stroke of luck recently

I went to my local FOCUS DIY store a few months back and bought a new spade £28 and their own brand Fork anyway before the frost came down hard I decided to dig the ground over with my new spade when the blinking thing snapped of right at the V shape on the spade stock.

Anyway I took it back and told the manager that I wanted to exchange it but wanted the more expensive one I think nearly £40 and said I would just pay the difference and off I went picked up the new spade and went to pay for it.

However when I got to the till to pay the balance they cashier said it was ok the manager said I could take the exchange? Now I'm not sure if they realised that I had picked up the more expensive one If they did then it was good that they didn't charge the difference If they didn't and I don't know why because I made it clear what my plan was then thats good to because either way I now have a strong spade now.

Just thought I'd share that just remembered and made me chuckle 

Was the one that snapped stainless steel ?
 Pretty but not up to hard work!

Lucky you! Mind, I've had stuff from B&Q before today they've not charged for. Of course I would have said if I had realised before getting home......

Normally I would agree with Goosegirl, but when I got my allotment I was wary of 'loosing' my good tools.
So I bought a stainless steel fork and spade for £3 and a trowel and hand fork for 50p in Tesco's sale. They are still going strong 4 years later 

Elaine

Good for you but - re: your intial purchase - and please don't take this the wrong way - I always believe you get what you pay for, so buy the best as it should be designed well and last. If you are on a budget, it can be hard, but I got an old spade and fork from my local "antiques" centre which are lovely and used-looking, smooth with age and so stout and they cost £6 each. 

No offence taken The original one that broke I thought was expensive anyway as I am really new to gardening at 45. But I can see now that it was cheep when looking at quality. Mind you I got a better stronger one at no extra cost so Wooooooo and it works a treat

I'm the same Goosegirl, never think of anything going astray as I'm out in the wilds. Allotments are a different matter ... you have the companionship and good advice, which is lovely, but you never know who will come prowling once everyone has gone home. 

Some years ago I took my mum to Focus in our van to choose her internal doors for the bungalow my Dad was doing up, she chose what she wanted & I loaded 9 of them on to the trolley followed by 9 sets of handles & hinges etc. After a wait at the tills where 2 girls were more interested in discussing who they'd seen the night before & what they'd done with him my mum finally got charged for I door & 'furniture'. I promptly took it & loaded it into the van after kicking my mum in the shins to shut her up. Now I'm normally very honest but I felt if the shop wants to employ staff that can't tell the difference between 1 & 9 doors on a trolley,then it's there bad luck.