Had a go at builder today

Had a go at builder today in Alvin Moris hear him ask for a discount told him ya shouldn’t be in here ya not a flooring contractor was feeling that way out but the shouldn’t be selling to builders doing us all out of work any thoughts

 

I'm getting really fed up with suppliers selling to just anyone, especially when you have shops that have spent thousands with them over the years, going out of business due to lack of sales, because they are selling directly to what should be the shops customers

 

Definitely there all at it every time ya go to one there’s builders vans there

 

Well out of order that. Lee floorstock is the same as my builder who I supplied goes in there now.

 

I had the same thing with them, now i don't use them either

 

I have no problem with distribution dealing with other trades, so long as its a retail price, and not trade.
Worst of the lot though are people like Interface and Milikan who will give more discount to an builder/end user than they will to us in the trade.
Amtico are no better, and have gone behind my back to a client, and sold it cheaper to them, than they would to me
Whats that all about ?

 

I’ve a go at the distributor loads of times falls on deaf ears and now the builders expect ya to measure for them then turn round and say we’ll get materials I tell them to do 1 like but still a p take

 

I get them coming into the shop asking if they they get a discount because they are trade, well you are not flooring trade, so no

 

Yep, Amtico are sly. They do this alot

 

Having just had a bad experience with a 'fitter' who isn't really a fitter; and having seen some of the excellent work the fitters do on this forum (if only I knew about it before!); I'd tend to agree that if Karndean/Amtico want to protect their brand they should only sell to vetted fitters.

 

Amtico are terrible for doing this. It is the distributors that need to stamp this out at the source. Manufacturers want a commitment from retailers to spend £1000s on stand and offer a drip fed reduction over time.

Manufacturers should point them towards accredited installers before jumping on the band wagon and entertaining end users and building firms. They should realise it's the flooring industry they cater for as we are their bread and butter business. Don't bite the hand that feeds imo

 

Desso just supplied I builder customer of mine and told him to pick it up from birches the pain never ends

 

Everyone is at it, it hammers down prices for retailers.

 

Anyone buy anything from a builders merchant or from a builder

 

Yes, i`m sure we all do.
The thing that pisses me off, is when the end user, or main contractor phones up, and can obtain a better supply rate, than a genuine floor layer/supplier.
If the manufactures left small profit in it, there would be an incentive to promote the product.
If we all wanted to work for labour only rates, we may as well all just go and work for the big boys now, who can demand better rates and increase there profits, and often don`t care as much as the smaller firms.

 

Hit the Nail on the head Neil. We are the first source and point of contact in the industry. I remember dealing with boleflor and they had a pricing spectrum for retailers that were willing to spend 4k on displaying their product, next price bracket went to designers etc, the difference was minimal. So basically spend money on the product to showcase of there company, then a designer will see the product in all its glory, contact them directly and purchase it cheaper than what I would sell it to them for. Completely counter productive and at a cost to me and not the manufacturer.

 

I completely agree Neil

 

Exactly the same with Ted Todd, we invested thousands in their display done about 100k per year for a few years then we found out they were selling direct to the public.
The next phone I made was to them.......Come and get your samples there outside on the pavement.