Axiom-branded accessories etc.

[JohnW2]

Hi folks,
A friend of mine has offered me some packaged, boxed and unused "Axiom"-branded accessories (mainly sockets and switches) which I could probably have for 'negligible' cost. They look and feel fine, but it's not a brand I'm familiar with, so I wonder if anyone who has experience of them has anything to say about them?

Thanks for any insights!

 

[sparkwright]

Seem to remember buying an Axiom 2 way board for a shower, then taking it back in disgust for a Wylex one - but can't remember why...

 

[flameport]

Cheap items previously sold by the likes of Toolstation.

They meet the required standards but make no efforts to exceed them.

 

[JohnW2]

Cheap items previously sold by the likes of Toolstation.

They are actually still sold by Toolstation.

They meet the required standards but make no efforts to exceed them.

That's understandable, given the prices, but I wonder what that actually means in practice? In all the decades of my experience of electrical accessories (include many cheap and possibly nasty ones) I have come cross very very few cases of 'socket failures', other than due to mechanical damage or thermal damage which appears to have originated in a plug.

CED Electrical (of whom Axiom is one of their brands), based in Essex, seem to have been around for a long time, and offer a very wide range of products, including CU and all the new-fangled things that can be put in them.

 

[securespark]

Don't know if it's the same company, but in the 90s and 00s when I was self employed, I used to buy gear from a place selling CED Electrical on the High Street in Croydon.
Mrs S had family down there, so every so often I'd just load up the boot of the Monty estate with gear. Used to get extremely decent discounts too.

 

[JohnW2]

Don't know if it's the same company, but in the 90s and 00s when I was self employed, I used to buy gear from a place selling CED Electrical on the High Street in Croydon. .... Mrs S had family down there, so every so often I'd just load up the boot of the Monty estate with gear. Used to get extremely decent discounts too.

Interesting. The CED Electrical who have Axiom of one of their brands claims to have been in business for "over 30 years", so it's possibly the same company. Their current brands are apparently Aimaster, Axiom, Meridian & Profix. I haven't got personal experience of any of them, and Axiom is the only one which I had previously even heard of.

What did you think of the stuff you used to get in Croydon?

 

[Scally-Ho]

I've never experienced any problems with Axiom brand From CED and since they have become entangled with Travis Perkins now the owner of Toolstation, I can nip out just a mile from my front door and pick up all I need from TS on the trading estate A swift check online and a reserve click (card payment) will have my order ready and awaiting my arrival. If I can wait for next day delivery, an order of £25 (delivery free) or more saves me even going out.

 

[securespark]

Interesting. The CED Electrical who have Axiom of one of their brands claims to have been in business for "over 30 years", so it's possibly the same company. Their current brands are apparently Aimaster, Axiom, Meridian & Profix. I haven't got personal experience of any of them, and Axiom is the only one which I had previously even heard of.

What did you think of the stuff you used to get in Croydon?

Middle of the road. Decent enough quality but I used to get a great discount.

 

[JohnW2]

I've never experienced any problems with Axiom brand From CED ...

Thanks. That's good to know.

and since they have become entangled with Travis Perkins now the owner of Toolstation, I can nip out just a mile from my front door and pick up all I need from TS on the trading estate A swift check online and a reserve click (card payment) will have my order ready and awaiting my arrival.

All good.

If I can wait for next day delivery, an order of £25 (delivery free) or more saves me even going out.

Toolstation's delivery has always been impressive, I would suspect 'silly' from their point-of-view. Once can order up to 9pm and get next-day delivery and, until recently, that next-day delivery was free for orders of just £25. They have recently increased that minimum order (for free next-day delivery) to £40, but it's still a very impressive service, and only very rarely goes wrong.

 

[JohnW2]

Middle of the road. Decent enough quality but I used to get a great discount.

Thanks. That's good to know. I'm being offered the stuff for ridiculously low prices ('bankrupt stock'), so it sounds as if it's probably worth a punt

 

[securespark]

I would go for it, but it's probably not the same stuff that I was buying 20-30 years ago though!

 

[JohnW2]

I would go for it, but it's probably not the same stuff that I was buying 20-30 years ago though!

Probably not, but it's really 'an offer I can't refuse'.

My friend is an 'Insolvency Practitioner' and part of that job is to 'realise the assets' of a company which has gone into Liquidation. Larger assets are sold at auction but it seems that for the small stuff, he merely has to demonstrate that he has "got something" by selling them - so that's what he does. From what has said, I think he'll only be looking for something like 20p for, say, a double socket.

 

[ebee]

Sorry, never tried them so I have no opinion, often stuff found at screwfix and tool station are not the best so I would treat with caution as a first response, however I do know they do also sell some good stuff so that doesn`t necessarily put me off but give my first instinct a question mark as a starter for ten.
I started ordering from Screwfix many years ago when they were only via post and only selling screws etc, no problems.
Then they started selling in their own outlets and more stuff too, not all of that was good though, but some was ok.
Tool station came around later and was OK but I prefer screwfix.
Stuff that I already know i am happy with but of the two I often use Tool Station if possible because 1) I live nearer to local one and 2) my Wife`s work is nearby so when I drop her off its only two mins to go there.
Things like a "Workmate" thing I have bought a few of the cheapo ones from those two over the years -for my small use they are handy and light so do the job, however if I was in a trade such as a joiner etc then it would have been so but I think both of these companies might sell some of the better ones now - its a horses courses.
I know of some that will not buy from Screwfix just because it is Screwfix and I think that is a bit silly and probably similar things happen with Tool Station.
So John, for your own use I would approach a suck it and see, when I was trading I would only use things I had tried and tested over the years and then secondly usually who had the best price or delivery if it was important or who had the best service.

But from that brand you mention, sorry I can`t be much help.

Volex is one brand I would never buy, if they exist nowadays, their ceiling rose, for yonks, was a strip connector with a cheap base and cover, they were popular in some parts but not to me Ugh!

 

[JohnW2]

Sorry, never tried them so I have no opinion

Fair enough.

So John, for your own use I would approach a suck it and see,

Indeed. In fact, I would suspect that even most 'poor quality' accessories, if that's what they were, would be quite likely to oulive me - or, at least, outlive the period during which I would particularly 'care'!

when I was trading I would only use things I had tried and tested over the years ....

.... but, as we know, even "tried and tested over the years" cannot necessarily be relied upon. There was a time when few people would have argued with the suggestion that the 'best' (or, at least, 'one of the best') and 'best quality' (and probably most expensive!) accessories etc. were MK ones ... but look what's happened there!

There was a time, many moons ago, when I subscribed to the view that 'more expensive' meant better, and so nearly always bought expensive items (of whatever nature) of major 'reputable' brands. However, the folly of that thinking, in most walks of life, has become increasingly apparent over time, such that 'very expensive' often means little more than 'very high profit margin'! Indeed, in terms of many types of product, I have completely U-turned and tend to buy 'the cheapest I can find'. Such products very often turn out to be fine but, even if they don't last long, if I could buy 5 cheap replacements for the cost of one expensive one, I still reckon I'm on a winner

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

Volex is one brand I would never buy, if they exist nowadays, their ceiling rose, for yonks, was a strip connector with a cheap base and cover, they were popular in some parts but not to me Ugh!

Remember them well.

Very commonly found in houses in Manchester and Stockport.

Volex are now part of Electrium, but started in the 1890s as Ward and Goldstone.

In 1939, they were admitted to the LSE as Volex plc, and Electrium was formed in 2004.