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Buying garden equipment (or anything mechanical)online ... lighthearted, please!

(10 Posts)
giulia Thu 16-Jun-22 10:54:13

Grrr!

We'd ordered a 16 litre pump with the idea of spraying our very long bay hedge which has a fungal infection.

It arrived BUT! We have to assemble it ourselves! There's a whole bagful of screw-on bits: washers and screws, quite apart from the large bits. Not one photo of the actual object. Very brief assembly instructions and pages of WARNINGS.

After hours of trying to assemble the b... thing (all enthusiasm has died), we read in the Warnings section that the product is not to be handled by those with "mental impairment"! My husband and I stared at each other and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

We can go online to the producers but need to speak German. Nien!

While this is a lighthearted thread, I am rather indignant. You buy a useful product, thinking it will arrive in a functional state and discover you need a degree in mechanical engineeering (it's very like Lego!) before you can use it. I'm sharp as a razor in many aspects but - mechanical assembly NO. Reminds me of all that IKEA furniture.

Anybody had any similar experiences?

Georgesgran Thu 16-Jun-22 10:58:21

My late DH, bless him, was hopeless with anything that had to be assembled. He never even read the instructions and claimed they were only mere suggestions made by the manufacturer!

giulia Thu 16-Jun-22 12:09:40

Georgesgran

My late DH, bless him, was hopeless with anything that had to be assembled. He never even read the instructions and claimed they were only mere suggestions made by the manufacturer!

My husband's attitude, in general!

Katie59 Thu 16-Jun-22 12:15:27

If it was a commercial application you would have to do a 2 day training course to use a hand sprayer and attend a refresher course periodically.

So mental impairment, not being able to understand instructions seems inadequate.

giulia Thu 16-Jun-22 12:20:19

I think the "mental impairment" warning was aimed at those with a properly put-together spray aiming poisonous pesticides at anyone in sight - not inability to interpret instructions. (That was meant to be funny). If only we could get that far is my nightmare.

merlotgran Thu 16-Jun-22 12:45:47

Whenever I’m stumped by instructions I go on YouTube. All you have to do is put the name and model of the product in the search box and with a bit of luck you will get an instruction video from someone who has already put it together and is happy to share the experience with others- usually along with lots of boring long winded descriptions you don’t need but have to listen to anyway.

If it gets the job done though …?

MiniMoon Thu 16-Jun-22 14:49:40

I was just about to suggest looking g on YouTube for an assembly video
merlot.
It's my first port of call for "how to" videos.

RichmondPark Thu 16-Jun-22 15:04:08

I find it so frustrating when the manual includes dozens of different sets of instructions for different models but there's no way of knowing what your model is.

If it wasn't for Utube my garden hose reel would still be in 35 pieces in the box.

giulia Thu 16-Jun-22 16:04:56

Thanks for this YouTube tip. Will follow it up.

Kim19 Thu 16-Jun-22 16:50:36

Another thanks from me for youtube tip. Last year it took me two days to assemble a small double bed. You couldn't make up the complicated instructions. Mind you, the eventual relief and satisfaction was a joy. Still in one piece and used regularly.