.

So, after a few Internet searches for Lawnmowers, I find one on a certain DIY Store website. As I’d rather like to see what I’m spending, I thought I’d get there for Doors Opening time on a Sunday morning when they’re at their least busiest. Also, I see they don’t do home delivery on this item, it’s ‘Store Pick Up’.

I mince my way through to the Gardening Department and find the Mowers. Three out of four are the same price as the Net, but the one I want is £10 more.
I bear in mind before asking the question that often things are less expensive online, but as it can’t be delivered, I find it a bit odd.

After a discussion with the Sales Chap who obviously only works Sundays and at his age probably hasn’t ever seen a Lawnmower before (although he was smart and polite), I get the Manager come over.

He says he can’t do a ‘match price’ on items sold on the Internet. I explain that the fact I wanted to look at it first, but he informed me that to get the £199 price, I would have to drive home, buy it on the Net, then return to the Store to pick it up!

I had £200 cash on me. I told him that, but it made no odds “Can’t match prices on the Net atall Sir”.

It’s my conclusion that I, as a good Citizen wanting to finance local business, this would be good. The Store gets the credit for the Sale, that makes more profit and Sales for the Staff there and it’s not shut down in two years which some may well do.
I usually buy on the Net for the cheaper reason, but unless I’m sure about a product I won’t.

So ‘No Sale’. I left that Store, went off to another very popular one, found a better Mower (not on the Net because it was a Sale item to that Store alone) and within one hour was happily cutting the grass with an efficient sweet sounding Lawnmower.

Now, you may think ‘What about the Honda?’ ( see here ) which I so majestically repaired last year. Well, the Gaffer Tape, bit of one by one, the string sowing of the grassbox etc. finally gave way to the main frame suddenly splitting.
The last Mower was indeed a better one than the new one in many ways, but that was brought for cutting other peoples lawns as well as mine, so this must now do. But it’s not bad.

Oh well, that’s the short holiday I was having at the end of the Cricket Season gone out the window and the Strimmer which now sounds somewhere between a too highly tweaked 50cc Moped and a rampant Wasp will also have to stretch it’s life by some month’s.
But by not buying my one Mint Aero a week anymore, I can pay the Mower off in only eight years.

I shall now go up the garden and cry.