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Re: Servis Service
Well it looks like the wheel is eventually turning full circle. In the beginning manufacturers had excellent service direct from their own appointed independent agents and over many years they built up close working relationships. This gave them the best possible response and quality control over their servicing needs not to mention first rate feed back from customers through these agents.
Many of these appointed agents not only serviced but also sold the appliances and flew the flags for their appointed brands because they had a vested interest in seeing their particular brand survive.
Who do the retail sheds care about or support with any degree of loyalty ?
No-one but themselves or who ever they can screw down lowest on price
for that particular month.Then manufacturers started to listen to the bean counters within their respective organisations who said it would be more cost effective to let middlemen handle their admin for them. Basically these Bean Counters knew the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
Using these middlemen effectively insulated a lot of the manufacturers from their end customers and as a consequence they lost the valuable customer feedback of the products and also effective control over the level of service that they provided.
Depending on which particular middleman controlled the service, the knock-on effect of providing poor service was the gradual but sustained loss of market share.
Middlemen have only succeeded in driving down the quality of service by often only offering the work to the cheapest bidder.
The old saying of ‘YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR’ holds true.
I have been in this industry for some considerable time now but without doubt I would have to award GB DAR the first prize for being the worst of the worst, when it comes to treating either customers, manufacturers or agents with any degree of care or consideration.
It’s not just me who thinks so. Their work providers are now voting with their feet as have many of their agents. Even the Brand who gave them their start has decided enough is enough.
I would say that I do not necessarily agree with Alex when he say’s
“Interesting, but won’t have much effect either way I imagine”
Any brands level of service and customer care can be turned around if there is enough will to do it.
Some Manufacturers are at last beginning to understand that a brands reputation is everything. Especially as they are now just discovering that reputation is the hardest thing to earn and the easiest thing to lose and will alway eventually be reflected in sales figures.
Sean.Re: I’ve found it!!!!!!!!!
MrTwintub wrote:I have 1+ £5.60 + vat
srp £9.14.Does anyone have any idea how they structure their pricing? 😕
Andy
Quite simple really.
If your prepaired to pay it, then they are prepaired to let you 😉
Sean
Re: Welcome To The War Room
Welcome to TWR Lawrence I know you will have a lot to contibute once your up to speed.
Sean
Re: ISE / Beko — what makes one better than the other?
In a way J.J. you answer your own question. When you say :-
‘I have no issue with the idea of a “budget” manufacturer being capable of producing reliable kit’Thing is, all companies and countries are capable of producing quality kit but the main reason they are approached by recognised brands to build equipment for them in the first place, is predominantly price driven.
For years now the independent service sector of our trade has seen,
the large multiples drive down the cost of appliances. Initially this was a good thing in my opinion.The only thing is, that the practice went on for so long that it has reached the point where it has drastically affected the build quality of modern day appliances.
When I came into this trade the average life expectancy of a washing machine was 12 to 15 years with the odd reasonably priced repair during that interval.
You yourself are now amazed that your particular appliance has actually reached seven years old. I can assure you that nowadays most machines don’t even reach five. Unless of course, you have been persuaded by one of the ‘Shed’s’ to take out an extended warranty, to even assure yourself that it will reach five with no additional cost.
It is therefore not surprising that over recent years we have seen, literally, mountains of short life washers discarded for the want of a few parts, as they are now deemed to be, not worth the cost of a repair.
This in turn has led to irreparable damage to our environment with ever increasing carbon emissions required to replace these short life products. Remember, it takes very little additional carbon to build a robust appliance, as it does to build a budget one.
You should be aware that UK Whitegoods was actually set up and created by independent appliance repairers. Expressly to assist, both trade and public alike, to repair appliances, rather than simply throw them away at the first sign of a problem.
You could say that our members were environmentalists even before the term was ever invented, as repair and service was always our stock in trade.
One point I would question in your post is the statement is that labour cost’s are the determining factor in not repairing an appliance. This may be true of manufacturers’ own service but it has never been an issue for the independents, as we have never charged their exorbitant prices.
The main reason that people do not have repairs carried out is that manufacturers have shifted a large proportion of the profit generator from the finished product to the cost of spares and service. We now have a situation where one or two key components of the appliance are more expensive than the finished product itself.
You ask ‘So what is it exactly that makes ISE different’
ISE was created by members of UK Whitegoods who wanted to try and address some of the issues mentioned but if your not that bothered about excellent after sales service and your only concerns are short term, price driven, environmentally damaging or wasteful
(Basically if you don’t give a Tosh 😆 ) then you might not get it.Perhaps the following links may give you a clue as to what we are about. 😉
http://iseappliances.co.uk/index.php?id=1148290797http://iseappliances.co.uk/index.php?id=1148290903
http://iseappliances.co.uk/index.php?id=1148290889
http://iseappliances.co.uk/index.php?id=1186071556
RegardsSean
Re: Soap Draw
I’ve had them say the same thing to me Steve. I just say that I’m sorry but we dont sell one with a three month gurantee. Some of them even see the funny side.
Sean
Re: REDUNDANCY ROGUES
Can I just say from a personal viewpoint that it is my opinion that this is a matter best left to the legal avenues that you already had in play before you aired this grievence on UK Whitegoods.
The on going legal actions you are undertaking, where all the facts can be presented, are the only ones that can give you an unbiased conclusion to this matter.
Where as, I genuinely sympathise with the predicament that you all find yourselves in, this is not really the place to engage in protacted personal vendetta’s.
You are getting very close to the point where to continue might lead to comment that may lead you into further legal difficulties.
It is also a fact that ‘flaming’ between members is a practice not allowed on any reputable website.
Sean
Re: Same Name Pops Up…
Just do it Ken, he did’nt abide by the directive from us before and should have been chucked off then IMHO.
I’m sure you have your ways of checking if similar I.P. Adresses try to sign on.I would even send a solicitors letter (might frighten him off) re the shop copying and name and shame the bugger on the open site.
Sean
Re: COP and OFT updates.
IIRC John had a system that he utilised in his old CDA day’s that might cover this for us.
Re: Interesting.
I see that Robwash is now using the work & trade vacancies forum to continue his tirade
Re: Interesting.
I have to say that I am more than a little concerned about getting drawn into this one as we may be opening a can of worms that may turn out to be a can of vipers.
UK Whitegoods is what it is, a free to use/join self help community of independent service engineers offering one another help support and advice.
We are not an employment tribuniral that should be seen to be telling manufacturers, ex-employees or replacement service partners what they should or should not be doing in a situation we have scant or little information about.
Whilst we naturally sympathise with the original posters current situation and wish him every sucess in finding alternative employment we should have then, left it at that.
As ever just MHO
Sean
Re: What a day….
Chris
Sorry to hear of your trouble mate, I hope you get back to normal ASAP.
Jim’s probably right about slaps on the wrist’s if they catch e’m.
Have you considered a Dobbermann, they tend not to be a lenient as
our judicial system.Best Regards to you and Julia
Re: CDSL at it again
You say no to a new edict and all of a sudden your work starts to disappear ! Now I wonder where I’ve heard that before ?
Stick to your guns lads and just hope that others sprout some balls and reject this loss leading exercise too.
Let’s face it, if there were the smallest profit in it, they would be doing it themselves.
Glad I’m out of it.
Sean
Might be a bit of a frosty atmosphere for D.P. at the next DASA meeting 😉
Re: Guerrilla Tactics
Have to agree with Bryan and Ken. We have to put our battle plan together very, very carefully. All the variables need to be lined up in our favour first before we enter the fray.
It goes without saying that we will only get one pop at this so we have to be dam sure we get it right first time.
We need to build up a full arsenall of sustained, rejected, reasonable requests for technical help/information on their products from manufacturers. Without tipping them off as to what we are doing and why.
At some stage we also have to challenge manufacturers on their spares pricing policy.
Sean
Re: OFT visit.
Hi Steve,
To be honest Ken, started the ball rollin’ over a year ago now with the OFT.
We were hoping to get the ball rolling over six months ago, when Ken and I had a meeting with them down in London but they could’nt quite get their heads round the fact that we were not a traditional type of trade association at that time.
So to make life simpler for them, we asked you guy’s to help us, by creating the WTA. It was by no means the only reason but it was an important one.At the initial meeting they explained that a typical application process normally took at least eighteen months and more realistically two years.
I sent the application guidance notes to Ade as soon as he volunteered for the job that’s why you have hardly heard a peep out of the guy since.
He has a mamouth task ahead of him. Working with Govt. Departments is a very slow laborious and ardious process.I know that with all our help Ade will pull it off cos he’s a tenacious, stubbon sod and will keep peckin’ away at it till it’s sorted.
Only thing is, progress can seem very slow to guy’s who think that all you have to do is fill out a form and it’s done. Like Ade said let’s all rejoyce when it’s done and dusted.
Sean
Re: Ingol hinge for a Teba
