Metatron's Link Dump: Productivity

After all, I live in the sort of design-obsessed Northern California town where one neighbor has an up-lighted koi tank in the floor, another has bathroom drawers that shut themselves soundlessly and a third made the front page of the local paper for trying to sneak a renegade cupola past the building department.

But to understand my hesitation, you need look no further than my kitchen.

There lurks the hand sprayer.

Usually when I turn on the faucet, my enemy bides its time quietly. But every once in a while, the sprayer strikes like a coiled snake, spitting water, soaking my shirt and sending me into frantic mode.

I grab it and wave it around the room, like Jerry Lewis wrestling with a seltzer bottle. The sprayer soaks the counter and sprays the window. By the time I drop it into the sink, I am hopping from foot to foot, praying for Dean Martin to save the day.

I was still shaking from the latest episode last week when the designer for the bathroom contractor phoned to suggest that it was time to start what in my town is generally a months-long, minutiae-laden process of picking out swan-necked faucets, cloudburst shower heads, thermostatic mixers, angle supply, adjustable P-traps and other potential attackers.

"I can spare an hour and a half," I said.

"You mean on the first day?" he said.

"Total," I said.

My plan - to meet the designer at a retail showroom, pick attractive options from a wall display, write down the model numbers, then let someone else order it all - went well at first. It was only later, after I totaled the cost at home, that I realized something was very wrong.

The calculator said $3,219.93.

I said no.

So I went online to see if I could do better. The first step was to confirm the product numbers for specific items on my list. This was essential; it would be disastrous to buy something heavy and bulky like, say, a pedestal sink and have it arrive on the front porch, only to open the box and find that it was configured for a single-hole faucet rather than for the widespread, levered model sitting next to it on the porch.

The best manufacturers' sites, from rohlhome.com to kallista.com, list model numbers right next to product images. It's easy to drool over the expensive fittings at annsacks.com, to read about the vitreous china lavatory bowls at www.stthomascreations.com or to download spec sheets and installation notes at americanstandard-us.com. From the general (sites like homeportfolio.com list products from hundreds of manufacturers) to the specific (at brasstech.com, beautiful photos show close-ups of flange covers), manufacturers' sites can occupy the home-obsessed for hours.

But back to my sink needs. At kohler.com, the easy search function made it quick work to home in on K-2268-8, the 30-inch-wide version of the Memoirs pedestal sink. The manufacturer's suggested price for a white one was $692.20, virtually the same as the $693 the local showroom had quoted. With tax, my total at the showroom would be $744.98.

A Google search for "K-2268-8" opened my eyes to other possibilities. At showerbuddy.com, the same sink was $535.95 (no tax, includes shipping). At faucet.com, the total was $566. At www.fixturesdirect.com, $557.21.

Emboldened, I worked my way down the list. Within an hour, the total on my calculator dropped from $3,219.93 to $2,247.05, a savings of $972.88. In addition, I would avoid a 15 percent contractor's surcharge by ordering the items myself.

But you don't get something for nothing. What kind of risk would I assume by placing the order myself? I phoned the designer.

"Is there any reason not to order online?" I said.

"In my experience, there are a thousand opportunities to fall and stumble along the way," he said. "Just ordering something that sounds easy, like windows, I have spent 20 hours figuring it out. In plumbing and electrical supplies, there are so many variables. And how can you be sure you're ordering from a reliable company that will really deliver? What about honoring warranties?"

He raised good questions. I phoned Dan Auer, president of Faucet.com, and repeated them.

"For most people, the idea of going online to shop for these products can be intimidating," said Mr. Auer, whose site sells products from more than 70 manufacturers. "It's a hard thing to differentiate by looking at a site whether someone is a legitimate retailer who has been doing business for years or whether it's somebody who just threw up a Web site yesterday."

One thing shoppers should do before buying online is to read customer reviews at sites like www.bizrate.com and www.epinions.com. There you will get a sense of how quickly orders arrive and how helpful a company's customer service department is.

Also, always phone before placing an order. If a person doesn't answer the customer service number promptly during the site's posted business hours, don't place the order. If you can't get someone on the line now, imagine how much more frustrating it will feel later, if something goes wrong with an order.

Ask before you buy how long it will take to receive the order. For instance, Mr. Auer said he tries to sell items on Faucet.com that manufacturers have in stock, ready to ship. "The problem with certain brands is finding dependable sources of supply," he wrote to me in a follow-up e-mail message. "We have access to almost anything, but only promote the items that are in stock and ready to ship."

Plumbing is complicated. But shopping online demystified the process. For instance, at the retail showroom I visited, no one mentioned that in addition to buying a sink, I would also have to purchase a connection pipe and cutoff valves. Fixturesdirect.com steered me toward compatible models after I placed a sink in a shopping cart.

Another tip: if possible, find a single site that can accommodate the bulk of your order. That will save money on shipping and make it easier to keep track than if you order a medicine cabinet here and a valve there.

Ask about warranties and replacements. Remember, as the contractor's designer reminded me, that by ordering directly, you assume responsibility for making sure the parts are available when needed at the job site.

"If our plumber places the order for you and a part is defective, he'll replace it for you," the designer said.

For people like me who enjoy the hunt online, the savings sound worth the risk. With the money I'll save, I may even replace the defective hand sprayer.

February 25, 2005 in Productivity | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)