After months of putting the job off, last Friday presented the perfect opportunity to try to improve the internet speeds around our home.
With a mixture of old granite walls and modern extensions, it seems the wi-fi signal has to navigate around obstacles worthy of Gordon Burns’ Krypton Factor just to reach the kitchen.
So, a few You Tube videos later, the purchasing of some new internet equipment and the borrowing of the specialist tools from some friends, it was time to install a new internet network around the house. However, I needed to purchase some things called RJ45s – they are the clips which need attaching to the end of the data cables.
So off I headed to B&Q. No, not there. The Powerhouse maybe? Nope, not sold there either. Perhaps a computer shop? No. ‘We sold the last ones we had about a week ago and we have no idea when any new ones will arrive.’ This answer is a constant bugbear of mine. How businesses are unable to tell you what they are getting until it arrives off the boat at some random date in the future is beyond me and, in as many words, is the equivalent of saying ‘I don’t care about your business.’
Anyway, the search continued around the Island until someone suggested trying an electrical wholesaler. I got to the first one and, finally, found that they stocked the little fixing I required – however, only in jars of 100. I needed just eight for the job I was doing, so even with the prospect of having a jar of 92 plastic connectors sitting on a shed shelf for decades to come, I took it to the till.
‘Sorry, did you say £58?’ I asked in disbelief. Back on the shelf they went, and off I set to the other electrical wholesaler, and my last hope of finding these blasted things. Drove halfway across the Island and surpassed the three-hour search mark, only to discover that the second wholesaler also only sold jars of 100, and for £59! I pleaded that I only needed eight for the job, but my plea went unanswered.
So, disappointed and tired, I sat in my car about to head for home and decided to check if Amazon sold them. They too sell them in jars of 100, but rather than nearly £60, I could get them for £10.41 after VAT was removed and GST added. Therefore, I placed the order and they arrived on Tuesday and I completed the job.
Yes, it’s a specialist piece of equipment that you can’t expect every business to stock but come on, what’s going on with prices?
I am sure many of you reading this have similar stories to share where the saving to be made online isn’t just a few pounds and pennies but a significant amount. Let me know, by emailing
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