"stuart noble" wrote in message
...


My latest is a £3 job from some supermarket, which looks sturdy enough
but, straight out of its shrink wrap, doesn't cut cleanly through a soft
5mm stalk.

Take it back, it's not fit for the purpose it was sold for.
It doesn't matter how cheap they were, secateurs are supposed to be able to
cut and prune much bigger and woodier stems than that.
I always advise people to take back useless stuff. If you don't the company
that sell them won't realise how cr"p it is and will continue to sell it,
leading to more dissatisfied customers who don't complain who might say to
their friends "don't buy anything from xxx, their secateurs were rubbish."
Etc.
It's in that company's best interest to keep their customers happy and if
they don't realise they are not they might find business declining.
So, by taking your useless secateurs back you are actually doing them a
favour. Remind them of that if they claim otherwise when you do ;-)

Tina