Calling Brodex - Are You Trying To Kill Us Off?

[Solar Steve]

I am not happy. At this BRODEX link, you can see 'THE industry leaders in high level cleaning technology' trying to kill off a potentially huge part of their current customers trade. http://www.telsysuk.com/shop/solar_panel_cleaning_kit_-_commercial

Many have bought stuff from brodex, who claim to value highly their customers. So get a load of this, which is a quote from the above web page: "This is the same quality equipment that the opperators (sic!) that you may currently subcontract to use, we are the industry leaders in high level cleaning technology, it is such an easy technique, training can be given in minutes to unskilled operatives."

In other words, "The people who got our business off the ground and who have continually bought our kit, have the same kit as this. Fire them off, you buy some of our kit and do it yourself. Oh, and by the way, any old idiot can do it."

So BRODEX:

1. How have you measured what makes an industry leader in high level cleaning technology?

2. Training can not be given in minutes. Do these unskilled operatives hold IPAF licences? They will need them on a lot of commercial solar installations.

3. By saying to owners of solar installations "Do it in house.", you are alienating what is i am assuming, your biggest customer base, namely, US. I sincerely hope you do not begin to market your window cleaning gear in the same way. If you sell it to commercial clients in the same way as this, you are doing us out of work. You should not bite the hand that feeds you. Us window cleaners must make up a huge slice of your marketplace. Alienate us, and you will struggle.

BRODEX, I have bought your kit for the 10 years I have been wfp. But over this, you may well lose my custom. You may think I am only 1 customer. But I personally know about 20 window cleaners who used to buy your kit, but who i know now buy from a certain Alex Gardiner.

I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I spent £665 on a 25 ft pole, nearly 5 times what I could buy a 25 ft from BRODEX. The truth is, I like what I got for £665, but I wasn't sure as I would become a regular Gardiner customer. After this though, I might...I am only a single customer, but your single customers collectively make up your client base. PLEASE LOOK AFTER US BETTER.

I look forward to a reply from BRODEX or anyone else's opinion.

 

[Njones]

Well said Steve!

 

[Iain]

Pretty poor!

 

[Solar Steve]

I've now found another page about this which backs up my argument further. Look for the "Stop Out Sourcing!" bit. You'll love it.

http://www.telsysuk.com/solar_panel_cleaning_kit_-_commercial

http://www.telsysuk.com/datasheets/Ecostat_soalr_350_data_sheet.pdf

 

[bluemonkey]

so what, they are trying to sell to business, 99.9% wont take it up, as most business wont bother cleaning there solor panels, if this is making you worried, then you need to get a new job, as for instance, you can go homebase and buy trad window cleaning gear, but i aint bothered, u can buy a plug in wfp system, so what, most people are lazy and wont do it themselves,

 

[Iain]

I doubt many businesses would want to make that kind of financial commitment anyway. Even for the largest building if they spent over £4k it could take them years to make their money back!

 

[All Round Cleaning]

I lost a job when a customer said she can get a set of steps for £5 instead of paying me £6 to clean her windows I just laughed .

Same principle but on a different scale .

 

[Solar Steve]

so what' date=' they are trying to sell to business, 99.9% wont take it up, as most business wont bother cleaning there solor panels, if this is making you worried, then you need to get a new job, as for instance, you can go homebase and buy trad window cleaning gear, but i aint bothered, u can buy a plug in wfp system, so what, most people are lazy and wont do it themselves, [/quote']I completely buy into the homebase argument. But homebase sell a wide variety of goods. They do not specifically target a specific trade, as do brodex. To sell to one client, then to sell to a second client and actively tell them not to use your first client will only annoy the first client. If your first client is a regular customer, but your second is a one off, you will lose your regular which doesn't make good business sense. Annoying regular customers in such a blatant fashion is not a good idea.

 

[Solar Steve]

I lost a job when a customer said she can get a set of steps for £5 instead of paying me £6 to clean her windows I just laughed .Same principle but on a different scale .

Fair point.

 

[All Round Cleaning]

Companies like brodex , gardiners , facelift etc etc couldnt give a toss who buy the products

As long as they are making money they dont care who buys them .

I bet mr gardiner sells poles all day long to his competitors and doesnt even bat an eye lid to it .

 

[Iain]

That's certainly a conflict of interest with Brodex. It's fine to sell to one company and then sell to their competitor but by deliberately undermining a professional window cleaner isn't right.

 

[All Round Cleaning]

That's certainly a conflict of interest with Brodex. It's fine to sell to one company and then sell to their competitor but by deliberately undermining a professional window cleaner isn't right.

I agree with you ian and I agree with what steve is saying too .

 

[Dodger]

Hmm gotta agree and disagree to a point. I kind of agree with bluemonkey as well although maybe not as strongly lol.

Brodex make this gear and they gotta sell it, they've seen an opening so they're taking it and they'd be fools not to wouldn't they cos they're running a business after all. They're not the only people charge too much for their products or services either to be fair.

I do agree that dissing the people that have bought their products and created the niche in the first place is a bit out of order but it's not that much different to the wfp guys that diss tradders to get work now is it.

 

[James]

Typical Brodex. It's not the first time I've heard (and seen) this behaviour. Not a company I would ever use.

 

[bluemonkey]

i still dont get why steve is so up set, all he has done is bought some equipment and now brodex are selling it to commercial at a high price, am sorry i just dont get why he is so up set

 

[Belfastcleaning]

how much are ionics solar cleaning systems?

 

[Newbie123]

Age old argument this electricians,gas fitters etc are all paying the price of the general public being sold all sorts electrically you can buy a mains board from b&q with absolutely no idea what your doing and possibly kill yourself doing it to save a couple of hundred quid you can still buy a gas boiler of the shelf at b&q superstores and not show any proof of competency and go home and blow the whole street up joe public end up dying but it's the legit companies who pay for it all with stealth taxes like part p gas safe schemes but your big DIY stores and the companies that make the equipment keep selling to people with no idea what they are doing so if it widely happens in window cleaning expect injuries to increase and the health and safety laws to tighten and it's only the legit companies like yourself that can be taxed to pay for it all sorry guys its a fact of life in this day and age but the work even if reduced will always be there you just got to get it . Personally I feel window cleaning rounds have out priced themselves at 10 times the value to the point where even that damages the trade slightly as it all pushes prices up makes competition more common with new comers looking to take the round without paying off the existing cleaner as used to be he in turn would buy new work else where and the process of commerce continued in one way or another everyone of us is guilty of something in the overall damage to the trades

 

[Bingo]

Phew!!!

Hey Newbie 123....

Remind me to take a deep breath when reading your posts /emoticons/tongue.png :lol: .

 

[Newbie123]

Used gas and electrical as an example but its through every trade you look at roofers scaffold only nowadays ladder regs effect pretty much every trade building regs effect most in one way or other it will only get worse as more and more people who have no idea get injured

 

[Newbie123]

Hey Newbie 123....Remind me to take a deep breath when reading your posts /emoticons/tongue.png :lol: .

Sorry pal punctuation lessons have been long forgotten need to find a shorter way to explain myself must admit lol

 

[Bingo]

No problem...just having a laugh /emoticons/smile.png .