What guarantee can you get from your supplier?

If, as increasingly looks likely, the powers that be start to impose codes of practice on this industry, where will the issue of spares and the length of guarantee end up.

As you are no doubt aware chinese patterns are now getting into our market, the quality of existing supplier spares has been falling over the last few years, Dasa has now a very vague message on what guarantee it’s members are to consider, it’s all a nightmare, with no guidance as to what to do from anywhere.

The point is, if as an industry we are to guarantee a part for 12 months should we as a trade buyer not expect a 12 month guarantee from our trade supplier? Ok, how many of you choked on your cup of tea reading that 😆

Seriously, it is a problem waiting in the wings. If government backed overlords impose a long period how are we as an industry to combat that.
For example, will you really want to guarantee a Servis module costing over £100.00 for 12 months, when your supplier won’t entertain you?

Of course we need proper trade prices to enable profit margins to allow us to absorb the guarantee effect. But how can that be acheived when some companies have multiple trade prices with little reasoning behind who’s on what price.
I have conducted a little study of “pattern” pumps, to find a friend who deals with the same supplier as me is on far lower trade prices than I but spends a fraction of what I do. With as much as 300{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} difference in the prices he’s far more able to soak the 12 month guarantee period than me.

So what’s the answer? What is your opinion of a reasonable guarantee period? What do you currently get from your trade supplier now?

Kevin