Throw away society and EDC kit

[Yorkshire Andy]

Well my strap broke on my basic Casio wrist watch so thought I'd jump on the usual selling sites and get a new strap genuine Casio strap £8 odd delivered. LCD was also beginning to dim when using the light £2 ish for a battery plus needing 20 minutes to hunt my mini screwdriver set that's "somewhere" in my shed. ....


BRAND NEW identical watch £3.99!!!

(F91 Casio)



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-GENUINE- ... SwVTpdoJ3S


How do they do it

[jansman]

My brother used to be a storeman ,handling spare parts for heavy plant.He always said that if you wanted to build anything using spare parts only,then you would never afford it.In this day of waste awareness,it's wrong isnt it?

[Yorkshire Andy]

My brother used to be a storeman ,handling spare parts for heavy plant.He always said that if you wanted to build anything using spare parts only,then you would never afford it.In this day of waste awareness,it's wrong isnt it?

It is literally crackers!

Old engineer from work wanted a alternator for one of our forklifts hed bust his arm motorbike trial riding so I was playing chauffeur....

we had one Yale and one manitou (for the sake of names) both identical machines, We walked into the big agri spares place....

Hi I want a alternator for a Yale 1234 model ..... Ok sir
plonks it on the counter that's £250 and a few pence ......

Just out of curiosity how much is an alternator for a manitou ABCD? £160...

I'll take one of those instead... He stood there... Are you going to get it?

He slid the box he had just said was £250 towards him...

The engineer not been daft picked up the box.. put it down then asked how much for a LUCAS A123 Alternator and saved another £30 odd quid!

Me and him looked at each other in utter disbelief......

[jansman]

Its shocking when parts simply have a brand name and a different price tag. Rip off Britain.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Its shocking when parts simply have a brand name and a different price tag. Rip off Britain.

You've got to watch where you buy anything from...

Sisters car uses funky flat wipers. ...

They are £32 in Halfords for a pair...

£28 with a Halfords trade card...

Walked into local small ISH chain of motors factors called SAS And he came back with the wipers and a printed invoice for £42 EX VAT! ..

Well I'm not particularly diplomatic at the best of times
(but I am pollite and use manners please and a thank you often go a long way)

So he was asked if he was trying to lift my leg and take the urine ( in trade man's language) after the infamous Yorkshire war cry of HOW MUCH!!!!!!! it's a open plan office / desk ... Up jumps manager baring in mind I was chatting to a mechanic I know before I got served who was behind me smirking... The usual what's the problem. ... Well Halfords is only £32 retail and I can get them at trade for £28 INCLUDING VAT... "Well we will save you the 5 mile drive and do them for £30 incl vat... "

Since then local garage who's mechanic was behind me have stopped using them due to price the mechanic went and told the owner and they started checking invoices !

[Deeps]

Aptly, we were discussing Casio watch straps with my missus's mate last night when she was round. She' manages a branch of a well known jewellers, she was saying they charge 12 quid to change the strap and it costs them £3.50. She was saying the watch batteries cost them 2 quid too although I can't remember how much she said it cost for them to change the battery. Luckily she does ours for free.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Aptly, we were discussing Casio watch straps with my missus's mate last night when she was round. She' manages a branch of a well known jewellers, she was saying they charge 12 quid to change the strap and it costs them £3.50. She was saying the watch batteries cost them 2 quid too although I can't remember how much she said it cost for them to change the battery. Luckily she does ours for free.

Nice little mark up £7.50 but you'd need to do a good few off then

I saw none genuine straps around that price but from experience they are not usually as robust as the originals



I still like the simplicity of the basic Casio it tells the time, it keeps time and shows the date, the battery lasts a long time and no one will mug you for it.......

Few years back I popped to My car late one evening whilst rummaging in the boot I was approached by 2 likely lads hoods up, I knew I was been approached.... Excuse me do you have the time? ... A very strange request in today's world when everyone that age seems to have a smart phone......

There was a strange look between them when I told them it was about half 10 having glanced at my watch....


Might have been totally innocent but their body language and posture wasn't exactly friendly and they positioned themselves one either side of me both looked a bit nervous and they left at a fair pace perhaps they were late or didn't have me pulling my phone out my pocket to snatch and run......

[Deeps]

Aptly, we were discussing Casio watch straps with my missus's mate last night when she was round. She' manages a branch of a well known jewellers, she was saying they charge 12 quid to change the strap and it costs them £3.50. She was saying the watch batteries cost them 2 quid too although I can't remember how much she said it cost for them to change the battery. Luckily she does ours for free.

Nice little mark up £7.50 but you'd need to do a good few off then

I saw none genuine straps around that price but from experience they are not usually as robust as the originals



I still like the simplicity of the basic Casio it tells the time, it keeps time and shows the date, the battery lasts a long time and no one will mug you for it.......

Few years back I popped to My car late one evening whilst rummaging in the boot I was approached by 2 likely lads hoods up, I knew I was been approached.... Excuse me do you have the time? ... A very strange request in today's world when everyone that age seems to have a smart phone......

There was a strange look between them when I told them it was about half 10 having glanced at my watch....


Might have been totally innocent but their body language and posture wasn't exactly friendly and they positioned themselves one either side of me both looked a bit nervous and they left at a fair pace perhaps they were late or didn't have me pulling my phone out my pocket to snatch and run......

I'm a fan of a simple wrist chronometer myself, a cheap Lorus does me. Its my 'go to' although I love my smart phone for pretty much everything else. Still gives you a bit of redundancy having that wee thing on your wrist.

[grenfell]

Aptly, we were discussing Casio watch straps with my missus's mate last night when she was round. She' manages a branch of a well known jewellers, she was saying they charge 12 quid to change the strap and it costs them £3.50. She was saying the watch batteries cost them 2 quid too although I can't remember how much she said it cost for them to change the battery. Luckily she does ours for free.

Would be interesting to know the mark up on new watches and also how many new watches they sell compared to how many they put new straps or batteries in. It could very well be selling new is the largest portion which to a degree would explain the cost of replacement work. Spare parts have pretty much the same transport costs but could take up storage space and tie up assests for an indeterminate amount of time. Another reason for higher costs becomes apparent when inquiring about something to be told "we haven't got it in but can get it for tomorrow" so added courier costs . This seems quite common with car parts in my experience.
I'm not trying to defend retailers as i think some just charge "what the market will stand" and will charge as much as they can , just doing by usual fence sitting and seeing both sides.
Luckily the watch strap /batteries doesn't affect me as i haven't worn or carried a watch for 25 years at least . Hardly ever wear my wedding ring either.

[jansman]

We had an indesit washing machine some years ago. Expensive too. Literally one day out of warranty, a £1 switch went wrong. £70 call out! The engineer advised us to buy the cheapest machine, burn it out, and buy another. It’s what we do now.