A Bargain (I hope!!)

[Deleted]

Went to H***base with the OH as he wanted some 'bloke things' for the garage - I think he's putting up more shelves!!

Bored with that, I took myself off and wandered round the garden bit................I found an assortment of Fruit Trees at £9.99, plus H***base had one of their extra 10% off deals on, so I grabbed a trolley an loaded in Plum 'Marjorie's Seedling' ;D!! Then I found the seed potatoes and put them in the trolley, so I've got my 'Charlotte' and 'Pink Fir Apple' (£3.19 after the discount and no expensive P&P as some of the mail order companies have).

Should have seen the OH's face when he found me and my trolley

[Plocket]

PML! Sounds like good bargains to me - lucky you!

[Dutchy]

;D ;D ;D Well done GH
Most of the time the cheaper garden stuff does better than the expensive so you will by the end of this year eat plums and eat potatoes and eat....
Dutchy

[isabella]

Hello GH , Last year I bought most of my seed potatoes from work ( we get 20% discount) and they were very good!

This year I bought a Victoria plum tree for the allotment so hope it will be O.K.!

I reckon you got some bargains!

[Deleted]

Hi Pam

20% discount!!!........................................

....................I'd have cleared the shelves of the remaining trees if that were the case!!

I don't bargain hunt very often, but as you can tell I'm very pleased with myself!! Already I'm imagining my plum crumble!!!

GH

[isabella]

It is a good discount to have!

When Homebase were part of Sainsbury's we used to get 10% in Homebase and 10% in Sainsbury's.

[MamIDdau]

We get 20% but as I said on another thread, so are all the over 60's at the moment with their diamond cards.

Our garden centre is pretty empty at the moment due to storm damage which is good cos my purse is empty due to spending damage...

Can't believe you went to <spits> h***base! hehe

[isabella]

Now,Now

[MamIDdau]

Sorry I couldn't help it... I tell customers off for swearing when they say that word to me. But I don't mind it being mentioned when the obnoxious ones say they're going over there.

[isabella]

I say the same to customers who say B & and er?

Thankfully we don't get too many horrid customers!

They can be very rude sometimes can't they!

[MamIDdau]

yes they can. And there's no need for it. Retail staff get erm, well ya know, enough as it is, without rude customers adding to the pile. Plus we don't get paid enough to deal with people who can't be bothered to bring their manners out with them.

Anyway, good bargains all the same! There are lots to be had if you're in the right place at the right time! My colleague beat me to a medium sized bay tree for £2 the other day, reduced from over £15 cos the pot was broken. All the plants in my 5 large containers only cost me £5 in total.

[isabella]

I don't know how your pricing systems work but we have price changes every day to do and if plants are down to 10p it means they should go in the skip.

Our Manager lets us buy them for 50p or £1.00 -depending on the plant and the money goes into the charity box.

[Deleted]

Now then Ladies... I don't want to start a fight here , I can't remember the last time I bought anything for the garden or allotment at a place like H***base.... but..............
If it were a toss up between Homebase and B&Q, the first one would win hands down.

I'm afraid to say it Aprilaydee but the B&Q is just so huge and you can never find any staff , whenever I've been in there it seems to be full of 'browsers' ( just like the people who you see at garden centres who are looking at the non gardening stuff!!). I do seem to remember that they employed alot of 'older' staff which I suppose is a good thing. I might go more often when I'm over 60 and can get 20% off.......bl00dy hell that's ages away .

Let me know if you have any fruit trees at £8.99 (the discounted price) and I'll be switching sides

[Deleted]

Oh ...one other thing, I have people being rude to me sometimes at work (I'm a nurse), sometimes it's the patients, sometimes it's the relatives.
Usually it's a bad move to be rude to the person who's doing the caring!!

[MamIDdau]

we have price changes every week in the actual store but plants are done by "weeks" and how much space we have really. In November they'd over ordered and ending up selling off a load of plants such as 12 pansies for about 20p. Only if they're more or less dead do they get written off and stuck in the skip. Last week they stuck 51 trays of plants in the skip due to storm damage. Came to about £100 worth of plants I think.

[Deleted]

aprilaydee said:

we have price changes every week in the actual store but plants are done by "weeks" and how much space we have really. In November they'd over ordered and ending up selling off a load of plants such as 12 pansies for about 20p. Only if they're more or less dead do they get written off and stuck in the skip. Last week they stuck 51 trays of plants in the skip due to storm damage. Came to about £100 worth of plants I think.

Good God, what a waste, didn't you get any plants out of the skip and try to revive them.

[MamIDdau]

I know what you mean. My mum used to be an HCA an it was unbelievable some of the things people used to say to her as if she was a servant! She used to tell them where to get off in a polite way.

Our homebase has had a revamp recently and it puts our revamp to shame. I've always found B&Q cheaper though tbh and that's not an employee talking, it's a skint person lol

I also do the price checks (means going over to the competition in plain clothes and getting prices for certain products) and I was absolutely amazed by how much they were charging for exactly the same stuff we sell. Some paint was about £3 more expensive!!

I think they've done something about their prices now but we're still cheaper on the whole.

Oh and last year we had fruit trees marked down to £5 ;D Our store is only a mini warehouse now so it's not too big and there's only rare occasions when even we can't find someone to help a customer because they're all already with someone. One evening I had 5 people come to my till, each with a query/collection to pick up and only 2 members of staff on the shop floor as it was about 8pm. I'm sure they plan it and wait around the corner until they see staff going home, I'm sure they do.

[MamIDdau]

gardenhammerette said:

aprilaydee said:

we have price changes every week in the actual store but plants are done by "weeks" and how much space we have really. In November they'd over ordered and ending up selling off a load of plants such as 12 pansies for about 20p. Only if they're more or less dead do they get written off and stuck in the skip. Last week they stuck 51 trays of plants in the skip due to storm damage. Came to about £100 worth of plants I think.

Good God, what a waste, didn't you get any plants out of the skip and try to revive them.

Thought about it but I don't know when they actually threw them out, I was just given the label to put thru the till and markdown to a penny to write off. Don't know what plants they were either lol

[skarloey]

gardenhammerette said:

Oh ...one other thing, I have people being rude to me sometimes at work (I'm a nurse), sometimes it's the patients, sometimes it's the relatives.
Usually it's a bad move to be rude to the person who's doing the caring!!

I'll second that! ;D

Yep, sounds like a bargain to me GH, I just wish we could be given our new plot and then I'd be buying some fruit too..... only trouble is, don't really know what sort of fruit!

BTW MIL has a committee meeting next week so, fingers crossed, we might get some news on when we will get our plot!

[Deleted]

Hi all
This is the first time I have used this message board, so I am getting used to it. I usually go on the Beeb (my name on there is Ageranium). Been very interested to see your comments re Homebase & B & Q. I have bought plants at the latter mostly - roses with the wrong label (couldn't tell till they flowered) and one rose I bought had vineweevil. So I am always a bit wary. It doesn't stop me getting the bargains though. Also have to be fairly careful what I buy as we have only a small garden and nowhere to put things.

[MamIDdau]

Blasphemy!! lol welcome wisteria xxxxx

At the end of the day, such large DIY stores and supermarkets don't really know much about the plants, they're just bought and sold like any other stock instore. The only problems I've had with plants from work is 1 dahlia (out of 12) and a chocolate cosmos dying off. With all the millions of plants they buy and sell every day, it's not surprising some things go wrong. I just stick with the bargains, not as annoying when things go wrong then ;D I buy the nicer plants I want from dedicated nurseries/online.

[Plocket]

The last time I bought a plant at B&Q (summer last year) it was a very sad looking clematis that I happened to be after (Crystal Fountain) - I think the asking price was £7.99 but it was the only one and looked very sad. Of course I knew that with a bit of pruning, feeding and general TLC it would probably be fine so I grabbed it and went to ask for a discount. A manager had to be found, and it took a while, but eventually he offered me £1 off. I politely rejected his offer and suggested that I pay £5 I think. Well I got the plant and it even flowered for me this year!!

Personally I'd prefer to have a Homebase near us, rather than a B&Q - but I couldn't explain why!

So who works where? I'm getting confused!

[MamIDdau]

I work for Big and Quick. I confess, I prefer B&Q for price but Homebase for the variety. They do more soft furnishings than we do but I think it depends how large the B&Q store is. B&Q now want to start doing more of that stuff so hopefully in the future they'll improve. Hey ho, I don't intend to be there for that long!

[Deleted]

skarloey said:

gardenhammerette said:

Oh ...one other thing, I have people being rude to me sometimes at work (I'm a nurse), sometimes it's the patients, sometimes it's the relatives.
Usually it's a bad move to be rude to the person who's doing the caring!!

I'll second that! ;D

Yep, sounds like a bargain to me GH, I just wish we could be given our new plot and then I'd be buying some fruit too..... only trouble is, don't really know what sort of fruit!

BTW MIL has a committee meeting next week so, fingers crossed, we might get some news on when we will get our plot!

Hi Skarloey

Abit off from my bargain hunting I know but what the hell....Hope MIL gets the two of you some good news after the committee meeting next week, it has just dawned on me that this is the time of year that most councils send out their annual bills for allotments (just had mine, and they've put it up by £4 ). They'll know who has given up a plot and which are now available - you may be in luck
Hope the weather is kind tomorrow and I can get the Plum planted at the allotment.
When you do get yours I'd suggest growing whatever fruit you like eating - otherwise it would be abit pointless!!

[Deleted]

wisteria said:

Hi all
This is the first time I have used this message board, so I am getting used to it. I usually go on the Beeb (my name on there is Ageranium). Been very interested to see your comments re Homebase & B & Q. I have bought plants at the latter mostly - roses with the wrong label (couldn't tell till they flowered) and one rose I bought had vineweevil. So I am always a bit wary. It doesn't stop me getting the bargains though. Also have to be fairly careful what I buy as we have only a small garden and nowhere to put things.

Should have said HELLO and WELCOME to Wisteria.

[sweetleaf]

I went to HB tonight (its open till 8) and bought myself an apple tree "Winter Gem" for £8.99, yet another bargain.....I hope it does better than the peach tree I bought last winter, which failed to grow and died. Its a group 3 apple tree so the one I already have will do fine as a pollinator, and its semi dwarf so it wont be too big for my tiny little garden! There are a lot of plum trees at the lottie, so decided against growing them at home too.
I`m not happy about the way they pot them up , : ( the peach had hardly any root and Im worried the apple may be in a similar state but Ill be taking it back if thats the case.)
I bought Hessayons Fruit expert too while I was there, and ended up buying a few more little bits...only really went there for the tree!

Thanks for the Heads up GH, I love a bargain

[isabella]

I have worked for Homebase as a Garden Centre assistant for 12 years - have just cut my hours down to 16 a week so am now semi-retired ;D ;D ;D YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!

They have been a good firm to work for and paid for me to go to Merrist Wood to take the R.H.S. general certificate which I managed to pass with Credit. ;D ;D ;D

[JennyWrenn]

Oooooo April I will remember that phrase it is wonderful "You havent brought your manners out with you"

I think in all our jobs we get rude people - they just cant help it and it is the way they are all the time

But have to say when I go to B & Q I can never find anyone to help me and it is such a huge store - the one we have in Macclesfield - but not as big as the one in Stockport - the latter has a good garden section so can usually find what I am looking for on my own j w x

[MamIDdau]

Well stockport is a big warehouse more suited to the trade. Ours will probably be like the one in Macc except with great staff like me working in it ;D

We used to go to Warrington or Stockport when I lived in Altrincham. They are huge and for someone as short as me, everything seemed far too high and intimidating.

[skarloey]

isabella said:

I have worked for Homebase as a Garden Centre assistant for 12 years - have just cut my hours down to 16 a week so am now semi-retired ;D ;D ;D YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!

They have been a good firm to work for and paid for me to go to Merrist Wood to take the R.H.S. general certifificate which I managed to pass with Credit. ;D ;D ;D

Semi retired? Lovely. ;D Mind you, I only work part-time (2 shifts, 24 hrs) and I can't begin to imagine going back to work full time ever! (Lazy mare )
Didn't they send you to a show in the summer too?