offered to service the equipment free of charge for the same period. Wow, I hear you say - what an offer!
It may not have cost us anything in maintenance and servicing over a five year period, but the machine could not do the work it was designed to do and, if it cannot do that, no amount of guarantee is going to fix it.
So, warranties and guarantees, though making you feel more secure, may not be all they are cracked up to be.
It was a very difficult time for the dealer too as, through no fault of their own, they had to be called out continuously to try to fix the unfixable, and I am certain they were not fully reimbursed for their trouble! A few situations like that can put a good company out of business. I am certain, in hindsight, that we should have done more homework before making the final decision to purchase. It was a new model in the range and not tried and tested over time. We did contact previous users, as every purchaser should always do, but they were using older models which were much more reliable, so our research was simply not good enough. But, no matter what we did
wrong, we would never entertain any equipment from that manufacturer again - an instance when a guarantee worked in a very negative way. I have been somewhat wary of them since that time, as a buyer at least!
Looking at warranties and guarantees as a seller
As some of you may know, I now work on, what is laughingly described as, “the dark side” where our company serves and sells to you as customers. We now look at warranties and guarantees in a more positive light - well, we would do, wouldn’t we? It’s a very strong
selling tool and we would be stupid to ignore it! However, what we must not do, as a company, is get into a situation, which I described previously, or our business would no survive.
When I was considering working for a Japanese company I found out about the Japanese ‘guarantee for life’ philosophy which is, indeed, what it says. In this instance they constructed a golf course and guaranteed it for life! A phenomenal promise and, as far as I am aware, they are still in business and thriving. In this case the company
makes absolutely sure that what it does is right first time and, if there are any problems, it fixes them immediately, without argument. The proof that it works comes from the success of the company. It could not survive if it had to continually return to a previous construction to fix problems.
The company is confident in what it does and stands by the quality of the products and workmanship which it uses.
Summary
So, in summary, have we learned anything?
1.Should we be looking for a warranty or a guarantee of quality on workmanship and product before we decide to buy?
2.If we are offered a warranty or guarantee is it the main reason for purchasing from that company?
In my experience the answer to 1 is definitely yes - even going through what I had gone through.
And to 2, I would also say yes. If a company offers a warranty or guarantee it is a way of saying “we are confident in what we do and we don’t mind saying so”. What buyers must do, however, is research the company, ask
them for the names and contact details of present and previous customers to ensure what you buy is not something you will regret.
Prelude - the financial situation and staying positive
I have had quite a direct response from my previous article regarding the reluctance to accept the financial downturn. Thank you all for your positive feedback!
Many of our customers had
large projects in mind to improve their golf courses and sports grounds and, because of restrictions in budgets, cannot move forward which is very disheartening. We are a very proud profession which, in some ways, does not do us any favours (we hide the problems and make do and mend).
A better way is to call in the company which was earmarked for your project purchase and ask them what they can do to help you get what you want - you may not get it as quickly as was first thought but, with their help, you will get there in the end. If you fix things, rather than working to a well thought out plan for replacement, you are just throwing good money away and nobody can agree with that, particularly your employers. At this time employers are looking for help to maintain and increase standards without increased costs and/or money wasted. There are always solutions to problems if you make the effort. Working to a budget plan for the future may just come out cheaper than repairing what you have - it is worth looking at, at least!
Duncan McGilvray Managing Director,
Enviropro H2O Ltd
duncan.mcgilvray@
enviroproh2o.com
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