During the course of doing work on the house, car, general purchases, living etc we have to interact with Companies and people to get what we want whilst they are trying to pass of something we probably don't want or need.
A good (excellent) company is one that listens to what you want and tries to meet your requirements, a bad (lowest of the low) company doesn't. In between are all the satisfactory ones. My idea of a good company is one that has gone out of their way to may you, the customer, happy; their reward - recommendations and repeated sales. A bad company on the other hand is one that clearly does not care and goes out of their way to make their quick buck regardless of your satisfaction; their reward - negative recommendation and no further sales.
| Around 1999 | This company does some unusual audio visual bits of kit. I've bought a few things from them but the first item was their SyncBlaster cable for connecting plasma screens to AV kit. This was in the days when plasma screens were £4000 and had no tuners. Due to the way I was connecting mine it didn't quite work and I chatted to their techy guy who modified a cable for me. Excellent customer service and talking to the guy with the soldering iron makes all the difference when you want to discuss something technical. |
|
| June 2008 | Famous for their replacement MGB body shells. My wife bought me a Morris Minor model for a birthday present - really detailed, everything works, has a tool kit too, the biz - However the bonnet hinges don't have the pins in alignment and so you can't open the bonnet very wide - there is even a sticker saying don't open more than 60 degrees. The metal round the hinge pins is very thin not a great design. Well, my bonnet fell off before I opened it to 60 degrees. Anyway, when my wife called explaining the bonnet had broken and they immediately appologised and sent out a new model, I got it the next day. But that one was broken too. Another call and they sent another, fantastic, which they checked and is fine - although I'm a bit scared to open the bonnet. We felt really awkward that they were breaking but the company were excellent in their service to make sure we I got a fully functioning model for my birthday. |
|
| 1998-2008 | Bristan (shower and taps) |
I bought one of their shower units when I re-fitted the bathroom. I had heard that they go wrong often but I liked the style and the fact that these are all chrome on brass. None of that plastic stuff here. They are really well made. The one I got is thermostatically controlled but after a few years the thermostat failed (each time I showered it got colder and colder!). A quick call and they sent out a replacement, under warranty. A little while later the hose started leaking, I called again and also mentioned one of the knobs was scratched, a few days later and a new hose and knobs arrived, warranty again. Another few years passed and the thermostat failed again, another call and replacement sent out, warranty, yes, good isn't it? A few years later and the rubber seals had perished and the shower head not spraying as well due to the rubber washer that made the pattern had shrunk. Another call and I shortly had a seal repair kit, new valve and replacement head. I can't see that they actually made any profit at all from me but their service has been excellent to the point where I almost want to buy the parts out of embarrassment, my warranty is way out of date. They even told me the design has changed but still sent me the parts. I will definitely be buying their shower for our next house. |
| August 08 | Bull Motif Ltd - Morris Minor Spares |
I bought some hub conversion kits that did not fit (see evidence here). I sent them back as faulty and not fit for their purpose. Under the Sale of Goods and Distance Selling laws (which I confirmed with ConsumerDirect.gov.uk) they should have repaid the full price including postage and as they were faulty they should also have paid the return postage as well, it being their responsibility to collect faulty goods. This type of thing annoys me as they know we don't have the clout to get our money back, after all its only £8. They pass us off with comments like "it was within spec" or "it fits our cars ok" and "we don't return postage its in our terms and conditions". |
| Sometime around 2004 | Singer Sewing Centre, Southampton |
The shop, nothing to do with Singer, except they sell them. We were pressure sold a sewing machine. We are still gob smacked when we think back to this. The machine itself is great but they way we were sold it makes us always think twice and never buy anything on the first look ever again. The pressure sell consisted of a demo of the machines, which is as expected, then when we are almost taken with one, offer a discount, which incidentally wasn't that great but we had no comparison, the seller knew this so his catch is to say that he can only make the offer now. We said we were going to go across the road to another shop for some other shopping and would consider it. His response, "if you go out the shop they price will go back with no discount". We bought it, doh! The astounding thing is that this is a pressure sell for not the usual pressure sell item and a high street shop. We tried to return the item 1 hour later once what had happened hit us but he said there was nothing wrong with the machine and there are no returns. He may be right but it's no way to encourage return customers is it. |