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Re: Bosch do FREE callouts!
andy_art_trigg wrote: – so they of course need the cover more than ever.
I think you’re getting a bit carried away by all this Andy TBH. In this instance neither is it a con or rip off, just a D&G funded contract that, in this case, can be immediately cancelled should the appliance be BER. At least for some they end up getting FREE diagnosis and for others who’s machine can be fixed can relax in the knowledge that their machine has a valid full 12 months service contract. Come renewal time they can then they have a free choice to either renew or not to renew.
What’s good about this ‘plan’ unlike (for example Repaircare’s pay up front contract) is that ultimately it costs the punter nowt to know whether or not their machine can be fixed. Whereas with the former only a percentage of their original investment is returned. Or, to put it another way, they grab the call-out fee and run!
Manufacturers can always out price and independent network in this regard. Indies want paying to call on a customer hence why Repaircare have at least to be able to claw back that cost from the outset. You have to sit back and realise the potential this gives manufacturers and conclude, as I have, that more and more manufacturers will latch on to this idea. All the while their customers have a free choice and are not in any way handcuffed to any long term contract.
In the ensuing years you may well see ‘Lifetime Guarantee’ contracts being offered by all mainstream manufacturers. Especially so with the future influx of Chinese based products flooding the market. I predict that in the not too distant future manufacturers will have a field workforce of ‘engineers’ who will simply uplift the faulty machine without attempting repairs and replace it with their latest model. The ‘old’ machine taken off to their eco-friendly re-cycling plant. The happy recipient signing another 1 year/2 yr/3 year contract (or whatever). 😯
“I have a dream!” – Martin Luther King 😈
In the meanwhile – your typical indie ‘one man band’ can take advantage of all this confusion, as I have of late, and grab the potential work out there from punters undecided as to which way to go. I hasten to add that it is essential that indies like me have a high profile spot on the Interweb otherwise you miss out totally on all this potential. Today’s new customer business comes almost overwhelmingly from the Internet, where they ‘surf’ the web for solutions to their whitegoods problems. Where they can weigh up either going with a service contract, and the large sums of money paid up front required, or get a local man in much cheaper to sort it. The potential is right there for all to grab some of the action.
You just have to (as my old mate kwatt always says)…GO FIGURE! 8)
Re: Bosch do FREE callouts!
andy_art_trigg wrote:
Even assuming it never went up, £168 per year is £1,680 over 10 years. If you are 20 and in your first house and you buy into this fear-purchase and live until 70 – needing a washing machine all that time – then over the next 50 years – not taking into account the definite price increases over that time – you will have spent £8,400 just in order to have a working washing machine.
Andy , the £168 odd is for the first year only , After that it reverts to whatever the usual year long cover costs…..approx £80/£90 as far as i remember . Not being picky , just pointing out the difference.Re: Bosch do FREE callouts!
Thanks nomadPaul. So the initial fee is higher to cover the actual repair? That affects my figures though not my attitude 🙂 I’ll amend them soon.
Andy
Re: Bosch do FREE callouts!
andy_art_trigg wrote:Personally I despise all these fear products (have you seen the new “protect my bubble” insurance (aptly named) offering to “protect” all your stuff and reminding you how at any minute something nasty could happen
A ‘survey’ carried out by the OFT back in 1998 concluded that as much as 68{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} buy extended warranties at point of sale or within 30 days of purchase. I however I would think a more realistic figure these days would be a fraction of that. Less than 15{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} would be my guess. Furthermore it doesn’nt take a brain surgeon to realise the fact that those who would suggest otherwise have a vested interest in the insurance business. And I would further suggest the OFT’s figures have been influenced to a greater extent from within that business.
For anyone to say otherwise I would be similarly unconvinced. And indies have little to fear at this point in time that these ‘contracts’ will have any effect on the mass of chargeable work there is out there either. If you stick to the mid-range and high end you can’t go wrong, There always will be a demand for these to be fixed but deal in all makes of low end crap like Beko, Indesit and Candy then be content just with the scraggy end of the trade. The only thing good about that end of the product line is that the victims that buy them never entertain insurance contracts any way. So in effect whatever end of the food chain you feed off there’s something you will always be able to devour. :stir:
Re: Bosch do FREE callouts!
Edit option is removed after a short time, these days. Not sure why. Gotta be more careful what you say now!
Mike.
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