Keep Your Money Local - Support Our Local Business

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

A phrase that is frequently heard is for us to "keep your money local by supporting our local businesses". I am starting to wonder why?

In an effort to maintain domestic harmony I have to complete a task. This task requires a tool that I do not have. So I went into our local branch of a trade centre to buy what I wanted.

I was told - "sorry we do not have that in stock at the moment" ....

Fair enough I thought

I was then told that they will check the branches in the neighbouring towns for their stocking the product. The closest town had three of them for sale. The local bloke on Monday said he would order one in for me and it will be available for pick-up on Wednesday. All my details were written down in their spirax "order book" The drive to the particular town is 1.5 hours one way.

Today, Thursday I waited until late morning and rang the mob up because I had not heard anything. I was informed that they were checking their latest delivery and asked me to wait on the line. Some time later they came back to say that, "things were not looking too good". We will call you back once we have been through all the pallets. No one called me back. I just happened to be passing by and decided to pull into the shop. Sure enough - no official order was ever written down.

If I had placed the same order with another Australian firm; who just happen to have a big online presence - the item was in stock and I would have been able to buy it at a cheaper price. It would have been delivered to my door - yesterday.

Have a guess who I am about to look up on the internet again?

I would support my local businesses ... if they actually supported me!

Kind regards
Lionel

[POD]

It's the same here, the local business owners seem to think they are entitled to business simply because they are 'local', they make no effort to actually earn the business of the local people. I've just bought a new wood heater, the local guy who sells wood heaters is coming to repair my old one on Wednesday. I don't know which Wednesday he's coming, but about seven years ago he told me he would come on Wednesday. I did not buy my new heater from him. He is just one of the local business people who I don't even bother going to when I am after something. They can't compete with internet sellers on price, and they don't bother trying to compete on service. Not sure what they think they have to offer.

[EastFreo]

My experience is this happens at all levels. We have a farming operation in a country town where I have discovered very disappointing levels of some locals charging my elderly parents very unreasonable prices when they got older and could be taken advantage of.

What really ****es me off is that my parents employed their main farm hands for 30 and 40 years respectively. How many employers can say the same.

I was brought up on being honourable and can only hope we find some more locals that feel the same way (potential employees , contractors, suppliers or otherwise) or we will need to look further afield. And that is not what we want.

[DoubleChevron]

There is some excellent local businesses in Ballarat. Checkout the post one of them just made about the "buy australian" theme going around at the moment ( I have always bought australian if it is possible ... and if I can afford it. sadly this rules out 95% of anythiing I'd buy unless its food).

Industrial World (Ballarat Bearings) - Australian Made Products | Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IndustrialWorldBallaratBearings/videos/1360771587447899/)

I'm amazed stuff like sprockets and chain is still made in melbourne!

[Bigbjorn]

There is some excellent local businesses in Ballarat. Checkout the post one of them just made about the "buy australian" theme going around at the moment ( I have always bought australian if it is possible ... and if I can afford it. sadly this rules out 95% of anythiing I'd buy unless its food).

Industrial World (Ballarat Bearings) - Australian Made Products | Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IndustrialWorldBallaratBearings/videos/1360771587447899/)

I'm amazed stuff like sprockets and chain is still made in melbourne!

There is a large chain maker in Brisbane also firms who cut gears and sprockets. Nobles do lifting gear of all kinds at Salisbury (Qld.).

When I was running my tool business I ended up importing most of my stock from the USA. Local suppliers were, in the main, bloody greedy, and gave appalling service.

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Well this tip is not exactly local to me - however, what was offered must be considered to be a Sterling Level of Service. I was trying to source parts for the Holley 350 CFM 7448 carburettor that is on Bluey - my future tow vehicle. My initial contact with Peter from Holley Parts Wholesaler located in Guildford Western Australia was through their email.

Within hours I received a reply saying, "we can help you and supply you with what you need - call me" and their phone number.

So I called them. I provided the description of the symptoms that resulted in my first ever engine fire. Now that was an "interesting" experience that I am not in a hurry to repeat.

I waited on the line and I could hear Peter's brain whirring away as he ran through different scenarios...

"Has the car run on ethanol blend fuel? Because ethanol melts the gaskets on cheap rebuild kits"

"Has the car ever run on Autogas?"

Since there is a mighty big LPG tank taking up one side of the van - it was a pretty good guess that it had.

Eureka!!!

"Oh" says Peter, "Autogas totally eats the old alloy floats out.
You need a nitrophyl float - we can sell you one of them.
Plus a genuine Holley rebuild kit that can be re-used up to 4 times. Unlike the cheap ones
I will also supply a fully detailed disassembly and assembly pamphlet with the kit.
If you strike any problems during the rebuild - stop straight away... give me a call and I will run you through it, to get you out of trouble"
Then the last bit of sage advice. "Only do one gasket at a time".

Now that is a level of service which is sure going to be damned hard to beat!

Kind regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Going back to my original posting - there has been movement at the station.

Last Monday I ordered a tool because it was not in stock at my local store. I was informed it would be ready to pick-up last Wednesday. Thursday came around and I dropped into the shop after not receiving the promised phone call to let me know the item had been delivered from their branch located in the neighbouring town. The next step was that I had to decide which capacity rating I wanted and then telephone them to order it.

I did not call them back as I was going to contact the branch in the next town and secure it and go drive over to pick it up myself.

This morning I received a telephone call from the local mob. The caller said that my item had arrived and is ready for pick-up. Hmmm I cannot remember ringing them back to order it... oh well gift-horses mouths ... It is bit like a lucky dip though - I wonder which capacity rating tool is waiting for me. Bet you it is the dearest one!

The tool mob are just up the road to where I have to go to a four wheel drive parts mob. I took a front and rear shock absorber into them so they could see which ones to order it and read their parts numbers. The rear shocks are fine. The front ones are either missing a part or they sent the wrong ones. Because what I took to them to inspect and what I received are not the same.

Off I go la-lah- la, merrily-merrily... At least I will be able to get one of the jobs done now. This is progress I suppose ...

Kind regards
Lionel

[S3ute]

Hello from Brisbane.

For the job that I’m presently doing on my truck I need several sizes of BSF bolts and nuts. None of the dwindling local sources of Land Rover parts had them or knew where to try.

So, by process of elimination last week I found myself phoning a specialist parts outlet in Melbourne - can’t see the point in naming names. Told the nice lady that I was after a couple of items listed on their website but wanted to check on availability, price and delivery charges. After several unsuccessful attempts to identify their own web site pages and/or check if they knew what are fairly common parts on a Series Land Rover I was put on to the “Boss”. Do you know the part numbers? No, but they are X, Y and Z in the front axle page of your website. No good without the part numbers mate - ok, can I email them to you? Better do that - so, I did and no response.

Were there a viable alternative - tried all the specialist bolt suppliers around the place - I might have walked away rather than phoning back again today. Incidentally, enjoyed much the same performance from an Adelaide based bolt supplier when chasing two bolts that the Melbourne place reckoned I should try a hardware store for.

Buy local and support a needy cause.....

Cheers,

Neil

[V8Ian]

Not sure if you're north or south side, but this is a well run, family business.

boltz and nutz - Google Search (https://www.google.com/search?q=boltz+and+nutz&oq=bolt&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j35i39j0l2.3832j1j7&client=tablet-android-samsung-nf-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#trex=m_t:lcl_akp,rc_f:,rc_ludocids:6820727927811 205728,rc_q:Nutz%2520%2526%2520Boltz,ru_q:Nutz%252 0%2526%2520Boltz)

[Bigbjorn]

Bruce Gardner B.S.F. Bolts in Melbourne. 0408 056 255 BSF, BA, and other hard to find fasteners, taps and dies. I (Brian's Retirement Sale) still have some BSF taps and dies including some left hand.

[S3ute]

Hello again and thanks.

I had previously rung about eight or nine specialist bolt supply places around Brisbane without success. I probably could have kept looking but it wasn’t looking promising.

The two places I ended up dealing with in Melbourne and Adelaide were picked because they supposedly had the bolts in question according to their websites. My point was more the level of service involved - minimalist.

With respect to the bolts themselves, the main hassle is when two or three odd sizes are required and no single outlet has them all. In the present case it required chasing multiple vendors for very small lots and multiple minimum postage charges - twelve bolts worth about $15 ended up costing around $30 for postage.

Anyway, it’s all sorted now.

Cheers,

Neil

[gromit]

Hello from Brisbane.

For the job that I’m presently doing on my truck I need several sizes of BSF bolts and nuts. None of the dwindling local sources of Land Rover parts had them or knew where to try.

So, by process of elimination last week I found myself phoning a specialist parts outlet in Melbourne - can’t see the point in naming names. Told the nice lady that I was after a couple of items listed on their website but wanted to check on availability, price and delivery charges. After several unsuccessful attempts to identify their own web site pages and/or check if they knew what are fairly common parts on a Series Land Rover I was put on to the “Boss”. Do you know the part numbers? No, but they are X, Y and Z in the front axle page of your website. No good without the part numbers mate - ok, can I email them to you? Better do that - so, I did and no response.

Were there a viable alternative - tried all the specialist bolt suppliers around the place - I might have walked away rather than phoning back again today. Incidentally, enjoyed much the same performance from an Adelaide based bolt supplier when chasing two bolts that the Melbourne place reckoned I should try a hardware store for.



Neil,

One of the local bolt places claims they can get BSF but......you have to buy the box quantity which could be 100 or 200. Virtually nil demand so they don't want to get stuck with them. Strangely they could supply BSF recoil kits.
Had a similar problem tracking down some tiny BA grub screws for a model steam engine. Listed on the website of a company in the City, visited and they didn't have them.
UNF is heading the same way, try and get a UNF CSK screw with a slotted head.
In the UK I got all my Cycle Thread, BSF etc from here Namrick Ltd (https://www.namrick.co.uk/)
Could be worth trying when they re-open.

As to the level of service you experienced.....the company I work for have a Counter Sales and dealing with the unwashed public can be incredibly time consuming for little, if any, reward. There is certainly no profit in it. As I'm in Sales I take the approach that if you go out of your way to help this chap you don't know who he might pass our details on to and it could lead to more business, not everyone thinks the same way.

What bolts in particular are you after ??


Colin

[Pedro_The_Swift]

is it just me,, or just how many parts can be missing from a shock absorber?
closed and open lengths, eyes and pins.. its not exactly a space shuttle...

[Ancient Mariner]

is it just me,, or just how many parts can be missing from a shock absorber?
closed and open lengths, eyes and pins.. its not exactly a space shuttle... In this case I suspect not[biggrin]

[Bigbjorn]

Neil,

One of the local bolt places claims they can get BSF but......you have to buy the box quantity which could be 100 or 200. Virtually nil demand so they don't want to get stuck with them. Strangely they could supply BSF recoil kits.
Had a similar problem tracking down some tiny BA grub screws for a model steam engine. Listed on the website of a company in the City, visited and they didn't have them.
UNF is heading the same way, try and get a UNF CSK screw with a slotted head.
In the UK I got all my Cycle Thread, BSF etc from here Namrick Ltd (https://www.namrick.co.uk/)
Could be worth trying when they re-open.

As to the level of service you experienced.....the company I work for have a Counter Sales and dealing with the unwashed public can be incredibly time consuming for little, if any, reward. There is certainly no profit in it. As I'm in Sales I take the approach that if you go out of your way to help this chap you don't know who he might pass our details on to and it could lead to more business, not everyone thinks the same way.

What bolts in particular are you after ??


Colin

Few staff in bolt shops were born when BSW, BSF, BSC, BA were in common use. Try them on Admiralty Fine and see the blank looks. I sold taps and dies for all these except BA (not enough demand). I got BSF & BSC made in the USA by Michigan Drill via their New Jersey branch. High quality and affordable. I had to buy 50 of each. I never sold the fasteners. Too many variations in head, length, length of thread. A warehousing nightmare for a small trader. Best left to the professional bolt sellers who naturally did not stock low demand items. My business was machine shop supplies, repairers, restorers, hobby engineers tools. The only demand for BA is in repairs to old British electrical equipment or instrumentation. BSF was once used on old pommie cars and went out of use progressively after 1950. BSC was used on pommie bicycles and motor cycles and has virtually vanished from use. Only interest is from restorers. Jaycar stock a few sizes of brass BA screws.

[gromit]

Few staff in bolt shops were born when BSW, BSF, BSC, BA were in common use. Try them on Admiralty Fine and see the blank looks. I sold taps and dies for all these except BA (not enough demand). I got BSF & BSC made in the USA by Michigan Drill via their New Jersey branch. High quality and affordable. I had to buy 50 of each. I never sold the fasteners. Too many variations in head, length, length of thread. A warehousing nightmare for a small trader. Best left to the professional bolt sellers who naturally did not stock low demand items. My business was machine shop supplies, repairers, restorers, hobby engineers tools. The only demand for BA is in repairs to old British electrical equipment or instrumentation. BSF was once used on old pommie cars and went out of use progressively after 1950. BSC was used on pommie bicycles and motor cycles and has virtually vanished from use. Only interest is from restorers. Jaycar stock a few sizes of brass BA screws.

As soon as demand drops off it's not economical so only a supplier like yourself can support the diminishing demand.

The company Namrick in the link I posted earlier supply Cycle Thread, BA, BSF nuts, bolts etc., problem is that they are the wrong side of the World.
Tracy Tools used to be good for taps & dies but I haven't visited their site for years.

I can get BSF bolts etc. from India, sheradised but I have to buy by the Kg each item. I may persue this further but storage at home is difficult as it is.

Colin

[Lionelgee]

is it just me,, or just how many parts can be missing from a shock absorber?
closed and open lengths, eyes and pins.. its not exactly a space shuttle...

Hello Pedro,

I originally brought in an example of the front and rear shock absorber off the 2A. Each had eyelet ends top and bottom. One set of shocks that arrived had an eyelet on top and a threaded rod on the bottom.

The sales bloke was at his desk and was on the phone when I came to the counter. So I placed the example off my Land Rover down next to the new shock absorber. When the bloke got off the phone I said, "Hello. let's play spot the difference! One fits my Land Rover and one does not."

Plus I repeated my mantra... That shock absorber is off a Series 2A made in 1970 it is a Short Wheel Base or it is 88 inches long...

He said - "Oh - let me go back to the parts book".

Obviously the parts book has words and numbers - not pictures. So there is no visual check associated with the part. Then they could see straight away what the numbered part looks like in real life.

By Thursday next week I should find out if Round 2 is successful. I must admit that they got my order 50 percent correct. The front shock absorbers actually fit!

Kind regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Regarding the shock absorbers, I actually went to the company who sells the brand of shock absorber that was fitted to my 2A Shortie. They are the sole authorised agent for that brand. I did not take in a shock absorber from a different manufacturer to them. This means that they did not have to go to any of those nasty comparison tables.

I originally made that mistake... I did take the shock absorbers to another manufacturer's outlet. They were the ones who asked me what sized bushes there were. It turns out that their equivalent shock absorber was considerably dearer than the shock absorbers' original authorised agent.

Kind regards
Lionel

[superquag]

Grab your popcorn (Aussie made, I trust.) and if you study and think about this graph, you'll start to understand the damage we've inflicted upon ourselves by chasing the cheapest - which means offshore / CHINA manufacturing, contributing to the destruction of our own.
Yes, i know it's the US scene, yet we can identify the trends - circulation starts to go down at the start of every downturn...and our behaviour down here isn't so different to theirs so a similar plot of Aussie money would look similar in shape.
When our own money is circulating INside the country, it builds and supports 'everyone'. The more it circles, the more value it is. Another reason I lament the strangulation of Australian made products.

Velocity of M2 Money Stock (M2V) | FRED | St. Louis Fed (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2V)



And this for a different take on 'lockdown'. - Pre-supposes honesty from both government AND media... the latter a bit of an ask as 'Corona' has been the sexiest news story for decades... one that never stops giving...[bigwhistle]

YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGC5sGdz4kg&feature=youtu.be)

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Today I have just been communicating with a specialist Land Rover parts place. I did state 1963 2A ex-Army. I had to take photographs of the bellhousing and send them in.

Later on in the day I was informed that they only have Series 3 bellhousings and mine is a Series 2A.

Gee, now that was such a surprise to me! I am sure I mentioned 1963 Series 2A in my conversation - more than once in fact.

How do these people stay in business?

Kind regards
Lionel

[Homestar]

I’ve found after a lot of dicking around which local traders are worth spending my money with. There are a few I spend quite a lot with who offer me outstanding service as a regular but I feel your pain, I’ve had my share of trying to use local businesses only to be let down badly by some of them.