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Maplin to the wall, this can't happen


Fender151

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But it looks like it so can!

 just been reading Maplin, one of my favourite shops for all things electrical, that  I can't remember the name of, but they can,  are fighting to hold off going into administration.

I think a petition needs to be raised and a march on No 10 organised, why do we need to save financial institutions if there is nowhere to spend your money

Can we send a hat around and save the day, 

 

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I too was in Maplin at Reading yesterday and I walked out without buying anything. The place has changed beyond all recognition from a specialist electronics shop staffed by electronics geeks who understood what they sold, into basically a toy shop for adults staffed by 20 year old spods selling drones to chavs.

The only place in the shop I could find the 100 x 20mm T4A fuses I wanted was on the computer screens there for customers to use to look up stuff, with no indication as to how to actually buy them. All the customer service desks have been removed.  

So I walked out and ordered the fuses on line from the car park. Cheaper too. I’m not surprised they are going down the tubes. Very sad. 

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6 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

I too was in Maplin at Reading yesterday and I walked out without buying anything. The place has changed beyond all recognition from a specialist electronics shop staffed by electronics geeks who understood what they sold, into basically a toy shop for adults staffed by 20 year old spods selling drones to chavs.

The only place in the shop I could find the 100 x 20mm T4A fuses I wanted was on the computer screens there for customers to use to look up stuff, with no indication as to how to actually buy them. All the customer service desks have been removed.  

So I walked out and ordered the fuses on line from the car park. Cheaper too. I’m not surprised they are going down the tubes. Very sad. 

That’s my view of them too. Sometimes handy when you are up the creek on a live event but increasingly not stocking stuff needed to get you out of the mire...like fuses and connectors....the pricing is daft too when you can often get stuff delivered next day for less. 

Sad as I remember when they had the single trade counter in Southend.....

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13 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

I too was in Maplin at Reading yesterday and I walked out without buying anything. The place has changed beyond all recognition from a specialist electronics shop staffed by electronics geeks who understood what they sold, into basically a toy shop for adults staffed by 20 year old spods selling drones to chavs.

The only place in the shop I could find the 100 x 20mm T4A fuses I wanted was on the computer screens there for customers to use to look up stuff, with no indication as to how to actually buy them. All the customer service desks have been removed.  

So I walked out and ordered the fuses on line from the car park. Cheaper too. I’m not surprised they are going down the tubes. Very sad. 

Yep we all used em years ago but like for instance " Woolies " they havnt kept up with change and everything they sell can be bought on line for fifty per cent less. Shame innitt.

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12 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

I too was in Maplin at Reading yesterday and I walked out without buying anything. The place has changed beyond all recognition from a specialist electronics shop staffed by electronics geeks who understood what they sold, into basically a toy shop for adults staffed by 20 year old spods selling drones to chavs.

The only place in the shop I could find the 100 x 20mm T4A fuses I wanted was on the computer screens there for customers to use to look up stuff, with no indication as to how to actually buy them. All the customer service desks have been removed.  

So I walked out and ordered the fuses on line from the car park. Cheaper too. I’m not surprised they are going down the tubes. Very sad. 

I think it can be very hit and miss. Sometimes you get the helpful geek, but often not. I have an RS account, you can order stuff online and then go collect it at the trade counter minutes later if they have stock (there is one in Aberdeen), or order for postal delivery. No minimum order, no postage charges, and you can order very late in the day (up to about 7pm IIRC) for next day delivery. The last thing I ordered was a BNC connector  £0.85. I felt a bit guilty so I ordered 2, but even at £1.70 that can barely have covered the cost of the envelope and 1st class postage.

When down on the boat last week I needed a cigarette lighter plug to wire the oil drain pump I’d bought. Went into Maplin Tamworth and asked for a cigarette lighter plug, the guy pointed me to a cigarette plug with 2USB sockets in it. Typical yoof! I said I just wanted a plug to attach wires to, not something to plug usb stuff into. He looked bemused. Found it eventually, it was £4.99 but a really low quality thing.

Edited by nicknorman
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5 minutes ago, frangar said:

That’s my view of them too. Sometimes handy when you are up the creek on a live event but increasingly not stocking stuff needed to get you out of the mire...like fuses and connectors....the pricing is daft too when you can often get stuff delivered next day for less. 

Sad as I remember when they had the single trade counter in Southend.....

They are like Halfrauds. Go in there and ask for sommett and the 12 year old simply asks for car registration number, if you cant supply one the face becomes a blank as they have zero idea about how anything works.

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18 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Is this a new electronics shop, can you provide a link ? - presumably the prices are lower as they have little in the way of infrastructure to pay for.

 

No it's not a new shop. Here is the link to the 'new' shop in the car park at Maplin, I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. :P

ebay.co.uk

I'd happily have paid double the ebay price for the fuses because I needed ONE there and then and the rest for van stock, not in the post sometime the following day. As it happens a T3.15A fuse worked fine, but a T4A was what the designer of the boiler specified and I might yet have to make a return trip to that customer to fit the correct fuse.

Regarding infrastructure, the ebay seller of fuses still needs  to keep the stock, and pay for postage which eats into their profit margin advantage. And I am always willing to pay a substantial premium to have stuff availble on the shelf, NOW when I need it, and available for inspection before I buy it. Ebay is a poor substitute but all there is sometimes. 

Curiously I also used to buy a lot of 11 pin 240v three gang double throw plug-in relays from Maplin for a fiver each but they've stopped selling them. On line the same thing is typically £30-ish. Another trick missed.

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
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56 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

The place has changed beyond all recognition from a specialist electronics shop staffed by electronics geeks who understood what they sold, into basically a toy shop for adults staffed by 20 year old spods selling drones to chavs.

Absolutely. The writing has been on the wall for years. Their catalogues used to be a mine of information. They have just been waiting to die. They should have stayed mail-order. I once ordered stuff from them at 6pm and had it delivered at 08:30 the following day, before all these fancy ordering options at extra cost came on the scene. I regret the loss of what they used to be. I won't miss what they are now.

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I agree with Mike. I was saying something similar to Monkey at the weekend - that Maplins' has changed to a gadget shop. 

I expect that change over the last few years was because they realised they weren't making ends meet just selling specialist electrical bits and pieces, so they've tried diversifying. But sounds like it hasn't worked. Shame. But they do have the rest of the internet to compete with who don't have shop and staff overheads to pay for.  :(

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2 hours ago, system 4-50 said:

Absolutely. The writing has been on the wall for years. Their catalogues used to be a mine of information. They have just been waiting to die. They should have stayed mail-order. I once ordered stuff from them at 6pm and had it delivered at 08:30 the following day, before all these fancy ordering options at extra cost came on the scene. I regret the loss of what they used to be. I won't miss what they are now.

we are not spods and I don't sell drones to chavs nor do my co-workers

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4 minutes ago, Nut said:

we are not spods and I don't sell drones to chavs nor do my co-workers

Excellent! Somebody who works there! Please tell us what market your store is trying to address?  A lot of us don't understand what you are trying to achieve.

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3 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

They are like Halfrauds. Go in there and ask for sommett and the 12 year old simply asks for car registration number, if you cant supply one the face becomes a blank as they have zero idea about how anything works.

went into Halfords to buy a Thermostat , the Halfords part No. HTH 848 which is a Car one  ,I don't know which Car.

The Chap asked for the Reg. Number then stated that they do not stock them any more! could only order it from the Reg. Number.

My Motorbike number did not come up on their Screen .Left the Place soon after....

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3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Curiously I also used to buy a lot of 11 pin 240v three gang double throw plug-in relays from Maplin for a fiver each but they've stopped selling them. On line the same thing is typically £30-ish. Another trick missed.

Not used much now Netaheats  have all but expired.

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4 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

They are like Halfrauds. Go in there and ask for sommett and the 12 year old simply asks for car registration number, if you cant supply one the face becomes a blank as they have zero idea about how anything works.

A recent trip into a car parts supplier to buy some mineral oil and I got asked for my car reg

Me telling counter chap I just need bog standard 15w 40 mineral oil for which no car reg is required just brought forth a blank stare

Eventually I was allowed some :)

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17 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

A recent trip into a car parts supplier to buy some mineral oil and I got asked for my car reg

Me telling counter chap I just need bog standard 15w 40 mineral oil for which no car reg is required just brought forth a blank stare

Eventually I was allowed some :)

Last time I went in for some Bog standard fluid, they gave me this:

bog.jpeg

Edited by rusty69
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