No credit crunch in the Yacht parts market...

M

mikehibb

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 Sep 2007
Messages
1,994
Location
Bulcote
Visit site
Some suppliers of boat equipment must have had a good year and are happy to have a good holiday over the festive season.

Firstly I must state that I have no problems with people having a hard earned holiday.

Today I phoned up an official dealer of a product that I was hoping to buy. Yes I know it is boxing day. I did not expect to speak to a real person and did expect to get a recorded message.

I did not expect the message to say that they will be closed until 5th January.

Where I work we take turns doing Christmas and New Year cover, I would have expected that most retailers would be open for business next Monday for a couple of day before the new year. Especially in this ecconomic climate.

There is another registered dealer of the same equipment in UK, I found them from on the net, gave them a call, just to check when they would be back in the office, yes they will be open on Monday.
Looks like they will get my money now.

As I said earlier I hold no grudge for people having holidays, but to have your company incommunicado for two weeks means that you will lose business.

(must add that I had already told the first company that I would be wanting to place an order later this week for delivery to a UK address first week in Jan, they even checked stock availability for me, so they could have told me that they were closing shop for two weeks)
 
I can understand your disapointment, but maybe it is because of the "credit crunch"that this company have decided to close for seven continuous week days in a bid to reduce costs. Having worked in this cottage industry all my days i am aware that the majority of people who are involved in the boating industry work the equivilent of at least six days a week, by normally exceeding the eight hour working day and or working weekends, also, will in the main "turn too" at any hour of the day or night in the case of an emergency.
The Xmas / New Year period is possibly the quietest time of the year in this industry and the one occasion when employees can be with their families for more than a few hours at a time, LBS is just round the corner, and if exhibiting, needs fully charged "batteries"to last the pace
Lots of industries close for this period of time so the marine industry is by no means alone. Try purchasing items from France during the MONTH of August!!
You tell us that you had spoken with the company concerned prior to Xmas, perhaps some forward thinking could have saved you the time writing to this forum and your item delivered for an agreed date in the New Year.
 
I 2nd you Grajan. I have closed my Business until Jan 5th also, mainly because things are quiet. Had things have been off the walls busy "like previous years", then i would not be closed for the whole period. However, I will still return my voice messages in the same day no matter what day it is. My friend who is an auctioneer for a large firm, along with his colleagues, have also closed the office for an extended duration this year also being very quiet. Many businesses will have extended holidays this year mainly due to having the opportunity to. I am of the thought that, any business that "can" close for this time, should take the opportunity and do so. I also believe that "most" however closed they are, should have a contact phone no. for (emergency cases etc)
 
always used to close the factory from before xmas til after new year. that way I could minimise the number of days holiday that staff had and which they could take any time of the year outside works shutdown weeks. cut down on disruption cos even though you could refuse their hols requests for a particular date, they had the right to take them sometime.

I can imagine a similar problem even with just a shop if its tightly manned.
 
Good for you Mike, your experience of the first company you contacted is a prime example of the total lack of awareness of what customer service means. If you had been in the USA they would have taken your message, at worst they would have called you back as soon as it wasn't a public holiday and had the goods shipped to you for next day delivery. Since spending some time working in the USA I have become an agressive consumer here in the UK, and companies who clearly don't want my money when I am ready to spend it are the losers not only at that time but forever. I once saw a phrase that says:- "The most important person to the success of a business is the customer, how he/she allocates their spending power directly determines the success or failure of the enterprise." Its a pity that so many UK businesses have forgotten this fundamental.

If you are going to the Boat Show in January, count the number of standholders who sit there reading magazines or newspapers, or chatting to other stand staff or doing anything other than their prime task, namely being there to serve you the customer. It will be a scarily large number.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'm open and even did a nice order on christmas day.

[/ QUOTE ]

Glad you got a order, I spent Christmas day and boxing day sorting out a service problem on a Sealine in Belgium.

At the best we may see a £50 spares order, oh the joy of the marine trade.

Brian
 
I'm closed for 3 weeks Hee Hee, but my personal mobile is published & I have taken one call already. Most of my business over the holiday would have been more donations.

Now donations are my lifeblood, but some come with bloodpoisoning built in! At this time of year I can expect the 20-30% of completely unuseable donations to rise to 50-70%. I will possibly lose £500 in takings, and save a few quid in lighting & heating. BUT, I didn't get to use my "Leave allowance" this year due to covering other people's holidays, so it offers a welcome break for me.

Every business is different. Most Internet business will still respond to orders. The Open/ Close decisions are very different for every business, some will not pay salaries for a shut down, or count them against annual holiday in order to cut costs, I will do neither. When we re-open we will be ready for the Spring rush & raring to go, that is enough of a benefit for me.

It's your perogative to take your business where you will, but why should anyone really stress about it. Single customer boycotts are never going to be noticed, but genuinely bad customer care will put a company out of business completely in no time at all.
 
I'm sorry, why would anyone want/expect people to be working on Chistmas day,Boxing day or New Years day? These are official bank holidays here in the UK.

When I ran ran my small practice I always closed it down for the Christmas/New Year period; partly because the building industry closed down at this time, but mainly because both I and my staff wanted to be with thier family at this time. I never lost any business by doing this, as my clients knew what was happening. I had my mobile on during office hours but turned off at all other times. As an employer you have a responsibility to your staff's well being as well as running a business. I always found that if my staff were happy then my business was happy, therefore my clients were happy.

I don't and never haved believed in the American system, where the customer comes first at all times and at any cost to the business. What is good for the Yanks is not necessary good for your British staff or your business. Thier system doesn't work in Europe as we don't (luckily) have thier mentality for the customer comes first 24/7, and the staff will work all hours for no extra pay to acheive this. Hence the EU working time directive, which actually as an employer I agreed with.
 
Absolutely seconded there gerry99. My sentiments exactly & for the last 30 yrs I have been just the same. My attitude is..."The customer is King". I remember many yrs ago popping into a shop in Scotland to enquire about a very expensive dress shirt I liked that had been in the window for over 12 mths. I made an offer saying I knew it had been languishing in the window for over 1 year & wouldn't he like to cut his losses & get rid of it.?
No, he still wanted the full price & wouldn't even consider discounting at all. What a fool, i.e...carrying on as if there is no competition, & comfortably sitting at the back of the shop. Meanwhile the Asian shopowner next door was outside the shop asking customers if there was anything they needed.
There seem to be too many 'cartels' in this country as well, whereby manufacturers/Importers are insisting on ridiculous minimum retail prices, in spite of the very low manufacturing costs in China.
This must be why there is very little difference between prices, from one marine retailer to another. So no REAL competition at all actually.
I promptly went next door & bought the same shirt from an Indian retailer at half the price.
 
From the title of this thread it would seem that you, Mike, believe that all the Marine Suppliers are closed over the xmas period because they can afford to do so, having not been hit by the credit crunch. I dont believe this to be the case. As far back as i can remember it has been traditional in this business as it is in many others.
 
We are wondering whether to buy a motorhome and, as you can imagine, the motorhome market is in as deep in poo poo as any market can be. Mrs L decided she'd like to look at the largest local distributor -- Marquess Motorhomes -- in Bagshot today, Saturday 27th. No public holiday but all the public are on holiday. Shut. Gates banged-up tighter than Pentonville. Makes you wonder.

(Also makes you wonder why we didn't phone first.....just as daft as them not being open, really, I suppose).
 
I think some people here are missing the point. I think we would all agree that the customer is most important to the whole enterprise so no confusion there. However there HAS to be some give and take. Why should a business be "blasted" for being closed on what appears to be public holiday days or the time between xmas and new year. Like my practice, were closed as i said however, im always at the other end of the phone to take calls and of course new business, and will never shy away from that no matter how big or small my business is. If a business is expected to be open for business on such holidays around xmas, then where does is stop? Should business be open on Sundays and other public holidays days too? I don't think so. But in saying that i do agree that most business should have a contact no. available on some holidays such as the extended holiday period around xmas. I used work for a large organisation in my last life, and we would allocate different days "including xmas day" where someone would be on the other end of the phone, and around in the case of an urgent matter. What i do find fustrating, is a business that is uncontactable on a normal working day. One large outfit in Dublin in winter is closed one day a week, and while trying to phone an order in,, i didnt even get a msg to state that they were closed. That is annoying. I do call outs and meetings late in the evening time, on weekends, and any other time possible in order to generate new business and maintain a high customer satisfaction but lets just allow some days rest for those who work so hard all other times during the year. Again, with the downturn this year, people for once have an opportunity for themselves and their employees to have some quality time with their loved ones, after all, it is xmas.
 
Surely the point is that your prospective customers don't care whether you "do call outs and meetings late in the evening time, on weekends, and any other time possible in order to generate new business and maintain a high customer satisfaction". If your business is closed when they want to visit you they will go elsewhere. Period.

If you want that business you will have to ensure that someone is there. Or risk losing the business.

If they wanted the business badly enough, most companies would ensure that someone was available in retail businesses during Christmas and New Year, when all the office and factory workers are at home --- surely that is a no-brainer? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
"If you want that business you will have to ensure that someone is there. Or risk losing the business"

I don't think it is that straight forward as it also depends on your business, who are your customers, and your USP to get these customers.

However, I agree the original post reflects poor service by the retailer, who after handing the inquiry failed to mention they would be closed and therefore unable to meet the customer delivery requirements.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I don't think it is that straight forward as it also depends on your business, who are your customers, and your USP to get these customers.

[/ QUOTE ]Marquess Motorhomes have kissed goodbye to any hope of a sale to us. We won't be in the UK when their breath alcohol returns to the level at which they will return to work. Their choice. There are probably loads of other people who would have looked at their products over Christmas but who will be too busy once they have to go to work themselves.

Kitchen staff should be prepared to eat their own dinners outside normal dinner hours. Seems pretty obvious to me /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I hve regular contact with a business in Gibraltar, as a customer. After a fax bounced twice I called them, only to find that all Gib phones now have 3 extra digits. No mention of this in any correspondence I received before. Not too important, but it would have been nice to know. Ones first thought was that they had gone bust or something.
A
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top