Skip to main content

The power of the internet (Redux)

Monday morning my showerhead misbehaved!  No it was not talking back or anything, just water started streaming out from the side of the showerhead.  I have some “Mr. Fix it” skills but after about 20 minutes of taking the thing apart (and putting it back together) it was clear that a major failure had occurred.  Only solution was to get a new showerhead.

Of course we bought a rather pricy model made by Grohe (I know I had never heard of them either till our plumber advised that this was the thing for us…).  So this afternoon, I finally called the plumber (very nice by the way), the receptionist I spoke to immediately told me that she could order the part, but it would be 40% surcharge fee – for their trouble, and I might as well contact their distributor and get the part myself. 

Contacted the distributor, not a very pleasant guy, in fact he told me that I had to come in person (despite using a credit card), and because they don’t deal with this company very much it would take a month and there would be a surcharge.  Total cost $512.65 for the showerhead alone. 

I told him that I would see him tomorrow, but then went on the internet www.faucetdirect.com, and I found the exact same showerhead for $145.23, with shipping charges and taxes the total will be $199.72 and it will be delivered next Monday.

So if I had bought the part from my plumber it would have cost almost $700 dollars (worse case scenario – and my plumber suggested that I contact the distributor anyway), instead I purchased a replacement for $199.72, a 70% discount.  There are two morals to this story:  (1) An honest plumber saved me a lot of money, and (2) in the age of the internet, distributors are redundant.



I just love the internet

Popular posts from this blog

Spray painting Taylor Swift G650 aircraft (updated)

 First, a bit of paint will not harm anyone.  These climate activities are going to learn two things in the next few days:  (1) Trespassing at an airport is a felony almost anywhere in the world.  That means criminal prosecution.   (2) removing paint from an aircraft is expensive.   So these climate activists are about to find out the reach of the British criminal system and it will not be pleasant, the UK has very strict laws about that, I would be surprised if cleaning the aircraft of all the paint will cost less than $100,000.     I am sure that when they planned (premeditation) this little show they had a very valid logic to doing this.  Tonight, they are probably realizing the depth of their troubles.   I understand that in the UK it's a minimum one-year jail sentence.    Also, good luck travelling with a criminal trespass charge against you.  I am relatively certain that the airline industry will ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Farm; Half year performance

 People appear to be genuinely curious. 2024 has been a record first half for the farm.  The addition of high tunnels has greatly impacted our revenues.   While we expected Q1 profits to be higher, it really was the second quarter that produced the goods.  The terrible weather has greatly impacted the production of high-end vegetables. Energy costs are now very stable and have become a fixed variable especially now that our bio digesters are fully dialled in.   Replacing some of our pre-dryer equipment was covered under warranty, and the new equipment is far better at dealing with gas moisture, and much better steel!   Our diesel costs are what they are! Our biologist and ecologist devised a new planting plan for our high tunnels that greatly reduced pests, especially slugs.   We have seen a 90% decline in sluggs this year, resulting in better yields.   It seems that several plants act as natural repelants and if planted c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Britain, France and Egypt

 The voters realize now that the Conservative Praty desire to return to 19th-century dominance has driven its hatred of the EU.  The voters realize now that departure from the EU has accelerated Britain's decline and may soon make it irrelevant.  At best it will have to kiss American arses to maintain its standing.  For this, the conservatives were punished.  The decline of Britain was inevitable, competition from Frankfurt and Germany in Finance was bound to grow.  The core of Europe (aka Germany) is aging quickly Macron seems to be winning his bet, the left alliance that won the legislative elections will not remain united for long, since they disagree on about everything.   The Far right though it was about to assume power is once again relegated to the back of the bus.   It may draw its own conclusions, but not all of these are good for France.  The far-right has won nearly 1/3rd of the electorate, that is not something to be ig...
Post a Comment
Read more