vent and rant time

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macmikeman

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I 'm mad, mad, mad. Friday I bought a 200 amp 30-40 circuit singel phase panel from one of the two big boxes. Today on the job I opened it up, punched out a few ko's and started to hang it. Just about then I notice that the bus assembly looks sorta short in this can. I pulled off the cardboard bus guard, and suprise- its a 20-40 circuit busbar in a can the full size of the 30-40. The box it came in was clearly marked 30-40. I spent the money for the bigger can so I would not need to put any tandems in it. Now I am faced with town traffic jams just to return it. :mad: :mad:
 
Re: vent and rant time

I've been getting mad at the faceless factory guy myself lately. You just know, deep down, there's some guy making better than minimum wage whose sole job in life is to put the panel cover screws in the panel.

Or the panel labels.

Or the grounding strap for the can. In a package that is supposed to contain two items, a strap and a grounding screw, and there is a picture on the package of both items in case there's any confusion; behold! No strap. :D
 
Re: vent and rant time

Returning it will just get it put back on shelf untill someone keeps it.All part of the system.Call the mfg. that might do some good for everyone.They can run it down to what shift goofed.I too hate tandem breakers.Nothing is worse than being all set to do a job and have wrong material.
Also there is a chance that the mix up happened at the store.Someone might have been looking at both and got them back in wrong box.

[ October 16, 2005, 09:09 AM: Message edited by: jimwalker ]
 
Re: vent and rant time

Wouldn't surprise me if the problem is at the store. Lots of stuff that is returned, working or not, gets put back on the shelves for the next unsuspecting person to buy. Twice in one week, I discovered I had bought GFCIs that had been tampered with and broken.

For the record, this has never happened to me with materials I bought at the supply house.
 
Re: vent and rant time

Originally posted by jeff43222:
Wouldn't surprise me if the problem is at the store. Lots of stuff that is returned, working or not, gets put back on the shelves for the next unsuspecting person to buy. Twice in one week, I discovered I had bought GFCIs that had been tampered with and broken.
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NEVER BUY A TAMPERED BOX of anything!!

For the record, this has never happened to me with materials I bought at the supply house.
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Can't say the same...Depends on which rookie is loading the truck!

[ October 16, 2005, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: tshea ]
 
Re: vent and rant time

A customer might have noticed they were same size box and switched them with each other.Then he takes the cheaper one to register.He has your 30/40.Most cashiers that work in them places know very little about what they sell.All they do is scan the item.A panel could ring up as a can of paint and i dought they would question it.
Always check your items before leaving ,even at supply house.Neither one hires high scale staff.
 
Re: vent and rant time

Originally posted by tshea:
Originally posted by jeff43222:
Wouldn't surprise me if the problem is at the store. Lots of stuff that is returned, working or not, gets put back on the shelves for the next unsuspecting person to buy. Twice in one week, I discovered I had bought GFCIs that had been tampered with and broken.
Click to expand...
NEVER BUY A TAMPERED BOX of anything!!
Click to expand...
I agree, but there was nothing about the GFCI boxes that looked tampered with. It was only after I opened them up that I found the problem. In one case, the yellow tape over the load screws was over the line screws, which I found odd. When I pulled the tape off, I discovered a screw was missing. Someone unscrewed it all the way, discovered that you can't screw it back in, covered it with the tape, then returned it to the store as though he just changed his mind. :mad:
 
Re: vent and rant time

Mine didn't look like it ever got opened, but you guy's are probably right, it might have been the store returning the thing to the shelf. We are paying $3.50 for a gallon of gas right now, and nothing burns it up faster than the jamup route on the freeway on Monday morning. I'd keep it and just use it elsewhere, but the cover is made for the 30-40 bus and won't fit the one from the box. Sheesh.
 
Re: vent and rant time

Mine didn't look like it ever got opened...

Probably hasn't been opened. I've always maintained that HD and other big box stores are dumping grounds for manufacturers to get rid of their screw ups and "seconds". Why not, those dumb DIY's wouldn't know the difference.

-Hal
 
Re: vent and rant time

Originally posted by hbiss:


I've always maintained that HD and other big box stores are dumping grounds for manufacturers to get rid of their screw ups and "seconds". Why not, those dumb DIY's wouldn't know the difference.

-Hal
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I highly doubt it. I have no doubt that some of the stuff that is sold at HD is indeed a lower grade than what you could purchase elsewhere. But as far as true seconds and screw ups, that stuff usually ends up in the stores that are in that market, places like Grossman's Bargain Outlet that plainly advertise they sell factory seconds.

I once new someone who worked for Leviton and he told me that the Leviton stuff sold at HD is the exact same stuff you can buy at any wholesaler. No difference whatsover, other than the packaging. Now, some would argue that the stuff sold at HD has a high failure rate, but that accusation could be leveled at resi-grade Leviton devices in general.

[ October 17, 2005, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: peter d ]
 
Re: vent and rant time

Originally posted by hbiss:
I've always maintained that HD and other big box stores are dumping grounds for manufacturers to get rid of their screw ups and "seconds". Why not, those dumb DIY's wouldn't know the difference.

-Hal
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I love a good conspiracy theory. :D
 
Re: vent and rant time

Originally posted by peter d:
Now, some would argue that the stuff sold at HD has a high failure rate, but that accusation could be leveled at resi-grade Leviton devices in general.
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Which is why I go out of my way to buy P&S. I would only use Leviton if someone had a loaded gun pointed at my head, and even then I'd still think it over. :D
 
Re: vent and rant time

Originally posted by jeff43222:
Which is why I go out of my way to buy P&S. I would only use Leviton if someone had a loaded gun pointed at my head, and even then I'd still think it over. :D ]
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:D :D

I agree, Leviton is what I would call "An absolute last resort."
 
Re: vent and rant time

It's a FACT that "The Big Box" purchases items at a "reverse auction." They tell manufacturers what they are willing to pay for a certain item and if the manufacturers can do so, they get the sale. That's why you never saw Square D in the box stores until a few years ago. They resisted as long as they could, but they just couldn't stay out of the game. A funny story. It's funny now, but it wasn't then. My wife bought me a grill from "The Box" for father's day a few years back. I assemble everything, but find that I am missing the regulator. The box didn't look tampered with(both my wife and I are always on the lookout for that) so I assume it's a manufacturer omission. I go back to "The Box" and the sales clerk says "No problem." He flips over a perfectly good grill in it's box, cuts the tape with his box knike and yanks out the regulator like a doctor performing a c-section. He then taped up the box and put it back on the shelf. I almost lost my mind on the guy. He was the reason I was there to begin with!! I made a huge scene. I could have strangled him. And the kicker of it all? A huge sign in the front of the store. "Free Assembly For All Grills Purchased For Father's Day." I can only laugh.
 
Re: vent and rant time

Why would you buy your panels and breakers from the box retail anyway? I know their price is equal, if not lower than your distributor. But if I opened a box that wasn't what I ordered, MY distributor would have someone replace it quickly, or my salesman would personally drive it over. Besides, those loadcenters they sell at HD or Lowe's are crap. The GE 200A MCB is a double 100A, which I don't understand. Square D Homeline is crap too.
 
Re: vent and rant time

Originally posted by Flyersfan:
It's a FACT that "The Big Box" purchases items at a "reverse auction." They tell manufacturers what they are willing to pay for a certain item and if the manufacturers can do so, they get the sale.
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All retailers do this. Wal Mart, Target, Sears, Lowes, the drug store chains, the electronics chains, etc.

Nobody is denying that stuff sold at HD is lower grade. But that doesnt apply to every single item in the store.
 
Re: vent and rant time

Nobody is denying that stuff sold at HD is lower grade. But that doesnt apply to every single item in the store
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Got a jar of pretzels! They were good and fresh! :D

I make it a habit of NOT buying electrical supplies from a box. Prices are sometimes better, but service sux. My salesman will also run parts to a jobsite. In the event there's a :eek: OH OH :eek: the branch manager has been known to run!
I'd rathe pay the extra for the service than regret it.
 
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