I love bunnings

[DaveInOz]

Why?

Because they are good at what they do.
They don't make false pretences about what they are.
They are reliable, dependable.

They are a hardware+ supermarket for the handyman/weekend warrior. They have a huge range of items, but a small selection of each. The selection only includes cheaper end items aimed at the handyman market.
That means if you want something they have it, if you don't want the one/s they stock then you are beyond handyman and should shop for these items at specialist stores.

The people working there stack the shelves, occasionally you can get someone with knowledge but you don't bank on it. I don't expect cooking tips from the safeway red coats, nor do i expect building tips from bunnings staff.

If they say something will happen, it will, or they will contact you.

If you smile at them they smile back.

The kids love the craft classes, they are free and the staff are great with kids.

:rolleyes: Just got sick of bunnings bashing :)

[echnidna]

For some here, thems fightin' words.

But you're right on - they're just a hardware store!

[DaveInOz]

:D stimulating discussion requires differing views :D

and you gotta love stiring the pot :D :D

[PAH1]

I agree, Bunnies is the only hardware store my wife has not been abused in by buying something. All the others are very female unfriendly and regard them as second class, also I have never been offended by taking my twins into bunnies something that I can not say for the others. Trying to fit Bunnings into the mould of a specialist supplier is like comparing your average supermarket to a good european type deli.

[Wongo]

I agree. Bunning is a hardware supermarket. If you know what you are doing then it is a great place. As far as help and advice go, you probably should now expect too much from them. I am not saying that they don’t know their stuff but most of us already know a lot about hardware anyway. Would go to a supermarket and ask them about how to cook a meal?

My daughter loves the craft class and face painting. The girl there is very good with her. :)

[GCP310]

I would have to agree with the above mentioned and have had only a few issues over the last few years.

the fact that they are open from 7-9 on weekdays is great for those who work full time and burn the midnight oil working on the home reno / upsetting the neighbours thing :D

My Wife, who i have waken up to on a sunday morning to the sounds of a jigsaw and her cutting down cupboards, hates most Men sales folk at hardware / landscape suppliers who write her off as a dumb female with no idea. She gets treated fine by the staff at bunnings,when you can find them....... :rolleyes:

My only issue is the timber. tasi oak and sheet materials are ok, but the DAR pine quality is really low grade. twisted and full of knots. it takes a bit of sorting thru to get straight grained and reasonably flat timber stock.

G

[JackoH]

Hear!Hear! (or is it Here! Here!?). At last I have some support. Congratulations to all Bunny Lovers.

[Kev Y.]

Why?

Because they are good at what they do.
They don't make false pretences about what they are.
They are reliable, dependable.



Dave I sure hope you are being sarcastic here!

Early this year I ordered a matchstick blind from my local "bunnies", the size I wanted was out of stock- no surprise there- however it was a "regular stock item". after waiting 6 weeks for a call telling me that the stock had arrived, I called the manager, SHE was out on a course, please speak to the assistant assistant manager.

The assistant assistant manager looked at the order book but could not find a reference to my order.

simple solution - ORDER CANCELED!

Bunnies deserve every bash they recieve. :mad:

[DaveInOz]

hey Bro,

My local is great with orders and delivery (Hoppers Crossing), as is the old mans local in Corio.

My expectations of quality and expertise at bunnings are very low, and I go in there knowing that.

The shops that me off are the ones that should know better as specialty shops. I live in Melbourne so no prises to guess who I'm talking about.

In fact few weeks ago I drove the old mans 69 Pheonix (dogde) to bunnies so we could pick up timber for a ramp off the verander. As he cannot drive anymore it sits around a lot, we had to jump it to get it going.
As luck would have it the trip to Corio didn't charge it sufficently. The Bunnies boss tossed one of the kids his keys and said 'help the bloke out'. The kid was because it was the bosses car but we got going. They sold $300 of wood and a trickle charger.

I wouldn't ask them for a 10", thin kerf, 24 tooth, 30mm arbour, ABT blade. But for help carrying stuff or starting your car, or being friendly to the kids I'll try them every time

[Sturdee]

I agree, Bunnings is great. My nearest hardware stores are Bunnies at Mitcham and Nunawading. Both stores are well laid out, have a large range in stock and will order anything in for you without waiting months like some specialty stores that I know.

I always find the staff friendly and helpfull especially the people at the door and the tool sections.

Whilst they are not always the cheapest, they will price match others. Now before we get the usual diatribe :eek: of those who think we should suppport the small guy let me give an example of the small guy attitude I experienced a couple of weeks ago.

Whilst visiting a small hardware store I asked about SCM Saws to see what they knew about them. The assistant called the owner who could not give me much detail and he suggested I go to Bunnies to compare various models and ring him for a price when I was ready to buy. :( No wonder people go to Bunnies with that kind of attitude.


Peter.

[echnidna]

The obvious thing about the bunnies haters is that they keep going back so they can get more things to gripe about!!
I don't love nor hate Bunnies and am looking forward to having one in 2005 that will only be 1/2 an hour away instead of a couple of hours into Geelong. I wont be buying timber from them but the tool and hardware variety they carry is going to be worthwhile.

[Wild Dingo]

mmmm... being in Mandurah where we have one of the largest bunnings "mega stores" in Aussie or at least WA I will say that Im less than impressed.

Now bunnys are not a specialtiy store by a long shot and they do have an increadibly diverse range along with the training shows they put on and classes for various things they have arent to bad I guess... but get a dud tool or bit and ask for a refund or better quality and forget it! "oh just buy another one sir" yeah right! they sell the crappiest bits anywhere which to me is bloody stupid since its peoples lives and limbs that can be damaged by flying shattered "new" bits from a router! There timber is service is somewhat lacking try finding someone who knows ANYTHING on a Saturday :mad:

But as a bloke whos daughter works at Bunnys Morley store its a bloody good thing! :o She loves it! spent her first week on the door reckons she hadnt laughed so much in a long time and thinks we "weegen warriors" are total idiots :eek: ... well she knew that from her old man nothin new there I guess :rolleyes: but they gave her a start and are training her around the store which is brilliant

But me I will never buy another bit blade or any peice of machinery from them again my life is worth more than their crap... mind you the missus does enjoy a wander through the garden and reno sections so it cant be all bad better than the others by a long shot for customer service and freindliness... for the occasional bit of masking tape poly pipe cement or gardenin gear bunnys cant be beat but for anything related to bits and blades STAY SAFE STAY ALIVE AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!

Mind you they do a not to shabby sausage sizzle :cool:

Now I didnt knock them too much did I? shoulda seen what I said when the bit broke!!! :eek: :mad:

[DaveInOz]

I must say that the only router bits or drills i buy from bunnies are the 'name' brand, P&N, triton etc.
Anthing that moves at high speed I steer clear of 'homebrand' and stick to brands with a known consistant quality.

Incidently never had a problem with returns, in fact yesterday I bought some stuff including a liter of paint. My 5yo was helping me and dropped it on the sidewalk of their carpark. *Big bright yellow mess* :o It was replaced no questions or worries and by the time I left with the new tin the mess had been, mostly, cleaned up.

[ozwinner]

My 5yo was helping me and dropped it on the sidewalk of their carpark. .
Sidewalk??? where is your nearest Bunnies?? :D

Al :)

[Optimark]

For the last few months the missus and I have been upgrading a 2 bedroom unit.

One of the jobs undertaken, was to replace all of the door handles as well as replacing the existing front and rear door locks with the addition of dead latches and assorted fixtures.

After careful consideration it was decided that the local Bunnings store would/should be able to supply the appropriate hardware at a reasonable cost/function within our budget.

All of the internal doors were not too much of a problem, except it took me a whole weekend to remove and refit all new hardware. Unfortunately the outer doors proved to be a real problem as the previous owner was the original owner from new and he had specified some fancy Imperial stuff from America but it was manufactured as far as we could work out to metric specifications for our market, except our market when these were built was still imperial so the carpenters of the day would have had a merry time of it.. What we had purchased was never going to fit unless major surgery, or new doors were fitted.

Well it was back to Bunnings with the original locks and the staff were extremely helpful giving us the option of changing the goods or getting our money back. We weren't too sure which way we were going to go so they suggested we go to their help desk in the middle of the store and ask for the lock person. This we duly did and the lady couldn't have been more helpful.

In the end she advised that the best course would be to order a proper keyed alike set of four (garage etc,.) of a certain kind of lock mechanism. After looking at her catalogue(s) we agreed that this would be the way to go, so we ordered them on a Sunday afternoon. Tuesday afternoon I received a telephone call that they had arrived, I arrived at the store around 1800 after work to find that the goods were accompanied with a note from our helpful lady on Sunday asking/telling us that as these were an especialy deep fitting lock maybe we may require a narrow 3mm chisel to extricate a small narrow piece of wood for the long internal arm fitted to these locks.

To say I was impressed, would be an understatement!

Yes, I have had ordinary service from Bunnings, yes, the staff are a bit thin on the ground, yes, the product range leaves something to be desired, but, and it's a reasonably big but. Bunnings were able to fulfill every requirement for the total refurbishment of this unit to a standard that when the real estate agent walked in for an inspection, her initial reaction was to ask, "wow, when can I move in"?

Yes I know that the real effort was our labour, which included tiling repair in the bathroom and shower unit. When my missus went to Reece plumbing for older fittings in the bathroom she was basically given a bit of a hard time, she walked out and across the road to Bunnings, explained her problem to the plumbing person who suggested a way out of our dilemma using standard fittings with the old cover fittings being retained.

Worked out just dandy, however I was taken aback with the suggestion of using Liquid Nails to hold the bathroom tiles in place for a repair as opposed to a new job which should use conventional means of attachment. It worked extremely well, and, funnily enough, the suggestion came from their resident carpenter as a way out of our predicament. Apparently he was in a pickle trying to butt fit two long boards together in the bush without his normal Biscuit Joiner around. What he did was to drill many 3mm holes, 15mm deep along the joining edges at random, then he applied a thin line of Liquid Nails and clamped them together, quickly cleaning up the excess. The holes were there to take in the Liquid Nails goo and act as dowels, so to speak, apparently it worked very well and after using this product, I agree it should.

There is a place for Bunnings and I think one should keep that in context.

Mick.