Kevin Dean Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Or do you ? I'm self employed & in my job I visit loads of small companies , I also like visiting companies that have custom made stuff for me either for my job or my semi professional stuff . I have to say that if some of these companies worked for me I would sack them . On several occasions I would be told there opening times would 9 -5 pm for example , So I would turn up at 9am & would still be waiting at 11 am & to witnes the laid back attitude .....All of these companies produce excellent products but the price of the product is subsidising the bad work ethic . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Do these companies have to visit other sites? Have you arranged specifically to meet them at an agreed time? If there is no work to do in the office/factory, there's not a lot of point being there just in case of some passing trade. Emails and phone calls can all be done on mobiles now. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) Are these companies you're referring to one man band type operations, or small businesses with a handful of employees? Working in purchasing for a manufacturing company, I recognise what your saying, we've a one man company I want to ditch at the moment as it's essentially one bloke and he's not reliable enough for our production schedules. Small business with a handful of employees on the other hand I find to work very hard and cause us very few problems, by their very nature - if they didn't provide excellent service, they wouldn't be around long as they couldn't absorb the loss of business. Edit: Tim does raise some fair points, depending on the circumstances Edited October 30, 2014 by Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Dean Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1414660956' post='2591842'] Do these companies have to visit other sites? Have you arranged specifically to meet them at an agreed time? If there is no work to do in the office/factory, there's not a lot of point being there just in case of some passing trade. Emails and phone calls can all be done on mobiles now. . [/quote]Yes I've made appointments & driven a quite some distance . A lot of the time the owner has made the appointment & has told me they won't be there but the staff will be . Normally it's companies with less than 5 staff . Ad they have told me they are very busy & have a waiting list ? Edited October 30, 2014 by Kevin Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 In that case I would ask the owner if he knew that his staff aren't there when he thinks they are. Let him worry about potentially losing business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlungerModerno Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) I'm with TimR - let your concerns reach the owner. Perhaps he's too trusting of his hires or there are other issues... It's a shame when lack of organization & communication with clients is costing a business custom. But maybe they have little competition or are ahead of their competition in some way in their niche. If they are enjoying high demand they might be focusing on making as much dosh for as little work - a little short sighted if I ask me (and I did). If the quality of their work is not slipping the work ethic (or lack thereof!) may not prove disastrous - but the owner should be concerned. I'd be worried of what was down the line. In any case of course you don't always get what you payed for - often you should be very wary of charlatans, scammers, and just weak service or products. Edited October 30, 2014 by PlungerModerno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 I dont agree you get what you pay for, in my line, there are firms who charge 3 times the amount I do and still produce a bad job, however there are also companies doing it for such low costs that its impossible to do a good job. I say you get who you pay for , more focus on choosing the right provider for a service than the cost involved What did I miss, whats your reason for visiting these companies ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) Funnily enough in consumer law, you should get what you pay for under 'reasonable expectation'. Eg if you buy a washing machine for £150 and it breaks after 2years of weekly use it would be unlikely that you'd be able to argue with the manufacturer. However if you'd spend over £400 on one it would be a different matter. Regardless of any warranties. . Edited October 30, 2014 by TimR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 My brother is a one man operation and, be necessity, he has to leave his bike shop to pick parts up, mkae deliveries etc, all the normal stuff. I guess its a resilience thing. The more staff you have, the more you have to back you up if something needs doing. It doesn;t take much to screw it up if there are only a handful of people. One on leave, one goes sick, one on a delivery etc. Obviously, there is good and bad practice but, with mobile phones etc, no-one should be left hanging around for hours not knowing what is what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 [quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1414682382' post='2592214'] Obviously, there is good and bad practice but, with mobile phones etc, no-one should be left hanging around for hours not knowing what is what. [/quote] Thats a good point, I know things crop up , people run late etc, but there is not many excuses to date not to keep everyone informed, even at the last minute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 I'm thinking that this problem seems to arise a fair bit in 'our' industry. I'm not about to name-call, but in the recent past I've had dealings with a pro-audio amp company, a loudspeaker manufacturing outfit and an audio-engineering company, all of whom have been small to medium in size, and all of whom have been less than wonderful at doing what they say they would on time. At the other end of the scale, the current day-job involves dealing with one of the largest names in the world, which seems to consist of a multitude of Departments, none of whom know the meaning of 'communication'. (sigh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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