Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Which is why I have no problems working for either, bar some of the rates but let’s not go there. 😉
K.
Alex,
The problem goes like this:
I think MFI ,last year, saw the writing on the wall with a certain WP we all know and love and had to put in place a contingency plan, AIS was that plan or a part of it. To keep everything on an even keel I suspect that the same rate was put into place to stop any disparity between WP’s, since as we all know the first WP seems rather keen on taking legal action against people. So exactly the same rate was offered by AIS as the other one. 😉
Fast-forward and WP1 ditches MFI with three months notice or thereabouts after all the above is set in motion and running on a limited range of products.
However, in all fairness to MFI and, I personally think that this is a very good thing about MFI, they did go about setting up direct agents which seems to be working well but did not just drop AIS. Instead they have shown the same loyalty and support to AIS as we have been shown as direct agents for which I can only commend MFI even if I am losing £4 odds on a few calls. You, I or anyone else covering for both may well be a bit miffed about the difference in rates but I can understand and appreciate why the situation is the way that it is.
I realise that many will probably not see things this way and it is to a large extent politics but IMHO, MFI are not being the bad guys here, quite the reverse if you ask me. Neither are AIS, they are simply dealing with it all as best they can and it’s not a situation of their making.
If you want to blame anyone, blame WP1 for possibly standing in the way. 😕
As for the future of the work, well the team at MFI are a reasonable bunch as are the team at AIS and I’m sure that both are only to aware of the sentiments being fed back so I reckon that they’ll sit down and work out how to rectify the situation eventually without making any lawyers that little bit richer.
K.
Re: Account Identities
Martin wrote:Bravo Ken!
However like many fellow members, I too am curious why they should take that option? (They could obviously correct that by editing their ‘Profiles’ at any time in the future and I hope most will consider doing that) What have they got to hide?
I would love to know?
Thanks.
A lot of people have to hide Martin for fear of retribution from a WP or manufacturer as it appears that some of them do not like any form of critisism levelled at them. For example I was kicked out of a certain network last year just because I made some comments and others have been threatened, some got it worse than I did. The reasons given are always the same old diatribe along the lines of; but if our customers/clients/distributors/retailers see this then the may use (or buy) another provider (or product).
Of course taking the points of unrest and using them constuctively seems to be an idea alien to many who have long been used to being able to demand and recieve from agents, ruling their network with an iron fist. Then there are those that wrap the iron fist in a velvet glove. 😉
The point being that, due to the level of communication that we all now enjoy, these tactics will no longer yeild the results that they perhaps once did and that means change, many people do not want or like change in their little corner of the industry.
To that end, many a WP or manufacturer will simply carry out a witch hunt and discover the perpetrators and the most vocal people and dispose of them as they see fit and this has happened in the past. Hence some people see the need to hide their identity and remain anonymous wich I cannot blame them for. Many readers of this site (in particular the trade sections) are too scared to post even under an assumed identity, which is a very sad situation indeed, but it is the reality of it.
K.
Re: I truly despair…
Here’s an interesting little titbit…
CH was online tonight and the new tracking/info module, which Dave can see but no-one else can, resolved his domain as being an ARPA one. This is interesting as it is a “.edu” domain, in other words, an educational establishment which would usually be a university or the likes.
Which makes me wonder what the hell CH *actually* does do given that this was after 7pm.
K.
Re: I got a contract!
technics1200 wrote:am i daft???
1200 in my honest opinion no you’re not daft at all but you may end up feeling that way eventually, as well as jaded as the rest of us that carry out contract work.
Rates like these are fine for a “man & van” operation but as soon as you have employees the costs rise exponentially until you end up with a cost of somewhere in the region of £24-27 just to get an engineer (including yourself) to the door. Now at that stage you have to run your company as a business and look long and hard at costs vs. returns and it’s not rocket science to work out that if you do not complete most calls on the first visit that you are indeed making a loss. This is a subject that’s been tackled in the forums on many occasions and there are loads of posts on the subject.
The thing is that as your business grows work like this can become a burden dependant on the circumstances but I know a lot of us have contract clients that are, basically rubbish, but we don’t ditch them because we’re afraid to lest we end up short of work.
In the end you pays your money…
K.
No Rudi I got it, but I know that “Trubbish” is not who you think it is, I cannot offer any further information without breaching my ethics on privacy. The only reason I’ve said this is that I refuse to see a personal slagging match here as I think we’re above that and I hope that this comment is enough to kill it.
I think the point that the poster “Trubbish” was making was that there will be some people in the industry that are actually pleased to see some of us getting shafted yet again and to provoke a passionate comeback just as you did do.
That said I can imagine that many of your sentiments towards the person that you thought it was may well have good reason to be valid. It is my experience that many WP’s as you point out “couldn’t give a toss” about us and simply move on to the next agent when one of us goes bust or chucks them out.
The one tiny, little niggling fact that is causing the WP’s a problem with that business model is that they are running out of decent agents that can do the job right. 😉
One of the aims of UKW is to put that nonsense to bed and make sure that we all communicate and have the facts to take the appropriate actions (or not) as required to try to help ourselves to survive, i.e. not letting any WP, manufacturer or insurer play one off the other anymore.
K.
Re: Blocked drains?
Martin wrote:How often do you find the leak is actually due to a blocked/overflowing drain that’s the problem and not the machine?
Amongst other issues leaks are not a huge problem for us from drains unless as you say it’s blocked.
Martin wrote:Do you try to fix the problem or simply charge the customer for a CALLOUT and tell her to contact a local plumber?
If it’s simple we usually will, if it’s a charge call almost certainly we will if it’s reasonably simple and local to the appliance, if not then no.
Martin wrote:Or do you attempt to clear the blockage yourself and charge the customer DYNO-ROD PRICES?
That’s partially the reason we do not do so as we charge a fixed fee plus I don’t think it’s covered in the insurance either. 😕
Martin wrote:I personally do try to clear the problem if it is simple and not too involved. I do have trouble however with the types of drain clearing wire rod devices and would like to find on the market some better (rodding type) system thats easier and less messy. (or maybe some form of high compression device to blast the blockage clear would be good!)
You’re into Dyno-Rod country there are you not?
K.
Re: Bernstein!
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:Anyway there is a distinct difference. We are talking of a company here that has, or is in the process of going down. Not in the process of purposely undermining other business and whom are supposed to be working partners and colleagues. In the case of any company failure, there are casualties and that is a part of the nature of what we do, this year we have seen more than the norm, but we can take it.
This is very true Rudi but should we not look upon it in a similar fashion? I mean if I bounce a cheque on the local garage they will never accept a cheque from me again, or not for a long time after TRUST is regained, it work similarly with your own personal credit rating.
I agree that it is a risk of running any business but, like the aforementioned companies that offer credit (just as we are doing effectively without charging intrest on the loan) should we not make our best attempts to minimise the exposure or risk that we have?
That’s one of the reasons that I think that UKW is hated so much as, as soon as one orr two of us find out there’s trouble in any one camp we generally all know about it pretty quickly and we can react far faster and en-masse to any situation that arises. 😉
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:Not many companies on here are being taken by the demise of Bernstein, and some of the figures are relatively small. We will just dust ourselves off, stand up proudly & bloody well get on with it. At least we know where we stand.
No, I agree it was not particularly high volume work for anyone but still a good few grand in some cases, but as you point out hardly likely to sink anyone. All I’m saying is that I won’t toouch it for now to allow those that have lost to recoup those losses in some way, to me personally that is the hounourable route to take with the work.
However I most certainly would not be continuing with the work without a written assurance from the reciever that my invoices would be paid within 30 days from submission.
You’re right though, we’ll survive and get on with it.
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:However, there are some people who daily live in fear of the way they are being treated by one work provider in particular.
Well now, whoever could you possibly be reffering to there? 😆
K.
Yeah Toni it often is the side chamber and the bottle brushes IKEA do are excellent for cleaning them out, as are some of the baby bottle ones. 😉
But if they are badly blocked it’s sometimes better just to change the chamber but I can’t remember if that one needs a kit or not.
K.
Sorry Ted I thought everyone would know to contra the spares immediately anyway and you’re correct that’s the first thing you do to limit your libility as much as you possibly can. This is why I don’t like working for WP’s with seperate accounts for spares as you can’t do that if the crunch comes as you are being invoiced by a different company from the one paying you for the job.
Got that t-shirt! 🙁
K.
What do you mean Steve, I’m getting that no-one is gettign paid for anything invoiced or maybe even completed prior to 15/01/04 and only gettting payment for work after that date. If that’s not bad news I don’t know what is.
The work will have to go somewhere I agree but all bets are off when the reciever walks through the door IME. If some manufacturer snaps it up it could well be integrated to their own network.
K.
