Advice

Should I post this.

K.

A long time ago a bunch of Zanussi guys got together because after the last big shake up we had in the UK, after the mines stopped being a career choice and factory work moved to Germany, Poland and beyond due to the change in global economics, leaving thousands out of work, that fixing washing machines would be a decent career path. These people, with nowhere else to go went into business for themselves in the late seventies and early eighties. Some of them ended up in out industry, just as many landed elsewhere it also has to be said.

It is true that, then, the issue the industry faced was a bunch of what can only be called “cowboys” and DASA was formed to try to combat the trend.

Given the means at its disposal it floundered but, importantly, it made the members feel as if there was a point to it all, they could stand up and fight the cowboys, even if they really couldn’t in large part.

Now, you have to understand here that this was a few decades ago, life was different and the Zanussi service network was, at that time, the pinnacle of service that was envied by all others. The standards by which they operated surpasses much of what we see today for many reasons but, let’s park it at, it was oh so much better. One of the rare moments when the past actually was better.

The guy running it was not particularly well liked by the agents but, he got the job done and built what was the best service “network” that has probably has ever been seen in this industry.

From that sprang DASA.

You would think, given the founders were from the best service network that you would have had the cream of the crop, the very best that the industry had to offer and, for a time, it did.

But then came the nineties.

In came cheap appliances. Loyalty to any agent evaporated quicker than a drop of water in the Sahara. Consumer loyalty evaporated even faster. Cowboys disappeared. And, a whole bunch of other stuff happened.

For DASA, critically, the Zanussi network that nurtured it was killed. Stabbed to death by corporate beancounters and, whilst it it leaving a bitter taste with some, it also did the industry no end of harm as it set the course for the next two decades.

The noughts.

DASA loses more members. Complete disinterest.

It struggles to find relevance in the new order of things as the world around it changes yet it seems to remain in a bubble.

’03 UKW bursts onto the scene although that should have been foreseen from ’00 on as DASA members were invited to take part in the, at that time, mailing list. Most didn’t bother with it.

By the time we get to 2003 some DASA members take a cursory interest in UKW.

’05, UKW starts detergent training in cooperation with Proctor & Gamble.

All falls apart as KW decides that manufacturers and WP’s having such a strong influence on DASA and what it does and says is a bad thing.

UKW walks away late 2005.

Since 2005 I have helped DASA and, because I’m partly stupid, partly sentimental, I probably still will in the future as, in my opinion, both DASA and the WTA should have an equal chance. And, stupidity drives me towards it but we all suffer our particular weaknesses.

Having helped make the WTA happen, through people bursting my chops to the Nth Degree, coercion and a bunch of other “stuff” I helped. But, I helped on my terms and, to this day, I help on my terms.

My take is that a TA, irrespective of flavour or name, should be out to serve the industry in which it exists. If it can’t do that, it’s a waste of space. Should it help non-members? Of course it should, it’d be clinically stupid to do otherwise as people will only sign up and lend their help and support if they see that the association is actually doing stuff to help the grassroots members. That would be the people that actually have the sense to put a whole £70 a year into the pot… big zow-wee, what a huge investment.

The WTA is there to represent the independent trade. End of.

I, not they, particularly care whether you agree or disagree with a trade association really. It is completely irrelevant.

What you get from it or, can screw out of it, is irrelevant.

Get your money back and more, well if you pay attention then you might just realise that some monies are at best hard to count, if not impossible to count. What you avoid having to splurge on is just as important as what you do spend on. The WTA is trying to save you money, not cost you it but through fighting the big battles on technical information, spare pricing, legislation, waste regulations among other things. Things that aren’t tangible, you can’t quite put your finger on them but the industry needs to have a voice on.

What is relevant is what the TA does for the industry as a whole, not just you.

So forget the money off your Christmas hamper or whatever, it is a complete red herring.

But do even half of you know how the WTA came about? What the £70 is actually for?

Is it for discounted fuel? Money off gigs at the O2? Champagne lunches for the management team (they wish)? Nights out on your dime? Advertising? Administration? Printing? Meetings?

The answer is, none of the above.

The WTA sprang from the old subscribers forum on UK which I set up after much pressure was heaped upon me during the NESN debacle where NESN thought it would be cool to take repairers to court for saying or doing the wrong thing. I didn’t quite agree with that and, still don’t. It wasn’t cool, it was stupid.

So the subscriber thing was born to build a war chest to defend any legal actions taken against repairers. Yes, that’s right, to defend you lot from an outside threat and for no other purpose because, individually, you didn’t have prayer.

DASA meanwhile decided not to be ,shall we say, not as pro-active for its members. Much to my personal annoyance.

So this filled the gap.

It became, evolved into, the WTA.

So yeah, it’s pro-active. Yep, it’s opinionated. Sure, it is going to back the independents at every turn, even if they’re wrong. And, yes, it is at times not what you would perhaps expect of a “respected” institution.

But, as that great man Groucho Marx said about marriage, “who wants to live in an institution?”.

I’d personally rather fight the good fight than toe the line. I’d be willing to bet I’m not the only one and, it would appear, that there’s a number of repairers bordering on 200 that seem to agree. Perhaps I’m not so stupid after all.

What about the money though, the vast fortune that the WTA enjoys, well…

A lot of what the WTA do is paid for out the pockets of those involved, most of it in fact.

Their time (the management team (MT)), free.

My time, free.

John’s time, free.

Web cost, free.

Admin stuff, free.

Postage, free.

Telecoms, free.

Accountancy, free.

Oh, are you seeing a trend here? 😉

UKW soaks up a bunch where it can, the MT soaks up a bunch and what’s left we soak up from our own personal pockets.

So, I hear you ask, why do any of us even bother? Are we mad?

Well, since you asked… 😉

We bother because we care. No really, we actually care about this little industry that borders on a cottage industry at times. It really is silly I know, but I’d rather be called a fool than be accused of not actually caring about the industry that I have to live in, work in and have pretty much always worked in.

Besides, a lot of the people in it and that I know through it are friends now and, I have to say, I’m quite chuffed about that and very comfortable with it.

But yes, we probably are completely bonkers. At least in our madness we manage, in our own small way, to help others. Even in the smallest of ways, that is rewarding.

I’ll live with all that.

Slag the WTA all you like. Poo poo it. Join it, don’t join it. Whatever. It does what it says on the tin.