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Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Line (Read 10,401 times)
NGMsGhost
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Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Line
Feb 8th, 2007 at 5:08pm
 
I had to fit a replacement light switch for a dimmer switch today so that I could start using low energy spot bulbs on the overhead lights concerned.  The switch came from Homebase.

I found I had a question about whether the switch was suitable for a 5 x 18w low energy spot fluorescent load configuration in place of the previous 5 x 60W incandescent load and so looked at the help leaflet that came with the switch.  I practically fell off my chair to find a company with a generally Currys style approach to marketing (omnipresent at most large retail parks and with often not the cheapest prices) using an 0121 number for their main national customer support line.

I rang the number and it was answered in 2 rings and I got a rapid answer that yes the switch was suitable for this purpose. Smiley Smiley

But now I look into this further I find that Homebase is now part of Home Retail Group who also own Argos and has recently been de-merged from Great Universal Stores (Homebase having originally been set up by Sainsburys).  And strangely Argos uses 0870 for their customer support line while Homebase does use 0845 for its main customer enquiry line listed on its website.

I can only assume that Homebase have contracted technical support for its products to a third party company who does not believe in joining the great telephone ripoff, even though they clearly run a large call centre.  All I can say is hats off to these people whoever they are for doing the right thing by the customer.  The sad thing is they get no credit for it due to useless Ofcom still failing to make it punishable with large fines to describe 0845 and 0870 numbers as local and national rate if the description is not in an advertisement. And even if it is an advertisement all the ASA does is write a polite letter to the firm suggesting it desists - it does not hit them with a big fine for their misdeeds. Angry
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« Last Edit: Feb 8th, 2007 at 5:24pm by NGMsGhost »  

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allegro
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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #1 - Feb 8th, 2007 at 8:19pm
 
Great to see the use of a proper phone number. Unfortunately the answer they gave is almost certainly wrong. AFAIK, none of the compact fluorescent (AKA low energy) bulbs are dimmable. At best you won't get the desired result. At worst you could damage the bulbs and/or the dimmer though you won't start a fire or anything really nasty.
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NGMsGhost
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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #2 - Feb 8th, 2007 at 9:05pm
 
allegro wrote on Feb 8th, 2007 at 8:19pm:
Great to see the use of a proper phone number. Unfortunately the answer they gave is almost certainly wrong. AFAIK, none of the compact fluorescent (AKA low energy) bulbs are dimmable. At best you won't get the desired result. At worst you could damage the bulbs and/or the dimmer though you won't start a fire or anything really nasty.


I was replacing a dimmer switch with a conventional switch so I could fit the low energy bulbs so the new switch is likely to have been compatible.

I only raised the question because an MK conventional (non dimmable) switch that I tried to fit to replace the dimmer switch but that disintegrated when I tried to connect the mains wires in the terminals (not what you expect from MK) actually specifically said it was suitable for fluorescent bulbs.  This one just says it supports up to 10amps, which ought to be enough for a 90w load.  But logically a conventional switch is bound to be fine.

I know a dimmer doesn't work.  When I tried them with the dimmer they were flickering wildly even with the dimmer turned right up.

These are low energy R80 fluorescents by the way.  A place called www.yourwelcome.co.uk sold them for £1.20 each on an offer but B&Q charge £20 each for an R80 low energy replacements.  Only snag is they seem to be 18W each rather than 12W as I was expecting but when you consider I had five on my overhead kitchen spot tracks and this cuts the consumption from 300W to 90W its still a cost effective result .  I can't justify the other £94 on buying the bulbs to save the other 30W.  These seem fine but give off a much harsher whiter light than the spot bulbs did.  Those gave a more yellow warm light.
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allegro
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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #3 - Feb 9th, 2007 at 8:08am
 
Sorry, I missed the point that you were replacing a dimmer with a conventional switch. You said:

Quote:
I had to fit a replacement light switch for a dimmer switch


which I misread as replacing a dimmer with what could possibly be a different kind of dimmer.

A lot of low energy bulbs give light that's a bit cold. The worst ones make people look a bit green and ill, the best ones are excellent. I don't know any way of telling in advance Sad
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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #4 - Feb 9th, 2007 at 11:30am
 
allegro wrote on Feb 9th, 2007 at 8:08am:
A lot of low energy bulbs give light that's a bit cold. The worst ones make people look a bit green and ill, the best ones are excellent. I don't know any way of telling in advance Sad


The better known makes like Osram and Philips tend to give the best results with warmest light.  The problem is that low energy spots are still a charter for scammers with major brand names being charged at £20 each in R80 size.  That does still save £8.46 a year if you have the bulb on for 2200 hours a year or so but the pay back time is nearly as long as the bulb's expected 6000 hour life. Shocked

These were cheap unbranded low energy spots from www.yourwelcome.co.uk costing about £1.50 each or so on a Special Offer.  The light is a very harsh white that feels like an operating theatre although there is plenty of light given out.
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mikeinnc
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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #5 - Feb 9th, 2007 at 6:57pm
 
Goodness me! Welcome to Rip-Off Britain! Twenty pounds? I think someone is taking the p** out of you all!    Wink

I bought a Phillips 'Energy Saver 60' which is a 14W bulb equivalent to a 60W bulb (and even looks like normal bulb rather than the "curly ones") for $3.88 (plus 6.75% sales tax) at Walmart the other day. So that's about £2.15 at today's rate.

In fact, Walmart is pushing these energy saving bulbs under a promotion - 'Change a Light - Change the World'. See:-

walmart.triaddigital.com/defaultrendercontent_ektid8822.aspx (I can't get this to show as a clickable link?)

And - sorry guys - only available at a physical store and - of course - no good anyway as they are 120v and ES caps. Perhaps someone should have a word with Asda.......?

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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #6 - Feb 9th, 2007 at 7:10pm
 
And just to emphasise the Rip-Off factor, I bought a pack of three 20W compact flouro (energy saving) bulbs whilst home in Australia recently for $AU14.98  - thats about £6.00 - or TWO pounds each!

Twenty quid? I'm still shaking my head in disbelief......   Cry
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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #7 - Feb 9th, 2007 at 7:11pm
 
mikeinnc wrote on Feb 9th, 2007 at 6:57pm:
Goodness me! Welcome to Rip-Off Britain! Twenty pounds? I think someone is taking the p** out of you all!    Wink

I bought a Phillips 'Energy Saver 60' which is a 14W bulb equivalent to a 60W bulb (and even looks like normal bulb rather than the "curly ones") for $3.88 (plus 6.75% sales tax) at Walmart the other day. So that's about £2.15 at today's rate.

In fact, Walmart is pushing these energy saving bulbs under a promotion - 'Change a Light - Change the World'. See:-

walmart.triaddigital.com/defaultrendercontent_ektid8822.aspx (I can't get this to show as a clickable link?)

And - sorry guys - only available at a physical store and - of course - no good anyway as they are 120v and ES caps. Perhaps someone should have a word with Asda.......?



Mike,

Several UK retailers are now doing standard low energy bulb in bayonet and screw type fittings for only £1 or £1.50 each.

The problem with expensive replacements is when it comes to non standard bulbs like R63, R80 and R100 spot light bulbs or things like incandescent strip light bulb that go above your bathroom mirror.  For these low energy bulbs they are not carried by the major retailers and if you can get them they are often only at ripoff prices.

These five R80 replacements only cost me something like £1.60 each on a special offer promotion from an obscure web site and have a 6000 hour life saving 42w each per hour.  So in their 6000 hour life they save 252Kw of energy consumption at about 8.5p per Kw so save a total of £21.42 over their life and probably around £5 in just one year compared to a £1.60 purchase price.  The £20 replacements had I think a 10000 hour life and ran at 12W so over their lifetime saved 480Kw or £40.80 in electricity at current prices (which may well fall significantly).   So they do pay back in the end but the pack period is probably over 3 years and the return on investment is only 2:1 minus lost bank interest.    Wheras the cheap low energy spot bulbs I have bought have a payback ratio of over 10:1. Now of course I could just have put the usual Edison screw fitting type bulbs with conventional multi filaments or even the ones that look like old fashioned light bulbs but they would have looked horrible in these spot bulb fittings.

Case Closed.  Even allowing for the longer life and greater wattage reduction of the expensive make R80 bulbs they shouldn't be costing more than 3 quid compared to the 20 quid asked.  I can't imagine who is stupid enough to buy the ones that cost 20 quid each.
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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #8 - Apr 24th, 2007 at 9:32am
 
mikeinnc wrote on Feb 9th, 2007 at 6:57pm:
I bought a Phillips 'Energy Saver 60' which is a 14W bulb equivalent to a 60W bulb (and even looks like normal bulb rather than the "curly ones") for $3.88 (plus 6.75% sales tax) at Walmart the other day. So that's about £2.15 at today's rate.


Not really the right forum for this kind of thing but just one more comment: Morrisons are selling Philips Energy Saver 60W equivalent (and 100W equivalent) at two for 99p (less than 50p each). The actual wattage (11W) is different from the Walmart items, presumably because the voltage is different.
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Re: Hats Off to Homebase For 0121 Tech Support Lin
Reply #9 - Apr 24th, 2007 at 3:27pm
 
Quote:
The actual wattage (11W) is different from the Walmart items, presumably because the voltage is different.


Not quite! Wattage is (simplistically, and without getting into issues about load factors etc) the product of volts times current (amps). So a 20W bulb on a 240v system draws 83mA - a 20W bulb on a 110v system draws 182mA and for sake of argument, a 'low-voltage' 20W bulb on a 24v system draws 833mA. They all dissipate 20W. In other words, they all cost the same to run - since your power bill is a function of watts (power) and time (hours) - and assuming electricity is the same in a 240v system as a 110v system (which it probably isn't....I pay about 4.4p/kWh?).

I understand there is some degree of confusion about the equivalence of the long life output vs a normal incandescent bulb. Is 11W of long-life equivalent to 60W of incandescent or is it 14W or some other figure? Hmm... not the place to go into that here, but interesting, nonetheless.
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