What Is Actually Fair?

[kwatt]

I have been back on phones this past few weeks and I have to say, it’s fun as well as extremely frustrating when you’ve been off them for a bit. If you take a step back and then go into service looking at it from a pure business point of view I have to ask why so many of us are as stupid as it would appear at times in doing what we do so cheaply.

There’s a plethora of examples but let me give you one that, whilst not the same, is related to Ade’s thread about Argos and pre-paying…

We go to a whole heap of calls that are no access. Now, these days, almost everyone has a mobile phone and they ask for a call before going which is fine, I accept that it perhaps costs but nowhere near what it used to and it saves a no-access call.

But there’s always a few that fall through the net, so far in a week, three of them that, despite multiple phone calls etc. and being at the door, where no-access calls.

One example, for an unnamed insurer, was a card through the door, a call to a neighbour who wasn’t in as well as the customer’s own phone and mobile. We send her a bill for £30 and the insurer comes on more or less telling us to cancel the bill and, in a moment of weakness, I did. However, with the rising costs of diesel and other inflationary pressures on the business coupled to the lack of decent rates rises this may not happen in future as, quite simply, we can’t afford to be that generous.

This is all well and good and I think we all get that we have to claw back whatever we can if clients/customers are unwilling to pay more for service. They may also have to accept poorer service as we make the runs as efficient as possible to save fuel.

Tough really IMO, you can have whatever service level you like, if you want to pay for it.

But what prompted this isn’t so much escalating fuel, wages and other costs but more what happened this morning to me.

A letter rolls through the door from the bank, it appears I’ve been a very bad boy and exceeded my “agreed” overdraft in an account by a whole £50. I’d like to point out that this was forgetfulness on my part and it was rectified before the letter even arrived, but I digress…

They have charged me, £35 charge for the transaction and then, on top of that, a £28 monthly unauthorised overdraft fee. Obviously I’m not happy and will have a word on Monday.

But think about it, that’s £63 for going £50 over. It cost a stamp, a letter and an envelope to send it.

This, IMO, totally puts into perspective how cheap it is when we charge £30 for a no-access call or an abortive. We’ve been, travelled, incurred labour, incurred fuel costs and goodness knows what else.

I just think it is a bit cheeky for anyone to expect this for nothing given the givens.

K.

[squadman]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

Agreed !

Heres another, my dog was unwell recently and of we trot to see the local vet. After her prognosis she decideds my poor doggy needs an injection, some antiboitics plus a futher consultation in a weeks time.

All standard stuff one might think?

Well the vet has not left the building, has not had to make any phone calls, we have had to make our way there, we had to ring them, oh and go when it was ok for them? When I got the bill I was prepared for the cost of the consultation, the medicine the poor doggy required.

What I was not prepared for was the £ 5.00 dispensing fee ! ????

Yeap thats right, they made a charge not only for the drugs, but for counting out tablets from their bulk supply into a small bag for us.

So it seems everyone is charging for anything that they do, why should we be any different ?

[Madmac]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

I guess your vet’s taking advantage of our emotional bond with our animals squadman, not many people feel the same about their Beko or whatever !

And that, in a nutshell is what we’re all up against in this game, i just hope inflation feeds its way into white goods prices sometime soon so i can put my bloody rates up for the first time in 5 years!! :rolls:

[kwatt]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

Madmac wrote:I guess your vet’s taking advantage of our emotional bond with our animals squadman, not many people feel the same about their Beko or whatever !

And many a customer and client is taking advantage of our good nature, there’s another expression for it as well, I’ll leave it to you to fill in the blanks. 😉

Even my dentist, who doesn’t go anywhere, charges a minimum of £15 for a missed appointment.

K.

[aqualectric]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

But ironically, dentists and accountants are the first people to question your prices. The sharp intake of breath and the classic “I’m in the wrong job!” quip always amuses me. I then add a “pain in the a*se” surcharge to the bill; after all, I’m saving up for a house like theirs: and every little helps!! :snig:

Steve.

[timdowning]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

i just hope inflation feeds its way into white goods prices sometime soon

It is already. Last month Hoover/Candy increased all new machines by 10{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}. With another rise on the cards.

As long as this trend is seen with all manufaturers then it can only be good news for this industry.

[bonzaco]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

Or at a slightly sideways look, is it fair that many of these work providers are now creaming off what little we get, by taking the customers money over the phone by credit card and then expecting us to complete an out of guarantee repair for standard rate. Examples of which are CDA, ISDAL, Servis to name but three. Im sure there are more ??

[hotpnt]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

the problem also arising from cheap machines is people also think we will be cheaper too!,

[Madmac]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

hotpnt wrote:the problem also arising from cheap machines is people also think we will be cheaper too!,

Exactly :tup: What drives me nuts about seeing a Servis in B&Q for £150, or a Zanussi in Tesco to “take home today” for £220 or whatever is people use this as ammunition against you to try to drive down a repair quote.

I do so few bearing jobs now i have removed all the gear & spares used for them from my van & dumped them in my garage. People simply wont pay for a proper job with new spider etc.

Its just so frustrating when everything is rocketing in price that we white goods monkeys are expected to live on static earnings, its no wonder the trade is dying 🙁

[Madmac]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

P.s, regarding kens start to this thread, this is one of the reasons i’m hanging on trying to remain a totally independent engineer generating my own work. Perhaps i’m wrong, but being piggy in the middle between a WP & customer sounds like hard work 😯

I would imagine a customer who has paid for a service up front is more likely to be demanding & generally more liable io take the pi$$, just my theory though.

Having said that, i guess if indy work dried up, & lord knows its been patchy this year, it would be something i’d consider i suppose, but if the regular amusing offers i get from GB DAR are typical in the industry, it would be time for a career change, no question :rolls: 🙂

[Steven]

Re: What Is Actually Fair?

I had a phone call from the bank manager recently, asking if i was happy with the set overdraft limit that we have.

Do I wish to continue it for the next year at the agreed limit, yes i said, the next thing i noticed on my bank statement for that less than a minute conversation i have been debited £125 renewal fee for the privalige. 😯

Steven

[Author]

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