Grippatank

[spruce]

People on here didn’t really warn me off at the time I bought from them. I don’t use CIU unless it is to troll Scottish, they have been screaming about them over there for a long time from what I can understand.

I googled them, looked over reviews and they seemed decent. They still do if you believe online reviews to be fair. That’s why I suggested Brian share his experience.

Scottish is still so far up Oliver’s bum it’s ridiculous. Shouting about how he’s doing well and sticking by Oliver. He’s deluded. I think he’s the only one defending them. Dazmond has shared a positive experience with them but certainly not defended them. I love the part of the story where Scottish mentions Oliver travelling to him X amount of times but forgetting to mention he was paying him go do a service

Oliver was going to Scotland on holiday, so while he was up there ........
What this means in my books is that his travelling expenses can be claimed against tax.

 

[P4dstar]

Oliver was going to Scotland on holiday, so while he was up there ........
What this means in my books is that the travelling expenses can be claimed against tax.

I forgot that, you're right. Their service is a quick thing also and for £600 it's a nice pay day for stopping off on your way to a holiday. I do question however the validity of Scottish's account. It sounded very much like he wants to paint the picture of Oliver being his mate and coming out of his way to help him. In truth Grippa do installs in Scotland and its just as likely he was on his way there for work.

 

[Iron Giant]

This sounds to me like Grippa have 2 fundamental problems.
1. They don't appear to be trained engineers. A trained engineer would be using the correct bolts, creating procedures to ensure things are done correctly and are checked before leaving the factory - quality control. It shouldn't matter if you have poorly trained staff or ones who cut corners if you have robust quality control, the faults should never leave the factory. Once issues are found mitigations need to be put in place.
2. They are not good at resolving conflict. If/when something goes wrong that's the time when customer service is tested. In an ideal world the company making the mistake should sort it asap with the customer having as little disruption as possible.

They just don't seem to have robust procedures in place, be that for stock control or quality control.

Some people are great and setting up a business and gaining business they are great at the chase or that race to get too a point of success but are next to useless running a business,

They might then employ people on the cheap who maybe in the beginning did care but got to a point of not giving a toss, if a business looks like it's coming crashing down through poor management then the employees opinion will change rapidly,

The above combined means that the business will be harmed both financially and the customers experience.

There is probably a good reason why after the tank design which I believe was in collaboration with Gardiners, Alex parted company from a business relationship with Grippatank.

 

[kevinc250]

a friend of mine had a hot water install by grippa quite a few years ago (just before lock down in 2019) he messaged me with some pictures of "the workings" a 9kw two man set up, the sealant they used on the water joints could have been wiped to keep it all looking neat and show some care in their workmanship, he did have issues with the water being too hot and had many skype calls to resolve the problem before the "engineer" did a home call to fix the problem, however all is good now. i can't speak about there customer service as i once nearly bought from them but something didn't feel right (the first electric reel) and was proved to be right.
they had many a problem with that one,
the problem with the whole uk window cleaning industry is that its basically owned or marketed by a few families they control how you, the customer buy, it might seem that i am being conspirational but, that is the truth, no-one would confirm this but, it is as it is.
if i were to buy a set up again, i would more than likely have a bespoke tank made with possibly a streamline hot water
install as, they do have a history of being dependable or ionics these two have been in the hot water business for such a long time they have learned how to do it properly without glitches and hiccups,
that being said, if you had a cold water set up with the basic hand reels then, any company would suit your needs.

 

[spruce]

a friend of mine had a hot water install by grippa quite a few years ago (just before lock down in 2019) he messaged me with some pictures of "the workings" a 9kw two man set up, the sealant they used on the water joints could have been wiped to keep it all looking neat and show some care in their workmanship, he did have issues with the water being too hot and had many skype calls to resolve the problem before the "engineer" did a home call to fix the problem, however all is good now. i can't speak about there customer service as i once nearly bought from them but something didn't feel right (the first electric reel) and was proved to be right.
they had many a problem with that one,
the problem with the whole uk window cleaning industry is that its basically owned or marketed by a few families they control how you, the customer buy, it might seem that i am being conspirational but, that is the truth, no-one would confirm this but, it is as it is.
if i were to buy a set up again, i would more than likely have a bespoke tank made with possibly a streamline hot water
install as, they do have a history of being dependable or ionics these two have been in the hot water business for such a long time they have learned how to do it properly without glitches and hiccups,
that being said, if you had a cold water set up with the basic hand reels then, any company would suit your needs.

One of the advantages Ionics have with their diesel heater is that they don't do a compact unit.

So many of the other suppliers try to shoehorn all the components into a small enclosure. The system is easy to work on and none of the hoses need to have sharp bends. The downside of this is that it has a bigger footprint which takes up valuable floor space.

I don't like the way that their system is a single operator system which means that one operator gets the heat and the other doesn't. I would much rather see a second heat exchanger with a mixer valves so both operators can share the heat. However, the single operator has much more heat than if the heat is shared.

But this is just my opinion.

 

[P4dstar]

a friend of mine had a hot water install by grippa quite a few years ago (just before lock down in 2019) he messaged me with some pictures of "the workings" a 9kw two man set up, the sealant they used on the water joints could have been wiped to keep it all looking neat and show some care in their workmanship, he did have issues with the water being too hot and had many skype calls to resolve the problem before the "engineer" did a home call to fix the problem, however all is good now. i can't speak about there customer service as i once nearly bought from them but something didn't feel right (the first electric reel) and was proved to be right.
they had many a problem with that one,
the problem with the whole uk window cleaning industry is that its basically owned or marketed by a few families they control how you, the customer buy, it might seem that i am being conspirational but, that is the truth, no-one would confirm this but, it is as it is.
if i were to buy a set up again, i would more than likely have a bespoke tank made with possibly a streamline hot water
install as, they do have a history of being dependable or ionics these two have been in the hot water business for such a long time they have learned how to do it properly without glitches and hiccups,
that being said, if you had a cold water set up with the basic hand reels then, any company would suit your needs.

This is how they started off with me, trying to sort stuff. They seemed to get used to putting me on the back burner and when I threaten to do something about it they cut off what little they were actually willing to do.

 

[P4dstar]

One of the advantages Ionics have with their diesel heater is that they don't do a compact unit.

So many of the other suppliers try to shoehorn all the components into a small enclosure. The system is easy to work on and none of the hoses need to have sharp bends. The downside of this is that it has a bigger footprint which takes up valuable floor space.

I don't like the way that their system is a single operator system which means that one operator gets the heat and the other doesn't. I would much rather see a second heat exchanger with a mixer valves so both operators can share the heat. However, the single operator has much more heat than if the heat is shared.

But this is just my opinion.

I have this. I recirculate the water throughout the day and it has the pressure release valve also so the water in the tank does get a little hot. So am I right in thinking the single operator hotbox I have is the only one they do? I assumed there would be a two man box also.

I’ve just ordered myself a Thermopure fully built system. Again I’m under the impression that is a 2 man unit, not just an individual operator with the second having cold water.

The box does take up rather a lot of space in the van. I suggested mounting a reel above the box with a metal frame as a potential use for the space. I put it to them to see if there were any potential drawbacks and the only thing they came back with was leakage from the reel damaging the electrical components on the top of the box

 

[spruce]

These are the only photos I have. It wasn't that long ago the @Pjj mentioned that his dual operator system has only one who can have heat, so they alternate each day. He also stated that the recirculated hot water does warm the water in the tank up, so the second operator does get a bit of benefit of warm water later in the day.

Things do change quite quickly in this industry. At one time, Ionics were the only supplier who used the built-in Webasto electronic heat control and labelled it winter and summer setting. A few others are doing it as well now.

It could be that the latest units are designed differently.

 

[P4dstar]

These are the only photos I have. It wasn't that long ago the @Pjj mentioned that his dual operator system has only one who can have heat, so they alternate each day. He also stated that the recirculated hot water does warm the water in the tank up, so the second operator does get a bit of benefit of warm water later in the day.

Things do change quite quickly in this industry. At one time, Ionics were the only supplier who used the built-in Webasto electronic heat control and labelled it winter and summer setting. A few others are doing it as well now.

It could be that the latest units are designed differently.




View attachment 30974View attachment 30975View attachment 30976

I’ll find an answer for you later today. I’m not sure this will work for me if it’s only a one man unit. I’d rather add a box and lose the space than have a cold pump.

 

[P4dstar]

Small update but I will confirm, the paperwork quotes additional heat exchanger for Thermopure unit.

 

[P4dstar]

Confirmed with ionics, it is a full 2 man system and the additional burner is for the second pump.

 

[spruce]

Confirmed with ionics, it is a full 2 man system and the additional burner is for the second pump.

It will be very interesting to see how they split the heat supply for both heat exchangers and if they are now using mixer valves.

 

[P4dstar]

It will be very interesting to see how they split the heat supply for both heat exchangers and if they are now using mixer valves.

Wouldn’t know it if I saw it. I shall take you some pictures when it’s installed though

 

[J'D]

Jesus H, that thread in CIU makes my blood boil. Scottish still knocking around like he’s got shares in Grippa or something. I’ve just remembered I don’t miss that guy. You’re welcome to him at CIU.

Here’s what you need to do Brian, get a quote for the cost of the repair. Put it to Oliver and he will ignore you. If you do get a response it’s likely tell you they can’t help because you’re putting the info on a public forum. Give him a deadline after which you’ll take them to court. The day after the deadline apply to the county court. It’s only between £50-70. At this point you have to tell the story in chronological order.

They have 14 days to respond. At around 3pm on day 14 they will request further time and be allocated the statutory 21 days extra. At around the same time on day 21 they will claim they owe you nothing but agree to mediation.

During mediation the mediator will ring you and get your version of events. Then ring Grippa. It’s at a scheduled time so happens all at once. Phone down to you, phone them, phone down to them, phone you etc etc. You need to be willing to compromise otherwise the mediation won’t work. Interest has been added to the debt, so has court fees. You may want to compromise by knocking £10 off the interest, you may want to forgo the interest altogether. Either way you make your compromise and come up with an agreement. Payment should be made in 7 days.

Day 7 will come about and you won’t have been paid. Awkward one because you can go straight to the court and send a bailiff… in truth they’ll pay you the following day just because they’re that cash strapped or stupid.

***please note*** the above is a completely fabricated scenario and not in any way my own personal experience. I am allowed to tell you that I took Grippa to court but the final agreement etc and resolution to the case is private and confidential as you are required to agree with mediation.

 

[J'D]

I wouldn't go near grippatank again, haven't done so for years! Horrendous company to deal with!