMF Industry Voice News from the BMF.


26 Product News The latest innovations.


30 And FInally News and the crossword.


September 2020 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3 ”


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