DraxNet

Nope still here. Maybe it's wishful thinking on their part?

Oh, that's news to me?

Well just been to the new Watsadu, spent B4000, produced my Central Group discount card only to be told they do not accept it despite having the Homeworks logo on the back ! (Same company)

Hi John; apologies, I explained this issue a little further up the thread. It's because we don't use the same EPOS systems because our inventory and stock control ordering is quite different with our vendors. However, this should be rectified with a universal Central group overhaul that is occurring in the 4th QTR.

No problem ludee. As I mentioned to rimmer earlier, we are having a difficult staffing problem at the moment. Without going into too much detail, most companies pay bonus in February which causes a mass exodus of staff on 1st March. Seemingly the Thai way is not to hand in your notice or anything but to just leave. So I am feverishly recruiting for about 30-35 staff to fill the gaps I currently have as service on tills and in loading for construction is embarrassingly poor as a result I am ashamed to say.

Hi again Toby.

Another point about price labels/stickers. For products like tiles or laminate floor it would be nice to have the price "by square meter", not only the price "by box". I saw that Home Pro begun to do that. It's far easier for a customer to estimate how much it would cost for his room, and easier to compare different tiles/laminate. A box often is 0.72 or 0.96 or 1.84... or any amount not easy to count.

Again, in the pipeline. We can do it at the moment manually, but handwritten signs are the biggest turn off to a customer, so I've insisted all the ceramic staff have calculators on them and can calculate areas in sq m and ft. Our suppliers have started helping us out now as well by supplying some of the most popular ranges tiles in 1 and 2 sq m boxes.

Very small tins of enamel paint, Toby. Sure, I can jump on the bike and go to the local hardware stores, but I do a bi-weekly bulk buying run to Makro and always stop at TW. BTW, appreciate you directly addressing customers' issues on this forum. You're a breath of fresh air in this country.

Sorry; a little cryptic there! You are looking for small tins of enamel paint? I believe the smallest we do aren't what you'd necessarily quantify as small I'm afraid. About 500ml; various colours are available. Let me know and I can put a list up tomorrow if you'd like.

Hi Toby,

Thank for your (fast) reply from this morning.

About delivery, I understand that "door 2 door" is time and money consuming

A permanent "pickup point" would cost too. What about a periodic "area 2 area" ?

For Pattaya it could be something like that :

- once a week, you have a truck who make delivery in some precise places in town;

places easy to access, easy to park and on a bahtbus route :

- from 9 to 9:30 on Pattaya Tai (like the Tuesday-Friday market place?)

- from 10 to 10:30 on Pattaya Nua

- from 11 to 11:30 in a place on the Dark Side

... (All that depending on where you think your customers are)

Customers then can choose this delivery way

and just have to organize their local pickup that day at that hour

Advantage for you is your truck doesn't have to run everywhere in the city (but just these few points) and has a precise schedule: it's then available for other usage.

Just an idea.

Well, I can certainly suggest it. It's feasible as long as demand exists. To do that circular takes a truck out of action for about 2-3 hrs (traffic dependant) but if there enough customers would like this service I'm happy to facilitate it. Without being mercenary, for me to justify it I would have to demonstrate a ROI in terms of advocacy of customers; ie customers specifically choosing to shop with us because of the service. If you think there's enough people that would use it I am happy to orchestrate it and run it for a month. If it works I can make it permanent.

Toby,

What is the difference between Jotun Base A B or C the paint staff say its all the same I suspect because they are not sure, the Jotun websites don't help much either, I wanted Jotun Extreme for outdoor use but settled for base C in the end correct or not?.

It's the specifier dependant on the type of colour you want mixed. Lighter colours and pastel shades = A. Medium colours and 'effervescent' shades = B, and darker 'heavier' shades = C. It's to do with how well the base takes up the mix and keeps an even shade through the tin. Apart from the they are the same.

Apologies the staff didn't explain that. There's 3 staff on the paint desks that are very good and who speak decent English so if you have any queries let me know and I can point you in the right direction.

Hi there, thanks for your feedback; it is always much appreciated. I will pass on your remarks to the department head; was the gentleman in question a large guy with white glasses?

As to your remarks regarding the detail on the price labels, I wholeheartedly agree. Our system is currently limited on the level of detail we can provide on these labels. However, we are having a large overhaul of our system in the 4th quarter which will rectify this along with EPOS that means we will be able to accept 1 Card at the tills as well.

The larger prices on lower shelves is a valid point and I will revisit it; we did try this for a while earlier on but the tickets we always getting damaged becoming illegible from being exposed on the lower shelves, as they don't fit in with the strip. Larger items on lower shelves we tend to price on the item itself in order to make it easier. Notwithstanding I will ask the department heads to ensure this is checked.

With regards to the delivery issue I appreciate your sentiment. When building the store we had to make a conscious decision of out of town versus inner city site. We couldn't secure anything near enough the size we needed closer to the centre, so we made a conscious decision to take this larger site to facilitate choice and range, allowing our sister site at Homeworks to begin absorbing the more domestic DIY market allowing us to focus more on constructor and volume a little. With delivery we had to make the same rational choice unfortunately, as I have 5 trucks on delivery (2 crane lift, and 3 midi-flat beds) and they are constantly working flat out on deliveries, delivering to sites all over the eastern side. We had to make a tough decision to in essence 'price out' a section of the market for deliveries because we don't have yet have the resource to facilitate deliveries for everyone who wants them. That said, I like your suggestion. What we feasibly can do if you wish, is whatever goods you have bought, and can have them delivered to the Homeworks store for free on a pallet and bonded in their warehouse for your collection. I'm not able to have a drop off point for goods without renting a bonded warehouse in town (with the expense of security and staff coverage along with it) as, even though you've paid for the goods, they're our responsibility until you sign receipt. I don't want to have unsecured property left where it's not something I can manage someone's accountability for it if you understand?

Let me know next time you're in the store and I can arrange for you if you so wish.

Thanks again

Toby.

That's daft that there's no donation points in Pattaya. I would gladly donate otherwise. Beyond the locale it gets a bit awkward to travel to make donations though. Any update on the patient?

Since there is already an effort to assist English-speaking customers (the signs), one staffing suggestion would be to have a dedicated English speaker available in Customer Service, like Home Pro does. At the paint and nuts/bolts areas I asked if there were anybody available who spoke English (I asked in Thai), and they said, "Sorry, no."

At Home Pro, sometimes it takes a while for the English speaker to show up -- I realize they have other duties and/or other customer translations to do -- but all the sales people in the store are all aware of the translator, and it's always been worth the wait (to me) for them to show up.

Apologies wpcoe, I will need to explain to them. I have several English speakers in the store (excluding myself) they all wear badges saying "I can speak English". There is a lady staffed on the CS desk (K Ae) who speaks excellent English and there is also my PA (K Kob). There are 2-3 staff also in construction sales who speak excellent English too. Not sure why you were told that?

At check out, still problem with lines... in my case the clerk couldn't get the charge card machine to work and was getting frustrated. Technical issue that finally sorted out. Oh yeah, while waiting noted the illustrious GM in his office, using a white board and looking frustrated also. Have to think he was working on staffing issues by the look on his face. ha ha ha

Lol, I need to move that board evidently Karl! Thanks again for the feedback, and yes I was working on staffing issues. Not frustrated as much as trying to reshuffle what I've already got as recruiting in a .8% unemployment market is proving challenging at times!

Apologies for the checkout issues, as it's a consistent problem that I am trying to fix. Finite resources of staff are not helping at the moment but I promise we will have a solution soon. The plumbing supplies mish-mash is caused by us changing vendor and until we're 100% ranged in the new lines I can't mix up the old and new stock.

Thank you for the feedback wpcoe. I will address the issues on the paint & hardware sections directly. I am aware of the issues with checkouts which frustratingly is proving challenging

to fix, but I apologise for your wait nonetheless.

The split levels issue as I've detailed is caused by a spanner in the works by the local permit office to remove the escalators and replace with a lift. This should be expedited very soon though.

Hi KuhnKarl, thank-you very much for the detailed feedback; much appreciated. Let me address the detail of your visit:

1. Fair comment with the conduit. It is dual located for spec but when I checked the location within electrical it was empty and not replenished. I will get that fixed.

2. Threaded ends are missing along with a fair few electrical accessories. It is on my hit list, but without replaying the sad story we lost millions of baht of stock in a flood prior to opening and have struggled to re-acquire much of due to vendors and suppliers shutting down in Q4. But yes, it isn't acceptable that basics like that are missing so I apologise.

3. PVC glue and primer; fair comment I I'll get it dual located. (It's on aisle 9A with glues and adhesives.)

4. 6" unions for drain pipes. Bizarrely not in our stock profile. I have no idea why so thank-you I will raise that with head office and get it added.

5. We have checkouts downstairs by the loading bays but I agree it's not 100% right. To go into detail we are re-doing the lower floor because I've highlighted many issues with customer flow and ease of use which isn't right so this starts next year. Including ripping out the escalators and installing a lift so you can actually shop both levels.

6. Dual language signage. I've had a fair bit of influence in this (this store has more English signage than any store in estate) but I face a problem with marketing that each time new products signage is released they forget about us and I have to request replacement and send them the translation back. This takes time and no-one works to westernised deadlines so I share your frustration. Notwithstanding the signage to direct/explain our lower level is poor and I've highlighted this as a priority to fix in the new year.

7. Store map; fantastic idea, hadn't thought of that format so I will get on that ASAP, thank-you.

8. How to. On that already (we used them in UK for B&Q (same as Home Depot) and they worked great). We're just prioritising the departments (mainly pump/filtration/water and tiling & flooring) but you will see something like this very soon.

9. Special orders: apologies, yes we do them but it's a brand new process and us and BangNa are the only store that do them at the moment and there are quite a few teething problems with them. I must admit I am loathe to promote it heavily at the moment because I am an advocate of never promise what you can't deliver but because of flaws in the process I've let a couple of customers down with their special orders which infuriates me so until I have more confidence in it it's not something I can stand proudly behind just yet. No fear though, I will get it fixed so I'm sorry again for that.

Thank-you though for your feedback, it's worth its weight in gold so any more feedback you have at any time please let me know.

Toby.

Perfect location - stop moaning!

Simon => living in north Phuket

Yes excellent location, even better would have been the building where now still Phuket Gateway is, just across the bridge. Please don't forget Phuket is not like St. Helena an island all alone in the middle of the ocean, part of the stuff bought in that store. will surely find its way to Khao Lak and maybe even Krabi.

We tried that location; couldn't get permits for the size of site we needed. Stores in this phase are 23,000sqm + on sites around 26-30,000sq m, and Phuket wouldn't grant us one in that location.

Hi Robin, if this was Friday 6th apologies. The Thai national grid in their infinite wisdom had turned off the power for most of south Sukhamvit between 8:30am-4pm in order to effect repairs (why you wouldn't do this between 9pm - 4am I really don't know?) Consequently we were running on backup power from our generator and hence could only have 25% lighting and no fans or air con. There were signs posted in English and Thai at the entrance explaining but I'm sorry the staff were not able to explain this at the time.

Thanks for the explanation, I probably walked in & didn't read the signs, we just get too excited in a hardware store....

As I said, the Udon Thani store is great, I hope it can be replicated in Pattaya with competitive pricing.

cheers,

Rob

Doh, Rob *in* Pattaya, not 'Robin'; sorry; my bad Rob!

I hope so too Rob, please let me know if there's anything else you need or any feedback you have.

Hi Robin, if this was Friday 6th apologies. The Thai national grid in their infinite wisdom had turned off the power for most of south Sukhamvit between 8:30am-4pm in order to effect repairs (why you wouldn't do this between 9pm - 4am I really don't know?) Consequently we were running on backup power from our generator and hence could only have 25% lighting and no fans or air con. There were signs posted in English and Thai at the entrance explaining but I'm sorry the staff were not able to explain this at the time.

No worries Peter, I'm not trying to sway anyone's shopping decisions; I respect your decision to shop elsewhere, as a consumer that's your prerogative.

'OMG', my name is Toby. Store opening hours are 7:30am - 7pm. Yes, there is a cafe (with a proper heartstarter espresso I can personally recommend), and also a juice bar. However, we don't have an ice-cream vendor unfortunately. We will however have in the next month or so an air conditioned restaurant.

"No, I work here and my wife is English. I don't want a pingpong show and I'm *not* Russian."

Apologies for the queuing you had to endure. Funnily enough, when I spoke to Baz earlier it was something I had already picked up on. There is a nasty habit of poor observation amongst some of my colleagues in terms of queues. There should always be 2-3+ stationed there but it's proving challenging to explain to them that just because there isn't a customer in front of you this minute does not mean you should walk away to start another job. There is a lot of pressure on them to fix pricing so the girls on checkout often feel bad when they appear to doing nothing when other staff are working. It's just a Thai thing that I will fix, so

because I completely understand how frustrating it is as a customer standing in a queue, so I apologise again for the wait.

This new Thai Watsadu is just a larger Home Works, owned by Central Group, with the same merchandise and brands that can be found at the  one next to Big C on Sukumvit in Pattaya, just more of it

 

Just try and ask for anything in the electrical section and you will get the same blank stares as  you do at Home Works, sorry but IMHO, this new store is not an improvement for DIY'ers here in Pattaya

 

Bought a light bulb there on opening day, but could not test is since they had not set up a bulb testing fixture yet.  Got home and it did not work and went back the next day a 09:30 and was told that I would have to come back after 1 PM to do an even exchange because there was no one in the electrical department....same crap as at Home Works.....just a different location....128 THB cost of a lesson to never go back

Are you sure about Central Group being the parent of Thai Wasuda? If so, can one use their One Card there for discounts and points? One nice thing about HomeWorks is you can use the One Card there.

It is owned by the central group, they have their own discount card there, which i just got one of, not sure if the One card is useable there, maybe the GM can provide that info.

As it stands today no, but please bear with us. There is an exercise going on with Homeworks and TWD that will be complete by May, that means our systems will assimilate so you will be able to. Currently we have our Thai card which (I would say this) gives better benefits such as reduced prices on key lines below the shelf price and free stuff as well, but the 1Card will, all being well, soon be able to be redeemed in TWD's.

Sure, I can understand your perspective Peter. Let me explain a little:

1. We don't expect customers to go traipsing around to find prices to match on every sku in order to bring to us, that is not what I'm suggesting. As I highlighted I already have a process in place in order that we are already price competitive. To put this into perspective though I carry 117600 different sku's at last count, we so sometimes miss some in our comparison checks. For this I apologise and certainly from my store's perspective we will get better over time.

2. We don't need quotations, just some proof (people usually take a picture with their camera phone) in order to match. We however require some element of proof otherwise the process would be horrifically open to abuse by unscrupulous individuals.

3. Retailers (including us) quite often do buy back deals with the vendors. For example, the pump you highlight is discontinued from Mitsubishi. I only hazard a guess that GlobalHouse have bought up their discon'd stock, because it's never been in my range as a new store which means it's being withdrawn from other TWD's. This is the 100w version

We are doing a special on the 150w Mitsu pump though for B5130 which is a strong seller.

With regards to the ladder, Sanki are a partner brand with HH. (Same as we are with Giant King Kong and KanYong was with Siam Cement.) Just means we can't undercut them only, match but they will always drop their shelf price again against us. Ours is B2130 not B2730 though?

We do however have the identical ladder with same grade aluminium, dimensions, and spec that is our brand for B790 less than HH Sanki.

It just depends if brand or price is more important to you.

I'm drawing a blank with the Luckystar pump I'm afraid? Not a brand I can see us carrying here? We have this Luckypro automatic 250W pump at B1890 which compares favourably.

4. I guess the big thing is would you rather we didn't do the price matching at all? As it stands as far as I am aware we are the only retailer in this sector that does it, but if it's more hassle or confusion to the customer then I'll recommend we adopt a different strategy.

.....

In the West feminine women are becoming difficult to find.

So are slim women come to think of it......When someone tells me they are not attracted to Thai women I wonder what might be wrong with them.

Maybe they prefer butch and overweight girls who act like men but I know I don't

Why be deliberately facetious? I was quite evidently referring your above remark.

Nevermind, trolling's not my bag so I'll step away from this convo.

Change mine every 3 years or at 400,000 km, so has been less then 3 years some times, until this last change always had a D-Max, but this time went with Mazda........ still the same the dealer did everything, gives an offer for old truck, phones finance to see what is still outstanding, arranges the new finance, got a nice cash sum back this time..

You don't need to stump up a lump sum deposit to change then?