Yes, for a short while Bunnings was trying to match the superior level of customer service that Masters brought to the Home Hardware sector. But now they've dropped the ball again.
And I'm not really surprised.
You see before Masters entered the scene Bunnings had total control of the Home Hardware Sector, and although their slogan touted the 'Lowest Prices are Just the Beginning', consumers were left wondering what was next. As hearing the same slogan for over 20 years gets a little monotonous.
And what happened next, was only a knee-jerk reaction. When the Woolworth's owned Masters stores entered the scene as Bunnings finally started putting in air-conditioning and heating in their stores. Previously, the stores were unbearable for the customers and even worse for the staff during extreme temperatures.
Masters, in contrast, was a pleasant experience all-year round.
But matching the Masters' store model wasn't the only change Bunnings made. There also seemed to be a lot more staff in the stores, and each staff member would greet you with a polite hello, which was fine the first few times, but I'm sure I had over 10 hello's on one visit.
Fast forward a year after Masters closed the doors, and there are visibly less staff in the Bunnings stores and I haven't heard one 'hello' from any staff since except for the greeter at the front of the store.
But recently on a trip to the Sunshine store in Melbourne's inner suburbs, the customer service decline really hit home.
My Bunnings Customer Service Experience
I was recently in the market for a set of precision screwdrivers so I could replace my bike computers battery, and on checking the Bunnings online catalogue I found a reasonably cheap set made by Craftright and I knew these would be a much better option than the sets you usually find in $2 shops.
So at first I headed to my local Bunnings, only to discover they had no stock but they assured me the local Sunshine store did have stock on hand, so I hopped on my bike and rode over there.
It was early morning and there was hardly anyone in the store, and when the person in the tool shop asked if he could help, I whipped out my phone and showed him a picture of the product I was looking for.
I was keen to get in and out, but after checking the screwdriver section and all the aisle product placement stands we couldn't find the product in question anywhere.
The lady behind the counter even checked the 'IN' number and confirmed there was plenty of stock on hand.
But eventually the man who was originally helping gave up and said they didn't have any, citing a bad computer system as the likely cause.
However, I didn't want to take 'No' for an answer and it was clear this was a promotional product and was unlikely to make it as a product line again, given they have a similar product at twice the price.
So I kept looking, although I didn't really think this was my job.
And my persistence eventually paid off, because I found the product I was looking for, after taking a closer look at some regular sized screwdrivers in a similar package.
Yes, they were all stacked together, both the normal and precision screwdrivers. Doh!
So I grabbed a set and promptly paid and left the store.
Now a customer should never have to work that hard to buy a product, IMHO, and if it wasn't for the price and value I would have walked out 10 minutes earlier.
However since Bunning's won the Home Hardware War, I had very little option but to keep looking or consider buying an inferior product from the $2 store.
I hate that Bunning's is my only real option to buy hardware in Australia. Sure occasionally you'll find a Mitre 10 or a Home Timber & Hardware store, but these are few and far between.
And with a recent reported loss of $3.2 Billion dollars, hopefully, Bunning's eventually suffers the same fate as Masters, and we can get back to some decent competition in Australia.
Or at the very least they consider changing that bloody slogan, to something that doesn't undermine the consumer's intelligence. We can all see what you've done there and when you have nothing to compare it against, of course, you'll have the lowest prices.
But this doesn't mean we enjoy shopping at your store.