Big box stores: Inferior tools?

[Bikewanderer]

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.

Try to repair these faucets. You'll find out.

 

[Carl Bert]

SO ya'll are saying all the Porter Cable, DeWalts, Makita, Hitachi, Bosch, Bostitch, Ridgid, Milwaukee, Dremal, Husquavarna, May Tag, Jen Air, East Wing, American Standard, Kohler, are all garbage if you purchased them from Lowes, or HD. Model number for model number?

There are names I specifically left out such as GE, Black and Decker, and some mower brands, IMO they are poorly made no matter where you choose to buy them, and there is a reason,they are priced cheap....because they are.

Sorry,but I do not buy all the companies listed above would alter the quality of their products for a large volume contract. Perhaps they would make a Home Depot model, which you could not buy no where else? Is what ya'll mean?




Kholer, American standard,

Here is simple proof. Go buy a Kohler kitchen faucet at a plumbing supply house, then buy the EXACT same faucet at Home Depot (yes the HD item will have one or two additional numbers or letters in the model #) but it will look IDENTICAL. Take them both home and simply put them on a scale. There will be a significant difference in weight. If that doesn't say enough, than I don't know what to tell you. If your happy with the crap that these BB stores sell, then theres no reason to shop elsewhere.

I can give you a dozen more examples of proof, but really whats the point.

 

[aczlan]

Here is simple proof. Go buy a Kohler kitchen faucet at a plumbing supply house, then buy the EXACT same faucet at Home Depot (yes the HD item will have one or two additional numbers or letters in the model #) but it will look IDENTICAL. Take them both home and simply put them on a scale. There will be a significant difference in weight. If that doesn't say enough, than I don't know what to tell you. If your happy with the crap that these BB stores sell, then theres no reason to shop elsewhere.
I can give you a dozen more examples of proof, but really whats the point.

And there is the difference, the model number is slightly different... If you buy "Model number for model number" like Tollster said they will be the same.

Aaron Z

 

[Carl Bert]

And there is the difference, the model number is slightly different... If you buy "Model number for model number" like Tollster said they will be the same.

Aaron Z

Yes but the point of this thread is that Home Depot and other big box stores do not sell the same model number items as the plumbing supply stores do. They just look exactly the same, but poor quality.

It's not like, when you go into HD, that you are given a choice between good and poor quality items. Truth is, they are trying to make you think that you are buying the EXACT same item for less money.

Hey, just from reading this thread, it proves that they are doing a great job. As i said before, this is common knowledge to most anyone I have ever spoken to in the NYC area, obviously it doesn't hold true in the rest of the country.

 

[rtimgray]

I'm impressed that so many of you have access to plumbing supply houses and dedicated tool shops and the like. The only plumbing supply houses that I can find even remotely locally are about an hour away and open 8-4 M-F, so that pretty much cuts me out unless I'm taking a vacation day to shop for a faucet.

All of our faucets and fixtures came from either Lowes or HD when we built our house, and so far we've had -0- failures. I don't know if they'll last a lifetime or not, but I would say that when/if they fail, I'll probably replace them with units from Lowes/HD, because they are the ones that are open when I have time to go shopping.

I had a thread a few months ago about how pleased I have been with the products and customer service from HD and how disappointed I have been at the "mom-and-pop" shops that I've tried to do business with. We are currently building an addition onto our house, and most of the materials have come from either HD or Lowes, and it is based far more on customer service and hours of availability than it is on pricing.

FWIW, I am purchasing my siding from a local dealer, and it is cheaper and closer than Lowes or HD, and they guys there have been great to deal with. It is a 7:00-4:30 M-F place, but it's close by, so I can make in just before they close to pick my stuff up.

Just my take on it.

Good luck and take care.

 

[Geneha]

I was looking at ceiling fan speed controls. I looked at a mom and pop shop and looked at HD. Yes they where from different manufactures, and the same price. So I decided to purchase from mom and pop to help them in this economy. Within a couple of months the unit failed. So took it back. I simple wanted a replacement. They wanted to test and test it. They said I hooked it up wrong and came up with more excuses about why it failed. It took them a while but finally replaced it. I have another one in another room. It was installed the same time. I have one from HD that has been in the house for years and has never failed. The mom and pop was very very cheap china junk (not saying HD is not china made) and since they fussed and squawked about it I will never every step in their door again and will tell others not to either. HD has never ever given return issues.

 

[k0ua]

I didn't do any research I just took him at his word. I don't own a deere riding mower



I did however find this John Deere Mowers | Should You Buy From Big Box Stores? info about the quality of JD mowers sold at the box stores

well now that was a misleading article.. who in he** would compare an X300 with an LA105? I say an LA105 from HD and an LA105 from a JD dealer are one and the same mower. HD does not sell X300 mowers. I bought an LA135se from a JD dealer, but the same thing was available at the box stores nearby.
I bought from the JD dealer because he was handy and the price was nearly the same. Yes there are different models of some products in big box stores , made just for them as cost cutting measures, so what? But if you compare the exact same plumbing fixture in a big box store and the exact same fixture in a plumbing store, they are the same thing. The only difference is the price. To say that tools in a big box store are junk is just Junk! Sure there are different lower cost models, sometimes used as loss leaders to get you in the store, but if you compare the exact model to the exact model they are the SAME.

John Deere 100 series mowers are apparently made in Greeneville TN.

John Deere Shows Off 'Made In Greeneville' Mowers - The Greeneville Sun

James K0UA

 

[dmccarty]

I was looking at ceiling fan speed controls. ....

When I bought the city house, it needs some replacement lights and ceiling fans would have been nice. I decided to just skip the ceiling fans for a variety of reasons. Mainly installation was going to be a PITA and the models at the mom and pop stores did where EXPENSIVE and not at all what I wanted.

I ended up buying new lights for the kitchen. The 20 year old lights were right out of the 70s and the plastic had discolored over the years. I bought the replacement lights from a mom and pop store on sale but they were still expensive. They also used a special halogen bulb. Special is another work for expensive. :shocked: The problem with these lights is that they did not have adequate ventilation and the bulbs would heat up and burn out within 3-6 months! The bulbs were also a PITA to change. Did I mention the bulbs were expensive? Of course the fixture was made in China.

Well, a couple of years after buying from the mom and pop store, the exact same fixtures were at HD. For MUCH less money.

When we moved out of the city, we designed our current house. We used recessed light fixtures and we did put in ceiling fans from HD. They fans have worked just fine for years. We use CFL bulbs in the recessed fixtures. The HD bulbs lasted their specified lifetimes. A Lowes opened up closer to the house and as the CFLs burned out, we bought from Lowes. The Lowes CFLs are/were scat. I stopped buying them because they would burn out after 3-6 months. It got the point that I would write the install/buy date on the bulb, keep the receipt and take them back to Lowes would they burned out. They always took them back too. Eventually Lowes started carrying GE R30/R40 bulbs so that is what I buy know and the CFLs last like they should.

We also bought Maytag from local dealers over the years. Well, I just pulled out the seven year old Maytag dishwasher and replaced it with a Bosch. We have had problems with two Maytag dishwashers over the last 15 years and our Maytag fridge had major problems just before the warranty ran out. I don't know how long the Bosch will last but danged if the design aint done right. Much better than the Maytag. The thing is much easier to install than the Maytag we had. There are just certain things they did that are RIGHT. Key question is how long will it work?

I got the dishwasher installed at 9:00pm last night we ran three loads already. The first Maytag we bought failed after the first wash. The Maytag dishwasher we just replaced failed before the first week was over....

Some things are just scat no matter where one buys them.

Later,
Dan

 

[IkeRoberts]

Years ago, I worked in the service department of Sears. I ordered all the parts for customers. The film machines I used had sears part numbers but the parts came from major manufacturers. For example the sears washers were produced by Maytag. All the repair parts had sears numbers but were maytag parts. Paint is another. There are only 6 paint manufacturers in the US but how many brand names can you think of? Same paint just a different name.

 

[k0ua]

Talking about the HD or Lowes JD mowers, there is a major difference. Most every JD mower at the big box store comes with a Briggs and Stratton engine. If you buy a JD mower from a dealer, chances are the mower will have a commercial Kawasaki engine in it. I support my local dealer anytime I can. Why drive past my dealership to go to a big box store to buy the same type of product for the same price as what my dealer will sell it to me for? When my product needs warranty service, I can take it to my local dealership for service. Try taking your big box store mower to your local dealership for warranty service. They probably won't touch it and they will tell you to take it back to where you bought it from for service. Ever asked anyone at a Lowes or Home Depot a technical question about a warranty issue for a mower? I mean, lets face it, Lowes has a "fashion plumbing" section.

As far as power tools, yes, Home Depot and Lowes may sell a cosmetically identical product, but open the power tool up and see what the guts of it are made of. The big box store will most likely have plastic or nylon gears and plastic bushings. Buy a cosmetically identical power tool from a reputable tool dealer and open it up. You will find steel gears and beefed up bearings and bushings. You get what you pay for.

So why does my JD LA135se bought from the JD dealer in Harrison Ar. have a Briggs engine in it, same as the ones at Lowes?