# Forum More Stuff At the end of the day  Bunnings Greeters

## lbg

I'm onto my 3rd house renovation in 12 months in the local area, so needless to say I spend alot of time in and out of the big shed. There's alot of things that tick me off going there, but nothing more than the greeters. 
Here's my reasoning:  Typically, they really don't know alot about the store or where things are. To the extent I was recently told that "I just started here, you'll have to ask that lady over there". Awesome.I've seen numerous occaisions where people are struggling to carry stuff out of the shop, and they will literally just stand there and watch them go by.And my biggest annoyance - the registers could be backed up with a line all around the store, yet the greeter will 100% of the time stand there and just watch.
Now I'm not sure if this is specific to my store, but I if not I'd be interested to know if Bunnings has a policy of "Greeters can only greet and nothing more" - cause that's what it seems like to me. Surely this is a company thing and not individuals... 
Despite my rant, and the regular customer service clangers I witness weekly they will still get my business due to convenience & trading hours. Grrrr....

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## Bedford

The bit that gets me, is when they watch the whole time your at the checkout, then insist on checking the docket as you struggle out the door. :Frown:

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## GeoffW1

Hi, 
I suspect they are not really greeters, but specifically posted to stop people from just walking straight out with stuff. Presumably they would have instructions to do exactly that, just watch, don't help with anything since it would distract them. 
Cheers

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## cherub65

Stop me walking in on Saturday, No shoes  :Shock:

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## Earlybird

I use the timber pick-up enterance - avoid the greeter, avoid the fat-sack sizzle, avoid the crowd at the checkouts and easier to get a park.

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## lbg

don't get me started on pick-up entrance - can sometimes take 5mins for someone to wander out, take a cursory look at the receipt and open the boom gate!

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## commodorenut

I think it must depend on the store and/or management of that store or region. 
I have experienced all of the above, in a variety of big sheds, within a 4 hour radius of Sydney.   
Because I tend to visit the closest one to the area I'm in, and the store layout is never the same, you end up looking all over the place - hence I'll quite often stop & ask the greeter, rather than aimlessly wander, blow the budget, and forget what I was there for.   And I've got to agree.  Most are useless.  I've been sent to the tool centre when I wanted plumber's tape.  Likewise the plumbing section sent me to the tool centre section when I was looking for a cheap pipe cutter - they were in the plumbing all along....  
I think I'm lucky with the 2 that are closest to me though.   
The regular greeter at one of them, while a bit over the top (we think he might have adult ADHD) he has a knowledge of the store that is unparalleled - you only have to say "I'm here for some turnbuckles for a shade sail" and the response is "down the far end of aisle 5 buddy, up on the right, and if you can't find them, I think Jim is working there today, he'll help you" 
The other store's regular has a little less energy, but always points you in the right direction.   
If it's a quiet day or evening (sometimes I'll call in around 7pm, and the staff outnumber customers) I'll stop & talk to the greeter, explaining what job I'm doing, and quite often I find they are a retired tradie, or someone working part time there, and part time in the industry, and they often suggest an easier way of doing things.  
That being said though, I still find my local timber & hardware store, in a shed about 1/5th the size of Bunnies, has as much, if not wider range, and the prices are on-par or better on "real" materials.   
The staff there know their stuff, will load it into the ute for you, and even suggest a few likely things you may have forgotten when they see the related items you're buying. 
The size doesn't seem to be a hindrance - the range is never compromised, but I figure the additional space they don't need is only wasted on junk at bunnies anyway. 
Only downside is they are only open weekdays, or to midday saturday.

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## Bedford

The most important thing to me, is to make sure anything you want to buy has a barcode on it when you get to the checkout, because without that, you'll have everyone else backed up to Alice Springs while they work out what it is and how much to charge you. :Wink:

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## m6sports

im always finding myself going back to bunnings over my local miter10 as on average they are 1/3 more expensive  
i hate it because my miter10 is 3 mins down the road as bunnings it 15mins 
and i always try supporting the local stores

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## ScroozAdmin

avoid all the grief and order online  :Biggrin:

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## Eastwing

Thats why it's called Bumblings. Don't get me started on the trade entrance. 
Thats just the undercover parking section at my local store, for BMW X5 drivers picking up a new garden hose.  
Bumblings provide 100 small car spaces, handy if handy people drove smart cars, 8 Disable spaces, 3 trailer spaces, and 20  special undercover BMW spaces close to the timber for some strange reason.  
And what about the three places they provide for trailers great until someone with a trailer parks next to you, and now there is not enough room to turn out without your trailer ripping off the front of a car 
If you can somehow get inside with a tradie (Truck, Ute, or Trailer). Good luck ever getting out.  
There will always be a pile of timber in the way so you can't turn, and if for some reason your lucky and there is no timber in the way, you will have to wait till some wanker finishes watching the. How to screw a house up demo and realises his X5 is blocking the exit. 
Then if your lucky and get to the Exit you have to deal with the search party looking at a van full of tools and equipment and explaining to him/her that whilst you are sure Bumrings sells the same item it was in there before you got to the store, I've even had one store warden tell me I should empty my Van before using the trade entrance, after explaining to him that would defeat the purpose of a tradie using the trade entrance, information lost on him. I could go on but I think you get the point.

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## pauljygrant

The people greeter is obligated to stand at the entrance and is not allowed to move, say to help carry heavy items, or work on a register.  They should however page for another person to help with a heavy lift, or page for additional register operators, if required.  Although they should know roughly where in the store products are, since they don't have the opportunity to move around the store all day, and certainly don't work in a particular department where they could get to know every product, their knowledge must only be general in nature. (remember that the average shed has around 45,000 items!).  
As for parking, the store can't be responsible for where other customers park, and certainly can't stop BMW's!!!
If anyone has problems with their local store, fill out a 'have your say' card - every card is copied to the area manager and if you include your contact details, you will receive a reply.
paul

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## atregent

Hey, I quite often go to Bunnings in my X5!  
Last time I was in the timber yard though was to get some lengths of stormwater pipe (which, as it turns out, are considerably longer than the car) and some eave linings. I'm not sure I've ever seen those things on the roof of an X5 before though...

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## sundancewfs

Lowe's Home Improvement: Appliances, Tools, Hardware, Paint, Flooring  :Biggrin:

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## DMAK

> Lowe's Home Improvement: Appliances, Tools, Hardware, Paint, Flooring

  So I had a look and found this... _Lowes.com ships to all United States addresses including Alaska, Hawaii, APO/FPO, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lowes.com currently cannot support international orders, including Canada and Mexico._

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## watson

there's a ginchy little trick to this by using a mail re-forwarder.
I'm not gunna recommend one......but Google "Mail Forwarders USA"..and you'll find heaps. The charges are usually reasonable too.

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## Gaza

> So I had a look and found this... _Lowes.com ships to all United States addresses including Alaska, Hawaii, APO/FPO, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lowes.com currently cannot support international orders, including Canada and Mexico._

  Lowes are doing the JV next year in Aust with wollworths.

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## r3nov8or

> Stop me walking in on Saturday, No shoes

  My son just had footy socks on one day (after footy, boots off) and had to take socks off to wear a pair of thongs they happily provided (well, tinea isn't that bad, right...). OHS rules apparently! What the...? Top of foot can be bare, but sole must be covered. "This IS  a Warehouse you know". Give me strength...

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## Stan 101

> Originally Posted by cherub65 
> Stop me walking in on Saturday, No shoes

  Sorry Cherub, but I agree with store policy on this one. We get people up this way walking through shopping centres and grocery stores without shoes and shirts sometimes. I can't deal with it.  
cheers

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## DMAK

> there's a ginchy little trick to this by using a mail re-forwarder.
> I'm not gunna recommend one......but Google "Mail Forwarders USA"..and you'll find heaps. The charges are usually reasonable too.

  
Well... that changes everything.

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## Uncle Bob

> Hi, 
> I suspect they are not really greeters, but specifically posted to stop people from just walking straight out with stuff. Presumably they would have instructions to do exactly that, just watch, don't help with anything since it would distract them. 
> Cheers

  You suspicions are correct  :Wink:  
Bunnings (in the face of competition from Lowes) are ramping up customer service with the addition of box packers and car park assistants. I personally feel that these folk would be better serving the customers inside the shop (ever lined up behind 10 people waiting to ask something?).

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## Earlybird

> You suspicions are correct  
> Bunnings (in the face of competition from Lowes) are ramping up customer service with the addition of box packers and car park assistants. I personally feel that these folk would be better serving the customers inside the shop (ever lined up behind 10 people waiting to ask something?).

  The closest I've come to dropping my shopping on the floor and walking out was when I had to wait in line, for several minutes, with only 1 checkout open, while an elderly European man argued that he didn't want to purchase the nut and bolt before walking out of the shop with it, to test it was the correct size, on his campervan.  This wasn't the bit that annoyed me. 
It was when the greeter yelled out "Checkout 2 is open" and all of the people at the end of the line, who hadn't waited the 3-4 minutes I had, ran to the newly opened checkout.  In my opinion, good customer service would have been for the greeter to walk up to the 2nd and 3rd people in line and ask them to come to the newly opened checkout.  Then all of the people at the end of the queue could decide which line they wanted to stand in. 
This doesn't just happen at Bunnings though.  At least they provide a good example for my kids of why they should do their homework and do well at school.

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## r3nov8or

That also reflects on the customers that think their time is worth more than others'. Simple manners fly out the window too easily...

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## Dwyer

I asked for several bits of wood to be cut into 80cm lengths so I could build a child proof blackboard barrier around our TV etc and got home to find they were all 70cm. :Annoyed:  
I paid for 3 bags of rapid set & one bag of mortar one day, drove in to the 'trade' entrance, found the mortar but none of the other bags said anything like rapid set or quick set, so I asked the 'boom' guy and he said "It's the red bags." So I load them into my car (noone has ever offered to help me there, so much for being a chick). Then when I drive around and he checks the docket, he tells me they are the wrong ones! There are no other 'red' bags! 
All the bathroom fittings I bought from them rusted; shower head, towel rack, toilet roll holder, shower utility holder. Why isn't it illegal to sell non-stainless steel/rust proof bathroom fittings in Australia? And my $135 bargain vanity started to crack along the 'wrap' edges within 12 months. 
I don't know how many times I've returned stuff. Last purchase was the final straw though, I bought a spade, first push into the soil, bent in half. Going to drive an extra 10 minutes to Magnet Mart now, no idea if they're any better, and I'll buy my bathroom stuff from Reece. :Rant2:

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