Markup on window cleaning equipment is getting silly.

[Peter J]

Can't these enquiries and directed conversations with Alex ( Gardiner ) be continued in private. With respect, it's going down a rabbit hole and becoming unprofessional

Pay the product prices, pay for the carriage and calculate the costings into your jobs and business expenses
You'll not find a better supplier elsewhere

Sorry, I was trying to be funny. Failed again

 

[Bell Pallisey]

shipping this stuff should be free unless you are a cheapskate only thatd upset the rival suppliers .I send 2 or 3 boxes of items most weeks [different biz] and offer free UK shipping long as the items a tenner or so [not got anything under that for sale anyhow] and a fiver off the overseas shipping costs helps sales .Its good business practice to offer free shipping in the home country

 

[Stuart S]

Can't these enquiries and directed conversations with Alex ( Gardiner ) be continued in private. With respect, it's going down a rabbit hole and becoming unprofessional

Pay the product prices, pay for the carriage and calculate the costings into your jobs and business expenses
You'll not find a better supplier elsewhere

Happy to do so, have already messaged him privately after posting. However, since his statements were made publicly, I felt that it's only fair that I have the right to reply, as I felt that I was being misrepresented as being dishonest. Sorry if you feel differently. I won't be initiating any further conversation here on the matter.

 

[Pjj]

I think if possible keep a small selection of spares by you so you aren’t having to just buy one or two bits , then the orders will be bigger and postage is then more acceptable. Obviously if you live in out of the way places then post charges are going ti be higher that’s just a fact of life . As others have said just factor these costs into your jobs and that will then cover it .

 

[Iron Giant]

I think if possible keep a small selection of spares by you so you aren’t having to just buy one or two bits , then the orders will be bigger and postage is then more acceptable. Obviously if you live in out of the way places then post charges are going ti be higher that’s just a fact of life . As others have said just factor these costs into your jobs and that will then cover it .

I always did a little audit before placing an order as I never need much but doing an audit means I'll order enough spares to keep me going for well over a year

 

[marlowswindows]

HI Stuart - I felt that I had to reply to this latest post from you on the subject of our shipping costs as you have made several comments in this vein.

I will not reveal exactly where in Scotland you live to respect your privacy. However the cost of shipping to you is always based on the exact cost to us whether that is by FedEx or Royal Mail. You live in a very expensive location to get goods sent to and we make no profit on shipping items to you - so none of our profits come from your postage charge (or anyone else's)

We do have a note that you prefer goods sent by Royal Mail if possible as this can save you money - we do this where appropriate and I can see that we have never charged you £25 postage for a Royal Mail parcel - your last shipment was quoted at £21 for FedEx, but at your request was instead sent by Royal Mail at a charge of £4.10 (which is somewhat off the £25 you have mentioned in this thread), this is less than the actual franking charge to us was for this package.

We always work with you to provide the lowest cost for shipping your parts and had thought that by doing so you were pleased with our service and adaptability.

With regard to your other comments about dropping quality I have looked back at the small parts you have been buying from us for the last few years and I can guarantee that the quality of these has not changed in anyway - there has been no decline in manufacturing process, materials used or reliability of these specific parts. I understand that you are perceiving this differently and I am sorry that your experience is giving you a negative impression. If you have specific warranty issues then please reach out to us for assistance.

HI Stuart - I felt that I had to reply to this latest post from you on the subject of our shipping costs as you have made several comments in this vein.

I will not reveal exactly where in Scotland you live to respect your privacy. However the cost of shipping to you is always based on the exact cost to us whether that is by FedEx or Royal Mail. You live in a very expensive location to get goods sent to and we make no profit on shipping items to you - so none of our profits come from your postage charge (or anyone else's)

We do have a note that you prefer goods sent by Royal Mail if possible as this can save you money - we do this where appropriate and I can see that we have never charged you £25 postage for a Royal Mail parcel - your last shipment was quoted at £21 for FedEx, but at your request was instead sent by Royal Mail at a charge of £4.10 (which is somewhat off the £25 you have mentioned in this thread), this is less than the actual franking charge to us was for this package.

We always work with you to provide the lowest cost for shipping your parts and had thought that by doing so you were pleased with our service and adaptability.

With regard to your other comments about dropping quality I have looked back at the small parts you have been buying from us for the last few years and I can guarantee that the quality of these has not changed in anyway - there has been no decline in manufacturing process, materials used or reliability of these specific parts. I understand that you are perceiving this differently and I am sorry that your experience is giving you a negative impression. If you have specific warranty issues then please reach out to us for assistance.

Could you now please confirm the model of your lambo also please ?

 

[dazmond]

Happy to do so, have already messaged him privately after posting. However, since his statements were made publicly, I felt that it's only fair that I have the right to reply, as I felt that I was being misrepresented as being dishonest. Sorry if you feel differently. I won't be initiating any further conversation here on the matter.

So your name is Stuart and your Scottish?

I'll just leave this here......

 

[southcoastkev]

Everybody is entitled to their opinion and postage is expensive, and just getting more expensive as time goes on. I think part of the problem is if you offer free postage then sometimes people (often without thinking) order something, get it delivered, remember they need something else, order that, get it delivered, need something else, order again etc etc. I don't believe most people do that deliberately, but it must put alot of costs onto suppliers, plus the time picking and packing etc. If they charge for delivery most people will then be a bit more picky and thorough so they don't need to place multiple orders and get charged multiple times for deliveries. Very annoying when an item breaks and it's the only thing that needs replacing, and nobody wants to place an order for extra items on top of that which are just going to sit on the shelf for ages in your van or garage, when that could have been extra money in the bank instead.

If there are quality issues then of course absolutely take it up with suppliers and I would hope they are able to help resolve any issues you had.

 

[Shinyboy]

Maybe and how would you know? One of the images below costs over £40, the other is a fiver. Without other testing equipment to know how would you determine which is which? Are you 100% sure they are not the exact same thing? If either one of these fell on your door mat how would you know? Also why assume because its cheap it doesnt do the job? Its a TDS meter not the large hadron collider!

Every window cleaner here owns a £40 plus TDS meter? Please.

Ok can someone tell me is this tds fake or the real deal? Love to knw please.

 

[Stuart S]

Just to clarify, the only issue I had with postage is being quoted for fedex delivery when RM is perfectly fine. Assuming no money is made via postage either way, then why say I can only have the expensive way? It means I would pay nearly £20 extra for something that could be sent via RM, and neither of us gets anything out of it. I know I didn't put that across very well, but it's what I meant.

Costs are costs, regardless. I'm not complaining about prices. I have no idea what the items cost, I click order and then pay. It doesn't matter. It just costs what it costs. It's just frustrating when you end up thinking that you're going to be paying nearly £25 for a couple of piece of plastic to be sent up when it could be done for far less.

 

[southcoastkev]

@Stuart S I understand mate. I love doing wfp work but when you need a few spares or replacement parts - especially if it's not the usual parts you may need and keep in the van - it can be a pain. Fingers crossed it won't happen often.

 

[AW Services]

Ok can someone tell me is this tds fake or the real deal? Love to knw please.

Fake Chineseium counterfeit clone of an HM Digital

 

[Shinyboy]

Fake Chineseium counterfeit clone of an HM Digital

Well I brought it at the cleaning show on the weekend.

 

[ched999uk]

Ok can someone tell me is this tds fake or the real deal? Love to knw please.

I believe it's a fake as the real HM ones have their logo on the bottom : https://www.daqua.co.uk/ecmeters.htm Well unless they have changed their designs?
Who did you buy it from?
I seem to remember a big supplier sending out one similar and when someone queried it they refunded it.

 

[AW Services]

Ok can someone tell me is this tds fake or the real deal? Love to knw please.

1, As previously mentioned a lot in posts that genuine HM Digital TDS-3's have a heat ribbon stamped logo under the buttons

2, they don't have a belt clip on the rear that looks like the one yours has

3, the genuine ones come supplied with a leather protective case with a belt clip

4, they do not have bright coloured buttons, more pastel toned

Did you get an instruction leaflet with it which covers it's Calibration, warranty, ISO & CE information?

 

[Pjj]

Ok can someone tell me is this tds fake or the real deal? Love to knw please.

Without seeing it in the flesh I would say it’s a fake very poor quality pitted plastic and no HM on it it certainly doesn’t look like any of mine

 

[Pjj]

Well I brought it at the cleaning show on the weekend.

Who was the supplier ?

 

[AW Services]

Who was the supplier ?

That's an interesting question??

 

[ched999uk]

The critical thing is was it sold as a HM tds meter? If not then unfortunately the company selling them has not done anything wrong.
I would say its a Chinese clone and probably not calibrated or may not even be capable of being calibrated.

For example : https://www.the-cleaning-hub.co.uk/tds-meter no mention of HM so not illegal to sell as far as I know.

 

[Skxawng]

Just to clarify, the only issue I had with postage is being quoted for fedex delivery when RM is perfectly fine. Assuming no money is made via postage either way, then why say I can only have the expensive way? It means I would pay nearly £20 extra for something that could be sent via RM, and neither of us gets anything out of it. I know I didn't put that across very well, but it's what I meant.

Costs are costs, regardless. I'm not complaining about prices. I have no idea what the items cost, I click order and then pay. It doesn't matter. It just costs what it costs. It's just frustrating when you end up thinking that you're going to be paying nearly £25 for a couple of piece of plastic to be sent up when it could be done for far less.

I get why that annoys you, it would be frustrating for me also but to be fair this is a pretty normal way of doing things. It's not practical to manually choose the optimum postage and create an bespoke postage label for every order when you have the volume of sales that Gardiner's likely have so they'll have it all automated with postage rules based on weight, location, number of items, amount spent etc.
The problem is that you fall into a slight crack in the system. Royal mail is the only company that has a set price for the whole UK, other delivery companies charge a premium for delivery to the Highlands or off the mainland - this means you have a much bigger difference in price between royal mail and fedex than other people in the country will have. But for most people it will work fine and choose the most appropriate postage.
The fact that you've said you're able to email them to change the postage and they're willing and able to do so shows pretty good customer service on their part.

As far as quality goes, I can only speak from my own experience, but I've found their products to be the most consistent, reliable and high quality that can be purchased for our industry. The backpack has been indestructible for me, the poles last for years of constant hard use and the prices are very reasonable in my opinion.

 

[AW Services]

The critical thing is was it sold as a HM tds meter? If not then unfortunately the company selling them has not done anything wrong.
I would say its a Chinese clone and probably not calibrated or may not even be capable of being calibrated.

For example : https://www.the-cleaning-hub.co.uk/tds-meter no mention of HM so not illegal to sell as far as I know.

Genuine rear calibration pot