[Patti]

So, it appears because a few people bother Hydramaster for support on a regular basis but never actually buy products from them. We will now have to pay for telephone support. They are offering support packages.  The basic being £100. The premium £300

Apart from the very rare occasion, we have never bothered Hydramaster for advice. We mostly buy our chemicals etc from them. I would like to think we could telephone them if we needed them. But I don't think I would want to have to pay £100 for the privilege.

But I can understand why they have done it. Imagine how we would feel if people kept asking us for carpet cleaning advice but never actually asked us to clean their carpet?

How do you feel about these support packages?

[Patti]

I see now that someone has brought this up before but we've just had the email. Have any of you been contacted by HM about this?

[Jim_77]

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=122127.0

[Mike Halliday]

so let me get this straight.... because HM havn't got the bottle to tell a few idiots  to stop taking advantage  of HM good nature everyone else has to pay £100.

why not just tell the those that have been taking the p#ss they have had enough free advice and from now on they have to pay.

[mark shannon]

Patti supports for Truckmounts not chemical advise.

[derek west]

i feel a bit cheated really, bought my truckmount off HM and every new part its needed ive bought from them, inc RX and SX, i had someone strip my psi regulater down (no parts needed) that wasn't from HM but that was because i didn't fancy doing the job myself and a 800 mile (12 hours) round trip would of been stupid for a 1 hour (by a pro) job. not sure what to do now.

understand why there doing it but not sure its a good move or a fair one.

ive always given excellent feedback to HM and the team down there, especially on how helpful they are when you have a problem and parts are shipped straight away. looks like i'll have to pay £100 to give good feedback in future, cos without paying it, i won't be able to ring them.

[davep]

Would I buy a machine off them?  Not if I had to pay for advice after forking out all that money!

[Simon Gerrard]

Mike and Derek,

Good points.
I've spent a lot of money with HM over the years and must say I'm not too happy at being asked to pay for the odd occasion I need tech support.

Simon

[Neil Williams]

Someone please tell me their not charging everyone with this 'fee.'
Because if l were Simon and having spent numerous thousands with them I'd be pretty well naffed off with having to subscribe to a paid help line.

[Simon Gerrard]

As far as I know it is across the board, everyone pays.
I do appreciate HM's position with people ringing up for help and then buying parts else where, that's not fair. But for people like me  who ring them for tech support (diagnostics) and then order the parts from them, I must say I feel a bit aggrieved and the majority are being asked to pay for the few.

Simon

[Neil Williams]

But surely this must be free as part of the 12/24 month warrantee (whatever they give) and then another 12 months on top of that ,and it should be backdated too.

Let's put it this way, I have contacted BMW before when I needed advice on my car and I bought it second hand. If they started this 'You pay for advice' stuff i'd sell the car and start using a different manufacturers vehicles.

[david washbrook]

allthough i agree that hm carnt keep paying martin to talk on the phone to people who dont buy from them or who use other machines and that charging for this is fair enough.

but what when like lots of others you have spent £thousands with hm over the years and all of a sudden a problem occures and you have to pay for advice to fix it , hm have always given me excellent service and advice and that is the main reason i chose their machine.

im not saying they are wrong to do this but dont know if i think its right to charge regular customers either.

martin- what does the annual service cover as my last annual service cost me close to £300 alone

thanks
dave

[Shaun_Ashmore]

They're stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, one thing to consider is that with all the help and advice over the phone they have a greater chance of selling another TM in the future as you buy on confidence.

[Martin Cox]

We pride ourselves in being one of the leading, if not, the leading Truckmount supplier in the UK.
We have worked hard over the years to provide everyone with a good level of service and we aim to get you up and running as soon as possible when a problem occurs.

But, as a business we cannot survive on selling you a machine and then the odd spare part or accessory.
Only a few customers actually buy service items from us, most of you buy your oils and filters etc elsewhere.
Ultimately, if everyone did that we would have no regular business and may not survive and then you would have no help at all.

This decision we have made is not going to please everyone, but it should help to weed out most of the timewasters and ensure that we are still here to serve and help you all in years to come.

[Neil Williams]

Martin, surely you can build it into the initial purchase cost that the buyer gets 3 years free advice.
These machine don't come cheap in anyones language.

[Martin Cox]

To save any confusion, if you have a machine that is currently under warranty you do not have to purchase support, you will continue to get free help until the warranty expires.
The HydraMaster machines do come with a free optional 3 year warranty.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

When I bought my 1st HM TM they were flying out of the door especially with the good £ to $ exchange rate the prices were keen but now the £ to $ isn't the same and HM have lost a quarter of their profit coupled with the economic climate where a couple of TM's a week could be sold I be may be a couple a month which makes it hard to keep 'good staff'.

On the other hand customers who have spent on machines from new from HM could feel aggrieved, someone like Glynn who has had may be 5 or more TM's plus accessories and chemicals.

You don't want to push people away but then there's a business to run.

Shaun

[davep]

Why do people buy parts elsewhere?

[derek west]

only ever bought HM oil, only ever bought HM filters. i wouldn't be surprised if my total spends for 3 years has reached 30k with HM alone.

yes i feel aggrieved.

[david washbrook]

we all know hm have given great service and martin has given excellent advice but it was only about 12/18 months ago that martin left hm and we thought we were all doomed regarding the advice and fixing of our machines.

so what happens if martins on holiday,off sick or even leaves hm how do we get the expert advice then.

once again im not saying its right or wrong but thats the main reason i brought from hm