Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Here’s a little thought that I’ve been mooting about for some time.
The price of the goods is falling, we all seem to acknowledge that.
The cost of servicing those goods is rising, we all seem to acknowledge that.
Those two facts alone blow most manufacturer’s equation to work out the cost of service out the water.
So, given that the costs of service are rising exponentially year on year with labour being a major factor in cost how can we afford to offer low rates ad infinitum as we have been doing? I was looking today at two contracts from WP’s and they in all cases are offering at best rates I would have considered reasnabale for a normal service level 10 years ago, but not today. In some cases the rates were so low that they were actually below the cost to make a call to the customer’s house!
Then we make no profit on spares as well.
It’s unrealistic and not a good business proposition to be a whitegoods repairer, most of us are only here because we’re stuck in the rut. I would bet a large proportion of you would do something else if you could get out.
K.
Re: Freshening Up
Not so keen on this idea…
And I still ain’t manged to speak to Mark (or the Pope!) 😉
K.
We used to use them but with changes in the industry we found, as you have, that they were too restrictive to be of any real use. That was Shell Gold Cards IIRC.
If there was one I could get that we could use at a large percentage of filling stations I’d probably use them again as it’s a hell of a lot less hassle and far easier to manage than messing about with cash and all that malarky.
Anyone got any ideas? Or is there enough interest in it to try to get a deal nationally for individual UKW members?
K.
Re: Hotpoint 9345 Tumble Dryer
jclark wrote:Sort of gathered that potential litigation might be behind the reluctance to supply too much detail. I fully understand and appologise if I appeared ungrateful – cos that certanly is not the case.
Sorry John, it’s the current climate of political correctness that we live in I’m afraid and the general rule is that if the customer has to have too much detail explained then we have to assume that they are incapable of carry out a repair competently. We all generally agree that this is pretty much rubbish most of the time but that’s the word on it from the majority of government agencies and legal sources. 🙁
It is a debate that raged here a while back.
We can give generalised broad guidance though without any real trouble or pointers on what to look for as well as giving an opinion on whether or not it’s worth the hassle. 😉
K.
Okay, positive post on the postcode allocation thing on the forum now, hopefully the sentiment will filter back a bit and be digested. There’s not a lot more that I can do with it unless some people want to open the debate up a bit. I’m certainly not going to give them hints and tips on how to get it all to work for free, sod that.
We’ll see what happens in the next week or so but I’d bet a months pay that Electrue will not sit idlely by and let this happen, which means repercussions of some sort and there will no doubt be casualties in that. Although primarily aimed at NESN it may well spill over to hammering some of the guys as well.
Ho hum 😕
K.
Re: Electrue/NESN
Well, I got a bit more info…
It would appear that postcodes are being re-allocated under the Electrue scheme without prior notice or warning by Electrue. Not too good if you ‘ve invested in resources to carry out that work and NESN are, IMO, correct in taking issue with that point and, on the surface of it, appear to be trying to protect their members.
I doubt that Electrue will be over the moon about it though.
Looks like the agents are caught in the middle…again! 🙄
K.
Re: Let The Games Begin!
Alex wrote:And have you seen the number of hits today?
That’s most likely down to the simple fact that people want information and none is forthcoming from either camp as yet.
Alex wrote:Beko, Steve Clarke looked at the site over the weekend. Was spitting blood regards Beko, as he had heard bugger all, and didn’t suspect a thing. The great thing is, when he opened his e-mails this morning and played off his voice mail, all he had was the Beko thing, from all over the country. He was grateful for the site as it had told him what to expect.
Good, two pluses over the weekend can’t be bad.
Alex wrote:IDSA, yes I’m not surprised. When Richard was a S.F. agent he was an active contibutor to a previous site very similar to this one, sadly that site is no longer with us.
Hmm, maybe he’ll talk more once he discovers that we’re not a pack of wolves out to tear him and other WP’s etc. apart.
Alex wrote:Crosslee, I note Steve Donovan hasn’t responded to my challenge. I don’t expect him to. Flipper will probably agree, they are always on the lookout, It is the gas dryer that keeps them on stream with S.F. I think.
No, I doubt he will at that. The setup they have just now doesn’t exactly strike me as a wonderful arrangement by any standards, I mean having the axe hanging over your head like that is hardly liable to breed loyalty is it?
Alex wrote:I for one wouldn’t miss either Beko or Crosslee. Chargeable calls for these are almost nil, and in both cases support is zero.
TBH, those and the little stint with LG were all contracts that I did say that SF should never have touched. The only reason I can see for the likes of SF going and gettign other work is to offset the low rate they pay themselves in an attempt to justify it somewhat.
Alex wrote:Personally, have heard no repurcussions regards NESN as not being an agent, I’m out of the loop on that one.
Oh I’m sure there will be repercussions I’m afraid and I strongly suspect that there will be some payback and I suspect it won’t be very nice!
K.
So far as I understand it it’s only a trial, but a trial means that Beko are obviously looking for a replacement to SF. Most likely a cheaper option.
I do not intend to be that cheaper option!
I’m perfectly happy to work for any company that wants to work with we mere service companies and build a relationship or mutual respect and goodwill, like most of those that I do now work with (note work with, not for). But when people come along with the “you will do” attitude I have to say it gets my hackles up a bit since, that last time I checked, I was a director of the business and I run it day to day. As is the way with these things these days it seems there was no consultation, no “can you do this for this fee” just a case of here it is, do it. 🙄
As for the spares, well we’ll have to wait and see but Beko’s record in my experience is not too good since they’re the only company I’ve ever asked for an ETA and got the reply, “yes, it’s on the dock in Turkey, it should be here in about eight weeks” I’m sure you can imagine the customer’s delight at that remark! 🙁
GBDAR, over to you…
K.
John,
At that stage it may be better to bite the bullet and get an engineer that is familiar with the product, especially as swapping out parts without knowing that they are faulty can be an very expensive business. Tell us the postal region you’re in and I’m sure that one of the guys will be reasonably close to you and can assist if you choose to go that way.
Just a suggestion.
K.
I’m told that everything is back to a semblance of normality and that it’s all going through NESN again, but that’s not official at all.
K.
Re: NESN & Rejections
As promised a reply 😉
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:This is interesting reading. It looks like you and several others may become the victims of a hidden agenda.
I suspect you could be correct sadly. 😕
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:You may be right regards “payment stalling tactics”. A common little ploy where cash-flow is lacking.
Indeed, usually this sort of thing happens before they go to the wall, we’ve all seen the same tactics employed on countless occasions almost always with the same outcome and it’s not difficult to read the big glaring neon signs screaming “TROUBLE!”.
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:1) Dither about on payments, rejections for the silliest little reason.
2) Put the blame on whom the work is contacted from.
3) Make a payment but not quite up to the end of the month, to appear there is money in the kitty.
4) Request information/updates on jobs that as far as you are concerned have been cleared, and you were expecting settlement.
5) Produce spurious “cut-off “dates.
6) Empty promises from someone who previously wouldn’t give you the time of day,
who has now become your “best friend”.Now I wonder to whom you are reffering there? 😉
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:This topic goes nicely with the string we have been reading in the Work & Vacancies section, regards Profit & Loss. A lot has been written on that subject, and it is plain the see the relationship that exists between these two. One hit calls go a long way as well as the technical information and spares back up. If you are being held up on payments and have to dedicate staff to chase invoices, that is another added cost to an already stretched operation. Worse case scenario, calling in the debt collectors, or raising a summons, all this uses valuable time and resources on a contract that is already trimmed to the bone.
Yes, IMHO, profitability is the number one concern of *all* our businesses and the first thing we should be looking to when evaluating any contract or potential contract.
The second is the assuredness that we have the work secured so that we may invest and build on that basis.
All the other points there simply add to the cost of the operation and these have to be taken into account when pricing up a contract.
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:This industry seems to be in turmoil at present.
Never a truer statement made and it looks set to get worse in the short term until the dust settles on certain events.
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:Service Force may be losing Beko, there is another rumour on the same lines with White Knight. On top of that I’ve heard of a possible estrangement between a parts supplier and work provider regards a large contract. (More on that to follow I think).
Beko (is so far as I know) is factual as I have a copy of the letter myself.
As to other events, things are still sketchy and I have requested clarification of the situation (since you obviously know of events taking place), I will report back as soon as I have solid answers. What I am not going to do is serve either party as a propoganda machine.
However, as I stated in private, it would appear that the turkeys just voted for a second Christmas. Some of you won’t get that, but those that do will know what I’m on about.
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:Then of course the one we keep going on about, where the products are getting cheaper by the day, this gives a knock on effect and we the poor service provider seem to be at the end of the chain. Consider Beko, lower end of the market product, considering going to a cheaper work provider. You get what you pay for and if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
Yes, service costs are rising, retail prices of the goods are falling and it will be interesting to see how they all solve that little issue as it seems pretty impassable to me, quite simply something has to give. It’s too expensive just to replace the product, as is done in other fields, as they are too bulky and require specialist installation in many cases.
A nice conundrum.
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:This doesn’t even consider employment laws, care and handling legislation on Refrigeration, C.O.R.G.I. Health and Safety, trade waste……….. the list is endless.
Indeed, we pick up the costs!
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:We cannot differentiate between customers, nor categorise where an unsuspecting customer has been sold what they think is an insurance that guarantees top class service. How many of us have been told, “It says here you will call today”. A second class work provider doesn’t give us just cause to treat their customers the same, even if we would like to. Some of us are too professional to go down that route. Maybe that may change in the future, as a new generation may have to become more aggressive in this field in order to survive.
Exactly what I’ve been saying for years, irrespective of the policy on offer and the little baubles it has attached level of service is ruled by one of two things:
1. The lowest common denomiator that is determined by volume of calls
2. The finanacial viability of the level of service required, often determined by 1.
More market analysis available for a fee! 😆
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:There will be some casualties I fear regards all this, regretfully it could well be good service agents, unless we stand up get recognition and perhaps a little respect.
I share your fear Rudi and I believe that in some cases agents are being used as mere pawns in a larger power struggle that will become evident in due course in the events I think you refer to.
The problem with taking any action against anyone is that *ALL* have to agree, not just the few and stick by that decision regardless. And even at that sadly, loyalty can be bought if the price is right in many cases people need to have the moral backbone to stand by their convictions even if it means some short term pain for long term gain.
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:Where will it all end? In tears I suspect.
Undoubtedly. 🙁
K.
