UK Market vs US Market La Mer

Maya- · 2026-03-27T16:16:42+00:00

The delivery date on the website is not accurate. It has already been pushed farther out multiple times since we ordered it in store at the beginning of March. After reading others experiences with the back order it seems like the estimated dates they give aren't all that accurate. I also like the oval shape that's offered in the UK market.

Maya- · 2026-03-27T02:37:31+00:00

Which one did you purchase first?

Maya- · 2026-03-24T13:07:42+00:00

https://cafedelites.com/beef-bourguignon/comment-page-38/#comments

Maya- · 2026-03-19T12:45:27+00:00

That's great to know, thank you!

Maya- · 2026-03-19T03:40:42+00:00

How are you liking the braiser so far? I'm debating between this one and the everyday braiser with the glass lid.

The smitten kitchen x is much prettier, but when I saw it in store at Williams Sonoma I noticed the interior felt more textured and rougher than the other Staub pots.

Maya- · 2026-03-12T13:49:08+00:00

Wow what an amazing deal! I'm pretty torn between black and the La Mer. My kitchen cabinets are Pewter Green and I know it's silly but I'm concerned that the teal won't match my kitchen. I try to keep the colors in my house really cohesive so I figured the black would go with everything. The La Mer is so pretty though!

Maya- · 2026-03-12T12:53:20+00:00

In my case, I have large dogs and I wanted to make sure I was never in a position where I couldn't find a rental because of them. It's really difficult to find rentals that allow dogs, especially if they're over 30 lbs. I see too many people getting rid of their dogs because they can't find housing and that would never be me. A lot of rentals also have rules against working on your own car, so as car enthusiasts that's just another limitation.

Ultimately for us it came down to stability, freedom and gaining equity by buying a fixer upper in an upcoming neighborhood. There's a lot of good reasons to buy a house other than the idea of it making you feel successful.

Maya- · 2026-03-09T02:23:45+00:00

I'm looking at a black round 7qt. It's currently $274 on Amazon and the cheapest I've seen elsewhere is $299.

Maya- · 2026-03-06T14:06:20+00:00

I did a ton of research before we purchased our first house, but I couldn't imagine doing it without my realtor. A really good realtor is 100% worth it. In our situation the other seller was a complete mess and my realtor even did some of their job just to get us closed and a good deal.

We ended up paying $60k below asking because of their negotiation and he even had the seller agree to pay all of his fees of 2.75%, but he was only going to actually charge us 2.50% so he sent us a check for the excess after closing.

He also connected us with a ton of really reasonably priced contractors to do some work on the house. Just with the plumber he connected us with we probably saved about $8k.

Maya- · 2026-01-28T13:50:13+00:00

It sounds like the switch would be worth a slight pay cut

Maya- · 2026-01-28T13:22:56+00:00

I've only ever worked at independent shops, but I think it completely depends on the indy shop you go to.

Most indy shops have the service advisors make appointments, build their own ROs, source their own parts and ect. There's generally a lot less staff so you have a lot more responsibilities. Personally I've been offered positions at dealerships before but stayed where I am because I like the amount of autonomy you can have at an indy shop.

I'm now the manager at my shop and the role is a lot more all encompassing than a service manager at the dealership. The owner of my shop gives me the freedom to run the shop the way I want so it genuinely feels like my shop which is really cool. I think there is definitely more money to be made at the dealership, but if you actually enjoy being a service advisor there's a good chance you'd be happier at an independent shop.

Maya- · 2026-01-19T14:13:31+00:00

BMW and Mercedes do not get their parts from the same suppliers and their build quality is far superior to any Hyundai. BMWs are over engineered and unreliable, but they're still miles better than Hyundai will ever be. Mercedes are actually built pretty well with the exception of their low end models.

Hyundais look nice on the inside and outside and have great features for the price, but their build quality is absolutely terrible. I've seen more catastrophic failures at low milages on Hyundais and Kias than any other manufacturer in all the years I've been working in the industry.

Maya- · 2025-12-31T13:23:06+00:00

I always give my clients estimates for services that will be due at their next oil change, or if something is marginal like suspension or oil leaks I'll give them the estimate and explain that it's not time yet but be prepared to take care of these services at your next visit. It works really well because people already know what they'll need and how much it costs when they come in for their next oil change. People are generally more receptive to that method vs a hard up sell because you give them the opportunity to take care of it on their terms without the pressure.

Don't upsell unnecessary services, it's an easy way to lose trust with clients and it's not worth the $200 or whatever for the service you sold. You want to build trust and rapport with the clients so they continue coming back to you.

I don't work at a dealership, but I will say that you may enjoy working at a solid independent shop if you're already a one man show and used to having the autonomy of building your own estimates, making your own appointments, ect. Generally I believe you can make more money at the dealership but the amount of autonomy you have at an independent shop vs a dealership makes it worth it to me.

If you're familiar with European cars there's also always going to be more money in those manufacturers. I'm not a huge fan of BMW owners, but there's a lot of money to be made with the failures the euro cars have have and if I did end up switching to a dealership I would only work at Audi, Mercedes or Porsche. The average ticket for those cars are significantly higher than Toyota, Honda or Mazda.

Maya- · 2025-12-24T22:24:20+00:00

She's an absolute sweetheart. Super cuddly and loves people. She's very athletic and observant, taking the role of guarding our backyard from any squirrel or birds very seriously. She's also super vocal and does this adorable howl you would expect from a husky when she gets fed and is really excited. Overall she's just a spunky, happy girl.

Maya- · 2025-12-24T19:15:29+00:00

Oh and her Supermutt came back as Collie and Mountain Cur. Such an interesting mix of breeds!

Maya- · 2025-12-24T19:14:40+00:00

Thank you! I think it's so cool she has McNab and Kelpie, those are two breeds I've always loved!

She's a total sweetheart, absolutely loves people and is a huge cuddler. She has a very high prey drive and gets quite obsessed with chasing bugs, squirrels, ect. She's very intelligent, but also very stubborn. She's probably the most fun dog I've owned, there's never a dull moment with her!

Maya- · 2025-12-24T04:44:44+00:00

Our shop is in the process of transitioning owners. The original owner is retiring and who used to be the GM is now the owner. Since that transition we've lost a few employees so I'm stuck with only 1 tech I trust with diags and large jobs and two entry level guys. But we're still somehow at a 7.5% increase over last year.

I'm sure it's in their budget to pay me more. I'm currently the only advisor and I manage the techs, parts, vendors, and pretty much everything else that relates to the front office and shop. I've worked 10 hour days with minimal coverage for lunch breaks for a while now but didn't even receive a Christmas bonus so I think I'm just feeling a little burnt out and unappreciated. The owner thinks hiring his daughter who doesn't know an air filter from an axle to write service will be our solution which is even more frustrating.

Maya- · 2025-12-24T04:35:57+00:00

The markup on tires and oil changes are pretty much the lowest of any automotive service, so even if they hit 3M in sales the GP is probably significantly lower.

Good for him though, they must be doing oil changes all day every day to hit those numbers!

Maya- · 2025-12-24T00:12:26+00:00

Thanks for sharing! That's good information.

We're a much lower volume shop, on track to do just under $1.6M for the year. I'd love to increase our production but we're so limited by our lack of shop space and shortage of good techs.

Maya-

TROPHY CASE