My experience with Sydney Tools

This post is simply to document what happened during my recent purchase.

Part 1 – My original Click & Collect order

This was my first time purchasing from Sydney Tools.

On the early morning of 25 June, I saw a Sydney Tools promotion and immediately placed an online Click & Collect order for over $1,000 worth of Makita tools.

Shortly afterwards, I found a Hikoki kit priced at around the same amount. Since both kits suited my needs, I realised I actually preferred the Hikoki kit instead.

I looked through my online order but could not find any option to cancel or request a refund, so later that morning I contacted Sydney Tools' online customer service and specifically asked whether my uncollected order could be refunded.

The online customer service did not answer yes or no. I was simply told to contact the store directly.

That afternoon, I visited the store. While I was there, I purchased the Hikoki kit for over $1,000.

After completing the purchase, I followed the online customer's advice and asked the store staff how to refund my original uncollected Makita order.

Again, I was not told that the original order was non-refundable. Instead, I was told to contact head office.

By then, head office had already closed for the day.

The following morning (26 June), I contacted head office. She asked me contact the store, after hanging up, I felt something wasn't right. I couldn't understand why I was being sent back and forth between the store and head office without anyone giving me a clear answer.

I called again and asked the question repeatedly. Only then was I finally told that Sydney Tools does not offer refunds for Change of Mind purchases.

By that point, I had already spent more than $2,000 across both transactions.

If I had been clearly told by either the online customer service or the store that my original order could not be refunded, I would not have purchased the Hikoki kit before making that decision.

Part 2 – Refund during my second purchase

While purchasing the Hikoki kit, I noticed that one drill bit I expected to cost $69 had instead been charged at $197, so I requested to exchange it.

The staff processed the exchange and informed me that my reward points would decrease from $200 worth of points to $100 worth of points, even though the final value of my purchase still met the promotion threshold for the higher reward points.

I accepted this.

The refund was then processed back to my bank card.

When I inserted my card, I entered the wrong PIN three times.

After that, I was told that because the PIN had been entered incorrectly three times, the refund had automatically been converted into Sydney Tools store credit.

I did not request store credit.

One thing I still don't understand is why I was able to complete my original purchase without entering a PIN, yet a refund required PIN verification, and after three incorrect attempts the refund automatically became store credit instead of remaining pending or being returned through another method.

After this experience, I noticed several things:

I could not find the refund policy during the online ordering process.

When I specifically asked whether my uncollected order could be refunded, neither the online customer service nor the store gave me a clear answer before I made another purchase.

I only learnt that the original order was non-refundable after both transactions had already taken place.

The reward points for online purchases and in-store purchases are managed separately and do not appear to be synchronised. As of today, I still have not received the reward points from my original online order, even though the order remains active and has never been collected.

Any action you take may convert your money into in-store points (not valid online).

After everything that happened, I have decided that I will never shop at Sydney Tools again.

The financial loss itself is something I can recover from. What I find much harder to accept is the amount of time, effort and unnecessary stress I went through, all in an attempt to save a relatively small amount of money. Looking back, it simply was not worth it.

In the end, I spent over $2,000, ended up with products I had never originally intended to buy, lost part of the reward points I expected to receive, and still could not obtain a refund for my original uncollected order.

For me, no discount is worth putting yourself through this kind of experience. I would rather pay a little more somewhere else than spend days dealing with uncertainty, multiple departments, conflicting processes and unexpected outcomes.

Everyone is free to make their own decision, but based on my experience I would strongly encourage anyone considering buying from Sydney Tools to carefully read every part of their Terms & Conditions before placing an order. Many important policies are not obvious during the purchasing process, and if you don't actively look for them, you may end up with a very different outcome from what you expected.

This post is simply a factual account of my personal experience. Others may have had different experiences, but this is exactly what happened in my case.

My experience with Sydney Tools.

This post is simply to document what happened during my recent purchase.

Part 1 – My original Click & Collect order

This was my first time purchasing from Sydney Tools.

On the early morning of 25 June, I saw a Sydney Tools promotion and immediately placed an online Click & Collect order for over $1,000 worth of Makita tools.

Shortly afterwards, I found a Hikoki kit priced at around the same amount. Since both kits suited my needs, I realised I actually preferred the Hikoki kit instead.

I looked through my online order but could not find any option to cancel or request a refund, so later that morning I contacted Sydney Tools' online customer service and specifically asked whether my uncollected order could be refunded.

The online customer service did not answer yes or no. I was simply told to contact the store directly.

That afternoon, I visited the store. While I was there, I purchased the Hikoki kit for over $1,000.

After completing the purchase, I followed the online customer's advice and asked the store staff how to refund my original uncollected Makita order.

Again, I was not told that the original order was non-refundable. Instead, I was told to contact head office.

By then, head office had already closed for the day.

The following morning (26 June), I contacted head office. I was told to contact the store instead. After hanging up, I felt something wasn't right. I couldn't understand why I was being sent back and forth between the store and head office without anyone giving me a clear answer.

I called again and repeatedly asked the same question. Only then was I finally told that Sydney Tools does not offer refunds for Change of Mind purchases.

By that point, I had already spent more than $2,000 across both transactions.

If I had been clearly told by either the online customer service or the store that my original order could not be refunded, I would never have purchased the Hikoki kit before making that decision.

Part 2 – Refund during my second purchase

While purchasing the Hikoki kit, I noticed that one drill bit I expected to cost $69 had instead been charged at $197, so I requested to exchange it.

The staff processed the exchange and informed me that my reward points would decrease from $200 worth of points to $100 worth of points, even though the final value of my purchase still met the promotion threshold for the higher reward points.

I accepted this.

What I Noticed

After this experience, I noticed several things.

• During the online ordering process, there was no obvious indication that Click & Collect orders were not refundable for Change of Mind. The only place I later found this information was buried in the Terms & Conditions, which customers would have to actively open and read themselves.
• When I specifically asked whether my uncollected order could be refunded, neither the online customer service nor the store gave me a direct answer. Instead, I was repeatedly referred between the online team, the store and head office. I was only informed that the order was non-refundable after I had already completed my second purchase.
• Throughout the process, obtaining a clear answer about the refund policy was unnecessarily difficult. Rather than receiving a simple "yes" or "no", I was repeatedly redirected between different departments, which meant I only learnt the actual policy after spending more than $2,000.
• Reward points earned from online purchases and in-store purchases are managed separately and do not appear to be synchronised.
• Even though my original online Makita order has never been collected and remains active, I still have not received the reward points associated with that purchase as of today.

After everything that happened, I have decided that I will never shop at Sydney Tools again.

The financial loss itself is something I can recover from. What I find much harder to accept is the amount of time, effort and unnecessary stress I went through, all in an attempt to save a relatively small amount of money. Looking back, it simply was not worth it.

In the end, I spent over $2,000, ended up with products I had never originally intended to buy, lost part of the reward points I expected to receive, and still could not obtain a refund for my original uncollected order.

For me, no discount is worth putting yourself through this kind of experience. I would rather pay a little more somewhere else than spend days dealing with uncertainty, multiple departments, conflicting processes and unexpected outcomes.

What I Learned

After spending over $2,000 and going through this experience, here are the lessons I learnt.

• If you're buying from a retailer you haven't used before, spend a few minutes reading their reviews and refund policy first. I had previously shopped at stores like Bunnings and Total Tools, where I never had to think twice about after-sales service. I wrongly assumed every retailer would operate in a similar way.
• If you're buying from Sydney Tools—or any retailer you're unfamiliar with—take a defensive approach. If there's any chance you may want to change your order, make sure your previous order has actually been cancelled and refunded before purchasing something else. Don't assume you'll be able to sort it out afterwards.
• Don't let a discounted price push you into making an impulse purchase. Even if the product itself is identical, the buying experience and after-sales service can be completely different. Sometimes paying a little more elsewhere is worth avoiding days of frustration and uncertainty.

In the end, Sydney Tools won.

I paid around $1,000 for a lesson I won't forget.

From now on, I'd rather pay a little extra to buy from a retailer I trust than save a few dollars and risk going through this again.

This post is simply a factual account of my personal experience. Others may have had different experiences, but this is exactly what happened in my case.