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kwatt wrote:Well apparently it’s £300K in the red and £500K missing, I loved the bit about a director or former director leaving the room though due to a roasting. 😉
K.I take it you are adding these 2 figures together? If not I would so you are up to speed with the state of affairs.
Director leaving the room! Oh yes! strange that I don’t remember posting that bit.
If it wasn’t for the money I would find it funny.
Rudi
Re: NESN in a Spin Mode
Yes we heard all about the delay of litigation against the past big cheese due to his illness. What has progressed from that we wonder?
He never considered the stress and strain put on our businesses when he was running the show. These stresses etc. are now getting serious as we still have our bills to pay.
Fortunately there is a facility within the VAT system to clawback or rather defer VAT payments on non paid sums after 6 months. Problem there is, legally you have to tell the debtor you are about to do this. Of course anyone in their right mind would not undertake such a move as NESN would be thinking we are beginning to write off the debt.
What we are now facing is a big dilemma. We tell them to shove it, and guarantee we never get our money, or we run with it in the hope they get their act together & we can redress the shortfall so far sustained in the interim. Of course taking the latter option only increases the debt.
A little bit of genuine reassurance from Carol Madden wouldn’t go amiss, but better than that some money paid into a bank account would be a whole lot better.
Rudi
Re: NESN in a Spin Mode
Just an update on the state of affairs with our friends at Stoke.
There was a bit of a slanging match at the last meeting, things got a bit heated between one or two who I will keep nameless. All of which demonstrates even further there is little cohesion within the organisation. They are playing find the finances.
There is an issue regards a shortfall of funds, nearly to the tune of £300,000. This will eventually filter down the line to the likes of us I’m sorry to say. After a heated debate, it was made clear that it will be April/May before all can be reconciled and payments targets are met. It looks like monies that are due to be paid out early next year may well be in jeopardy as they are nearly 8 months behind now.
I feel sorry for C.M. in a way as she seems to have walked into a liability, I hope she can get this in order, but it will be an unenviable task.
Rudi
Re: Top pseudonym!
cornwell40 wrote:Personally I think Rudolph Hucker is tops. Took me six months to get that one. 😳 Tony C:
Thanks, it took my Father 9 Months to come up with it.
In case there was a school of thought I may not have the full quota regards parentage.
Have had an interesting morning of reading on here today, must say you lot are all doing a grand job.
Take Care
Rudi
Re: NESN in a Spin Mode
kwatt wrote:I got a copy of the letter last night and was, frankly, stunned by some of the comments. Just one of which was Dave who I know is on holiday this week yet according to Ms Madden CES (his company) was re-integrated to the network on Monday, I’m sure Dave will be pleased to hear that somone else is making such decisions in his absence despite the fact that he runs the business.
K.Yes as per the above, I thought I would enjoy retirement, but never mind, duty calls.
Ken has pointed out Dave jumping back into bed with NESN. This is strange I fancy. It appears Dave is away; Isn’t that weird that he takes a holiday the very week that he allegedly comes on steam again with NESN. You would think with his business acumen, he would prefer to delay this until he is at least back in control of his own business. Goodness me, anything could happen in his absence and he should be in a position to monitor the goings on for the 1st few days at least. Unlike Dave to set something up and the run off to sunnier climes. Unless he is holidaying in Stoke on Trent of course. We need to have a word with him I suppose.
One thing I neglected to mention in my last posting. Our friend Mr. Trubshaw, yes he as it transpired was a naughty boy, and now is about to meet his just rewards. Health permitting of course. I know this may sound out of order. Did he ever consider the health of those that he was screwing down? Bet not. See below, interesting reading I think you will agree. So it is time to applaud Ms Madden for sorting that one out, but may I humbly suggest she take it easy so that she doesn’t become the next legal victim. “Hoisted by her own petard” seems appropriate maybe.
May I quote from her letter:-
Following the investigation into some questions and resulting in the
suspension of Jonathan Trubshaw, I have reached the point of asking Jonathan
to attend a disciplinary hearing. This was scheduled to take place a couple
of weeks ago but we agreed to postpone due to Jonathan’s current trouble
with his diabetes. We, myself and the respective solicitors, are attempting
to arrange the hearing as soon as possible whilst taking into account
Jonathan’s health issues.We have all moved on from the dark days of J.T. and I really thought there may be a future regards NESN. Not the way they are playing it now though. So I implore them, before things get out of hand; work with us, not against us. There is nothing to be gained from playing silly little power games; there is everything to be achieved from a good working relationship. We are all professionals in our field, how about treating us the same?
You can guarantee I will keep abreast of the situation and endeavour to keep you all informed.
Rudi.
Re: Hotpoint Advertise Franchises!
Just popped in for a quick visit & leave you this little gem as received today from a source related to Retra.
SERVICE FRANCHISES WITH MERLONI/HOTPOINT
As a result of representations made by Retra in recent weeks, Merloni Elettrodomestici UK have decided to invite applications from members to become part of the Merloni Franchise Network for after sales service.
Although Merloni have around 1100 engineers in the field, there is a need to supplement this workforce in order to keep up with the ever increasing numbers of products in consumers’ homes and to ensure that good quality engineers are available in all parts of the country.
Franchises will be based on an agreement directly between your business and Merloni. This will be non-exclusive (i.e.does not preclude working for other manufacturers) and cover both in-guarantee and out of guarantee work. Merloni will provide a support package, including relevant training and computer/communications systems in accordance with individually agreed needs. They are particularly interested in applications from organisations with CORGI accredited personnel.
At this stage a limited number of franchisees will be appointed. So, if you are interested I recommend you make early contact with Merloni as indicated below to obtain more information:-
Mike Kealey (HR Director)
Merloni Elettrodomestici
Morley Way
PeterboroughPlease note Mike Kealey is on holiday from 9th to 20th August, so you should not expect a response before his return.
No urgency then. One sentence tells you to get in quick, and another tells you there is nobody in place to deal with it anyway, as the only person allocated the task is on holiday. Typical of any large organisation.What happened to all the service partners that were out there before who were dedicated Merloni agents, and lost out once it all moved to Peterborough? I mean the ones who had the rug pulled out almost overnight. I bet they haven’t been approached.
I’m going now.
Rudi.
Re: Electrue/NESN
Fantastic news.
Regretfully a lot of damage has been done. I hope the new blood has taken the trouble to read some of the pages on this site to see what she has to follow & of course try & put to rights. Best of luck to her.
I’m going now, I’m not supposed to be here as I only popped in to wish U.K.W. a happy birthday, and of course to see if the news had reached here, (I should have known better).
Rudi.
Re: Happy Birthday UKW!
I only popped in to wish U.K.W. a happy birthday.
Oh! and a happy retirement to someone else.
There is a God after all.
Rudi.
As promised a response to the way I see this at present.
There are pro’s & con’s, but I’m finding the con’s to date outweigh the pro’s by a long way.
On the plus side:-
1) There is plenty of work here, and under better conditions than NESN.
2) Practically all the calls they pass on they will pay, as the rejection rate issues are not the same, and there appears to be no delays or “roll-overs”.
3) The national service director D.P. is approachable, and he has just been given assistance from within to ease the workload. New guy has just come on stream.
On the minus side:-
1) If there are any issues or queries, agents are told quite firmly, “all the information you need is on the screen, we cannot help you further, please use the info to hand”.
2) The areas, leaves a lot to be desired, they are certainly using several agents in areas and that leads to confusion and crossover. Some agents are carrying out work for them in the periphery of their areas, yet outside their own front door someone else has the contract. This is in order for them to provide what appears to be national coverage.
3) Logistics, absolute nightmare, having to cross reference all parts etc. All very well but makes life difficult if having to utilise existing stock as you have to ensure you re-order through the system. It would be better to maybe lose a bit of money on some of the stock and be able to reduce the levels in the storeroom.
4) The time spent taking jobs off the system, dealing with the admin and reporting back with the status etc. Not a problem in iself as I’m all for K.P.I.’s (Key performance indicators). The system isn’t particularly user friendly, it uses up lot of precious admin operators time and is a hidden cost.
5) Some of the bottom end of the market machines are not worth looking at, let alone wasting money on.
6) No training yet.
7) L.G. to follow shortly.
All in all I can’t say I’m not impressed to date but it must get better and I am confident it will improve as the levels of communication are so much better.
Rudi
Re: GB DAR
What the hell is it with these companies? Have they not figured it out they will eventually run out of friends?
We now have Crosslee shopping around, and from what I read they haven’t even suggested to the present repairers they have such intentions.
Candy who divorced themselves from their repair network, despite better advice, now they are begging help when they meet something that is beyond their skills.
Brandt, they terminated with 1 working day’s notice, who may I ask is keen to deal with that lot these days? Treated the agents like dirt, and are totally oblivious to the fact. Still today they refuse to accept the fact and poor old D&G are left with the spoils.
L.G. Electronics, separated from Service Force due to accounting issues, lost most of the smaller agents for the same reasons and now moved away from I.S.D.A. Gone to CDSL after stalling with D&G and then trying to woo Service Force back again.
Beko, was sniffing around GB DAR, now they are mistrusted by all involved with them as they are seemingly unfaithful.
Domestic & General, the Hotpoint GDA business was snatched away as GDA imposed a deal that prevented work going elsewhere, now D&G are trying to resurrect that one as GDA cannot meet expectations. £67.50 all inclusive of parts.
These are to name a few that we have been reading about on these pages over the last year.
The point is; they think they can ride roughshod over us, play a silly little game and move the work where & when they think fit at the drop of a hat. However, what goes around comes around. This is an ever decreasing circle and as demonstrated by the D&G GDA thing as well as Gias/Candy; it has started coming back to agents, the very same ones that were not good enough in the 1st place despite years of support given by such agents.
As I say, they must get to saturation point and we all have good memories.
GB DAR and Crosslee I will wish them all the best, it won’t be a marriage made in heaven but I suspect they may have slept together in the past. Dare I say “National Homecare is not dead, it is just resting”. Just see how GB DAR grows and what comes under their jurisdiction in the future.
Rudi
Re: CDSL
Glad this item has been raised.
Few points here I think.
1) CDSA has agreed not to approach NESN agents or recent ex agents. Gentlemans agreement applies I suppose, just need to work out which camp holds the Gentleman.
2) L.G.E. You only have to look at the recent postings and you can read betwen the lines what an outfit they are. Birds of a feather flock together has been suggested. Connect don’t seem to know what they have let themselves in for. Support is non-existant. Other service providers have steered clear of them. Hazel Elliot is a dragon of the highest degree.
3) Coverplan, better than it was, coverage is still a bit thin in places, but they are getting there. I heard a large service organisation was having talks with them & offered their services. (Sorry I aint telling you who as this is red-hot).
4) In general, CDSL have managed to create a better working relationship and don’t feed the agents with falsehoods or penalties.
We need to give it a bit of time & see how things pad out. I’m not ready to pass judgement yet as it is a lurning curve. I will look into the situation as a whole & make enquiries in the right places.
Rudi.
Re: Electrue/NESN
Just going through the minutes of the NESN Whitegoods operations meeting held Tues. 6th April. I didn’t put this up before as I was waiting to see the written word.
A lot of it was all boring stuff mainly related to operational procedures I.T. Systems etc.
There are a few encouraging points regards new work, and a proposed increase in existing work. All very well, but a drop in the ocean in comparison to what was lost. I don’t mourn the losses, but they only have themselves to blame. Had they managed it better and kept a good working relationship with agents, then things could have been so different.
The DSG thing is still high on the agenda, but I don’t know who is kidding whom. It has been tabulated that the relationship remains strong and there is to be an increase in installation calls for DSG. There is a reminder regards same day/next day service related to the contract, and now of course the service standards have scope to improve. That is due to the fact there are agents of theirs who are now bereft of work. All very well provided agents have kept the staff though the lean period just in case the hollow promises of more to come actually materialise.
I note that it was brought up in the apologies for absence from a member of DSG, that there was a degree of gratitude for maintaining the work throughout the termination period. Well there was very little choice in that one, being tied down so firmly made sure that everyone towed the line. What about the fact that as soon as CDSL came into the picture, the work died anyway? Thanks for nothing I suspect.
The contract dies on the 19th of this month, and they have made a point of reminding us we were responsible for the demise of this. To add insult to injury they have really hammered home to us the rules and stipulations that are in place to ensure you find it hard to make a living, i.e. their clause not to take on additional work.
If you breach, or have breached these provisions, then NESN has the right to take legal action against you to prevent you from approaching or dealing with any of its clients or former clients and for damages and/or an account of profits etc…
From that NESN think they have the right to undermine one’s business, and carry on treating the agents like pond life. What are they on? There are rumours abound that a certain big player in the NESN operation has lost a vote of no confidence. The shareholders must have some say in this as well, as the tactics being used is reducing the credibility of the organisation and no doubt this will be reflected on any future profits dividends etc.
I once recall J.T. telling everyone in a letter regards “making his/her solicitor richerâ€. We needn’t worry as J.T. himself seems to be good at that. But there are those who have good solicitors that can dispute this. Failing that there are other ways of overcoming this silly little ruling. I will thank them for the suggestion of contacting Jason Mac or Jo Lo for clarification; as if that one passed us all by.
The next 6 months will be interesting.
Rudi
kwatt wrote: So, if you’re in a position where you can’t keep the work you have due to this (IMO) disgraceful contract clause just set up another company, get a VAT number and switch the CDSL work over to the new company. I’m quite sure that CDSL will work with any of you on that so you can continue to do the work and stuff NESN.
K.
There is another way, set up another company to undertake that work, it will mean a bit of legwork, but can be done. If for example you are a partnership/sole trader, now is the time to become an incorporated limited company. The tax savings will justify the cause alone and it can all be done in 3 weeks. If possible get in by April 1st. Then the limited company can undertake whatever work they want, and still survive. Speak to your accountant and he/she will set the wheels in motion.
There are ways around it; you just have to be as canny as they are and keep one step ahead.
All is not lost, unless you are prepared to lose it.
The above was something I suggested back at the end on January in this thread. To change an existing partnership/sole trader is easy to do and you have in effect created a new company. You can keep the same Vat number etc. There will be tax savings as well, but the dear old chancellor has got wise to the “band wagon” effect of loads of companies taking the incorporated route, he has raised the taxation rate on dividends from 10{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} to 19{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}, still less that the normal tax banding though.
The other route, is to start another company which is “stand alone”, again you beat the draconian clause as set out by NESN.
If you want to work, you have to work at it.
Rudi
Re: The Whirlpool Thing
Wow, what can I say.
That will rattle a few nerves I suspect.
The mystery e-mail regards rates that went out has certainly done the rounds. Even a non Whirlpool agent was able to tell me the what the agents were to expect throughout the land.
Having looked at the figures I can see why feelings are so bad.
Rudi.
Re: The Whirlpool Thing
kwatt wrote:Well it would appear that some of the rates being on offer have escaped into the wild, which should irritate Whirlpool no end. 😉
I’m sure more will come out on this in the coming weeks and a clearer pictures built up but I will not publish any rates if I feel I can avoid it, that’s just plain nasty. 😉K.
I’m intrigued to know where this will be going.
Tell you what though, I’ve a copy of the pricing structure for agents regards the new 2004 rates. It is a bit of a laugh how they expect their agents to survive, but what really amazes me is how they have kept the agent database they have. It does go some way to explain why Whirlpool seems unpopular in some camps.
I won’t post the entire listing as I think it a bit unethical to display for all to see what individual companies are getting paid. Suffice to say though that the bush telegraph between Whirlpool agents will be buzzing and they will soon find out what the rates are per company.
I can tell you that the lowest warranty call will be £27.81 and the highest £40.97
The lowest contract rate will be £27.30 and the highest £40.97
The lowest 3rd party rate will be £29.87 and the highest £40.97
I haven’t included Hydro as they are unique. The point is though they expect the same repair & response standards on the same product throughout the land yet seem to pitch the rate as low as they can, hoping there is no dissent. Where there have been concerns they look as though they may have to negotiate the terms.
Rudi
