Ebay Shower Heads - OK or stay away?

One way to find out....

That particular seller has been on ebay for nearly 3 years with no negative or neutral feedback so that's promising. Not a huge volume of sales/feedback though.
 
The cost is in the brass. This showerhead is made of plastic (ABS).

I don't know whether you care, but it's not comparable to a solid brass showerhead. (Which you can still buy on eBay for a fraction of the price that Reece etc. charge.)

It has the Watermark and meets Australian Standards, according to the ad, and the fact that it's an Australian seller means you're covered by Australian Consumer Law.

Seems pretty low risk, if you're happy with ABS.
 
Perp said:
It has the Watermark and meets Australian Standards, according to the ad, and the fact that it's an Australian seller means you're covered by Australian Consumer Law.

Seems pretty low risk, if you're happy with ABS.
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It's a Chinese seller. If you go into their other items, they all say from China. There are a few Chinese sellers at the moment falsely stating they are from Australia.
 
skater said:
It's a Chinese seller. If you go into their other items, they all say from China. There are a few Chinese sellers at the moment falsely stating they are from Australia.
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Thanks for that, good pick-up! How do they get away with *that*? :confused:
 
Perp said:
Thanks for that, good pick-up! How do they get away with *that*? :confused:
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I don't know. Ebay seem to allow the big businesses & Chinese sellers to break all the rules. You look at the feedback of, say, Dick Smith. If a smaller seller had that percentage of negative feedback, they'd be booted off.
 
Stay away !

Ring Ostar in Melbourne direct. They supply all of the Meriton apartments.

Below are there details:

Ostar Bathroom Supplies Pty Ltd
24 Crompton Way
Dandenong South VIC 3175
Phone: (03) 9706 7000
Fax: (03) 9706 7111
Enquiries: [email protected]

http://www.ostar.com.au/shower

If my memory serves me right, Ostar was a third of the price of the high quality such a Dorf but the same quality and warranty. I have used their products to renovate a few bathrooms in Sydney.

It is worth giving them a call regarding their pricing.

Andrew
 
WELS just released a notice about shower heads from China, see waterrating.gov.au. Multiple instances of flow controllers not fitted.
 
I bought my bathroom stuff from eBay. The seller was renovation d, they are about 15-20 mins from my house. They are in Bankstown sydney. I haven't had a problem with any of the products and they were fairly cheap. I had a similar setup to the pic shown except mine is square and has a 300mm head
 
The previous owners did a lot of shower heads, ect from ebay on a major renovation they did approximately 1 year before I bought the property.

Now 3 years later it has been a never ending series of leaking taps & incompatable shower fittings. The plumbers have recently just told me to fix the issue I'll have to take off the tiles, water proofing and re-run some of the copper, which of course will be major $$.

So from my experiance - I'd make sure whatever your buying is the same as the stock you'd be buying in Australia.
 
Waldo said:
The plumbers have recently just told me to fix the issue I'll have to take off the tiles, water proofing and re-run some of the copper, which of course will be major $$.
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I find it hard to see how that could possibly relate to the fittings... :confused:
 
Perp said:
I find it hard to see how that could possibly relate to the fittings... :confused:
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Because the fittings rusted out in short order & because they are not Australian standard fittings, the plumber has been unable to source anything that will attach straight on - hence the need to expose the underlying pipework. I've been told my other option is to just weld in external new pipes in the shower, however this doesn't strike me as particularly appealing.
 
Waldo said:
because they are not Australian standard fittings
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Ah, there's a big distinction. Everybody here is talking about fittings that meet Australian Standards and are Watermarked.

If your previous plumber installed fittings lacking these, you may find you have a claim against him, as I believe it's illegal for him to install them.

Even if you purchased and supplied the fittings, my understanding is the plumber should have refused to install them, and if he took the risk of installing them, is responsible for such consequences.
 
Waldo said:
Because the fittings rusted out in short order & because they are not Australian standard fittings, the plumber has been unable to source anything that will attach straight on - hence the need to expose the underlying pipework. I've been told my other option is to just weld in external new pipes in the shower, however this doesn't strike me as particularly appealing.
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Can you access the piping from the other side of the wall? Unless solid brick, the walls of the room or hallway on the other side may be far easier to repair or replace and you may avoid having to touch the waterproofing or tiles to get to the pipes.
Marg
 
Check out Costco, not sure if they've got them in Melbourne but some $100ish Hansgrohe stuff have appeared at stores in Sydney.
 
I'd give it a miss personally. There is just too much cheap junk on eBay.

Even if it's for an IP you want something that lasts. Any potential $40 you save on a part will be offset with a $150 plumber call out.
 
I'd give it a miss personally. There is just too much cheap junk on eBay.

Even if it's for an IP you want something that lasts. Any potential $40 you save on a part will be offset with a $150 plumber call out.
 
Perp said:
"This announcement brought to you by Reece"

;)
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Haha I work in IT, no vested interests in parts.

Just speaking from personal experience. I installed brand new cheapie Bunnings tap set in a property and noticed they daggy old one it already had was far better quality and smoother operation. I still have the tap set, waste of money. You would think Bunnings would be selling the better of the Chinese no-brand stuff.

I'm sure there are good cheap options out there if you had lots of time to trial and error them all... the shortcut to this is paying more for a brand.
 
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