EASY ANSWER! When you buy Hardiflex or Permaflex ceiling boards from Rejoice Hardware and the sale is not explained Fully to you. We ordered 1/4 inch boards (as per Engineers preference) paid for and arranged delivery, on arrival and checking size and damage, we discovered that in the Philippines, board thickness is a sub standard size. Boll***** was my phrase BUT on checking with other builders and Engineers, this is the case. So my question to rejoice was WHY, does it say 1/4 inch on the receipt. Well they said, It should have said 4.05 mm.(this is fractionally larger than 3/16 inch. I had rejected the delivery based on this fact, YEP you got it, I had to pay again for the delivery, even though, they admitted in part, that the confususion, was to a large degree, THEIR fault. Ever tried to get your money back from a supplier ?:( One thing for sure, this is the first and Definatley, the last house I will build. my nerves are in ruins. JP
You can count on that happening across the board with many lumber and steel products, it is mostly all substandard. In the case of steel, you literally have to go to all the suppliers with a caliper and measure (or weigh) everything, what one will sell you as 10mm will actually measure closer to 8 mm, while another's nine mm will be the same size or even larger but 20% cheaper. You can easily spend all day just finding the best price/value on one product. Enjoy! Larry
Thank you Larry, being kept out of a lot of the Purchasing ( due to my long nose) I tended not to worry too much. The actual construction has gone well. However now we are at the fine finish stage, I am a little more critical than maybe I should be. Just when I consider, the material cost, I feel I don't want it marred, with To much substandard finish At this stage, I have said now, that I would rather spend that little bit extra, to get what we want. rightly or wrongly JP
The Philippines shifted to metric system a while ago but the only time that you get more than what you ask for is with liquids. If you ask for a gallon, you actualy get 4 liters. (shift to metric system in the Philippines,who said some people react a little faster than others?) ~1858 Spain adopts metric system and introduces the metric system to the Philippines. ~1865 Philippine monetary system shifts to decimal. ~1905 Philippines lightly shifts to English system introduced by USA. 8/29/1916 Philippines adopts metric system after Philippine Autonomy Act signed. 1916-1975 Various measurement systems employed with metric system being prominent. 1/1/1975 Date set for sole metric system use via Presidential Decree No. 187. 7/16/1975 Presidential Decree No. 748 amends PD No. 187 to extend metrication efforts. 1/1/1983 Philippines officially adopts the metric system via Batas Pambansa Bilang 8. 4/13/1992 Philippine use of metric system reinforced via Republic Act 7394. (From wiki.answers.com)
Happened to us a couple of years ago when we ordered a railing for our balcony. We had one done in 10mm steal we really liked. On the next bungalow we wanted the same, so I took some pictures, went to a black smith and ordered the same style, in 10mm steel. When we picked it up it didn't felt as sturdy, so I said I don't think it's 10mm. They ensured me it was. I then measured it to 9mm and confronted them, and got the reply, "Sir, 10mm isn't thicker now as price of steel has gone up" O-|
The Ombudsman upstairs at DTI office can often help you get refunds. Generally speaking. I double checked with him on the ability to get a cash refund at Robs dept store, he verified that's one of the three options, and when the store hesitated I told them I'd already talked to DTI and knew my rights. I got my cash back.
Thanks "Amadeus" for this very useful information and also lumber is very often sold below the size you pay for...
Why can't one just say I want such and such and it must be as described? Oh, I remember, it's more fun in the Philippines!
