Why we all love eBay

You know shops just pee me off. No really, it's true. It's hardly any surprise that we all shop on the internet, and in particular that lovely auction site that I am very fond of.

I need a few bits for the house. Nothing special, just ordinary everyday bits. Firstly tap washers, everyone probably wants them at the moment, we're all on for a hosepipe ban, and dripping taps don't help the cause. Mine is also a hot dripping tap, so not only wasting water, but gas as well! The other thing I wanted was some suction hooks for the bathroom. Again, nothing terribly exciting, and I would have thought quite common, hang things up on the tiles without drilling holes in them. So, off to town I went.

Now before you all think I'm mad as I should have gone to an out of town DIY place - you're right, and sometime later I did, but first I went to town, because I was going anyway, and "town" has Woolworths, and Robert Dyas and other useful stores, or so I thought. I should also point out that I had checked my favourite online auction site for these items, and because of the post and packing costs had thought they would be too expensive (!) Woolworths had neither, fair enough I thought, maybe not really that kind of shop (although I had expected to find the hooks). Dyas had both items. A single suction hook for £1.89, and two tap washers for £1.49. - The tap washers were in packets according to size and as I need one for sink taps and bath taps I would have needed two. OK it's not a lot of money, and I am being particularly pedantic. But the previously checked items on eBay had come out at £3.99 for 8 suction hooks (strong snap-suck type ones where you pivot the hook to activate the suction) , or similar price for 24 lick it and stick it types, and 8.99 for 140 washers (OK I would never never use 140, and the price was off-putting), but if someone can sell 24 suction hooks for 3.99 including p&p, then how can 1/2 of that cost for one hook be sensible? and how sensible is a single hook anyway?

Now again before you all jump up and down, I understand about rent and rates and wages (I've worked in business accounts for long enough to understand very well), and I would have no trouble with the extra cost for some personal service/help/advice/anything other than a look of total disdain when I enter a shop, and this is true of so many shops now, employees who really couldn't give a "castelmaine 4 x" about their job, no service, no help, nothing!! This is such a pet problem of mine, I don't want to be followed around a store by someone permanently asking if I need anything. But if I want help I do expect to be able to get it, not have to run around trying to catch someone's eye as they're talking to their mates about who got off with who last night in the pub.

For the record I did go to the huge B&Q at the other end of my road. Tap washer bought for 98p - the last packet in the place!! and no suction hooks there or in homebase. Thank God for the internet!!