Big box stores: Inferior tools?

[LD1]

Well if it is true then it is more than just tools.....I had a plumber tell me the plumbing fixtures ..faucets, toilets etc. at the big box stores with the brand names were a cheaper and inferior version than the same brand names at the plumbing supply houses.

Its funny you mention the plumbing. Mom and dad are having a house built, and one of the plumbers told him the EXACT SAME THING. I call BS. Its cheaper because of VOLUME. Wen you order 1,000,000,000 of something, it is going to be cheaper per unit than a "mom and pop" plumbing house that buys 100.

We just had to replace a faucet at work. Got a moen from lowes. NO plastic parts. ALL the plumbing inside was copper and brass. Go figure. Plumbers claim them to be inferior to justify the high costs they pay.

Same for tools, appliances, you name it. When I did my polebarn, I priced several places. Menards, lowes, a local amish guy, and a place that deals and sells ONLY metal. THAT guy was the highest. His excuse....he is the only one selling 1st grade, everyone else sells seconds:laughing:

There are SOME cases where you cannot get the same quality at a box store though. But the Box-store models certainly arent the same part number. If you are shopping for model x1234 and both a box-store and specialized dealer carry the SAME model x1234....it is going to be the SAME.

When the manufacture makes tools, or fixtures, or whatever, and boxes them up and puts a model # on them, and stacks them on a pallet, you really think they know which ones are destined to be in a box store and which ones arent? And if you really think that...:mur:

 

[OrangeAgain]

A few years ago we had a "Monitor Barn" addition built for additional living / office space and three garage bays. I selected a highly recommended American Standard (AS) toilet and got prices for the model number from Home Depot and two local plumbing supply houses. Home Depot was significantly lower in price. Each plumbing house told me the quality of the Home Depot product was inferior. I contacted AS and they replied that if the model number is the same, the quality is the same wherever purchased. I sent the AS email to the plumbing houses.

This myth is one that is perpetuated by plumbing houses and the contractors that buy from them.

 

[Luremaker]

About 8 years ago I purchased two identical Delta washroom sink fixtures. One came from a plumbing house and the second one from HD. The one from the plumbing house looks brand new while the one from HD has the chrome peeling off. I think one from the plumbing house was made out of brass and the HD model is made from zinc.

 

[LD1]

About 8 years ago I purchased two identical Delta washroom sink fixtures. One came from a plumbing house and the second one from HD. The one from the plumbing house looks brand new while the one from HD has the chrome peeling off. I think one from the plumbing house was made out of brass and the HD model is made from zinc.

Are you SURE it was an identica part #. Doesnt matter if they "look" identical. What did the PN tell you.

And did you contact delta about it? And what was the price difference?

 

[Luremaker]

Are you SURE it was an identica part #. Doesnt matter if they "look" identical. What did the PN tell you.

And did you contact delta about it? And what was the price difference?

It's been so long now I can't say of the part numbers were identical. I was in the local plumbing shop and that fixture was on the discount shelf and I purchased it for my shop. My wife liked the faucet so a few months later we purchased the one for the house from HD. Box looked identical to me and instruction sheet was the same. Only difference I can see 8 years later is the chrome finish peeling off on one purchased from HD. Honestly, I can't remember what I paid for them.

 

[dmccarty]

...
We just had to replace a faucet at work. Got a moen from lowes. NO plastic parts. ALL the plumbing inside was copper and brass. Go figure. Plumbers claim them to be inferior to justify the high costs they pay...

When we built our house we worked out a deal with HD that allowed us to get 10% off whatever we bought for the house. We bought Moen for the kitchen sink faucet and it was not cheap but it had the look she wanted and the features I wanted. The faucet worked mostly fine for seven years until this year. The faucet has a "switch" to spray or not spray. This switch was under a piece of rubber like material. Eventually the rubber like cover ripped off. Seems like we had another problem with some gaskets, or some such, that caused the faucet to drip. With the drip we called them and they sent us replacement parts. This year we called up about the rubber cover, they asked about leaks, and said for $25-50 or so they would send a replacement faucet. We paid for a new faucet. We priced a new Moen that was similar to what we had installed in the house and it was $200-300.

The faucet should not have had problems, and the rubber cover is problematic, but I can only praise their Moen's response to the problem.

The builder and contractors knew we were buying some supplies from HD. None of the contractors cared where we bought the stuff.

Later,
Dan

 

[aczlan]

On the Big Box vs dealer Deeres: take a look at http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/john-deere-lawn-garden/234349-jd-dealer-vs-lowes-hd.html for some good commentary on the subject.
Essentially, if the model number is the same, it is the same tractor no matter where you buy it.

Aaron Z

 

[s219]

Well if it is true then it is more than just tools.....I had a plumber tell me the plumbing fixtures ..faucets, toilets etc. at the big box stores with the brand names were a cheaper and inferior version than the same brand names at the plumbing supply houses...I did not believe him and when we built our house 8 yrs. ago we bought all Price Phister brand fixtures from Home Depot at about a third of the cost from a plumbing supply house and we have not had one problem in those 8 yrs....I find it hard to believe big companies would compromise their brands that way.

We just picked out all our plumbing fixtures for a new house, and I did find that several of the products were different between the plumbing supply house and Lowes. I was just doing a sanity check on prices, and initially concluded that the supply house was too high. But danged if there weren't differences in specs. Same toilet model name was really a different model at Lowes versus the plumbing supply house. The Lowes model had lower GPF and a few other missing features (who knew a toilet had features was my first reaction). Same thing for the faucets. I was surprised, but our builder was not.

 

[brin]

We just picked out all our plumbing fixtures for a new house, and I did find that several of the products were different between the plumbing supply house and Lowes. I was just doing a sanity check on prices, and initially concluded that the supply house was too high. But danged if there weren't differences in specs. Same toilet model name was really a different model at Lowes versus the plumbing supply house. The Lowes model had lower GPF and a few other missing features (who knew a toilet had features was my first reaction). Same thing for the faucets. I was surprised, but our builder was not.

So - don't leave us in suspense...did you pop for the more expensive fixtures or buy the ones at Lowes..? I bought the ones at Lowes...Price Phister....and they work great for 8 yrs. now...they were less than half the price the plumbing supply wanted for the same fixtures...It was a lot of difference...we had 5 faucet fixtures ...1 for the kitchen and the rest for bathrooms...just all the sinks...not counting toilets, showers or tubs..and it was a of about $800.00 as I recall...even more if we count the toilets, tubs and showers...all of which are great after 8 yrs.

 

[Pops15]

I would say most tools at the box stores are the same as you can buy anywhere....as long as the model numbers are the same.

Someone mentioned Price Phister. I think their stuff is the same everywhere.

Moen most definitely makes a cheaper model faucet for Lowes. Some models look identical to the more expensive versions sold at plumbing wholesale houses......but the model numbers are different. Moen will stand behind the Lowes version but you need to keep all your paperwork.

I know Lowes specs products made by Kaftmaid cabinets, Larson storm doors, and other products as well. These companies all make similar products for sale in other venues but the model numbers are different.

Same goes for electronics.

In every case that I know of where a box store sells a cheaper version of what someone else sells they use a different part or model number.