Plumbase

[ultimatehandyman]

I don't generally shop at plumbase as they are too expensive if you walk in off the street but recently I have tried them a couple of times. The local plumbase used to be WPS plumbing, but when it was taken over the prices increased dramatically so I stopped shopping there.

Last week I was doing a bit of plumbing that is not your normal run of the mill job and so I required a leadloc fitting and a 15mm stop tap. As there are no independent plumbers merchants in my town I thought that plumbase would have one, so I cut off a piece of the lead pipe to take with me, only to find that they did not have one, which meant making a trip to the next town!

Then a few days later I needed a stop end for some 25mm MDPE pipe which I was installing, so I went again to Plumbase and they did not have one of these either and so I had to make another trip to Blackburn.

I must also point out that each time I also checked Travis perkins as they stock quite a lot of plumbing but not the items I required, but I would really of expected a dedicated plumbing shop to stock these items

[tomplum]

in wigan, plumbase was formally a local indie merchant called jks, they where brill, all the plumbers used them they were the cheapest and most helpfull in wigan, then plumbase bought them and now they are the worst, although many of the original staff still work there, they are no longer helpfull, the prices have gone though the roof and they've cut our credit limits,
I don't know how they're surviving, they keep asking why i don't shop there any more, and i tell them, cos of price and attitude, they offer me 'deals' but the deals are no better than i can get from s/fix toolstation or B+Q, and travis are worse than plumbase, I don't know the politics behind it, but its now cheaper going to diy stores than buying from trade merchants,

[ultimatehandyman]

That sounds just like what happened in Darwen. When it was WPS you could go in and get good service at a good price and they would bend over backwards to help you. I remember buying some fix a tap washers from WPS ant they were £3.95 The next time I went and bought a set for a mate at work and it had now been taken over by Plumbase. The same item was now £5.95 including the "best discount" they could give me by tapping several keys on the computer.

I tend to use Screwfix and Tradepoint a lot now unless I need electricals in which case I use Steve Gorton electrical in Blackburn or Chorley electrical in Darwen. I was reluctant to join Tradepoint but I am glad I did as they are brilliant

[BillyGoat]

Don't know about either of those two, but you want to get a few UTCs on your van, two of them would cover all ranges of lead to whatever if you get stuck - saves all the messing around driving backwards and forwards.

I think it was Scruff or Razor that suggested them for my bungalow when I cut the lead off and joined MDPE. Super simple to fit and felt like I could have swung on it afterwards.

I got my from Frank Keys - 8 quid or so each

[ultimatehandyman]

The UTC's look impressive

I think that is what United Utilities used when they joined the pipe to the water mains.