Citi Hardware

[RBM]

19 hours ago, hk blues said:

I've found from experience that if I can't find what I'm looking than there is only a slim chance it's available and an even slimmer chance the staff will make the effort to hunt it down.  Basically, asking the staff for help is a last resort rather than a first.  But, I have to say that when it comes to product knowledge the staff in Ace are pretty good assuming you get the right person.  

What amazes me is if one branch is out of stock on a certain item forget it elsewhere, its just a futile exercise in looking.

[Mike J]

1 hour ago, RBM said:

What amazes me is if one branch is out of stock on a certain item forget it elsewhere, its just a futile exercise in looking.

Maybe not always true?  We found a tile that we liked at Citi but they did not have enough for our requirements.  They did call other branches to check for the same tile.  They found some and it was shipped to the store for us.

[hk blues]

15 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Maybe not always true?  We found a tile that we liked at Citi but they did not have enough for our requirements.  They did call other branches to check for the same tile.  They found some and it was shipped to the store for us.

We had the same experience in Citi (laminate flooring) but only once in my 9 years here so perhaps not exactly common but it can happen.  

[Mike J]

31 minutes ago, hk blues said:

We had the same experience in Citi (laminate flooring) but only once in my 9 years here so perhaps not exactly common but it can happen.  

Ten years for me, and also only once. 

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

Ten years for me, and also only once. 

Related - when we lived in Hong Kong it was not uncommon for shop staff to ask you to come back in an hour or so and then they'd jump on the subway to go to another store to pick up the item for you.  Of course, the small size of the city and the excellent transport system made this feasible but the underlying point is that customers were important - or should I say their money was important! 

[OnMyWay]

On 2/17/2024 at 3:57 PM, Gator said:

In addition, when purchasing the tiles try to get the same batch numbers to help ensure color consistency between the cartons. Once again, you can only hope the cartons are stamped with the batch numbers. 

Thanks for this tip.  Seems logical but I might not of thought about it.  When shopping, I noticed that the same tile on two different pallets looked slightly different, and asked the girl about it.  Different batch, she said.  I hope they have the batch numbers on the boxes.

[hk blues]

4 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Thanks for this tip.  Seems logical but I might not of thought about it.  When shopping, I noticed that the same tile on two different pallets looked slightly different, and asked the girl about it.  Different batch, she said.  I hope they have the batch numbers on the boxes.

Just to add to this - try to ensure they have sufficient stock of the tile you choose to allow for any unexpected shortage at the end of the project rather then buy extra and waste money on unneeded tiles at the outset.  In the UK they won't split boxes of tiles so it's less of a problem as you almost always buy more than you need at the outset but from my experience they will split  here.  

[Gator]

6 hours ago, hk blues said:

Just to add to this - try to ensure they have sufficient stock of the tile you choose to allow for any unexpected shortage at the end of the project rather then buy extra and waste money on unneeded tiles at the outset.  In the UK they won't split boxes of tiles so it's less of a problem as you almost always buy more than you need at the outset but from my experience they will split  here.  

Great idea, but I’m not sure I agree. Just because they have sufficient stock today doesn’t mean they will any from the same batch tomorrow. This is the Philippines after all. IMHO it’s good to get some extra in case of breakage during transport and/or installation as well as to store a few extra tiles in case repairs are needed at some point in the future. 

[Lee]

On 2/19/2024 at 5:04 PM, Tommy T. said:

So often, a trip to find and item ends up with three to four stops at various stores to "hopefully" find what I am seeking. Sounds almost like a kid's game, right???

Sounds like BS to me.

I have found if one store is out of a particular item then they all are. Also, if you find something that you like or need then don't put off buying it because when you come back it will be gone.

On 2/20/2024 at 6:13 AM, Mike J said:

Show them the picture and say; 'do you have this'

Exactly what I do ---yes ,no and then you on your way.

Sometimes I will bring a sample to compare with the new part. Recently I went to Citi with a plumbing sample in my hand. The guard stopped me---I couldn't bring the plumbing part inside---I asked why not as I had been doing this for years. No answer. Am employee happens to walk up so I asked the guard if he could take the sample inside and go with me. Nope. I was fixing to leave when a manager intervened and overruled the guard.

For the record---my tape measure has had so many sample labels attached to it over the years that no part of the outer housing has been untouched.

[OnMyWay]

 

1 hour ago, Gator said:

Great idea, but I’m not sure I agree. Just because they have sufficient stock today doesn’t mean they will any from the same batch tomorrow. This is the Philippines after all. IMHO it’s good to get some extra in case of breakage during transport and/or installation as well as to store a few extra tiles in case repairs are needed at some point in the future. 

Yes, getting the same batch might be hardest part.  That one I posted above is probably the one we are getting, and is sold per piece.  I am going tomorrow to see what stock / batches they have.  They had a full pallet and a half pallet last time.

On Wilcon's website, they recommend getting 7% extra for breakage, cuts, etc.  I have no idea if that is reasonable???  Thoughts?

I'm looking at about 85 SQM and a SQM is 5 tiles (20 X 100 each).  Add 7% makes it about 91 SQM, so an extra 30 tiles @ 106 each = 3180.  Not a big deal but if I have too many left over it becomes a storage issue.