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Re: Soap Powders & Technology Training
We have just had the pleasure of the trainer, Graeme. he spent a couple of hours running through the properties and technology of detergents etc.
Very well informed, and gave an excellent demonstration. For us it was going over old ground, as we had already had a similar presentation given by one of the Detergent manufacturers in the past. Saying that though, it was rewarding to have a reminder, and some new topics came to light.
The fact that an engineer is trained and can demonstrate his knowledge of detergents etc. goes a long way. The customer soon picks up the vibes that this person is a professional and knows his stuff.
Our only reservation is that after many years of supporting a certain brand of detergent, the sampling programme came to an abrupt end. Consequently it is a bit difficult to promote a particular line of goods when there seems to be little or no incentive in place. The delegates on this seminar felt that something is needed which would encourage them to demonstrate their faith in the product. I’m not talking wholesale sampling to each and every customer, but the odd packet of detergent to those who are carrying out such a promotion. What better endorsement to a consumer when an actual user of the goods is there on the spot.
Alex
Re: Domestic & General Exchanges
kwatt wrote:I’m also pretty sure that DAG will read this thread with interest and take note of the comments made.
K.Rather than “take note of the comments” it would be better to actually post a note on the comments. I really think they (D&G) need to go one better by putting this topic to bed & post a reply on here. That will be a first, but this would be very welcome indeed and will raise my already high esteem of them as a company even further.
I have since done some research, as I tend to do; and have found some conflicting results. I have spoken to one or two insiders, and I have to say ruffled a few feathers. It came about that Comet are, and I quote, “used in isolated cases”. On the whole it seems that D&G endeavour to use the original manufacturers own supply stream when it comes to a replacement. However, their customer is paramount, and if the likes of E/Lux, Bosch, Merloni, Hoover or Whoever cannot supply in a reasonable time scale, then the job gets passed to Comet. I’m also lead to believe there is a Reciprocal payback scheme in place if the order quantity exceeds a certain figure in a set period, then a credit is put in place which in effect increases the discount that D&G enjoy.
O.K. I see the sense in that, but I feel we need to be put fully in the picture and not left to surmise and assume regards their replacement policy.
I’m not best pleased if Comet happens to be the suppliers, as we then lose out on the Service. Considering the work we put in to ensure we keep the customer, and thanks to our efforts the machine is kept running. D&G therefore can keep the customer and of course a yearly income on the product. I’m disappointed that we inevitably lose this customer altogether to Comet “Service” when the machine reaches the end of its useful life.
It would also help if Comet could honour their obligations, that when they say they will look after one of their customers, they actually make to effort to do so. I’m fed up with them trying to pass back to us calls they cannot manage either due to location or technical difficulties.
I’m going now before I get too passionate on this.
Good-night.
Alex
Re: Car share
Ditto from Bridgwater. I’m leaving early afternoon on Thurs and you can leave your car in a locked compound.
Alex
Re: Domestic & General Exchanges
kwatt wrote:
What is miffing me slighty is that, surely the amount of these for any one independent retailer on an annual basis is miniscule is it not? I should think we’re struggling for double numbers here in many, if not most, cases. I may be wrong of course, but I just can’t see that as being worth all this hassle, especially if you’re doing service work for DAG and getting paid inside 10 days for that work.
K.With the BER limit at £125 we are getting increasing numbers of write-offs. You know yourself, these days it doesn’t take a lot to hit that figure, even with the discounts D&G enjoy. We are in double figures weekly regards D&G taking the decision to BER the product. That is despite our best efforts to save the appliance & keep the customer.
We have a fixed fee with D&G and the discount applied on spares is 27.5{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} off retail. One bearing & drum spider change, without the tub rear half on a Zanussi somes out at £126.74. We actually knock another £1.50 off the spares price in order to see the job through, and avoid the BER. It may sound commercial nonsense to some, but the phone call and time wasted for £1 odd is not worth the trouble etc. We rarely do tub rear changes. I have this policy, if the bearings don’t want to come out, bring the tub back, if the boss can’t get them out, they won’t come out.
The point is we still get our share of write-offs, and then the product may be replaced by Comet. If it fails in year 1 being sourced by Comet, this is a loss to us. (Comet do their own in-house servicing in this area). This is compounded by the poor service that Comet customers “enjoy” we hear of serious service delays and lack of training. Comet refuse to carry out service calls on their customers who live in the country and away from the motorway corridor. Therefore the customer after year 1 does not renew the policy, and we have lost them for life. Up to now I assumed that any replacement was carried out directly by the makers, but I’m not too sure now if that is still the case.
The bulk of our D&G work is regards policies originally sold through the Service Force connection. Usually taken up through the leaflet in the product or by late solicitation. We are one of the smaller 70 odd Service Force agencies with 6 engineers & only about 4{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the nationwide coverage. Imagine what this means nationally? Moreover consider the larger agents who have 20 engineers plus. We are fighting a diminishing market place with chargeable work, we don’t need assistance by Insurers as well.
I am well aware this is commercial, and we all have to make a living and in the most cost-effective method. No doubt if the likes of D&G used Currys, then Coverplan would kick in. If they went to the Euronics network, they are fragmented with independents and politics would prevail.
I have no issue with D&G at all as they are my biggest customer. I do have issues and concerns though if Comet are “abusing” my customers.
Alex
Re: Cutting Your Own Throat
Lawrence wrote: I thought Comet pushed AON policies ,I wonder if anyone from D&G can enlighten us
LawrenceAt the point of sale, most certainly AON warranty. I must assume there a reciprocal agreement where D&G replacements are concerned. We do get the odd D&G call where the product was sourced from Comet.
As I said earlier, I don’t like the idea that Comet are the suppliers, when we as agents then lose that customer to the Comet in house service.
I think the title of this thread may be a bit misleading, and therefore the right people may not see this.
Alex
Re: another joke.
Pregnancy Q & A Hormones & more!
Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.Q: I’m two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby’s sex?
A: Childbirth.Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she’s
borderline irrational.
A: So what’s your question?Q: My childbirth instructor says it’s not pain I’ll feel during labour, but
pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you’re pregnant.Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labour?
A: Not unless the word “alimony” means anything to you.Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act
normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.“OESTROGEN ISSUES”
10 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE “OESTROGEN ISSUES”1. Everyone around you has an attitude problem.
2. You’re adding chocolate chips to your cheese omelette.
3. The dryer has shrunk every last pair of your jeans.
4. Your husband is suddenly agreeing to everything you say.
5. Everyone’s head looks like an invitation to batting practice.
6. Everyone seems to have just landed here from “outer space”.
7. You can’t believe they don’t make a tampon bigger than Super Plus.
8. You’re sure that everyone is scheming to drive you crazy.
9. The ibuprofen bottle is empty and you bought it yesterday.
10.You put the dishes in the fridge and the butter in the washing machineTOP TEN THINGS ONLY WOMEN UNDERSTAND
10. Cats’ facial expressions.
9. The need for the same style of shoes in different colours.
8. Why bean sprouts aren’t just weeds.
7. Fat clothes.
6. Taking a car trip without trying to beat your best time.
5. The difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white, and eggshell.
4. Cutting your hair to make it grow.
3. Eyelash curlers.
2. The inaccuracy of every bathroom scale ever made.AND, the Number One Number One thing only women understand:
1. OTHER WOMEN
Re: UK Whitegoods Meeting 5
Goatboy wrote:—————————————————-
Alex wrote:
The whole of the bar area from the mill wheel up…Is that alot of it then? Goatboy feels the need for the weed!
Well I suppose it is a fair chunk of the Bar area. There are about 3 tables as you go up the slope on the left, and there is an area on the right as you enter the Restuarant. There are enough of us I think to justify a Temp increase in the smoking area.
Alex
Re: Cutting Your Own Throat
Funny that; I went to a D&G open day at Bedworth near Nuneaton back in the Spring. I watched them dealing with potential write offs in the BER department. The P.C’s were permanently on the Comet web-site, and me being suspicious pointed this fact out. I had the reply that was only for comparison purposes, and the Comet site was the best to negotiate. Hmmmm!!
I went away from that without being convinced.
If that is the case I as a Service Force agent I am not best pleased as we do not get repairs in year 1 on Comet sourced appliances, they do their own in-house service.
Has this come to anyone elses attention?
Alex
Re: UK Whitegoods Meeting 5
There is a slight change in the bar area of Millers since the last meeting. Thought I’d better advise as I paid a recent visit.
The whole of the bar area from the mill wheel up has now been dedicated as a non-smoking zone. Fortunately alcohol is still available.
This may well suit the non or ex-smokers, and as there are one or two that feel the need for the weed, I thought it prudent to make this public.
See you all on the day.
Alex
Re: another joke.
WHY PARENTS DRINK
The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an
urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employee’s
home telephone number and was greeted with a child’s whisper.“Hello.” “Is your daddy home?” he asked.
“Yes,” whispered the small voice.
“May I talk with him?”
The child whispered, “No.”
Surprised, and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked,
“Is your Mummy there?”
“Yes.”
“May I talk with her?” Again the small voice whispered, “No.”
Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message,
the boss asked, “Is anybody else there?”
Yes,” whispered the child, “a policeman.”
Wondering what a Police Officer would be doing at his employee’s home, the boss
asked, “May I speak with the policeman?”
“No, he’s busy”, whispered the child.
“Busy doing what?”
“Talking to Daddy and Mummy and the Fireman,” came the whispered answer.
Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a
helicopter through the earpiece on the phone the boss asked, “What is that
noise?”“A hello-copper” answered the whispering voice.
“What is going on there?” asked the boss, now truly alarmed.
In an awed whispering voice the child answered, “The search team just
landed in the hello-copper.”Alarmed, concerned, and even more then just a little frustrated the boss
asked, “What are they searching for?”
Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle:
“ME.”
Re: Public Traffic
Martin wrote:Does that mean an end to Everen Yurtesen and his problem Candy???? 😐
Don’t worry Martin, special arrangements may be possible, or even better, acccess granted.
So rest assured you won’t lose contact.
On that thought, have a good weekend.
Alex
Re: ZANUSSI Z30 DISHWASHER
Give my spares dept a ring 01278-434978 after 2 and I will leave the part on their desk.
Including vat p&p etc total cost £11.84, if you got a credit card we may be able to get it out today.
Alex
Re: British Gas…time to tell all
I went on a spying mission last night. There was a nice colourful advert in the Sits-Vac section of the Somerset County Gazette.
Brit Gas recruitment doing an open evening at the Holiday Inn J25 M5 from 6 to 8 p.m. Come along for a presentation, see how we work, chat to existing engineers & electricians, and we can arrange an informal interview on the spot. They were looking for white-goods engineers as well as IEE electricians.
Needless to say I went just to see if there was any one there I knew. (They would have been embarrassed next morning). Fortunately there wasn’t, I should have known better. (Must be paranoid)
They soon told us this was the only recruitment drive in this area for the whole South-west from Swindon to Lands End. The presentation was good, informal, showed all the benefits etc. the whole package was shown. Wages before bonuses £20,553 and O.T.E. £27,500 but he made it clear that was only achievable if full bonus and customer care criteria had been met. He said that would be hard to get in a rural area. There were refreshments laid on and without it being a brainwashing session, quite positive in approach etc.
The audience consisted of about 10 electrical contractors and 3 White-Goods techs. including myself. I made some excuse I was probably too old, they were having none of it and was interested in my past from Sparky to White-Goods. I told them I was running a centre for someone else, and wanted to be discreet, which they respected. I might have landed a job if I wasn’t careful. All I gave was my Christian name, but they did see I had a repair-care pen, a ploy of mine to get them guessing.
One of the white-goods hopefuls walked out as soon as the presentation ended, another stayed for interview. I just mingled for an hour and then slipped off on the pretence of going to the loo.
It would have been great if I could have got the details of the guy who stayed, it would have been fantastic to have pulled this guy out from under their noses.
Point is folks, keep an eye out in your local press, and go along yourself. You never know who you might meet.
Alex
