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I don’t have a problem with Bonzo personally other than the fact that he seems to think that he can get a free ride out of ND, which just isn’t going to happen.
That said, I have to agree with Alex on this one 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}, why the hell should we bail DSG/Electrue/NESN out the shite *FOR FREE*??!!
After all by walking him through the procedure that is really what you’d be doing, which is fine if it were a one-off but this isn’t.
Regards ND, I do not think that any of the people involved are stupid enough to make the same mistake or at least I hope not, I class most of them as friends these days! But every last one of them is involved with service at the sharp end and that’s the difference, they’re not just glorified salesmen trying to sell something that only exists in their imagination.
Mark has a lot to live up to Ted, eh? 😉
K.
Re: Handsfree.
Yeah, I promise I will get the FAQ that I was kindly sent up before the weekend. I had to scan and OCR it, now I’ve got to trawl through it and edit it line by line which is not a two minute job. 😕
I will get there though, but those damn customers keep annoying me during the day! 😉
K.
You didn’t offend anyone I don’t think Bonzaco, you just opened a can of worms that was bound to opened at some point.
It is a very interesting subject and, with appliances becoming more an more specialist in many ways, a very valid discussion IMO irrespective of the strength of feelings on it.
Frankly, I think it has been very well mannered and all involved have made their respective points without coming to blows, which is a credit to you guys and even if you don’t agree fully on the subject at least everyone is respecting everybody else’s position on it.
K.
Re: Electrolux group automatic washer/washer dryer configura
ted wrote:Perhaps they might up the call rate £5.00 for our help.
NOW THAT REALLY IS PISSING IN THE WIND..
LOL, how true that is sadly.
K.
Re: Electrue/NESN
Let’s look at a hypothetical set of rates:
Call fee: £35
Spares: No mark up
1st Time Hit Rate: 65{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}Taking it on say, 20 calls a week just for an example:
Labour fee generated: £455
Cost of Calls: £560 (Based on an average of £28 to get an engineer to the door)Profit = *-*£105 (That’s a minus folks)
The first week you’re £455 better off as it’s work you perhaps didn’t have in the first place, but thereafter when you start calling back to fit parts you start to lose money hand over fist. This re-iterates the point I’ve made so many times about the first time hit rate. With the diversity of product out there now it is pretty much accepted that the best you’ll get is an 80{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1st fix and that’s with a van stocked to the gunnels with kit for one manufacturer.
Even at that 80{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} FF rate you’d still only get £560 and only break even on it.
Of course this all does not allow for the cost of stock, staff sickness, telephone calls, service information, training etc, etc, etc
Food for thought.
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
K.
Re: Hotpoint 9605
Sorry Chris I forgot all about this. 😳
There should be four knobs according to Agora colour I can’t tell as that is determined by the U21 bit so it *should* be correct. Anyway part number is 76X4680, they are in stock in France as of now and the RRP is price code D5 which is £10.83 ex VAT each! 😮 Shocking really.
K.
Re: Electrolux group automatic washer/washer dryer configura
Alex wrote:I’ve tried and it seems failed miserably to get my point across. I don’t ming helping anyone on an indivdual basis, what I am not in favour of is helping NESN. They have poached 15{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of our work and clearly should be in the position to offer the support. That is what they are paid for.
Quite, if they wish to swipe work on specialist products then they should be prepared to offer the support to their agents so that those agents don’t look like fools in the eyes of the customer. Remember, it’s *your* reputation that’s at stake as well in many instances!
Alex wrote:Even makes we used to be agents for, we pass the work on.
LOL, at least I’m not the only one with that attitude! I don’t even want to know about charge work to a large extent when that happens as sooner or later you’re bound to hit a run of problems that, as an agent, you simply would not have. It’s fine on the nice easy, simple appliances but when you start to get the likes of these almost PC like controlled and others that require specialist knowledge or tools or even the ones that are hard to get spares for unless you have a direct account then, IMHO, it’s more hassle than it’s worth more often than not.
Alex wrote:I’ve come to the conclusion I’m peeing against the wind.
Not at all, the point was made and I think everyone understood it, anyway it was/is an interesting conversation in any event. It’s good to see a conversation such as this which is intelligent and thought provoking as well as educational.
K.
Re: Electrolux group automatic washer/washer dryer configura
I agree Ted and it is a poor state of affairs indeed.
However all I’m doing is pointing out that I can understand where the SF lads are coming from here and why they are reluctant to hand out the support requested. It’s not Bonzaco’s fault at all, in fact it’s really got nothing to do with him as I said, he’s only the poor sod left with the problem.
But that problem was created by the WP not providing the correct technical back-up to service the contract correctly, the point being that they should seek the remedy for Bonzaco’s problem and not SF IMHO.
K.
Re: Freshening Up
Yep I realise that it has to go to council etc that’s not a problem at all with me, the object of the excercise is to see what can be done. I’ll try to get Mark today at some point but often speaking to the Pope is easier than getting him. 😉
And 😳 I forgot one 😳
K.
Bonzaco,
You have the information already anyway, but did you not understand what was said? SF are playing politics here, they don’t have a problem with you as such, they do however have an issue with having 15{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} plus of their work swiped away from them. As I was trying to point out, you, I and customers simply get caught in the political crossfire that’s going on.
Can you blame them for taking the proverbial hump over it?
The work that you are no doubt carrying out for NESN or Electrue is the work that was taken off SF and they are only trying to protect their own interests.
The trick with taking on work IMHO is to ensure that you can get technical backup. I will very rarely touch an appliance that we are not agents for, even out of warranty, as it’s simply not worth the hassle anymore of trying to track down tech info, spares etc only to be told by the customer that the job is too expensive. Or you order up spares and wait weeks for them to arrive, meanwhile the customer gets fed up and replaces the appliance. This is one of the very reasons I was never happy with this work since I’ve done service at this level with that type of diverse product range and I know the pitfalls in it. Quite obviously others do not! You need some serious backup to service such a contract and that can only come directly from the manufacturer IMO in cases such as these.
The other point I was trying to make was that all the training that SF do has a cost attached, all the SF agent’s experience has a cost. What value do you place on that cost to those agents? How much is that experience worth?
But the most important question you should be asking in the case discussed is; who should be supplying *you* the poor sod that gets landed with these machines the training and knowledge to repair them?
Anyway, why do we need a moderator to step in, it’s only a nice litte chat we’re having?
As ever just an opinion.
K.
Re: Electrolux group automatic washer/washer dryer configura
Rudolph_Hucker wrote:If they have ownership of the problem, which clearly they do, then it is up to them to assist. It isn’t wholly down to you, after all you are their agent and part of their remit is to support you. There is a solution out there and they the work provider must thefore honour their obligation to DSG, the customer and ultimately YOU. They have to be in a position to reach an answer. If they cannot do this then you must seriously consider whether they are fit to work for.
They the work provider in this case is relying upon your contacts and tenacity to do their research and problem solving. They have their share of the kitty, make them earn it.
Exactly!
I have no issue whatsoever with helping out a collegue in need of assistance, just as many of here, but I do have an issue when someone pulls away a fair percentage of my liveliehood as I’m sure you would as well Ian.
But let me ask this, why should you, I or any other in the trade assist any WP gain technical expertise and knowledge that they are not paying for? Often times the lessons are learnt the hard way and at considerable expense, like the old blocked side chamber on the Smeg dishwashers, how many timers have I got that were not needed, at least 10 at £50 a pop! 🙄
Do you see the point being made here? It’s not you or any repairer that’s at fault here but the WP or whatever that is not giving you the backup that is required to enable you to do the job that they want doing. As Rudolph points out, it’s their responsibility to provide you with that knowledge through technical backup or training, not some poor sod that’s out there grafting just as you are!
I am only a small fish in a very big pond, but I can see the strength of this as I’ve been where SF are in this particular instance and there really is no easy resolution to it.
K.
My point exactly!
If a manuacturer comes along and asks me to do work I expect technical support, information and training on the products to be given to me to enable me to keep *THEIR* customers happy and content. This helps everyone in the end and, let’s face it, that cost they would have whether they were training me as an agent or an employee, to me there is no difference in that respect.
Where it falls down, as is the case here, is where a third party steps in and expects us to do all the donkey work and pick up the costs of the training and technical info whilst cutting the costs.
You do the math!
Thankfully most of the companies I work with provide this gladly, many names already mentioned here.
K.
