s*p*r*lex and refina

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plasterjfe said:
other trowels came today (70mm) cheap sh1t but they fit in the plazi sleeve. will see how this plazi goes if sh1te skip on site
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Hi plasterjfe,

I'm sorry you've been unhappy with the service you've received from us. Just to clarify the midget trowel is still 80mm, the plazzy holder which doubles as a midget trowel is 70mm, sorry if it's a little confusing. The 70mm trowel is produced in the same factory in Germany from the same high quality stainless steel and should be the same as our standard midget trowel. You may have our premium midget trowel which is produced from chrome stainless steel and has a different handle. We now have in stock a premium plazzy holder midget trowel to suit.

With regards to our delivery charges it's difficult for us to provide a service for such a wide range of goods to the whole of UK mainland on a next day delivery service, as such our carriage is quite expensive. The only way around it is if you're getting something small to send it via Royal Mail. Alternatively, we do have distributors and merchants across the country and so you may be able to find someone local to save paying delivery charges at all - although none stock our full range.

Please let me know on here if anyone you speak to is unhelpful and if possible get the name of the person you dealt with, as this is not the image we want and I can only apologise if you have had anything but excellent customer service from us in the past.

All the best,
Leon
 
Hi LEON

The girl on the phone is sound, she took everything on board what I said and apologised for the differing sizes in the trowels etc. Always polite.

The delivery charges (plus vat) are too high.

IMO you need staggered delivery chargers depending on size of items. I only wanted to try the plazi because I already had a midget trowel and it has the same handel as the premium in the book which is shown on the same page as the plazi blades = see the problem ? anyone would think the trowel I own is going to go hand in hand with the plazi anyway thats why I was disapointed because I had to splash out then to complete the tool - it was only something to try given the fact I (thought) already had a midget trowel.
 
plasterjfe said:
Hi LEON

The girl on the phone is sound, she took everything on board what I said and apologised for the differing sizes in the trowels etc. Always polite.

The delivery charges (plus vat) are too high.

IMO you need staggered delivery chargers depending on size of items. I only wanted to try the plazi because I already had a midget trowel and it has the same handel as the premium in the book which is shown on the same page as the plazi blades = see the problem ? anyone would think the trowel I own is going to go hand in hand with the plazi anyway thats why I was disapointed because I had to splash out then to complete the tool - it was only something to try given the fact I (thought) already had a midget trowel.
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Hello again,

Thanks for getting back to me.

Anything that weighs less than about 2kg and isn't too big can be sent via post, which should be more like £3. We are aware that the delivery charges aren't ideal for trade customers who want the odd tool, as opposed to merchants, distributors or hire companies who are likely to be placing bigger orders. The delivery service we have at the moment is the best compromise we've found to offer a very flexible and fast service all over the UK. If a cheaper alternative comes along we will of course be more than willing to change.

I understand how it can be confusing with the midget trowels. Do you have any suggestions as to how it could be avoided in the future?

Regards,
Leon
 
Simple = in the new book state the size of the midget trowel blades as 70mm wide to fit plazi at the bottom of page 69 for products 221021/22

Will post reviews/thoughts of the products in a few weeks
 
Will make a note for the next run of the catalogues.

Also had a discussion with the directors today about how we can offer better carriage prices for trade customers. Will work on something over the coming weeks and update when we find a solution.

Thanks for the feedback,

Leon
 
John I had a shitty refina venetian midget trowel that I cut down to fit In my plastic.

I don't know if you saw leon but I bought my hop ups a couple of weeks back. Only not from yourselves. I had a cheaper deal and free delivery. When I told the woman on the phone she said 'yeah that's fine as we still get the sale' which I can understand but doesn't give out the best impressions.
 
yeah its all about how much stuff you buy Bedster, the said co. might be buying all the time from refina, and refina are out of the way like, in fact you coulndt get much further of the beaten track in poole, maybe another problem with their charges, but they are one of the most expensive around it seems - I phoned a company the other day and asked about a marshalltown gold, i bought it along with some pva when i asked about delivery he said its free next day because i spent over £50. which is more normal to me

Have you tried handwerker in germany, if you buy a few bits and ask him on the phone they will usually do a deal on the shipping, top quality ger also. I get my JUNG spats from there - you wont beat them for quality

P.S

last thing I had sent I got standard delivery 3-4 days (i wouldnt dream of paying a tenner for 1-2 days) but it arrived after 2 days anyway so it wasnt all bad after all
 
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I understand that said company must buy a lot off refina but they don't even try and offer you a deal to keep you interested. Next time I want anything from refina I'll just go back to the fella who got my hop ups. How much are the mt trowels in the refina catalogue? I imagine they're around £40? Think I got my last one from ebay 30 notes free delivery, you can't tell me refina buy less trowels than some dude on ebay. If I buy a trowel or I buy 2 hop ups worth nearly £300 I still have to pay a tenner del? Doesn't make sense to me.

I think refina have a decent range of tools, pretty much everything we ever need but they're too expensive imo. Realistically they should be one of the cheapest places to get plastering tools with the amount of custom they get surely?
 
beddy said:
John I had a shitty refina venetian midget trowel that I cut down to fit In my plastic.

I don't know if you saw leon but I bought my hop ups a couple of weeks back. Only not from yourselves. I had a cheaper deal and free delivery. When I told the woman on the phone she said 'yeah that's fine as we still get the sale' which I can understand but doesn't give out the best impressions.
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Yeh good point beady, not very professional. Thanks for letting us know.

How are the hops ups? worth the wait?
 
Yeah they're spot on leon. Like I said before my old boss has got a pair so I knew they were good. Came the next day and came after work hours so I was actually home in time for once.
 
Have only just spotted the rest of the posts on this thread, the MT trowels in the catalogue are a lot higher than the special offer price we have them on it. I think it's about £32 or all MXS trowels and £35 for all MPB trowels.

I've taken on a lot of the feedback about the delivery charges and we're discussing either doing a promotion on delivery charges, more staggered charges which would mean cheaper delivery for small items or offer free delivery over a certain order value. I will post up on here when we agree on something and introduce it.

Thanks again for the feedback. Much appreciated,
Leon
 
its nice to see a sponser getting so involved in the site and taking on board comments and suggestions
 
Hi Leon,

I have PMd you over a list of tools, could you look at it. And come back to us with a gentle quote and no delivery charges.

Thanks

Mark
 
Righto upon quick usage the plaziflex is working a treat, got some skimming on so thought we would try it and it is basically allowing you to give it the final trowel much earlier due to more glide and less transference that you would get of a steel blade - in other words a steel will still pull at the surface until it is just ready to the point where it will finish it off - where you need to usually wait a little for a reasonably hard plaster, the plazi will go over a much greener damper wall and finish it really smooth - obviously finishing the set quicker.

only used on the final trowel though, were still using steel for all the other trowelling
 
Hi Leon

Goods received today. All fine.Just one problem the MT permashape finishing trowel, ....does it remain permanently the shape of a bannana.

Not good, it will be coming back to you.:RpS_thumbdn:
 
mark ross said:
Hi Leon

Goods received today. All fine.Just one problem the MT permashape finishing trowel, ....does it remain permanently the shape of a bannana.

Not good, it will be coming back to you.:RpS_thumbdn:
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Permashape trowels do have a curve in them Mark it should be (if lay flat on the table) toe and heel up just ever so slightly, so when pressed against the wall more contact hits the middle of the blade rather than the toe or heel. they break over a long time and really well

if it is bent the other way where as if you put it to the wall the toe and heel dig in - then the trowel is fooked and wants going in the bin as it will never break properly
 
mark ross said:
Hi Leon

Goods received today. All fine.Just one problem the MT permashape finishing trowel, ....does it remain permanently the shape of a bannana.

Not good, it will be coming back to you.:RpS_thumbdn:
Click to expand...

Morning Mark,

I just inboxed you about your order before I'd seen this, so you can ignore that. MT trowels do have a slight curve as plasterjfe said, this is to do with the manufacturing process - the blade is produced from rolled steel. However, stores should be checking them before they go out and no letting them go if they are too curved, so apologies for that. If you could call one of the girls on 01202 632270, or you can just post it back to us with a covering note. Just mention on it that you've spoken to me and would like a replacement trowel sent out.

Thanks,
Leon
 
Refina said:
Hi plasterjfe,

I'm sorry you've been unhappy with the service you've received from us. Just to clarify the midget trowel is still 80mm, the plazzy holder which doubles as a midget trowel is 70mm, sorry if it's a little confusing. The 70mm trowel is produced in the same factory in Germany from the same high quality stainless steel and should be the same as our standard midget trowel. You may have our premium midget trowel which is produced from chrome stainless steel and has a different handle. We now have in stock a premium plazzy holder midget trowel to suit.

With regards to our delivery charges it's difficult for us to provide a service for such a wide range of goods to the whole of UK mainland on a next day delivery service, as such our carriage is quite expensive. The only way around it is if you're getting something small to send it via Royal Mail. Alternatively, we do have distributors and merchants across the country and so you may be able to find someone local to save paying delivery charges at all - although none stock our full range.

Please let me know on here if anyone you speak to is unhelpful and if possible get the name of the person you dealt with, as this is not the image we want and I can only apologise if you have had anything but excellent customer service from us in the past.

All the best,
Leon
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Just to let you know the handles on the miget trowel for the plastics loss the top layer far too easyily, it peeling of after 3 or 4 month now feels horrible to use now.
 
plasterjfe said:
Permashape trowels do have a curve in them Mark it should be (if lay flat on the table) toe and heel up just ever so slightly, so when pressed against the wall more contact hits the middle of the blade rather than the toe or heel. they break over a long time and really well

if it is bent the other way where as if you put it to the wall the toe and heel dig in - then the trowel is fooked and wants going in the bin as it will never break properly
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Funnily enough, I was talking to one of the subbies working for me today about it. He said he has one and yes it came shaped as you describe.. Took a little while to bed in for skimming( few months of S/C).
Although he did agree my one was rather curved.That is I think his laughing was some kind of agreance.
 
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CurrierPlastering said:
Just to let you know the handles on the miget trowel for the plastics loss the top layer far too easyily, it peeling of after 3 or 4 month now feels horrible to use now.
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3-4 months, you were lucky it started to happen to mine within the first hundred m2 and possibly the most uncomfortable handle of any trowel I've ever owned.
 
That's good to know. First I've heard of the handle not being heavy duty enough, so thanks for that. I'm seeing the supplier on Sunday so will let them know they aren't up to scratch.

We now offer the 'premium' blue handle as an alternative to the standard one that most of you probably have, it's a bit dearer though.

All our tools and equipment is guaranteed for trade use for one year, so if you have problems do call up and let us know or get in touch with me on here.

Will be on the lookout for some new tools at the exhibition this weekend, so if there's anything you'd really like but struggle to find in the UK then post up on here.

Thanks again for the feedback
 
Have a look for anything to do with spray finishing mate - oh and tell them to make a plastic s*p*r*lex spat. I love the way the feel in the hand but could do with a plastic 40" one
 
CurrierPlastering said:
Have a look for anything to do with spray finishing mate - oh and tell them to make a plastic s*p*r*lex spat. I love the way the feel in the hand but could do with a plastic 40" one
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Not liking your steel s*p*r*lex anymore? Love mine now ive gottent to grips with it. Or are you really after a giant plaziflez so you can flatten sooner without it all dragging so you can push more m2?
 
An adjustable hop up durastilt do one but it's a work bench and too thin I'm amazed no ones Brought one out yet, a standard hop up with a leg extension that either sits inside or outside and lock it with the same mechanism as you use on stilts
 
can i just ask why have the premium handle and the standard handle why not just have the premium one as the standard one, surley if you have bought out the premium one then you yourselves recognise that the current standard one is uncomfortable (majourly) so you made a much more comfortable one and are charging more for it.
to me it seems stupid to do this if you know something doesnt work jack it in and just do the pukka one, i bought a new plaziflex the other week and diddnt realise you did the premium handel now im stuck with the uncomfortable one and its gonna cost me more to have a handle that i feel should be on there anyway.
also is the new handle thicker the one ive got seems very thin ontop of uncomfortable, i find it slips in my hand alot because its thin.
to be able to grip the handle so that it doesn't slip i find im having to hold the handle right close to the tang so that i can wrap my forefinger around the tang, again really uncomfortable, and does put me off using my plaziflex from time to time, it feels (for want of a better word) gammy
 
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andyR said:
Not liking your steel s*p*r*lex anymore? Love mine now ive gottent to grips with it. Or are you really after a giant plaziflez so you can flatten sooner without it all dragging so you can push more m2?
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how are you using it mate? as in what stage and flat to wall or on an edge etc etc. got an "18 steel s*p*r*lex trowel but still playing around with it
 
jrplastering said:
can i just ask why have the premium handle and the standard handle why not just have the premium one as the standard one, surley if you have bought out the premium one then you yourselves recognise that the current standard one is uncomfortable (majourly) so you made a much more comfortable one and are charging more for it.
to me it seems stupid to do this if you know something doesnt work jack it in and just do the pukka one, i bought a new plaziflex the other week and diddnt realise you did the premium handel now im stuck with the uncomfortable one and its gonna cost me more to have a handle that i feel should be on there anyway.
also is the new handle thicker the one ive got seems very thin ontop of uncomfortable, i find it slips in my hand alot because its thin.
to be able to grip the handle so that it doesn't slip i find im having to hold the handle right close to the tang so that i can wrap my forefinger around the tang, again really uncomfortable, and does put me off using my plaziflex from time to time, it feels (for want of a better word) gammy
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The handle that is normally shipped the plazzies is just that handle on all our non-premium products. The main difference between the premium is that it's chrome stainless instead of just normal stainless.

We are working on a new handle our tools, but will keep supplying the current ones until we've found one that's right. We're still in the early design stages so I'd imagine it's going to be a while yet, sorry.

Thanks for the tool suggestions, I've had a little look today without much luck for most, but will carry on tomorrow.

DannyMac, we might be able to produce an adjustable angle trowel to suit your spec. I've emailed myself a reminder to look into it when I'm back in the office.
 
but surley the comfort of the handle is important enough to warrent sticking the premuim handle out as standard just untill you have designed the new one.
 
Refina said:
DannyMac, we might be able to produce an adjustable angle trowel to suit your spec. I've emailed myself a reminder to look into it when I'm back in the office.
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Thanks, maybe even one that goes from 45 to 135 degrees although I appreciate that this would be much harder to design.
 
jrplastering said:
but surley the comfort of the handle is important enough to warrent sticking the premuim handle out as standard just untill you have designed the new one.
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We could discontinue the current handle and just have the premium, but it wouldn't be any cheaper as the premium plazzy holder is more expensive to produce and the actual handle is also more expensive. So at least there is the option for those who want to pay more for a handle they would prefer. I'd rather we got the product right from the outset, but I guess this is the best we can do for now.
 
How much are th premium ones? I saw a lovely little midget trowel for 8.95 in travis Perkins of all places
 
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