Bunnings 'beat it by 10%' guarantee

I further recalled that prior to Masters opening in Cairns, Bunnings had a “reduced to clear” sale on many Philips lights including fluorescent tubes and CCFL globes, and I bought a carton of Philips 36W fluorescent tubes for around 50 cents each.

When I asked a staff member why the stock was drastically reduced, I was told that they were preparing for the arrival of Masters and they would not be stocking the same items.

After we bought our present home in early 2015 and set about replacing the disgusting array of CCFL globes, some of which protruded below the fittings, we replaced them all with LED globes.

Both Bunnings and Masters stocked Philips LED globes, many of which were identical except for the packaging designs and the bar codes, and the prices of course.

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I have noticed that at times when Aldi have similar hardware items on sale for a cheaper price that Bunnings reduce the price for a week to match the Aldi price on the Similar item .
With the use of the term Identical I also think that in the case of the dynamic lifter the product was identical but the package size was not the same so the response was full of manure .

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A fairly common experience in the grocery when the large is on sale for less than the small or medium size, in absolute terms. eg small = $2, large = $1.75. Maybe they got a deal on a bulk buy of the larger size but had to pay full wholesale for the small. While irritating ‘size discrimination’ is long standing…

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This has been their modus operandi since inception, they require most of their suppliers to provide a bunnings only product and as it differs in some regard either in packaging, branding or sizing they use it as a get out clause to not price match. A relative of mine once worked in their marketing department and he advised me that they had unique bunnings only stock as a policy.
I wrote to the ACCC a number of years ago with a blatant example of avoiding a price match on some AC underlay sheeting I was planning to purchase and the ACCC just gave me platitudes and defended bunnings. What I didn’t know then what I do know now is the ACCC is a toothless tiger captive to the big end of town.

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The one that really sticks in my throat is “Lowest prices are just the beginning - That’s our policy.”

I’ll say it once, loudly: THAT’S NOT A POLICY. THAT’S A SLOGAN. and it doesn’t mean zip.

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2 posts were split to a new topic: Online accommodation booking scam?

Great to hear you are spreading the word.

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I’ve never tried this with bunnings but had similar experience with Hilton hotels. Hilton do everything to avoid honouring their ‘best rate guarantee ‘ but ocassionaly do so if you fight hard. I’m glad that you are taking this up. I believe this sort of anti-competitive behaviour needs to be challenged

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These lowest price guarantees are actually a market distorting mechanism. The big powerful retailers (and suppliers with own website) just write the guarantee into their contracts which means suppliers can’t offer the product cheaper to others and smaller retailers can’t offer things cheaper. Overall prices end up being higher

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I’ve bought Dulux paint from Bunnings and they price matched the Dulux speciality store no problems at all.

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I had a similar experience. I bought an apple tree from Bunnings only to find the same pot size and variety cheaper from the local nursery. I took the details to Bunnings and they refused to meet the price, I indicated I would return their items for a full refund and purchase the item from their competitor. They then agreed to meet the ‘guarantee’ price.

It appears major manufacurers have differing product codes for the same item depending on the retail outlet. Have found this with electronic and electrical items especially, limiting the instances in which their pricing guarantees would apply.

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Congratulations. I wonder will Bunnings now that they have been brought to their knees on the sale of Apple trees rebrand all their plants to a special varietal named in recognition of the store owners?

Or will they offer odd pot sizes that are made uniquely for Bunnings. Eg no more 10cm pots, but the same product in Bunnings 107mm pot. Or just a subtle difference in the potting mix. Is it sufficient to add to the plant description and pot size - ‘ in Bunnings certified growth supplement and plant health potting mix”?

Well done.

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The good thing about Bunnings I have found is that you can always get a refund - no questions. I have seen variations between Bunnings stores on item price specials. On one occasion I asked for the price on a rug to be reduced to the same as the other store but was refused.

My main experience in this area is that Liquor stores will not match or beat a competitors price unless it is in print. There always seem to be plenty of shelf specials that are not advertised.

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We were buying a drill same brand and features and appeared the same but when asked to price match to mitre 10 we were told the model numbers were different and don’t bother to check as bunnings had their own exclusive models so as not to have to price match. The shop attendant was most gleeful delivering the information.

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Maybe they have their own model numbers, but model number engineering is akin to the mattress rort everyone involved in the mattress industry conspires with. I’d be interested to contact the manufacturer and ask them to identify the material differences between the two products - excluding the label which bears the model number markings. The glee shown by the staffer identifies clearly their intention to avoid having to compare …

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No doubt even if you get a win re the model numbers Bunnings only need to agree with the supplier to a variation in specification, eg duty cycle, power rating, colour difference. In the end it becomes a very difficult technical debate over winding wire gauge, insulation class etc etc. Even quoting a different OS standard for some minor detail or omitting one, other than the Australian statutory needs is all it will take to muddy the water further.

Does the ACCC have the resources, technical support and will to even bother over what it might consider a very minor item by value? Except when you multiply it by the millions of sales each month and it all adds up to a very significant number.

When tempted by Bunnings I have a few Ryobi and Ozito power tools to their credit. That will never be a price match issue, due to the exclusive branding. For all else (most tools) I buy from one of the big name tool specialists major trade brands and models. At least these are the same with each retailer and you can comparison shop by model. The only risk is some models on special are run outs of the previous version. Generally this does not matter as the quality and performance is the same.

For the upper end trade tools it appears Bunnings is not that competitive, unless you get a trade discount?

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They probably don’t even need to agree to a variation, just agree to a statement of variation - even if it’s something even more b/s like more rigorous testing - we test 2 out of every 100 but for them only 1 … For me, these little ‘investigations’ I treat as an amusement and to satisfy my own curiosity - where it goes depends entirely on what I find. A number of times it goes nowhere. I have a clanger ready to unleash on a local utility soon, where I reckon I have some fairly damning evidence of wrongdoing, but it needs polish, and time …

Excellent question - I suspect you have a point. Not sure they’ve ever cared about the mattress industry scam for example, and that’s been going for decades, so may well be the same for power tools … just too hard?

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I assume you voted with your feet and took your custom to Mitre 10.

Alternatively, if you really wanted to buy it from Bunnings, perhaps you could have done so and then returned it for a refund as you had found the item cheaper elsewhere.

That might have inspired a different response.

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Their attitude was the only reason I needed to shop elsewhere

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A slightly different item regarding Bunnings which shows a different perspective.

Our local Bunnings employs an older person with white hair and a short white beard who loves to dress up for the current occasion such as Santa at Xmas., and hand out items to the kids.

He is stationed at the main entrance to greet arriving customers and check receipts when customers depart.

Last September he was dressed as a priest and when I asked him what it was about, he replied “Fathers’ Day”.

On Friday he was in the standard Bunnings uniform and I asked him if he was stopping dressing up. He said that he had been told that he was not allowed to anymore after a customer complained.

Some woman had complained about him dying his beard in accordance whatever theme he was currently portraying as well as a younger employee who has her hair dyed pink and purple colours.

I said to him that it appears the Xmas Grinch has come early this year.

What a miserable customer.

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