All comments appreciated and taken on board.
Weight is an important issue, but has to go hand in hand with
durability and the level of maintenance you have to put in, to
keep your pole in sound servicable condition.
All suppliers seem to shy away from talking about warranty on their products,
particularly composite pole suppliers. Alex has a prime interest in selling his own poles (modular) but I havent seen any reference to the warranty conditions for clients who may buy this product from his company.
Alex does sell Xtel poles from Exel, but buys them indirectly, so margins will always be tighter, than with his own promoted product, as I sure Alex will freely admit. Exel do not supply any warranty on the Xtel range, that is left to the re-seller who modifies the poles for WFP use. Again, I havent seen any reference to supplier warranties on the Xtel anywhere.
It is important that before you part with hard earned cash, you know who you are dealing with and what you will get for your money with regard to after sales service, for example, do you want some one to answer a phone when you call them.? More food for thought..?
Hi Sean,
I have always enjoyed our chats online and on the phone. As we have discussed in the past durability is an important issue. We currently offer a 6 month warranty (twice as long as the warranty on your Composite pole range) against 'Manufacturing Defects' on the Super-Lite pole range as mentioned in the manual that comes with them. I notice that you offer a 30 month warranty on your Prolong poles (which I have used and assessed) but this is also a 'Manufacturing Defects' warranty not a wear and tear warranty as some of your customers have thought (their mistake). To be honest, as one supplier/manufacturer to another, manufacturing defects should show up within the first 3 months of use. The likelihood of a manufacturing defect showing up after this time (or indeed being able to be legally identified as such after prolonged wear and tear) is very slim.
As stated previously above, the margins on our Super-Lite range are actually tighter than on the X-Tel range which Exel manufacture. We would make more money if we sold every customer a Carbon Fibre X-Tel instead of a Super-Lite. We do get poles both directly and indirectly from Exel and they have so far honoured all manufacturing defect claims.
As to phone answering, we set up Gardiner Pole Systems in 2005 as an Internet based WFP supply firm. We added phone support as an extra service to our clients and also started to take orders via the phone because of client demand. This service will no doubt be extended as time goes by. We feel that by sticking to the medium of the Internet, we are able to offer excellent value, coupled with what we feel is an unrivalled publicly accessible data-base of WFP information for the newcomer and the experienced user alike.
Most companies will not go down the route of modular poles and that is great news for us! These type of poles will not suit everyone or everyone's specific needs. I am still a great proponent of telescopic poles in the right place and still have at least 5 in my vehicle for work (also 4 Super-Lites!!).
On a totally different subject, I still think that you manufacture and install some of the best systems that also offer excellent value for money. I also like the way that your systems are installed. Regardless of crash tested clamps, I know which one I would trust the most.