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Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
very slow here in bournemouth area to. booking same day. was hoping july would pickup a little.
Re: Is it just me or is anyone ele quiet?
Yeah everybody l have spoken to in the Bristol area are really quiet and there is hardly any work even with the rentals work …. l just do not believe that Exeter can be any different anywhere else in UK… just talk to the likes of Qualtex and Connect they all say its slow UK wide The price of new machines are too cheap and service parts and labour is too high so selling replacements might be the answer but you still have to compete with the like of AO on da internet Its a hard Trade init!!!!
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
Who said Exeter was busy, it’s not dead but certainly not busy
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
Just starting to see a bit of an upturn here in the North West. Lets hope its not a false dawn but it is picking up. Already full for Monday and a few in for the rest of the week.
I agree that the price of a new machine against the price of a repair is getting closer but its not an overnight thing, machines have been getting cheaper for the last 15 years and i’ve only just been quiet for the last couple of months.Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
i had plenty of work for last 4 years and now for the past 6-8months have taken a steep dip in bookings, my work like most comes from the net, using natural listings(seo good) and google adwords, competition is the same, reviews are fine etc. one thing i have noticed is how many customers have attempted the repair themselves via the internet…. im convinced its not that the customers are replacing the machines its more their repairing them using google, iv repaired the wife’s car using this method myself using youtube etc, i’m sure others are doing the same with appliances…. i think families in general now are struggling to balance the books and dont have expendable income compared to a few years back, this shift iv noticed comes from middle of the road income customers…
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
I am nearing the end of July with the school holidays and so far I had 6 jobs since the start of July, this is the quietest month I have ever experienced. Ideally I would like some work so that I can have some pocket money for the holidays, looks like I’m gonna take a pay cut for now.
The local whitegoods retailer says the same, it’s quiet for them which means there are few customers knocking about (there is a link between high customers turn out and call out for repairs as both goes hand in hands) or their appliances gotten better?
Just biding my time and wait for that phone call…
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
i agree mostly and interesting about the link between sales and repairs… i really don’t fully understand why the down trend, my theory on self repairs can only go so far as some repairs are complex, would be nice to analyse the trend correctly and how long it will last or if its a permanent shift in consumer behavior and why, something is influencing the customers to not seek out a repairer, if their not buying new? then what are they doing? hand washing and cooking on a camp fire, lol… i don’t take a look on the public forums of ukwhitegoods but have the enquiries increased i wonder?
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
I spoke to one of my local supplier this morning and he too says business are quiet. He reckons the warm weather and lots of bbq that people are not using the tumble dryer and ovens. Or that they are saving up for the holidays but I am not too sure as usually when an oven, dishwasher, washing machine or tumble dryer breaks down, hell break lose regardless of the weather! I think it is down to appliances wearing a little better as my customers have had their appliances replaced by myself for better brand.
I may have shot myself on the foot for selling them quality appliances as they don’t return to me after three or four years instead of the usual 10 months later. Failing that I must be crap at my job that my customers don’t want me back! 😉
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
Still plodding along just checked my figures from last year to this year and i’m up at present so cant complain, lost a letting agent when i was on holiday but i havent realy missed them to be honest.
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
Quiet here also,always is from june till end of August,then the oven repairs come in for Cristmas.Nature of the best i suppose
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
Picked up here the last few weeks. Busiest I’ve been in a couple months
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
When it goes slack we all start to look at why work is not available, its a natural process to start wondering what might be causing it. Your competitors offering free call outs and free estimates ?
Dealers selling low cost appliances ? Self Repair? People have little money ? The likes of RC or BG or Knowhow making inroads into the local work ?Its always hard to project exactly whats going on and I always keep previous weeks, months and Years trading figures which can be used as a yardstick. Work is patchy and has been since early July so we are ticking over and making the best of what we do have. Even taking into account that work is patchy looking back at the last four years July figures we are about the same which takes some of the worry out of it. In our area people have got money but that have become astute about spending it. We seem to be selling mid priced appliances across the board to customers who a) do not want to deal with the likes of Currys or AO, and b) who want to buy something other than a box which will end up scrapped after 18 months, on the backend of this we have a lot of eating places in our high street and pubs both of which are busy every night. Try booking a holiday and you find that there are no cheap holidays anymore and that Tour operators are very busy. If your just relying on repairs then depending on your overheads then it could be of concern but I find its best to cultivate a multi pronged approach to making income. I also think that based on the various discussions on this forum that there is a change in our market place as all the feedback from across the UK is a real barometer to our trade but I believe we need to be more reactionary to trends and as indies can respond to customers far better than the big boys. We find that at least in the context of our own customers they are willing to pay a little more for a local solution to their problems and to that end people skills are so important in the process of letting your customers know that you want to do business with them.
Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
I was just interested in seeing how busy we all are at the moment. Its good to get a guage on how the demographic is across the country.
I’m quiet at the moment, it started last week after having a good Aug/Sep, but last week and this week are worryingly quiet again. Monday is usually the busiest day but nothing so far.
Its one of those days where you check the phone line to see if its working.Re: Is it just me or is anyone else quiet?
You are not alone Grooster It is quiet everywhere… Even our export side of the business is quiet… l think there is a world recession despite all the leaders of industry saying different….
2015 has been one of the quietest years since 1979 when we first set up
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